Core Questions/Themes:
- What were the motives of the colonizers?
- What were the effects of the policies of the colonizers on the native people?
Prior Research
Students should be encouraged to do their own primary research on the topic and be prepared for a class quiz.
Some broad questions, which might provide a guideline for their research.
- When and why did the British come to India?
- How did they move from a mere economic role of being traders to active political control?
- Was the revolt of 1857 the first act of rebellion against the British, or were there prior cases of rebellion? If yes, where?
- Where and why did the revolt take place?
- What were the immediate repercussions of the revolt of 1857?
References: (These are only some of the many sites on the revolt, and interested students can look up other sites)
Instructional Objectives:
- Students should have a basic understanding of the factors dividing colonial India.
- Students should be able to understand the motives of the colonizers.
- Students should understand the fact that for any revolt of significance to occur, causes usually go beyond the immediate factor.
- With the help of their research, and the slides provided, students should be able to participate in the debate on some of the major controversies surrounding the revolt.
In-class Exercises:
- The teacher can begin by asking students to locate India on a world map. She can also provide some general information on India (a vast country with people belonging to different castes, religious groups, linguistic groups, tribal groups etc.)
- The teacher can then divide the class into 3-4 groups and conduct a small quiz (approx.10-15 minutes). This would ensure that the student has the background information on the topic of study.
- The teacher can then show a slide show of the British role in India from 1608 till 1857 (slides provided)(This would help put all the important points together and enable the students get a comprehensive view of the factors leading to the revolt)
- The students should be provided with a map of India and asked to trace the path of the revolt i.e. trace the revolt from the place where it started and the places where it spread to.
- The teacher could then put together another slide show which would sum up the causes of the revolt, the reasons for the failure of the revolt and the consequences of the revolt.(slides provided).
- Following the slide shows, the teacher can organize a debate on some or all of the major questions, stated below.
- Do you think it’s accurate to call the revolt of 1857 as the sepoy mutiny?
- Do you think, the British policies over the century, were responsible for the revolt of 1857, or was it a spontaneous uprising of the sepoys against the new cartridge policies?
- Why do you think, the revolt remained confined to certain regions, and did not engulf the whole of India?
- Do you think, it was a lack of feeling of nationalism among the Indian people that helped British establish their rule in India?
- Can you regard the revolt of 1857 as the first nationalist uprising in India? State reasons.
- Do you find any similarities in the way the East India Company operated in India, and the workings of a modern, multi national corporation? Justify your answer.
Did You Know?
- Of the 40,000 men who besieged Lucknow during the revolt of 1857, 20,000 were peasants.
- Of the 8000 rebel soldiers who fought the British in Kanpur, only 1000 were sepoys, the rest being peasants from adjacent villages.
- Muslim and Hindu rulers alike joined the rebelling soldiers and fought unitedly against the British.
- In the early 1800s, imports of Indian cotton and silk goods faced duties of 70-80% while British imports faced duties of 2-4%.
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