History & Civics
The Sepoys or Indian soldiers in the Army were discontent against the British Raj on account of low Salary and poor prospects of Promotion leading to the First War of Independence. Explain this statement.
Answer
The Sepoys or Indian soldiers in the Army were discontent against the British Raj due to the following reasons:
- Indians had poor prospects of promotion. All the high ranks in the army were reserved for the British only. The native sepoys could not rise above the rank of Subedar, even though their performance as a soldier was excellent.
- Indian soldiers had low salary. The maximum pay that a subedar of the infantry could expect was less than the minimum pay of a raw English recruit. The sepoys were required to serve in areas far away from their homes without any additional allowance.
Related Questions
Which was the first kingdom to sign the Subsidiary Alliance?
- Mysore
- Awadh
- Maratha
- Jhansi
(A) The British policy of territorial expansion and gradual annexation of the native Indian States was one of the major grievances of the Indian rulers.
(R) Some States were brought under British control without actually being annexed.
- (R) contradicts (A)
- (R) is the reason for (A)
- (A) is true but (R) is false
- (A) and (R) are independent of each other
Read the excerpt given below and answer the questions that follow:
"The sepoys are now enjoined to display communal harmony and exhorted to pray to their respective gods…. They are now called sipah-i-Hindostan (the Army of India) and there are appeals now to fellow countrymen "ahl-i watan", dear compatriots "aziz ham-watan" with specific exhortations for a united rallying of Hindus and Muslims."
— The Dehli Urdu Akhbar (the first Urdu weekly newspaper), June 1857(a) What was the policy that the British followed to dispel 'the communal harmony'?
(b) Briefly explain how the British unwittingly led to the united rallying of Hindus and Muslims by introducing the Enfield Rifle.
(c) How was the British army reorganised to avoid another uprising of this kind?
(A) The British introduced modern innovations like railways and telegraph in India in the mid-19th century.
(R) The British introduced these innovations to modernise India.
- (R) contradicts (A)
- (R) is the reason for (A)
- (A) is true but (R) is false
- (A) and (R) are independent of each other