Editing Indian independence movement (section)

== Early resistance to Company rule==
[[File:Bahadur_Shah_II_of_India.jpg|right|thumb|[[Bahadur Shah Zafar]] was declared the "Emperor of Hindustan" during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].]]

[[Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone]] was an early revolutionary against the British presence in Tamil Nadu. He became a military leader in the town of [[Ettayapuram]] and was defeated in battle against the British and Maruthanayagam's forces. He was executed in 1757.<ref>{{Cite news |title=P Chidambaram releases documentary film on Alagumuthu Kone {{!}} Madurai News |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/P-Chidambaram-releases-documentary-film-on-Alagumuthu-Kone/articleshow/17737324.cms|access-date=2020-10-01|work=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2023}} [[Puli Thevar]] opposed the [[Nawab of Arcot]], who was supported by the British.<ref name="p049">{{cite book | last=Muthiah | first=S. | title=Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India | publisher=Palaniappa Brothers | issue=v. 1 | year=2008 | isbn=978-81-8379-468-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbR_LLkqdI8C&pg=PA211 | access-date=2024-08-09 | page=211}}</ref> Maruthanayagam Pillai was a commandant of the British East India Company's [[Madras Army]]. He was born in a Tamil [[Vellalar|Vellalar caste]] family in a village called Panaiyur in [[British India]], what is now in Nainarkoil Taluk, [[Ramanathapuram District]] of [[Tamil Nadu]], India. He converted to Islam and was named Muhammad Yusuf Khan. He was popularly known as Khan Sahib when he became a ruler of Madurai. He became a warrior in the [[Arcot]] troops, and later a commandant for the [[British East India Company]] troops. The [[British Empire|British]] and the [[Arcot Nawab]] employed him to suppress the [[Polygar]] (a.k.a. Palayakkarar) uprising in [[South India]]. Later he was entrusted to administer the [[Madurai]] country when the [[Madurai Nayak dynasty|Madurai Nayak]] rule ended. He later fought war against the British and the Arcot Nawab. A dispute arose with the British and Arcot Nawab, and three of Khan's associates were bribed to capture him. He was captured during his morning prayer (Thozhugai) and hanged on 15 October 1764 at Sammatipuram near Madurai. Local legends state that he survived two earlier attempts at hanging, and that the Nawab feared Yusuf Khan would come back to life and so had his body dismembered and buried in different locations around Tamil Nadu. 
In [[East India|Eastern India]] and across the country, Indigenous communities organised numerous uprising against the British and their fellow members, especially [[Zamindar|landlords]] and moneylenders.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Horo|first=Albert|date=2013|title=Jharkhand Movement|url=http://www.ijhssi.org/papers/v2(4)/version-2/A240106.pdf|journal=International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention|volume= 2| issue = 4|pages=1–6|via=Google Scholar}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Gupta|first1=Sanjukta Das|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDGIpkJ9BgwC|title=Narratives from the Margins: Aspects of Adivasi History in India|last2=Basu|first2=Raj Sekhar|date=2012|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-93-80607-10-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-03-20|title=Summary of the Tribal Rebellions during British rule in India|url=https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/summary-of-the-tribal-rebellions-during-british-rule-in-india-1521541943-1|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Jagranjosh.com}}</ref> One of the earliest of these on record was led by Binsu Manki around 1771 over the transfer of [[Jharkhand]] to the [[East India Company]].<ref name=":0" /> The Rangpur Dhing took place from 1782 to 1783 in nearby [[Rangpur, Bangladesh|Rangpur, Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lees |first=James |date=2015|title='A Character to lose': Richard Goodlad, the Rangpur dhing, and the priorities of the East India Company's early colonial administrators|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43307694|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=25|issue=2|pages=301–315|jstor=43307694|issn=1356-1863}}</ref> Following Binsu Manki's revolt in Jharkhand, numerous uprisings across the region took place, including the rebellion led by [[Tilka Majhi|Tilka Manjhi]] in 1784; [[Bhumij rebellion|Bhumij Revolt]] of [[Manbhum]] from 1798 to 1799; the [[Chero]] Uprising of [[Palamu district|Palamu]] in 1800 under the leadership of Bhukan Singh, and two uprising of the [[Munda people|Munda]] community in Tamar region, during 1807 led by Dukan Mank, and 1819–20 under the leadership Bundu and Konta.<ref name=":0" /> The Ho Rebellion took place when the [[Ho people|Ho community]] first came in contact with the British, from 1820 to 1821 near [[Chaibasa]] on the Roro River in [[West Singhbhum district|West Singhbhum]], but were defeated by the technologically enhanced colonial cavalry.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Sanjukta Das|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8McrAwEACAAJ|title=Adivasis and the Raj: Socio-economic Transition of the Hos, 1820–1932|date=2011|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-4198-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kumar|first=Akshay|date=2021-06-18|title=Ho Rebellion & Kol Rebellion {{!}} Jharkhand|url=https://edvnce.com/blog/ho-rebellion-kol-rebellion/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Edvnce|language=en-US}}</ref> A larger [[Bhumij rebellion|Bhumij Revolt]] occurred near [[Midnapore|Midnapur]] in Bengal, under the leadership of [[Ganga Narayan Singh|Ganga Narain Singh]] who had previously also been involved in co-leading the [[Chuar Rebellion]]s in these regions from 1771 to 1809.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jha|first=Jagdish Chandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPjNAQAACAAJ|title=The Bhumij Revolt (1832–33): (ganga Narain's Hangama Or Turmoil)|date=1967-01-01|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.|isbn=978-81-215-0353-2|language=en}}</ref> [[Syed Mir Nisar Ali Titumir]] was an Islamic preacher who led a peasant uprising against the [[Zamindars of Bengal|Hindu Zamindars of Bengal]] and the British during the 19th century. Along with his followers, he built a bamboo fort (''Bansher Kella'' in Bengali) in Narkelberia Village, which gained a prominent place into Bengali folk legend. After the storming of the fort by British soldiers, Titumir died of his wounds on 19 November 1831.<ref>Khan, Muazzam Hussain. "Titu Mir". Banglapedia. Bangladesh Asiatic Society. Retrieved 4 March 2014.</ref> These rebellions lead to larger regional movements in Jharkhand and beyond such as the [[Kol uprising|Kol Insurrection]] led by Singhray and Binray Manki, where the [[Kol people|Kol]] ([[Munda people|Munda]], [[Kurukh people|Oraon]], [[Bhumij people|Bhumij]] and [[Ho people|Ho]] communities) united to rebel against the "outsiders" from 1830 -1833.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jha|first=Jagdish Chandra|date=1958|title=The Kol Rising of Chotanagpur (1831–33) – Its Causes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44145239|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=21|pages=440–446|jstor=44145239|issn=2249-1937}}</ref>
