There were many causes for the Great Uprising of 1857. In this context, state the following.

(a) Policy of economic exploitation.

(b) Military causes.

(c) Political causes.

(a) The economic policies of the British resulted in impoverishing all the segments of Indian society, except a handful of collaborators among the Indians.

1. Exploitation of Economic Resources of India : The East India Company reduced agricultural India to an economic colony. The Company purchased textiles, indigo, spices and tea from India and sold them abroad at exorbitant prices. The British put restriction on the import of Indian textiles imposing heavy import duties on such goods.
2. Subordination of Indian Industry: Goods manufactured in India were subjected to high import duties in England. India became a country supplying raw materials to England. The British manufactured finished goods from Indian raw materials and exported them back to India making enormous profit. This affected the textile industry in India.
3. Collapse of Indian Handicrafts : As a result of the British policy of making India a raw material producing country, Indian handicrafts and cottage industries died out. Heavy duties on Indian silk and cotton textiles in Britain destroyed Indian industries.
4. Drain of Wealth : The British used the surplus revenues earned from India to buy raw materials from India. The drain also included the salaries, incomes and savings of Englishmen, the British expenditure in India on the purchase of military goods, office establishments, interest on debts, unnecessary expenditure on the army, etc. India's wealth was transferred to England with India getting no proportionate economic return.
5. Economic Decline of Peasantry : It was the peasantry that bore the heavy burden of taxes to provide money for the trade of the Company, the cost of administration and the wars of British expansion in India. The merchants and moneylenders pushed rents to exorbitant levels and evicted their tenants in case of non-payment.

(b) There were several causes that roused discontentment among the sepoy as well, who started the uprising.

1. Ill-Treatment of Indian Sepoys : Indian sepoys were treated inferior to the British sepoys and were often abused and kicked as if they were animals.
2. Inferior Status and Low Salaries : The wages of the Indian soldiers were too less to support their families. An English soldier was paid much more. The Indians had no chance of promotion and were not appointed to high posts in the army. No Indian could rise higher than the post of Subedar.
3. General Service Enlistment Act (1856) : Lord Canning passed the General Service Enlistment Act. It created bitterness among the sepoys as it bound them to be sent to fight even to an overseas front.
4. Loss of British Prestige in the First Afghan War : After the beating the British received in the First Afghan War, the Indian sepoys felt that the British could also be defeated. So they gathered courage to take up arms against them.
5. Fall in number of European troops : A large number of European soldiers were pulled back to Europe during the Crimean War (1853-56). The fall in the number of European troops in India encouraged the Indian sepoys to break out in an open revolt.
6. Annexation of Awadh : Annexation of Awadh caused the Indian sepoys to resent the British as the huge Bengal army mainly consisted of sepoys from Awadh.
7. Greased Cartridges Incident : Greased cartridges were to be used in the newly introduced Enfield rifle. These were rumoured to be greased from the fat of cows and pigs. Both the Hindu and Muslim sepoys felt that the British wanted to defile their religion.

(c) The British policies of expansion made the native rulers resent them and they played an active part in the Great Uprising of 1857.

1. Doctrine of Lapse : The Doctrine of Lapse implied that if an Indian ruler died without a natural heir, his kingdom would automatically lapse to the British. An adopted heir could not become the ruler of such a state. This made the Indian rulers hostile to the British.
2. Disrespect Shown to Bahadur Shah : The British announced that after the death of Bahadur Shah II, the Mughals would lose the title of kings and his successors would have to vacate the Red Fort. This increased the aversion of the Indians for the British.
3. Ill-Treatment of Nana Sahib and Rani of Jhansi : The British refused to acknowledge the adopted son of the last Peshwa Baji Rao II, Nana Sahib as the ruler of the Marathas. The Rani of Jhansi, Laxmi Bai, was also not allowed to adopt a son. They became sworn enemies of the English.
4. Annexation of Awadh : In 1856, Lord Dalhousie annexed Awadh to the Comapany's dominions on the pretext of alleged misule or misgovernance and deposed Nawab Wazid Ali Shah. The Indians had to pay higher land revenue and additional taxes on food, houses, ferries and justice.
5. Absentee Sovereignty of the British : Indians felt they were being ruled from England and India's wealth was drained to England and not utilised for their welfare.
6. Subsidiary alliance : According to the Subsidiary Alliance, the British promised to protect the Indian rulers agreed to it from attacks by others. In return, the rulers gave away many of their powers to the British and became largely dependent on them.