The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, also known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857, is one of the most significant events in the entire history of India. To the people of this land, this rebellion was known as a war for independence. This was the so called trigger that gave confidence to the people of India to fight back their oppressors who were the British during that time.
At that time, Great Britain was a very advanced country and was considered very powerful. It was also during this time that colonization of weaker states became a trend among the bigger countries. The goal of colonization is to basically increase territory in order to become more powerful. This was the objective of Britain when they discovered India.
When India was finally colonized by Britain, the British East India Company was founded. This faction was tasked to recruit the native soldiers to become the main Indian military that served the British. These natives were trained in European styles of both armed and unarmed combat as well as war tactics.
Now, there were many times that these Sepoys wanted to rebel against the European soldiers but failed. The reason for these small rebellions were because the colonization had affected their life a lot. They basically wanted freedom and simply could not take having foreigners rule them.
Of course the real deal was when the mutiny began in 1857. The main cause of this mutiny was simply because when the British army introduced a new rifle, each soldier needed to bite a part of the cartridge that was made of oil. The problem was that the soldiers thought it was either fat of the cow or pig. The Hindus took it as an insult because the cow is a holy animal while the Muslims on the other hand who thought it was pig fat, were utterly disgusted.
With this, the upper class Indians in the caste system decided to fire up the people to rebel against the British too. The higher class told the people that Europe is trying to force the European culture and beliefs unto India. The people then joined in with the Sepoys and staged an all out mutiny.
Europeans were being slaughtered everywhere on the streets of India. While all of the freedom fighters marched to Delhi under the command of Bahadur Shah, they killed all European men, women, and children. Around two hundred or more people were killed when this happened.
It took months before the British were able to stop the Indian forces. When they did, all of those who were involved were either beheaded or hung on the gallows. Now although the Indians failed in trying to stop their colonizers, this event did serve as an inspiration to freedom fighters that would appear in the future. The significance of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 was to bring about the patriotic spirit of Indians in the country.
At that time, Great Britain was a very advanced country and was considered very powerful. It was also during this time that colonization of weaker states became a trend among the bigger countries. The goal of colonization is to basically increase territory in order to become more powerful. This was the objective of Britain when they discovered India.
When India was finally colonized by Britain, the British East India Company was founded. This faction was tasked to recruit the native soldiers to become the main Indian military that served the British. These natives were trained in European styles of both armed and unarmed combat as well as war tactics.
Now, there were many times that these Sepoys wanted to rebel against the European soldiers but failed. The reason for these small rebellions were because the colonization had affected their life a lot. They basically wanted freedom and simply could not take having foreigners rule them.
Of course the real deal was when the mutiny began in 1857. The main cause of this mutiny was simply because when the British army introduced a new rifle, each soldier needed to bite a part of the cartridge that was made of oil. The problem was that the soldiers thought it was either fat of the cow or pig. The Hindus took it as an insult because the cow is a holy animal while the Muslims on the other hand who thought it was pig fat, were utterly disgusted.
With this, the upper class Indians in the caste system decided to fire up the people to rebel against the British too. The higher class told the people that Europe is trying to force the European culture and beliefs unto India. The people then joined in with the Sepoys and staged an all out mutiny.
Europeans were being slaughtered everywhere on the streets of India. While all of the freedom fighters marched to Delhi under the command of Bahadur Shah, they killed all European men, women, and children. Around two hundred or more people were killed when this happened.
It took months before the British were able to stop the Indian forces. When they did, all of those who were involved were either beheaded or hung on the gallows. Now although the Indians failed in trying to stop their colonizers, this event did serve as an inspiration to freedom fighters that would appear in the future. The significance of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 was to bring about the patriotic spirit of Indians in the country.
0 comments:
Post a Comment