Loading...
Please wait while we prepare your content
Please wait while we prepare your content
Solutions for History & Civics, Class 10, ICSE
(A) From mid-18th century till 1857, one part of the country or the other rose in revolt against the British policies which harmed the interests of the Indians belonging to all the segments of Indian society.
(R) Although these revolts were local, scattered and isolated, they established a local tradition of struggle against the foreign rule.
(R) contradicts (A)
Explanation : Assertion (A) talks about the widespread revolts against British policies across different parts of India from the mid-18th century till 1857 but Reason (R) discusses the nature of these revolts, stating that they were local, scattered, and isolated, but they established a tradition of struggle against foreign rule.
(A) The British policy of territorial expansion and gradual annexation of the native Indian States was one of the major grievances of the Indian rulers.
(R) Some States were brought under British control without actually being annexed.
(R) is the reason for (A)
Explanation: Reason (R) supports and explains Assertion (A). By Subsidiary Alliance, the British gained control over some states without actually annexing them and thereby, adding to the grievances of the Indian rulers.
(A) Lord Dalhousie justified the annexation of Awadh as “for the good of the governed.”
(R) The people of Awadh had to pay higher land revenue and additional taxes on food, houses and ferries.
(R) contradicts (A)
Explanation : Assertion (A) suggests that Lord Dalhousie justified the annexation of Awadh for the benefit of the people being governed. However, Reason (R) indicates that the people of Awadh had to pay higher land revenue and additional taxes on food, houses, and ferries after the annexation. This suggests that the annexation of Awadh was not in the best interest of the people.
(A) The British introduced modern innovations like railways and telegraph in India in the mid-19th century.
(R) The British introduced these innovations to modernise India.
(A) is true but (R) is false
Explanation : The Assertion (A) talks about the introduction of modern innovations like railways and telegraph in India by the British in the mid-19th century which is true. The Reason (R) given is false because the British did not introduce these innovations with the intention to modernize India. Instead, their primary motives were:
(A) The Indian soldiers, who helped East India Company to establish the British Empire in India, were poorly paid, ill-fed and badly housed.
(R) A large proportion of British Army consisted of Indian Soldiers.
(A) and (R) are independent of each other
Explanation : Assertion (A) talks about the poor conditions of the Indian soldiers who helped the East India Company establish the British Empire in India. Reason (R) states that a large proportion of the British Army consisted of Indian Soldiers. Both statements are true but are independent of each other.
(A) The Uprising of 1857 paved the way for the rise of the national movement.
(R) Although the Uprising failed to achieve its objectives, it inspired the Indians to resist the British rule.
(R) is the reason for (A)
Explanation : Reason (R) provides a reason for Assertion (A), stating that although the Uprising failed to achieve its objectives, it inspired the Indians to resist the British rule. The sacrifices made by Rani Laxmi Bai, Nana Saheb and Mangal Pandey served as a source of inspiration for the future freedom fighters.
All of the above.
Meerut-Tantia Tope
Explanation: The Uprising in Meerut was led by sepoys. Tantia Tope was a general in Nana Saheb's forces.
the British abandoned their repressive policies
Explanation: Queen Victoria's Proclamation promised that the Government of India would follow a policy of non-intervention in social and religious matters of Indians. The Policy of Annexation and the Doctrine of Lapse were abandoned.
(A), (C), (D), (B)
Explanation:
Battle of Plassey- 1757
Lord Dalhousie annexed Awadh- 1856
Introduction of Enfield Rifle- 1857
Queen Victoria's Proclamation- 1858
Choose the options that were not a part of the Queen Victoria's Proclamation
P: All subjects of the Queen would be treated as equals.
Q: A general pardon to all those who were a part of the 1857 uprising.
R: Policy of non-intervention in social and religious matters.
S: Continue political expansion with the Doctrine of Lapse and Subsidiary Alliance.
Q and S
Explanation: The policy of Annexation through Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse were abandoned. Also, a general pardon was granted to all those who had taken part in the war except those who were found guilty of murder of British subjects.
Study the picture and answer the following questions:
(a) Who are the persons in the picture? How were they treated by their British counterparts?
(b) State any three grievances they had against the British.
(c) What changes were brought in their status after the Uprising of 1857?
(a) The people in the picture are Indian Sepoys in the British army. The Indian Sepoys were ill-treated by their British counterparts even though they were equally efficient. They were poorly paid, ill-fed and badly housed. British military authorities forbade the sepoys from wearing caste and sectarian marks, beards or turbans and they showed disregard for the sentiments of the sepoys.
(b) Three grievances the Indian soldiers had against the British were —
(c) The Indian army was reorganised after 1858, to prevent the reoccurrence of another uprising and the status of Indian Sepoys was affected in the following ways:
Study the picture and answer the following questions:
(a) Identify the person in the picture. Name the Proclamation made by her in 1858.
