CBSE Class 8 Answered

Following were the political causes of the uprising of 1857:

1. The Doctrine of Lapse was used by the Company to annex the Indian states and steamroll their political ambitions on the Indian rulers. Major kingdoms such as Jhansi, Nagpur and Satara were taken over by exploiting this doctrine. As a result, their rulers, such as the famous Rani Lakshmibai, became staunch opponents of the Company administration.
2. After the death of Peshwa Baji Rao II, his adopted heir was denied pension. As a result, Nana Saheb became one of the leaders of the revolt.
3. In 1849, Lord Dalhousie announced that Bahadurshah would not be allowed to reside at the Red Fort anymore and would have to move to a different accommodation at the Qutub Minar.
4. Later on, Lord Canning announced that Bahadur Shah Zafar’s successors would not be allowed to inherit the property of their ancestors or use the imperial title. This greatly hurt the sentiments of Indians.
5. In 1856, Awadh was annexed by the Company administration on account of maladministration. This was done despite the fact that Awadh had been very loyal to the Company administration and especially to the terms and conditions of the Subsidiary Alliance System. This gave rise to a lot of resentment and insecurity among the other Indian rulers.
6. The British would not bother to change the terms of the treaties which they had negotiated with the Indian states and would often themselves break the treaties on some pretext. This often led to insecurity and an atmosphere of instability.