Revolt of 1857 MCQs

Explanation

Correct. Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858 had two main objectives: it disclaimed any intention to annex Indian princely states (reversing the Doctrine of Lapse policy) and formally transferred the administration of India from the East India Company to the British Crown. It did not deal with regulating Company trade.

Explanation

Correct. All three points support the feudal characterisation. Leaders like Rani Lakshmibai, Nana Sahib, and Kunwar Singh were dispossessed rulers or zamindars (Statement 1). The restoration of Mughal sovereignty represented a feudal vision of political authority (Statement 2). The revolt's geographical concentration in regions with strong landlord traditions supports the feudal dimension (Statement 3).

Explanation

Correct. Awadh was annexed in 1856 not under the Doctrine of Lapse but on the grounds of alleged misgovernance by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. The Nawab was alive, so the Doctrine of Lapse (which applied when a ruler died without a natural heir) could not be used.

Explanation

Correct. When the rebel sepoys from Meerut reached Delhi on 11 May 1857, they proclaimed the aged Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as the Emperor of Hindustan, making him the symbolic leader of the revolt to give it legitimacy and a unifying figurehead.

Explanation

Correct. Nana Sahib (Dhondu Pant), the adopted son of the last Peshwa Baji Rao II, led the revolt at Kanpur (Cawnpore). He declared himself Peshwa and, with his commander Tantia Tope, organised the rebel forces at Kanpur. After the British recaptured Kanpur, Nana Sahib fled and his ultimate fate remains unknown.

Explanation

Correct. The killing of British women and children at Bibighar (Cawnpore) in July 1857, associated with Nana Sahib's forces, outraged the British public and military. It led to extreme reprisals by British forces, including mass executions and collective punishment of Indian villages and towns, particularly under General Neill at Kanpur.

Explanation

Correct. S.N. Sen, in his 1957 commissioned work 'Eighteen Fifty-Seven', took a nuanced position. He acknowledged that while it began as a sepoy mutiny, it acquired the character of a popular revolt in several regions, with participation from peasants, artisans, and local leaders alongside the military.

Explanation

Correct. Sir Henry Lawrence, the British Resident and Chief Commissioner of Awadh, organised the defence of the British Residency at Lucknow. He fortified the Residency and prepared for the siege, but was killed by a shell on 4 July 1857 during the early days of the siege, which lasted from June to November 1857.

Explanation

Correct. In early 1857, chapatis (unleavened bread) were passed from village to village across northern India by chowkidars (village watchmen). Though the exact meaning of this chain remains debated, it is widely interpreted as a signal or warning system anticipating the coming revolt. The British were alarmed by this mysterious movement.

Explanation

Correct. V.D. Savarkar, in his 1909 book 'The Indian War of Independence 1857', was the first to describe the revolt as the First War of Indian Independence. The book was banned by the British and became a powerful nationalist text.

Explanation

Correct. V.D. Savarkar's 1909 book 'The Indian War of Independence 1857' was a path-breaking nationalist reinterpretation that characterised the revolt as the First War of Indian Independence. Written while he was in London, the book was banned by the British before publication and became a powerful text of the Indian independence movement.

Explanation

Correct. The Peel Commission (1859) recommended significant changes to the Indian army structure. Key recommendations included increasing the proportion of European troops relative to Indian troops and ensuring that artillery remained exclusively under European control. These measures were designed to prevent any future military uprising by Indian soldiers.