[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2021: INSIGHTS STATIC , 06 September 2021 – History

Solution: d)

Although the rebels received the sympathy of the people, the country as a whole was not behind them. The merchants, intelligentsia and Indian rulers not only kept aloof, but actively supported the British. Meetings were organized in Calcutta and Bombay by them to pray for the success of the British. Despite the Doctrine of Lapse, the Indian rulers who expected their future to be safer with the British liberally provided them with men and materials. Indeed, the sepoys might have made a better fight of it if they had received their support. Almost half the Indian soldiers not only did not Revolt but fought against their own countrymen.

Apart from some exceptions like the Rani of Jhansi, Kunwar Singh and Maulvi Ahmadullah, the rebels were poorly served by their leaders. Most of them failed to realize the significance of the Revolt and simply did not do enough.

Bahadur Shah and Zeenat Mahal had no faith in the sepoys and negotiated with the British to secure their safety. Most of the taluqdars tried only to protect their own interests. Some of them, like Man Singh, changed sides several times depending on which side had the upper hand. Apart from a commonly shared hatred for alien rule, the rebels had no political perspective or a definite vision of the future. They were all prisoners of their own past, fighting primarily to regain their lost privileges. Unsurprisingly, they proved incapable of ushering in a new political order.

Solution: c)

The General Service Enlistment Act of 1856 was introduced by Charles Canning in 1856. It required every Indian soldier to go overseas for deployment if required. It was one of the main causes for the Uprising of 1857, as it was a taboo for Brahmins in those days to cross the seas, it was known as Samudrolanghana or Sagarollanghana.

Solution: c)

This significant Act was enacted in the wake of the Revolt of 1857. The act known as the Act for the Good Government of India, abolished the East India Company rule, and transferred the powers of government, territories and revenues to the British Crown.

Features of the Act

1. It provided that India henceforth was to be governed by, and in the name of, Her Majesty. It changed the designation of the Governor-General of India to that of Viceroy of India. He (viceroy) was the direct representative of the British Crown in India. Lord Canning thus became the first Viceroy of India.
2. It ended the system of double government by abolishing the Board of Control and Court of Directors.
3. It created a new office, Secretary of State for India, vested with complete authority and control over Indian administration. The secretary of state was a member of the British cabinet and was responsible ultimately to the British Parliament.
4. It established a 15-member Council of India to assist the secretary of state for India. The council was an advisory body. The secretary of state was made the chairman of the council.
5. It constituted the secretary of state-in-council as a body corporate, capable of suing and being sued in India and in England.

The Act of 1858 was, however, largely confined to the improvement of the administrative machinery by which the Indian Government was to be supervised and controlled in England. It did not alter in any substantial way the system of government that prevailed in India.

Solution: c)

Tatya Tope

Also known as Ramachandra Pandurang Tope, he was one of the most notable Indian freedom fighters and a general in the Rebellion of 1857.

• In May 1857, Tatya Tope won the battle over the Indian troops of the East India Company at Kanpur.
• He forced General Windham to retreat from the city of Gwalior.
• He collaborated with Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi to seize Gwalior.

Tatya Tope was defeated by Sir Colin Campbell (later Baron Clyde) on December 6, 1857. He was hanged on April 18, 1859, in General Meade’s camp at Shivpuri.

Solution: d)

The final wave of annexations occurred under Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. The Doctrine of Lapse declared that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would “lapse”, that is, become part of Company territory. One kingdom after another was annexed simply by applying this doctrine: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850), Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853) and Jhansi (1854). Finally, in 1856, the Company also took over Awadh. This time the British had an added argument – they said they were “obliged by duty” to take over Awadh in order to free the people from the “misgovernment” of the Nawab! Enraged by the humiliating way in which the Nawab was deposed, the people of Awadh joined the great revolt that broke out in 1857.