Modern Indian History

Civil Rebellions:

The revolt of 1857 was a culmination of a century long tradition of fierce popular resistance to British domination. This resistance was in three forms broadly-

  1. Civil rebellion

  2. Tribal uprising

  3. Peasant movement

Leaders of civil rebellions:

It was led by deposed rajas and nawabs or their descendents,uprooted and impoverished zamindars, landlords and poligars and ex retainers and officials of the conquered Indian states.

Causes of civil rebellion: 

The major reason behind this rebellion was the quick changes British introduced in the economy,administration and land revenue system. In Bengal the land revenue collection was raised to nearly double the amount collected under the Mughals. The economic decline of the peasantry could have been observed in twelve major and numerous minor famines from 1770 to 1857.

William Edwards, a British official wrote in 1859 that "police were a scourge to the people and that their oppression and exactions form one of the chief grounds of dissatisfaction with our government".

From 1763 to 1856 there were more than forty major rebellions apart from hundreds of minor ones.

Some major Civil rebellions:

Sanyasi rebellion was made famous by Bankim Chandra Chhaterjee in his novel Anand Math lasted from 1763 to 1800.