(b) Where and by whom was this proclamation made public?
(c) What assurance did this proclamation give to the Indian people regarding (i) religious freedom and (ii) appointment to public offices?
(a) This picture shows Queen Victoria.
The proclamation was called Queen Victoria's Proclamation.
(b) Queen Victoria's Proclamation was made public at Allahabad, on November 1, 1858, by Lord Canning, the first Viceroy of India.
(c) Below assurances were given to the Indian people by this Proclamation:
(i) Queen Victoria's Proclamation promised to follow the policy of non-intervention in social and religious matters of Indians and to treat all subjects - Indians and Europeans - as equal.
(ii) Queen Victoria's Proclamation included a provision in which appointments to the civil service were to be made by open competition under rules made by the Secretary of State. Education and ability would be the basis of all appointments.
Originally formed in 1600 to trade with India, The East India Company purchased land from Indian rulers to build its factories (settlements) and recruited local armies to protect them. These evolved into the Bengal, Bombay, Madras armies. With the collapse of the Mughal Empire and victory over French forces while simultaneously getting involved in local politics, the East India Company emerged as a major political power in India.
Revolt of 1857 was known as the first war of independence because it was for the first time that our entire nation irrespective of the caste, creed, race, and religion had come together and staged an armed protest against the Britishers to gain independence from their colonial rule.
Two political causes of the First War of Independence were —
Subsidiary alliance was an agreement between the British East India Company and the Indian Princely States by virtue of which these states lost their sovereignty to the British.
Two Indian States brought under the British control using the Subsidiary Alliance are Awadh and Hyderabad.
According to Doctrine of Lapse, if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would come under the Company's territory in India.
The two States annexed by the British using the Doctrine of Lapse are Jhansi and Nagpur.
The policy of Doctrine of Lapse was used by Lord Dalhousie against Rani Laxmi Bai.
Rani Laxmi Bai became a bitter enemy of the British because when the ruler of Jhansi died in 1853, leaving no natural heir, the widowed Rani was pensioned and their adopted son, Anand Rao, was not recognised as a lawful successor to the throne.
Two announcements which adversely affected the Mughal dynasty in India are-
Two consequences of the annexation of Awadh are-
Two consequences of the disbanding of the armies of the annexed States by the British are-
Absentee Sovereignty of the British means that India was being ruled by the British government from England, at a distance of thousands of miles.
This was resented by the Indians because they felt that they were being ruled from England and India's wealth was being drained to England and not utilised for their welfare.
The apprehensions of Indians about the introduction of the railways were that in the railway compartments, the higher castes and the lower castes were made to sit side by side. They believed that the British had introduced such practices to defy their caste and religion.
Two social reforms advocated by the British which affected the religious traditions of the Indian people are-
Two measures which point to the policy of social discrimination followed by the British in India are-
Two grievances of the peasantry against the British are-
According to the provisions of the Inam Commission(1852), 20,000 estates were confiscated when the landlords failed to produce evidence like title deeds by which they held the land. These confiscated lands were sold by public auction to the highest bidders. This drove the landed aristocracy to poverty.
According to the traditional belief, it was a taboo for a Brahmin to cross the seas. As per the General Service Enlistment Act of 1856, Indian soldiers could be sent overseas on duty. The Act did not take into account the sentiment of the Indian soldiers. The Brahmin soldiers saw in this a danger to their caste. This led to the feeling of resentment among them.
Two grievances harboured by the Indian soldiers which created an atmosphere favourable to the First War of Independence are-
Two effects of the defeat of the British in the first Afghan War and the Punjab Wars on the Indian soldiers are-
The immediate cause of the First War of Independence was the introduction of the Enfield rifle. The loading process of the Enfield rifle involved bringing the cartridge to the mouth and biting off the top greased paper with the teeth.
In January 1857, there was a rumour in the Bengal regiments that the greased cartridge had the fat of cow or pig. The sepoys were now convinced that the introduction of greased cartridges was a deliberate move to defile Hindu and Muslim religions. So, the soldiers refused to use these cartridges and staged an uprising when they were forced to use them.
Two consequences of the First War of Indian Independence on the East India Company are-
Two drawbacks of the First War of Independence are-
Read the excerpt given below and answer the questions that follow:
"The sepoys are now enjoined to display communal harmony and exhorted to pray to their respective gods.... They are now called sipah-i-Hindostan (the Army of India) and there are appeals now to fellow countrymen "ahl-i watan", dear compatriots "aziz ham-watan" with specific exhortations for a united rallying of Hindus and Muslims."
— The Dehli Urdu Akhbar (the first Urdu weekly newspaper), June 1857
(a) What was the policy that the British followed to dispel 'the communal harmony'?
