Significance of the Mutiny Of 1857
The significance of the mutiny of 1857 can be summarized in below heads:
It exposed the East India Company
According to Sir Lepel Griffin had there been no Mutiny in 1857, the various types of defects and irregularities, existed in the administrative machinery and policies and programs of the East India Company would not have come to light before the World. The Great rebellion immediately invited the attention of the British Government in London and the various glaring defects and shortcoming in the administration were removed. It was the Revolt of 1857 that brought to the military defects of the East India Company, which were at once eradicated. Thus, for the British the Revolt of 1857 was an important incident.
British made some efforts to win over Indians
After the abolition of the East India Company the administration of India was taken over directly by the Crown-in -Parliament. The people of India were assured of the freedom of religion, equal protection of law, equality of opportunities in government services, and of ancient Indian rites, customs and usages. At the same time, the Indian princes were assured of maintenance of their treaties and engagements of territorial integrity of their states and of their rights, dignity and honor. It was in this way that the British Government made attempts to win over the confidence of the people of India for years to come.
Influenced India’s National Struggle
The Revolt of 1857 influenced the history of India’s struggle for freedom in another way also. It could not deny that the sepoys who rose in revolt had genuine grievances. They were certainly justified in their struggle for their rights. However, in the trial of strength, the primitive weaponry of the Indians was no match for the more modernized weapons used by the British. The accounts of the atrocities convinced the Indian intellectuals about the futility of violence to be applied in the struggle for freedom. The new elite, emerging from the intellectual ferment of the early nineteenth century, created a middle class which despised violence and showed preference for orderly progress.
Even during the Revolt of 1 857 it became evident that the educated Indian‘s had no faith in armed rebellion, and the failure of the revolt confirmed them in this conviction. When the leadership of India’s struggle for freedom passed on to these middle class, the lesson of the Revolt of 1857 influenced their strategy to a very large extent.