[[File:Birsa Munda, photograph in Roy (1912-72).JPG|alt=Birsa Munda, leader of Munda rebellion (Ulgulan)|left|thumb|[[Birsa Munda]], leader of Munda rebellion (Ulgulan)]]
The [[Santhal rebellion|Santhal Hul]] was a movement of over 60,000 [[Santal people|Santhals]] that happened from 1855 to 1857 (but started as early as 1784) and was particularly led by siblings – brothers [[Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu|Sidhu, Kanhu]], Chand and Bhairav and their sisters Phulo and Jhano from the [[Murmu]] clan in its most fervent years that lead up to the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Revolt of 1857]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9T3zYvKVF98C|title=This is our homeland... a collection of essays on the betrayal of Adivasi rights in India|publisher=Equations|year=2007|location=Bangalore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Soren|first=Nayan|date=30 June 2020|title=Remembering Santal Hul : A quest for Indigenous sovereignty|url=http://adivasiresurgence.com/2020/06/30/remembering-santal-hul-a-quest-for-indigenous-sovereignty/|access-date=21 November 2021|website=Adivasi Resurgence|archive-date=21 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121073337/http://adivasiresurgence.com/2020/06/30/remembering-santal-hul-a-quest-for-indigenous-sovereignty/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Forgotten Santhal Revolt of 1855|url=https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/img.livehistoryindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Santhal1.jpg|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Live History India|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Remembering Santal Hul, a 19th Century Struggle Against Imperialism|url=https://thewire.in/history/santal-hul-revolution|access-date=2021-11-21|website=The Wire}}</ref> More than 100 years of such escalating rebellions created grounds for a large, impactful, millenarian movement in Eastern India that again shook the foundations of British rule in the region, under the leadership of [[Birsa Munda]]. Birsa Munda belonged to the [[Munda people|Munda community]] and lead thousands of people from Munda, [[Kurukh people|Oraon]], and [[Kharia people|Kharia]] communities in "Ulgulaan" (revolt) against British political expansion and those who advanced it, against forceful conversions of Indigenous peoples into Christianity (even creating a Birsaite movement), and against the displacement of Indigenous peoples from their lands.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Kumar Suresh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFSgAAAAMAAJ|title=Birsa Munda and His Movement, 1872–1901: A Study of a Millenarian Movement in Chotanagpur|date=2002|publisher=Seagull Books|isbn=978-81-7046-205-7|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=A.K.Dhan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEg1DwAAQBAJ|title=Birsa Munda |date=2017|publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting|isbn=978-81-230-2544-5|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-15|title=About Birsa Munda [ 1875-1900 ] Biography & Life History|url=https://www.ambedkaritetoday.com/2019/11/about-birsa-munda-biography-life-history.html|access-date=2021-11-21|website=The Ambedkarite Today – Voice Of Voiceless|language=English}}</ref> To subdue these rising tensions which were getting increasingly out of control of the British, they aggressively set out to search for Birsa Munda, even setting up a reward for him. They brutally attacked the Dombari Hills where Birsa had repaired a water tank and made his revolutionary headquarters between 7–9 January 1900, murdering a minimum of 400 of the Munda warriors who had congregated there, akin to the attacks on the people at [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Jallianwallah Bagh]], however, receiving much less attention.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|date=2016-06-09|title=The 'Ulgulaan' of 'Dharti Aba – Birsa Munda'|url=http://adivasiresurgence.com/2016/06/09/the-ulgulaan-of-dharti-aba-birsa-munda/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Adivasi Resurgence|language=en-US|archive-date=21 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121073337/http://adivasiresurgence.com/2016/06/09/the-ulgulaan-of-dharti-aba-birsa-munda/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The hills are known as "Topped Buru" today – the mound of the dead.<ref name=":5" /> Birsa was ultimately captured in the Jamkopai forest in [[Singhbhum (Lok Sabha constituency)|Singhbhum]], and assassinated by the British in jail in 1900, with a rushed cremation/burial conducted to ensure his movement was subdued.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />
[[File:Veera Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja.jpg|alt=Pazhassi Raja, fought the British in a series of continuous struggles for 13 years during the Cotiote War.|thumb|[[Pazhassi Raja]], fought the British in a series of continuous struggles for 13 years during the [[Cotiote War]].]]
The toughest resistance the Company experienced was offered by Mysore. The [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]] were a series of wars fought in over the last three decades of the 18th century between the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] on the one hand, and the British East India Company (represented chiefly by the [[Madras Presidency]]), and [[Maratha Confederacy]] and the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]] on the other. [[Hyder Ali]] and his successor [[Tipu Sultan]] fought a war on four fronts with the British attacking from the west, south, and east, while the Marathas and the Nizam's forces attacked from the north. The fourth war resulted in the overthrow of the house of Hyder Ali and Tipu (who was killed in the final war, in 1799), and the dismantlement of Mysore to the benefit of the East India Company, which won and took control of much of India.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-India-Company|title=East India Company – Definition, History, & Facts|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date= 2023 }}</ref> [[Pazhassi Raja]] was the prince regent of the princely state of [[Kingdom of Kottayam|Cotiote]] in North Malabar, near [[Kannur]], India between 1774 and 1805. He fought a guerrilla war with tribal people from Wynad supporting him. He was captured by the British and his fort was razed to the ground.

