Question 1. What was the plea of Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao-II? 

Answer – Nana Saheb pleaded that he be given his father’s pension when the latter died.

Question 2. How did the Company plan to bring an end to the Mughal dynasty?

Answer – The name of the Mughal king was removed from the coins minted by the Company.

Question 3. Why were the Indian sepoys unhappy with the British rule? Give any one reason?

Answer – The Indian sepoys were underpaid

Question 4. What rumour spread among the sepoys of the Meerut regiment about the new cartridges?

Answer – The rumour spread that the new cartridges were coated with the fat of cows and pigs.

Question 5. What did the ageing Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar do after he was declared the leader of the rebels?

Answer – He wrote letters to all the chiefs and rulers of the country to come forward and organize a confederacy of Indian states to fight the British.

Question 6. Name any two smaller rulers who acknowledged the suzerainty of Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Answer – Nana Saheb and Biijis Qadr.

Question 7. Who was Tantia Tope?

Answer – He was the General of Nana Saheb.

Question 8. Who was Ahmadullah Shah? What was his prophesy?

Answer – Ahmadullah Shah was a maulvi from Faizabad. His prophesy was that the rule of the British would soon come to an end.

Question 9. Who was Bakht Khan?

Answer – Bakht Khan was a soldier from Bareilly. He took charge of a large force of fighters who came to Delhi.

Question 10. When did the British recapture Delhi?

Answer – The British recaptured Delhi in September 1857.

Question 11. Why were the powers of the East India Company transferred to the British Crown?

Answer – The powers of the East India Company were transferred to the British Crown in order to ensure a more responsible management of Indian affairs.

Question 1. Under what pretext did the Company take over Awadh?

Answer – In 1801, a subsidiary alliance was imposed on Awadh, and in 1856, it was taken over. Governor-General Dalhousie declared that the territory was being misgoverned and British rule was needed to ensure proper administration.

Question 2. How did the Company plan to bring an end to the Mughal dynasty?

Answer -(a) First of all the name of the Mughal king was removed from the coins minted by the Company.

(b) In 1849, Governor-General Dalhousie announced that after the death of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the family of the king would be shifted out of the Red Fort and given another place in Delhi to live in.

(c) In 1856, Governor-General “Canning decided that Bahadur Shah Zafar would be the last Mughal king and after his death his descendants would be known as princes.

Question 3. Why were the Indian sepoys in the employ of the Company discontented? Give sufficient reasons.

Answer – Reasons for their discontentment:

(a) The Indian sepoys were given poor salaries and allowances.

(b) The conditions of service also made them unhappy.

(c) Some of the new rules even violated their religious sentiments and beliefs.

(d) Those were the days when many people in the country believed that if they crossed the sea they would lose their religion and caste. So when in 1824 the sepoys were told to go to Burma by the sea route to fight for the Company, they refused to follow this order. As a result, they were given severe punishment. What is more, in 1856, the Company passed a new law which stated that every new person who took up employment in the Company’s army had to agree to serve overseas if required.

Question 4. What reforms did the British introduce in the Indian society? How did the people of India respond to them?

Answer – The British introduced several reforms:

(a) They passed laws to stop the practice of sati and to encourage the remarriage of widows.

(b) They promoted English language education.

(c) In 1850, the Company passed a new law that made the conversion to Christianity easier.

Many Indians began to feel that the British were destroying their religion, their social customs and their traditional way of life. But at the same time there were other Indians who readily accepted the reforms introduced by the British. In fact, they wanted to change existing social practices.

Question 5. Why did the chiefs and rulers support the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in the revolt?

Answer – The Mughal dynasty had ruled over a large part of the country. Most smaller rulers and chieftains controlled different territories on behalf of the Mughal ruler. Threatened by the expansion of British rule, many of them felt that if the Mughal emperor could rule again, they too would be able to rule their own territories once more, under the Mughal authority.

Question 6. How did the British try to win back the loyalty of the people after they recaptured Delhi?

Answer – (a) The British announced rewards for loyal landholders by allowing them to continue to enjoy traditional rights over their lands.

(b) Those who had rebelled were told that if they submitted to the British and if they had not killed any white people, they would remain safe and their rights and claims to land would not be denied.

Question 7. What was the condition after recapturing of Delhi by the British?

Answer – The recapturing of Delhi did not mean that the rebellion died down, people still continued with the resistance and battle with the British. The British had to fight for two years in this manner to suppress the massive forces of popular rebellion.

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