Indian Rebellion of 1857

A widespread uprising against East India Company rule in India, beginning with a sepoy revolt and ending with the British Crown taking direct control.

Meerut: A city in northern India where sepoys began the rebellion on 10 May 1857. The uprising began here after soldiers revolted and marched toward Delhi.
Doctrine of Lapse: A British annexation policy that denied succession to adopted heirs in certain princely states. Its use alienated ruling houses whose territories were annexed before the rebellion.
Rani of Jhansi: Lakshmibai, the queen of Jhansi who fought British forces during the rebellion. Her resistance became one of the uprising’s most enduring symbols.
Government of India Act 1858: A British law that transferred Indian administration from the East India Company to the Crown. It formally ended Company rule after the rebellion.
Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Awadh: The uprising in Awadh, where soldiers, dispossessed elites, and rural communities joined resistance. Awadh shows how the sepoy revolt drew in groups beyond the army.
Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Delhi: The 1857 uprising in Delhi, where rebels restored Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II as a symbolic ruler. Seizing Delhi gave the rebellion an imperial center and political emblem.
Annexation of Oudh: The East India Company’s 1856 takeover of the kingdom of Oudh, also called Awadh. The annexation displaced elites and affected soldiers recruited from the region.
Nana Sahib: An adopted son of the former Peshwa who led rebels at Kanpur in 1857. His leadership made Kanpur a major center of rebel resistance.
British Raj: The period of direct British Crown rule over India from 1858 to 1947. The uprising’s defeat inaugurated this new governing arrangement.
Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Kanpur: The course of the 1857 uprising in Kanpur, a major rebel center under Nana Sahib. Events in Kanpur illustrate the rebellion’s local military and civilian violence.

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