In 1766 the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]] transferred the [[Northern Circars]] to the British authority. The independent king [[Jagannatha Gajapati Narayana Deo II|Jagannatha Gajapati Narayan Deo II]] of [[Paralakhemundi]] estate situated in today's [[Odisha]] and in the northernmost region of the then political division was continuously revolting against the [[Louis XIV's East India Company|French]] occupants since 1753 as per the Nizam's earlier handover of his estate to them on similar grounds. Narayan Deo II fought the British at Jelmur fort on 4 April 1768 and was defeated due to superior firepower of the British. He fled to the tribal hinterlands of his estate and continued his efforts against the British until his natural death on the Fifth of December 1771.
[[File:Velu Nachchiyar 2008 stamp of India.jpg|alt=Velu Nachiyar, was one of the earliest Indian queens to fight against the British colonial power in India.|left|thumb|[[Velu Nachiyar]], was one of the earliest Indian queens to fight against the British colonial power in India.]]
[[Velu Nachiyar|Rani Velu Nachiyar]] (1730–1796), was a queen of [[Sivaganga]] from 1760 to 1790. Rani Nachiyar was trained in war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam (fighting using stick), horse riding and archery. She was a scholar in many languages and she had proficiency with languages like French, English, and Urdu. When her husband, Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyathevar, was killed in battle with British soldiers and the forces of the [[Nawab of Arcot]], she was drawn into battle. She formed an army and sought an alliance with Gopala Nayaker and [[Hyder Ali]] with the aim of attacking the British, whom she successfully challenged in 1780. When the inventories of the Britishers were discovered, she is said to have arranged a suicide attack by a faithful follower, [[Kuyili]], dousing herself in oil and setting herself alight and walking into the storehouse. Rani formed a women's army named "Udaiyaal" in honour of her adopted daughter, who had died detonating a British arsenal. Rani Nachiyar was one of the few rulers who regained her kingdom, and ruled it for a decade more.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/remembering-queen-velu-nachiyar-sivagangai-first-queen-fight-british-55163 |title=Remembering Queen Velu Nachiyar of Sivagangai, the first queen to fight the British|website=The News Minute|date=3 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Velu-Nachiyar-Jhansi-Rani-of-Tamil-Nadu/articleshow/51436071.cms|title=Velu Nachiyar, Jhansi Rani of Tamil Nadu|date=17 March 2016 |newspaper=The Times of India}}</ref>

