1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that on covers history one 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:23,159 Speaker 1: day at a time. Today is March. The day was 5 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: March eighteen fifty seven. India was under control of the 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: British East India Company and Britain's rule was becoming more 7 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: troublesome to Indian people. The British were changing up the 8 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: social structure drastically, and many Indians were growing disillusioned with 9 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 1: the East India Company's activities. Dissenton was bubbling among sea boys, 10 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: or Indian soldiers serving in the British Army. So on 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: this day, a twenty nine year old sea boy named 12 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: Mango Pandy attacked two British officers. Unrest had been brewing 13 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: for a while. The East India Company entered India in 14 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: the seventeenth century on the pretense of trading, but by 15 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: the early eighteenth century the company's role in India had 16 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: transformed to be more political. At the time of the 17 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: Sepoy Rebellion in the eighteen fifties, the East India Company 18 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: was really flexing its muscle as an extension of British imperialism, politics, 19 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: the economy and culture were subject to the whims of 20 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: the British. There weren't that many British people who actually 21 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: lived in India, at least not nearly as many as 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: there were Indians, but Indian royalty had entered into deals 23 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: with the East India Company that they believed would benefit 24 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: them and their states. India was divided into states and 25 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: the British were given the power to have troops and 26 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: British residents in each date. In return, the British would 27 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: ensure royal Indian families would thrive. But the British motivations 28 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: weren't so straightforward. As British influence grew stronger in India, 29 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: the East India Company weakened the power of Indian leadership 30 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: and attempted to dismantle Indian cultural traditions. James Andrew Brown, 31 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: Ramsay Marquis and tenth Earl of Dalhousie was a key 32 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: figure in this dramatic expansion of British power in India. 33 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: When Lord Dalhousi became the Governor General of India, he 34 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: instituted aggressive policies as he believed in the superiority of 35 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: the West. He championed Western education in India, developed a 36 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: transportation system, instituted telegraph lines, and instituted social reforms like 37 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: suppressing female infanticide and encouraging education for girls. But the 38 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: most controversial part of his political career in India was 39 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: his aggressive imposition of British administration throughout India. Under his oversight, 40 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: the East India Company annexed many Indian states under the 41 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: doctrine of laps. Provinces still had royal rulers, and when 42 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: one of those rulers had no biological air, the ruler 43 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: could ask the British government if he could adopt a 44 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: son to be his successor. But when Dalhousie came along, 45 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: he realized that he could refuse this permission to adopt, 46 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: so there would be a lapse in the line of 47 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: succession and Britain could swoop in an annex the territory. 48 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: This was a sketty policy subject to abuse, but the 49 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: British used it to acquire more land and power. Dalhousie 50 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: used the doctrine of laps in the state of out 51 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty six when the East India Company deemed 52 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: the ruler incompetent and took control of the state. This 53 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: didn't sit well with many of the Sepoys, who were 54 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: from the highest casts and out as they lost rank 55 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: and privilege in the transition of power. As many Brahmins 56 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: or people of the highest Hindu cast lost money and 57 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: power when they were supplanted by British officials, they grew 58 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: more and more unhappy with the East India Company. On 59 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: top of all this, some Indians suspected the British were 60 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: planning to convert everyone to Christianity and all of the 61 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: new social reforms were up ending Indian society. The sepoys 62 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: were also facing singular problems, as Sun felt slighted by 63 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: low pay and some were being passed over for promotions 64 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: in favor of white soldiers. But the straw that probably 65 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: broke the camel's back was the issuance of infilled rifles. 66 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: A rumor spread that the rifles cartridges have been lubricated 67 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: with large from pigs and cows. As Hinduism considers cows 68 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: sacred and Islam prohibits eating beef. The fact that soldiers 69 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: had to bite the ends of the cartridges to load 70 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: the rifles was a huge issue and seen as offensive. 71 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: So on March nine, eight fifty seven, Mangal Pandy, a 72 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: Brahmin seapoy, decided to protest this potentially malicious action and 73 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: kicked off the uprising by shooting a British sergeant major 74 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: and a lieutenant. Pandy was arrested, found guilty and sentenced 75 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: to death by hanging in April. Seapoys were built by 76 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: refusing to use their guns and were severely punished, but 77 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: by May the uprising had turned violent. Seapoys in South 78 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: India largely sided with the British, but many in the 79 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: Bengal Army mutinied. Off duty British officers and civilians were killed. 80 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: The British fought back by killing sea poys with bayonets 81 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: and even sometimes shooting them out of cannons, and they 82 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: murdered Indian civilians. These devastating and bloody battles lasted into 83 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty eight, with major incidents at Delhi Conpour in Lucknow, 84 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: but in the end the British military established control by 85 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:38,280 Speaker 1: slowly and strategically retaking cities after the rebellion had quieted. 86 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: The rebellion ended on July eighteen fifty eight, after more 87 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: than a year of brutal battles, the rebels had not 88 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,719 Speaker 1: achieved their goal of gaining their independence from Britain. India 89 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: didn't get there until nineteen forty seven, after a long 90 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: and arduous two hundred years of British rule, but they 91 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,239 Speaker 1: did cause some stepbacks that acquired some major changes in India. 92 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: The East India Company was put out and India came 93 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: under direct control of the British Crown, and armies, which 94 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: have been largely Indian before, were reorganized to include mainly 95 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:18,119 Speaker 1: British troops and a number of diverse Indian soldiers. That way, 96 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 1: there was less of a chance for the troops to 97 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: organize and mutiny. The prospect of converting Indians to Christianity 98 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: was squashed, and Britain even began meeting with Indian representatives 99 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: on cultural issues. But even though the British had rolled 100 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: back the imposition of some social measures, Britain expanded their 101 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 1: administration in India and Western systems continued to influence the 102 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: Indian subcontinent. I'm each Deco and hopefully you know a 103 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. You 104 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: can follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at t 105 00:06:54,040 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: d I h C podcast. We'll see you tomorrow mm hmm. 106 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:08,919 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 107 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 108 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: favorite shows.