Revolt of 1857
Part 2
Leaders of the revolt
Place |
Important Leaders |
| Delhi | Bahadur Shah II, General Bakht Khan |
| Lucknow | Begum Hazrat Mahal, Birjis Qadir, Ahmadullah |
| Kanpur | Nana Sahib, Rao Sahib, Tantia Tope, Azimullah Khan |
| Jhansi | Rani Laxmibai |
| Bihar | Kunwar Singh, Amar Singh |
| Rajasthan | Jaidayal Singh and Hardayal Singh |
| Farrukhabad | Tufzal Hasan Khan |
| Assam | Kandapareshwar Singh, Maniram Dutta Baruah |
| Orissa | Surendra Shahi, Ujjwal Shahi |
Reasons for Failure of the Revolt
Failure of Leadership
- Bahadur Shah Zafar was unable and unwilling to lead the uprising which meant that the uprising lacked central leadership and coordination, and it was poorly organized.
Lack of equipment and tactics
- Unlike the European soldiers who were armed with cutting-edge weaponry, Indian forces were inadequately armed, fighting mostly with swords and spears, with few cannons and muskets.
- The tactical use of telegraph allowed the British to keep their commander-in-chief up to date on the rebels’ movements and plans.
Lack of support from masses
- While the revolt extended across a large area, the majority of India remained largely unaffected.
- Also, the larger princely states such as Hyderabad, Mysore, Kashmir, Travancore, and Rajputana, as well as some of the minor ones, resisted the uprising.
- Along with this most of the wealthy merchants and businessmen, as well as many zamindars, supported the British.
Lack of unified ideology
- Even though the rebels had leaders like Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope, Kunwar Singh, and Laxmibai, they lacked the unified command structure and ideology of the British, with each leader fighting for his/her own cause.
- The thought of modern nationalism didn’t exist amongst the Indian masses during that era.