[[Veerapandiya Kattabomman]] was an eighteenth-century [[Polygar]] and chieftain from [[Panchalankurichi]] in [[Tamil Nadu]], India who waged the [[Polygar Wars|Polygar war]] against the East India Company. He was captured by the British and hanged in 1799 CE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sanmargroup.com/Newsmain/Matrix/June2001/LegVeeraJ01.htm |title=Legends from South |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904104239/http://www.sanmargroup.com/Newsmain/Matrix/June2001/LegVeeraJ01.htm |archive-date=4 September 2012}}</ref> Kattabomman refused to accept the sovereignty of East India Company, and fought against them.<ref name=Anand>{{cite journal |last=Yang |first=Anand A. |date=November 2007 |title=Bandits and Kings: Moral Authority and Resistance in Early Colonial India |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=881–896 |jstor=20203235 |doi=10.1017/s0021911807001234}}</ref> [[Dheeran Chinnamalai]] was a [[Kongu Nadu]] chieftain and [[Palayakkarar]] from Tamil Nadu who fought against the East India Company.<ref>{{cite book |author=K. Guru Rajesh |year=2015 |title=Sarfarosh: A Naadi Exposition of the Lives of Indian Revolutionaries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_dLCgAAQBAJ&q=dheeran+chinnamalai&pg=PT65 |publisher=Notion Press |page=65 |isbn=978-93-5206-173-0}}</ref> After [[Kattabomman]] and Tipu Sultan's deaths, Chinnamalai sought the help of [[Marathas]] and [[Maruthu Pandiyar]] to attack the British at [[Coimbatore]] in 1800. The British forces managed to stop the armies of the allies, forcing Chinnamalai to attack Coimbatore on his own. His army was defeated and he escaped from the British forces. Chinnamalai engaged in [[guerrilla warfare]] and defeated the British in battles at [[Cauvery]] in 1801, Odanilai in 1802 and [[Arachalur]] in 1804.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/02/stories/2008080254520600.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914020119/http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/02/stories/2008080254520600.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2008|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|title=Chinnamalai, a lesser-known freedom fighter of Kongu soil |date=2 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tw8nBgAAQBAJ&q=dheeran+chinnamalai|title=Rough with the Smooth|first=Ram|last=Govardhan|publisher=Leadstart Publishing|year=2001|pages=212|isbn=9789381115619}}</ref>

