Political Causes of Revolt of 1857

• Many princely states were annexed by using the Doctrine of lapse, such as Satara in 1848 and Jhansi in 1854 by Dalhousie. Awadh, however, was annexed under an excuse that Nawab Wazid Ali Shah was mismanaging the state.
• These annexations created resentment among the deposed rulers as well as their subjects, many of which were recruited as sepoys.

Economic Causes of 1857 Revolt

• Impact on traditional industries: The British aimed to make India a consumer of British goods, leading to the collapse of industries like textiles, metalwork, glass, and paper. By 1813, Indian handicrafts lost domestic and foreign markets, and British factories were captured and monopolised through war and colonisation.
• Impact on agriculture: The land revenue policies followed by the Britishers led to the commercialisation of agriculture and made the land a tradable commodity. It gave rise to new landlords, absentee landlords and moneylenders that created resentment in older landlords. The high burden of taxes, erstwhile cultivators being taken away from their lands, etc., made the peasants desperate for a regime change.

Social Causes of Revolt of 1857

• Alien rule: Britishers never mixed with the Indian people and treated even the upper-class Indians with contempt.
• Interference in religion: Religious leaders, such as Pandits and Maulvis, have also lost all of their previous power and prestige.

Administrative Factors

• Discrimination in the army: There was discrimination in salary, cost of maintenance and the military ranks between Indian sepoys and their British counterparts. They were also treated with humiliation and abuse, which created discontent amongst Indian sepoys.
• Discrimination in civil administration: Indians were deprived of higher posts, which were primarily taken by the British.

Immediate Cause of Revolt of 1857

The atmosphere was so surcharged that even a small issue could lead to revolution.

• Cartridges of the new Enfield rifle, which had recently been introduced in the army, had a greased paper cover whose end had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into the rifle.
• Pig and beef fat were used to make the grease. The Hindu and Muslim soldiers were so outraged by this that they began to suspect that the government was actively attempting to undermine their religion. It was the immediate root of the uprising.