Which one is not a correct case for the Revolt of 1857?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Recognition of the Right to adopt an heir
Option (1) Import of British manufactures into India — A cause of the revolt. A proclamation of the rebels complained that by the introduction of English articles into India the Europeans had thrown weavers, cotton dressers, carpenters, blacksmiths and shoemakers out of work, and reduced every kind of Indian artisan to beggary.
Option (2) Disrespect of Indians in public places — A cause of the revolt. From the 1840s British officers developed a sense of superiority and began treating the sepoys as their racial inferiors; abuse and physical violence became common. The same proclamation complained that Indians in British service had little respect and low pay.
Option (3) Recognition of the Right to adopt an heir — Not a cause of the revolt. The British did the opposite: on pleas like misgovernment and the refusal to recognise adoption, they annexed Awadh and many other kingdoms such as Jhansi and Satara. It was the denial of adoption, not its recognition, that angered the rulers and their people.
Option (4) Conversion of Indians to Christianity — A cause of the revolt. In 1857 there was fear and suspicion that the British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity, and the panic spread fast; British officers tried to calm these fears, but in vain.
NCERT (2026-27): “…There was the rumour that the British government had hatched a gigantic conspiracy to destroy the caste and religion of Hindus and Muslims. To this end, the rumours said, the British had mixed the bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour that was sold in the market. In towns and cantonments, sepoys and the common people refused to touch the atta. There was fear and suspicion that the British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity. Panic spread fast. British officers tried to allay their fears, but in vain.… 1.5 Why did people believe in the rumours? … The rumours in 1857 begin to make sense when seen in the context of the policies the British pursued from the late 1820s. As you know, from that time, under the leadership of Governor General Lord William Bentinck, the British adopted policies aimed at ‘reforming’ Indian society by introducing Western education, Western ideas and Western institutions. With the cooperation of sections of Indian society they set up English-medium schools, colleges and universities which taught Western sciences and the liberal arts. The British established laws to abolish customs like sati (1829) and to permit the remarriage of Hindu widows. On a variety of pleas, like misgovernment and the refusal to recognise adoption, the British annexed not only Awadh, but many other kingdoms and principalities like Jhansi and Satara.… 2.3 Firangi raj and the end of a world … In the 1840s, this began to change. The officers developed a sense of superiority and started treating the sepoys as their racial inferiors, riding roughshod over their sensibilities. Abuse and physical violence became common and thus the distance between sepoys and officers grew. Trust was replaced by suspicion.…” |