In 1804 the King of [[Khordha]], [[Odisha|Kalinga]] was deprived of his traditional rights to the [[Jagannath]] Temple. In retaliation, a group of armed Paiks attacked the British at [[Pipili]]. [[Jayee Rajguru]], the chief of Army of Kalinga requested a common alliance against the British.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/article1368449.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140506173242/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/article1368449.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= 6 May 2014 |title=Villages fight over martyr's death place |first=Hemant Kumar |last=Rout |newspaper=The New Indian Express |year=2012 |quote=historians claim he is actually the first martyr in the country's freedom movement because none was killed by the Britishers before 1806 |access-date=7 February 2013}}</ref> After Rajguru's death, [[Bakshi Jagabandhu]] launched an armed revolution against the East India Company's rule in Odisha. This is now known as the [[Paik Rebellion]], the first uprising against the British East India Company.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mohanty|first=N.R.|title=The Oriya Paika Rebellion of 1817|journal=Orissa Review|date=August 2008|pages=1–3|url=http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2008/August-2008/engpdf/1-3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111185749/http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2008/August-2008/engpdf/1-3.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2013 |access-date=13 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="orissa">{{cite journal|last=Paikaray|first=Braja|title=Khurda Paik Rebellion – The First Independence War of India|journal=Orissa Review|date=February–March 2008|pages=45–50|url=http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2008/feb-march-2008/engpdf/45-50.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422232307/http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2008/feb-march-2008/engpdf/45-50.pdf |archive-date=22 April 2014 |access-date=13 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="as">{{cite web |url=https://khordha.nic.in/paik-rebellion/ |title=Paik Rebellion |website=Khordha |publisher=National Informatics Centre |access-date=14 August 2018}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="150" mode="packed">
File:Puli Thevar Statue in his Nerkattumseval Palace 2013-08-12 06-35.jpeg|[[Puli Thevar]]
File:Veerapandiya Kattabomman 1999 stamp of India.jpg|[[Veerapandiya Kattabomman]]
File:Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone.jpg|[[Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone|Maveeran Azhagu Muthukon]]
File:Bakshi Jagabandhu.jpg|Statue of [[Bakshi Jagabandhu]], the leader of [[Paika Rebellion]]
File:Stamp of India - 2002 - Colnect 158245 - Sido Murmu - Kanhu Murmu.jpeg|[[Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu]], leaders of [[Santhal rebellion]]
</gallery>
[[File:Vereshchagin-Blowing from Guns in British India.jpg|alt=Suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English, which depicts the execution of mutineers by blowing from a gun by the British.|thumb|''[[Suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English]]'', which depicts the execution of mutineers by [[blowing from a gun]] by the British.]]

===Rebellion of 1857===
{{Main|Indian Rebellion of 1857}}
The Indian war of independence of 1857 was a large uprising in northern and central India against the East India Company.<ref name="Chandra 1989 31" /> The conditions of service in the company's army and [[cantonment]]s had increasingly come into conflict with the religious beliefs and prejudices of the [[sepoy]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|Mahajan|1989|p=33}}</ref> The predominance of members from the upper castes in the army, perceived loss of caste due to overseas deployment, and rumours of secret designs of the government to convert them to Christianity led to growing discontent.<ref>{{harvnb|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|Mahajan|1989|pp=33–34}}</ref> The sepoys were also disillusioned by their low salaries and the racial discrimination practised by British officers in matters of promotion and privileges.<ref name="Chandra 1989 34">{{harvnb|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|Mahajan|1989|p=34}}</ref>

The indifference of the British towards native Indian rulers and the annexation of [[Oudh]] furthered dissent. The [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Marquess of Dalhousie]]'s policy of annexation, the [[doctrine of lapse]] and the projected removal of the Mughals from their ancestral palace at [[Red Fort]] also led to popular anger.
[[File:Indian revolt of 1857 states map.svg|alt=Map of India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.|left|thumb|Map of India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.]]
The final spark was provided by the rumoured use of tallow (from cows) and lard (pig fat) in the newly introduced [[Pattern 1853 Enfield]] rifle cartridges. Soldiers had to bite the cartridges with their teeth before loading them into their rifles, ingesting the fat. This was sacrilegious to both Hindus and Muslims.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+bd0018)|title=The Uprising of 1857|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=10 November 2009}}</ref>

