Read the passage and answer the question:
In the Gangetic plain too the progress of British reconquest was slow. The forces had to reconquer the area village by village. The countryside and the people around were entirely hostile. As soon as they began their counter-insurgency operations, the British realised that they were not dealing with a mere mutiny but an uprising that had huge popular support. In Awadh, for example, a British official called Forsyth estimated that three-fourths of the adult male population was in rebellion. The area was brought under control only in March 1858 after protracted fighting.
The British realized that they were not dealing with a mere mutiny in Awadh because:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → The revolt assumed popular character in Awadh.
Option (1) The sepoy sided with the British in this belt against the rebels. — Incorrect. The British found no friends in this belt: the countryside and the people around were entirely hostile to them.
Option (2) The British could easily suppress and control the sepoy of Awadh. — Incorrect. The reconquest was slow. The area had to be won back village by village, and Awadh was brought under control only in March 1858, after protracted fighting.
Option (3) The revolt assumed popular character in Awadh. — Correct. As soon as they began their counter-insurgency operations, the British realised that they faced not a mere mutiny but an uprising that had huge popular support. In Awadh, the British official Forsyth estimated that three-fourths of the adult male population was in rebellion.
Option (4) In Awadh, only the sepoys participated in the revolt. — Incorrect. If three-fourths of the adult men of Awadh were in rebellion, the revolt had spread far beyond the sepoys to the people at large.
NCERT (2026-27): “4. Repression … In the Ganegtic plain too the progress of British reconquest was slow. The forces had to reconquer the area village by village. The countryside and the people around were entirely hostile. As soon as they began their counter-insurgency operations, the British realised that they were not dealing with a mere mutiny but an uprising that had huge popular support. In Awadh, for example, a British official called Forsyth estimated that three-fourths of the adult male population was in rebellion. The area was brought under control only in March 1858 after protracted fighting.…” |