ICSE Class 8 Answered

Following were the socio-religious causes of the 1857 rebellion:

1. The Company administration had given the Christian missionaries a free run. The sizeable conversions angered Indians and led them to nurture resentment against the British Government.
2. Social reform measures of the British, like the abolition of sati and female infanticide, the Widow Remarriage Act and the promotion of girls’ education angered the conservative section of Hindus. It made them feel that the British were trying to subvert their indigenous cultural moorings.
3. The pundits and maulvisfelt that English education would take away their means of livelihood and would ultimately destroy Indian culture.
4. The introduction of railways and telegraph was looked upon as a British ploy to keep the Indians under their thumb and suppress any dissent whatsoever against the British.
5. The British policy of social discrimination resulted in great resentment among Indians. The British tried to impose their alleged racial superiority on Indians which became a rallying point for the rebels.