12 min readPathway sheetSection A MCQ (1 mark) and objective (2 marks, two parts); Section B very short answer (2 marks), short answer (3 marks) and map work (4 marks)

Course of the 1857 revolt, its leaders and its nature

Sepoys rose at Meerut on 10 May 1857, took Delhi and named Bahadur Shah Zafar emperor. Civilians joined, so it is now called the First War of Independence.

Mangal PandeyDefied orders and attacked British officers at Barrackpore near Calcutta on 29 March 1857; tried and hanged

Meerut to DelhiSepoys rose at Meerut on 10 May 1857, marched to Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar Emperor of India

Main centresMeerut, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi, Bareilly and Arrah

End of Bahadur ShahExiled to Rangoon after a trial; died there in 1862, aged 87

Timeline of the revolt

29 March 1857
Sepoy Mangal Pandey defies orders and attacks British officers at Barrackpore near Calcutta. He is tried and hanged, and his regiment is disbanded. The news spreads. Your NIOS lesson says he killed two officers; in fact he wounded them.
9 May 1857
At Meerut, 85 sepoys of a cavalry regiment who refused the greased cartridges are sentenced to prison terms of 2 to 10 years.
10 May 1857★
The next day three regiments at Meerut rise, free their jailed comrades, kill their European officers and march towards Delhi.
11 May 1857
They enter the Red Fort and proclaim the aged Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar Emperor of India.
Summer 1857
The revolt spreads. At Kanpur Nana Saheb is declared Peshwa; Lucknow, Jhansi, Bareilly, Arrah and many other places in north and central India rise. Peasants, artisans and talukdars join the sepoys.
20 September 1857
With loyal troops from Punjab, the British recapture Delhi after a siege of about four months. Bahadur Shah and two of his sons are taken prisoner, and the sons are shot without trial. Your NIOS lesson prints 10 September; the assault began on 14 September and the city fell on 20 September.
April to June 1858
The British retake the other centres. Kunwar Singh dies in April of wounds from fighting in Bihar, and Rani Lakshmi Bai dies fighting near Gwalior in June. Nana Saheb escapes.
8 July 1858
The Governor General, Lord Canning, proclaims that the revolt is over.
April 1859
Tantia Tope, betrayed and captured while asleep, is tried and hanged. With him the last of the heroic trio (Rani Lakshmi Bai, Kunwar Singh and Tantia Tope) is gone.
1862
Bahadur Shah, exiled to Rangoon after a trial, dies there aged 87.

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Centres and leaders of the revolt

Centre	Leader	What to remember
Delhi	Bahadur Shah Zafar as emperor; Bakht Khan led the sepoys	The symbolic heart of the revolt; retaken by the British in September 1857
Kanpur	Nana Saheb, helped by Tantia Tope and Azimullah	Declared Peshwa by the rebels; he fought for the Maratha power and the pension denied to him
Lucknow (Awadh)	Begum Hazrat Mahal, assisted by Maulvi Ahmadullah of Faizabad	Led the people of Awadh, angry at its annexation in 1856
Jhansi	Rani Lakshmi Bai	Fought to win back Jhansi, lost under the Doctrine of Lapse; died fighting in 1858
Arrah (Bihar)	Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur	An elderly zamindar who led the revolt in Bihar
Bareilly (Rohilkhand)	Khan Bahadur Khan	Set up rebel rule in Rohilkhand

Sepoy mutiny or First War of Independence?

Seen as a mutinyBritish historians called 1857 to 1858 a sepoy mutiny, a revolt of soldiers against their officers. There had been sepoy risings before, such as at Vellore in July 1806, but order was soon restored and that revolt never left the cantonment (army camp).

Seen as a popular revolt and a war of independenceSepoys began it, but peasants and artisans joined in large numbers, and in some areas people rose even before the sepoys. Hindus and Muslims, landlords and peasants, and different regions fought together. In Awadh, talukdars (big landholders) and peasants fought side by side. So it is now seen as the first nationalist struggle for independence.

Your lesson's balanced view: 1857 was not one movement but many, and not a class revolt, as peasants did not turn on their landlords. But it was popular, and for the first time soldiers, Hindus and Muslims, and landlords and peasants united against the British.

On the map

Meerut: army town in western Uttar Pradesh, a little north east of Delhi; the revolt began here on 10 May 1857.
Delhi: on the river Yamuna, the Mughal capital; the rebels proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar emperor here.
Kanpur: on the Ganga in central Uttar Pradesh; Nana Saheb's centre.
Lucknow: on the river Gomti in central Uttar Pradesh, north east of Kanpur; capital of Awadh and Begum Hazrat Mahal's centre.
Jhansi: in Bundelkhand, in the southern bulge of Uttar Pradesh on the Madhya Pradesh border; Rani Lakshmi Bai's state.
Bareilly: in Rohilkhand, northern Uttar Pradesh, east of Delhi and north west of Lucknow; Khan Bahadur Khan's centre.
Arrah: in western Bihar, just south of the Ganga and west of Patna; Kunwar Singh's area.
Barrackpore: on the river Hooghly just north of Kolkata, West Bengal; where Mangal Pandey made his stand.
Gwalior: in northern Madhya Pradesh, south of Agra; Rani Lakshmi Bai died fighting near here.

Activity: a leader of 1857 who inspires you

1
Choose one leader: Rani Lakshmi Bai, Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh, Bakht Khan or Mangal Pandey.
2
Note where the leader fought and what they did, using the table above.
3
Write two qualities the leader showed, for example courage, refusal to accept injustice, or the ability to lead people of different faiths.
4★
Record two of these qualities that you share, and one time you used each in your own life.

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In real life

Roads, parks, colleges and stamps across India carry the names of Rani Lakshmi Bai, Kunwar Singh and Begum Hazrat Mahal. India marked the 150th year of the revolt in 2007, and Meerut and Jhansi draw many visitors to their sites of 1857.

Exam angle

2 marks: “Name any four leaders of the Revolt of 1857 and the place each led.” Rani Lakshmi Bai (Jhansi), Nana Saheb (Kanpur), Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow), Kunwar Singh (Arrah, Bihar). Others: Bakht Khan (Delhi), Khan Bahadur Khan (Bareilly).

3 marks: “Was the Revolt of 1857 only a sepoy mutiny? Give three reasons for your answer.” No. (1) Peasants, artisans and talukdars joined in large numbers, and in places rose before the sepoys. (2) Hindus and Muslims fought together. (3) Different regions helped one another against a common foe, so it was the first nationalist struggle.

4 marks: “On an outline map of India, mark and label Meerut, Delhi, Jhansi and Arrah as centres of the Revolt of 1857.” Meerut: just north east of Delhi in western Uttar Pradesh. Delhi: on the Yamuna. Jhansi: southern Uttar Pradesh on the Madhya Pradesh border. Arrah: western Bihar, south of the Ganga, west of Patna. Write each name beside its dot.

Remember it

Meerut to Delhi, then K-L-J-A: Kanpur Nana, Lucknow Begum, Jhansi Rani, Arrah Kunwar.