(b) Briefly explain how the British unwittingly led to the united rallying of Hindus and Muslims by introducing the Enfield Rifle.
(c) How was the British army reorganised to avoid another uprising of this kind?
(a) The policy that the British followed to dispel 'the communal harmony' was 'Divide and Rule'. The British started turning caste against caste and Hindus against Muslims.
(b) The loading process of the Enfield Rifle involved bringing the cartridge to the mouth and biting off the top greased paper with the teeth. There was a rumour that the greased cartridge had the fat of cow or pig. The cow is sacred to the Hindus while the pig is a taboo to the Muslims so both Hindu and Muslim soldiers refused to use these cartridges thinking it was a deliberate move to defile their religion. When the British forced them, they unitedly staged an uprising.
(c) The Indian army was reorganised to prevent the reoccurrence of another uprising, in the following manner:
Economic exploitation of the country produced discontent, resentment and resistance among the people that culminated in the Great Uprising of 1857. In this context discuss:
(a) The ruin of trade and handicrafts
(b) Impoverishment of the cultivators
(c) Subordination of Indian economy to British interests (making India an agricultural colony of British capitalism)
(a) The British crippled the Indian trade and handicrafts in the following manner-
(b) The official land revenue policy was the main cause of the impoverishment of the cultivators.
(c) The British exploited the Indian resources for their own benefits in the following manner-
Read the excerpt given below and answer the questions that follow:
These rebels of Delhi must be made an example to all their countrymen for ages to come of the consequences of such crimes, at the same time that every possible precaution is taken to do away with all temptation or provocation to future offences of a similar character.
— The Guardian, Manchester, June 30, 1857
(a) Who are referred to as 'rebels of Delhi' in the excerpt above? When did they rebel and where?
(b) What was the temptation or provocation being talked about in the excerpt?
(c) What were the consequences of their alleged 'crimes”?
(a) The 'rebels of Delhi' being mentioned are the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah, the soldiers who came from Meerut, and the local infantry who joined them. They rebelled in Delhi starting from May 11, 1857 when they proclaimed Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India. They seized Delhi and raised arms against the British.
(b) The temptation or provocation being talked about in the excerpt refers to the causes and motivations behind the Indian rebellion of 1857. Some of the causes being:
(c) The consequences of 'their' alleged 'crimes' being talked about in the excerpt are:
Although the First War of Independence of 1857 failed, it had important consequences for India. In this context, answer the following questions:
(a) How did the uprising give rise to nationalism in India?
(b) How did the end of the East India Company's rule bring in grave economic perils in India?
(c) State how the British Government tried to pacify the feelings of Indians with regard to:
(i) their religious practices
(ii) the Princely States.
(a) The uprising of 1857 was the first struggle of the Indian people for freedom from British imperialism. It paved the way for the rise of the national movement. The sacrifices made by Rani Laxmi Bai, Nana Saheb and Mangal Pandey served as a source of inspiration for the future freedom fighters. The heroic struggle also established valuable traditions of resistance to the British rule.
(b) The uprising of 1857 ushered in the era of economic exploitation in the following manner-
(c) The British Government tried to pacify the feelings of Indians in the following ways:
(i) Religious Practices:
(ii) Princely States:
The grievances of each of the rulers are listed below:
After annexation of Awadh, the grievances my father had against the British are as follows:
In 1856, the British began to annex many cities on the pretext of alleged misrule. My locality was annexed too after which we had to pay higher taxes, the nobles, officials and soldiers were thrown out of jobs. The resentment of the people lead to various uprisings in my locality. Some of them are as follows:
Thus, although there were many uprisings, they were not organised well and ultimately, could not succeed.
If the Uprising of 1857 had not taken place when it did, the course of Indian history might have taken a very different path. The revolt, although unsuccessful, marked a turning point in India’s struggle against British rule. It was the first large-scale expression of collective resentment against British policies — both political and economic — and revealed the potential for unity among diverse sections of Indian society.
Without this uprising:
However, the desire for independence would not have died out, because economic exploitation, racial discrimination, and political suppression would have continued, eventually pushing Indians toward organized political struggle — as seen later in the rise of nationalist movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Hence, while India might still have gained independence eventually, the Revolt of 1857 played a vital role in sowing the early seeds of nationalism and in shaping future resistance. It was a precursor to the national movement, and without it, the awakening of political consciousness in India could have been significantly delayed.
This is because the First War of Independence although a significant milestone, did not result in immediate freedom from British rule. There were several reasons why India took another 90 years (until 1947) to finally achieve independence:
The First War of Independence was an important beginning, but India’s independence was a gradual process, requiring the rise of political awareness, social reforms, national unity, and organized leadership, all of which took time to develop under oppressive colonial rule. Hence, it took 90 more years to finally overthrow British rule.