To what extent can the policies of Lord Dalhousie be blamed for the Revolt of 1857?

Lord Dalhousie was the governor-general of India from 1847-56. During the tenure of Dalhousie, the feelings of unrest that were growing among the Indians finally got manifested in the form of the revolt of 1857.

The policies of Lord Dalhousie were responsible for the revolt of 1857 in many ways

1. Expansionist policies of Lord Dalhousie in the form of Doctrine of lapse –The annexation of states like Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur Sambalpur, and Udaipur on the pretext of Doctrine of Lapse left thousands of nobles, officials, retainers, and soldiers jobless.
2. Frequent annexations of princely states like Travancore, Awadh, etc
3. Wars with Burma, the 2nd anglo Sikh war, etc enraged Indians.
4. Social and religious reforms – Various social reforms have been believed as threats to the established social structure.
   1. For example – An act in 1850 changed the Hindu law of inheritance enabling a Hindu who had converted to Christianity to inherit his ancestral properties. The people were convinced that the Government was planning to convert Indians to Christianity.
   2. The widow remarriage act was passed, which was not appreciated by orthodox sections of India.
5. Introduction of modern transport and communication – The Introduction of modern transport and communication led to the influx of British manufactured goods into India, which ruined industries, particularly the textile industry of India. Indian handicraft industries had to compete with cheap machine-made goods from Britain.
   1. These all impacts together led to the economic misery of the inhabitants and the small traders and handicraftsmen leading to a strong reaction against the British administration in India.
6. Military reforms led to resentment among the Indian soldiers – As he had no confidence in the Indians, a new Gurkha regiment was created.
   1. A new “Irregular Force” was also formed and posted in Punjab. Lord Dalhousie denied the pension and titles to an heir of many soldiers.

However, there were other factors also which was responsible for the revolt of 1857.

• Land Revenue system of the Britishers – The Ryotwari and Mahalwari systems demanded revenue that was exorbitant and the methods of collecting the revenue were cruel.
• In 1852, the Inam commission was established which recommended the takeover of the Jagirs on which the revenue was not paid. The result was that twenty thousand Jagirs had been confiscated.
• Assigning the Low position to Indians in Administration- The notorious signboards ‘Dogs and Indians not allowed’ were common in the British places of activity in India.
• The roles of Christian missionaries – The increased activities of the Christian missionaries were seen with suspicion and mistrust.
• The Priests were appointed in the army to “teach” the sepoys about Christianity, which was considered a threat to the religious sentiment.

Conclusion

Revolt is not the consequence of immediate exploitation or persecution of a single factor or a single person. The policies of Dalhousie acted as a spark to already raging discontentment among different classes of people, leading to the revolt of 1857.