Consequences

Stanley Wolpert

The revolt of 1857 marks a turning point in the history of India. It led to far-reaching changes in the system of administration and the policies of the British government. Even before the Revolt could be suppressed fully, the British Parliament, on August 2, 1858, passed an Act for the Better Government of India. The Act declared Queen Victoria as the sovereign of British India and provided for the appointment of a Secretary of State for India (a member of the British cabinet). The direct responsibility for the administration of the country was assumed by the British

Crown and Company rule was abolished.

The assumption of the Government of India by the sovereign of Great Britain was announced by Lord Canning at a durbar at Allahabad in the ‘Queen’s Proclamation’ issued on November 1, 1858. (It was by this proclamation that the governor-general acquired the additional title of ‘Viceroy’.)

Many of the promises made in that proclamation appeared to be of a positive nature to the Indians.

As per the Queen’s proclamation, the era of annexations and expansion had ended and the British promised to respect the dignity and rights of the native princes.

The Indian states were henceforth to recognise the paramountcy of the British Crown and were to be treated as parts of a single charge.

The people of India were promised freedom of religion without interference from British officials.

The proclamation also promised equal and impartial protection under law to all Indians, besides equal opportunities in government services irrespective of race or creed. It was also promised that old Indian rights, customs and practices would be given due regard while framing and administering the law.

The Army, which was at the forefront of the outbreak, was thoroughly reorganised and British military policy came to be dominated by the idea of “division and counterpoise”. The British could no longer depend on Indian loyalty, so the number of Indian soldiers was drastically reduced even as the number of European soldiers was increased. The concept of divide and rule was adopted with separate units being created on the basis of caste/community/region. Recruits were to be drawn from the ‘martial’ races of Punjab, Nepal, and north-western frontier who had proved loyal to the British during the Revolt. Effort was made to keep the army away from civilian population.

The Army Amalgamation Scheme, 1861 moved the

Company’s European troops to the services of the Crown. Further, the European troops in India were constantly revamped by periodical visits to England, sometimes termed as the ‘linked-battalion’ scheme. All Indian artillery units, except a few mountain batteries, were made defunct. All higher posts in the army and the artillery departments were reserved for the Europeans. Till the first decade of the twentieth century, no Indian was thought fit to deserve the king’s commission and a new English recruit was considered superior to an Indian officer holding the viceroy’s commission.

The earlier reformist zeal of a self-confident Victorian

liberalism evaporated as many liberals in Britain began to believe that Indians were beyond reform. This new approach— ‘conservative brand of liberalism’, as it was called by Thomas Metcalf—had the solid support of the conservative and aristocratic classes of England who espoused the complete non-interference in the traditional structure of Indian society. Thus the era of reforms came to an end.

The conservative reaction in England made the British Empire in India more autocratic; it began to deny the aspirations of the educated Indians for sharing power. In the long term, this new British attitude proved counter-productive for the Empire, as this caused frustrations in the educated Indian middle classes and gave rise to modern nationalism very soon.

The policy of divide and rule started in earnest after the Revolt of 1857. The British used one class/community

White Mutiny

In the wake of the transfer of power from the British East India Company to the British Crown, a section of European forces employed under the Company resented the move that required the three Presidency Armies to transfer their allegiance from the defunct Company to the Queen, as in the British Army. This resentment resulted in some unrest termed as White Mutiny.

Prior to 1861, there were two separate military forces in India, operating under the British rule. One was the Queen’s army and the other comprised the units of the East India Company. The Company’s troops received batta, extra allowances of pay to cover various expenditures related to operations in areas other than the home territories. With transfer of power, the batta was stopped. Lord Canning’s legalistic interpretation of the laws surrounding the transfer also infuriated the affected White soldiers.

The White Mutiny was seen as a potential threat to the already precarious British position in India with a potential of inciting renewed rebellion among the ‘still excited population in India’. The demands of the ‘European Forces’ included an enlistment bonus or a choice of release from their obligations. Finally, the demand for free and clear release with free passage home was accepted, and men opted to return home. It is also believed that open rebellion and physical violence on the part of ‘European Forces’ were such that there was little possibility of being accepted into the ‘Queen’s Army’.