The East India Company Fights Back


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

The East India Company Fights Back

The Company Fights Back

The company decided to repress the revolt with all its might. It brought reinforcements from England. Passed new laws so that the rebels could be convicted with ease, and then moved into the storm centres of the revolt. Delhi was recaptured from the rebel forces in September 1857. The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. He and his wife begum Zinat Mahal were sent to prison in Rangoon in October 1858. Bahadur Shah Zafar died in Rangoon jail n November 1862. The recapture of delhi, however did not mean that the rebellion died down after that. People continued to resist and battle the British. The British had to fight for two years to suppress the massive forces of popular rebellion. Lucknow  was taken in march 1858 Rani Lakshmibai was  defeated and killed in June 1858.A  similar fate awaited  Rani Avantibai ,who after initial victory in Kheri, chose to embrace death when surrounded by the British on all sides. Tantia tope escaped to the jungles of central India and continued to fight a  guerrilla  war with the support of many tribal and peasant leaders. He was captured, tried and killed in April 1859.

Just as victories against the British had earlier encouraged rebellion, the defeat of rebel forces encouraged desertions. The British also tried their best to win back the loyalty of the people. They announced rewards for loyal landholders would be allowed to continue to enjoy traditional right over their lands. Those who had rebelled were told that if they submitted to the British, and if they had not killed  any white people, they would remain safe and their right and claims to land  would  not be denied. Nevertheless, hundreds of sepoys, rebels nawabs and rajas buried and hanged.

The End of the Mughal Empire: Delhi was one of the first places to fall after the beginning of the Revolt. Reinforcements arrived for the besieged British army from Punjab. Under the command of General O’Neil, British troops launched a massacre in Delhi. Thousands of innocent people were killed. Bahadur Shah Zafar’s sons were captured and killed, while the old emperor was exiled to Rangoon in Burma where he died after a few years.

Sample Questions
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Question : 1

Delhi was re-occupied by the Britishers on _____________

Right Option : B
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Explanation
 
 


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