[[Mangal Pandey]] was sepoy who played a key part in the events immediately preceding the outbreak of the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]]. His defiance to his British superiors led to his execution, contributing to the first outbreak at [[Meerut]].
[[File:Rani of jhansi.jpg|alt=Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, one of the principal leaders of the revolutionaries who earlier had lost her kingdom as a result of the Doctrine of Lapse.|thumb|[[Rani of Jhansi|Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi]], one of the principal leaders of the rebellion who earlier had lost her kingdom as a result of the [[Doctrine of Lapse]].]]
On 10 May 1857, the sepoys at [[Meerut]] broke ranks and turned on their commanding officers, killing some of them. They reached Delhi on 11 May, set the company's [[toll house]] on fire, and marched into the Red Fort, where they asked the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperor]], [[Bahadur Shah II]], to become their leader and reclaim his throne. The emperor eventually agreed and was proclaimed ''Shahenshah-e-Hindustan'' by the rebels.<ref name="Chandra 1989 31">{{harvnb|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|Mahajan|1989|p=31}}</ref> The rebels also murdered much of the European, [[Anglo-Indian|Eurasian]], and Christian population of the city, including natives who had converted to Christianity,<ref>{{harvnb|David|2002|p=122}}</ref> while sparing British men and women who had converted to Islam.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |author-link=William Dalrymple |title=The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857 |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2006 |isbn=9780143102434 |location=India |publication-date=2006 |page=153}}</ref> 

Revolts broke out in other parts of [[Oudh]] and the [[North-Western Provinces]] as well, where [[civil rebellion]] followed the mutinies, leading to popular uprisings.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|Mahajan|1989|p=35}}</ref>  The British were initially caught off-guard and were thus slow to react, but eventually responded with force. The lack of effective organisation among the rebels, coupled with the military superiority of the British, brought an end to the rebellion.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|Mahajan|1989|pp=38–39}}</ref> The British fought the main army of the rebels near Delhi, and after prolonged fighting and a siege, defeated them and reclaimed the city on 20 September 1857.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|Mahajan|1989|p=39}}</ref> Subsequently, revolts in other centres were also crushed. The last significant battle was fought in [[Gwalior]] on 17 June 1858, during which [[Rani Lakshmibai]] was killed. Sporadic fighting and [[guerrilla warfare]], led by [[Tatya Tope]], continued until spring 1859, but most of the rebels were eventually subdued.
[[File:"Attack of the Mutineers on the Redan Battery at Lucknow, July 30th, 1857,.jpg|alt=Attack of the Mutineers on the Redan Battery at Lucknow, July 30, 1857|left|thumb|Attack of the Mutineers on the Redan Battery at Lucknow, 30 July 1857]]
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a turning point. While affirming the military and political power of the British,<ref>{{Harvnb|Heehs|1998|p=32}}</ref> it led to a significant change in how India was to be controlled by them. Under the [[Government of India Act 1858]], the East India Company's territory was transferred to the British government.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/393/ |title = Official, India |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = 1890–1923 |access-date = 30 May 2013 }}</ref> At the apex of the new system was a [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet minister]], the [[Secretary of State for India]], who was to be formally advised by a [[Council of India|statutory council]];<ref>{{Harvnb|Heehs|1998|pp=47–48}}</ref> the [[Governor-General of India]] (Viceroy) was made responsible to him, while he in turn was responsible to the government.

In a [[royal proclamation]] made to the people of India, [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] promised equal opportunity of public service under British law, and also pledged to respect the rights of native princes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Heehs|1998|p=48}}</ref> The British stopped the policy of seizing land from the princes, decreed [[religious tolerance]] and began to admit Indians into the civil service. However, they also increased the number of British soldiers in relation to native Indian ones, and allowed only British soldiers to handle artillery. Bahadur Shah II was exiled to [[Yangon|Rangoon]] where he died in 1862.

In 1876 the British Prime Minister [[Benjamin Disraeli]] proclaimed Queen Victoria the [[Empress of India]]. The British Liberals objected as the title was foreign to British traditions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Robert P. O'Kell|title=Disraeli: The Romance of Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DyWAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT443|year=2014|publisher=U of Toronto Press|pages=443–44|isbn=9781442661042}}</ref>
[[File:Dadabhai Naoroji 1889.jpg|thumb|[[Dadabhai Naoroji]], was one of the founding members of the [[Indian National Congress]].<ref name="INC_BritishRaj">{{citation |last=Nanda |first=B. R. |title=Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pI19BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |page=58 |year=2015 |series=Legacy Series |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-7049-3 |author-link=Bal Ram Nanda |orig-year=1977}}</ref>]]