What were the consequences of war of independence?

[Arooj Chaudhry]

Consequences of war of independence
The consequences of war of independence are as follows:
1) End of the East India company’s rule:

• Crown took over the change from Company.
• Secretary of State of India was appointed who reported to British Parliament.
  2) Queen Victoria’s Proclamation:
• The transfer of government was done on 1 November, 1958 at Allahabad.
• Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India, promised not to intervene in religious and social matters, would bring equality, pardon soldiers, best for Indian Industries.
  3) End of Mughals and Peshwa:
  Bahadur Shah-|| went to Yangon and Nana Sahib went to Nepal. Two foes of British came to an end.
  4) Relations with Princely States:
  Policy of Annexation and Doctrine of Lapse were abandoned.
  5) Policy of Divide & Rule:
  After 1858, British started Divide & Rule policy i.e Caste against Caste, Princes against people and Hindus against Muslims.
  6) Winding gulf between Hindus & Muslims:
  British sowed seeds of hatred between Hindus and Muslims.
  7) Racial Antagonism:
  British believed that they were superior and maintained distance from Indians. Railways, Parks, hotels, etc had seats " Reserved for Europeans only".
  8) Increased racial bitterness:
  British believed that Indians aren’t trust worthy and remodeled the structure of Indian government based on an idea of a superior race.
  9) Religious changes:
  British rulers declared that they would not intervene in religious affairs, customs and traditions.
  10) Foreign policy:
  Indian foreign policy was decided by British within two aims:
  a. Protection of its Indian empire.
  b. Expansion of British economic and commercial interests.
  11) Changes in Army:
  To avoid another uprising, Indian army was recognized after 1858 in the following matter:
  **a) No. of Indian troops was decreased to 1,40,000 and no. of Eurpean troops was increased to 65,000.
  **b) **European troops were kept in key locations.
  **c) **Policy of excluding Indians from officer positions was strictly followed.
  **c) **Weapons were never placed under the charge of Indians.
  **d) **Divide & Rile policy was practiced during the recruitment in the army. Discouraged nationalism through caste/religion discrimination in regiments.
  **e) **Soldiers were not allowed to read newspapers & journals.
  12) Economic exploitation:
  **a) **India became a colony to export raw material and import finished goods.
  **b) **Salaries of soldiers, military officers, Council members were taken from India’s resources.
  **c) **Peasants were bankrupt/poor during British rule(Indigo peasants).
  **d) **Indian cottage interests and handicrafts collapsed.
  **e) **Indians had to pay heavy taxes, revenues and dividend to British.
  13) Rise of nationalism:
  **a) **Uprising of 1858, paved way for the Rise of the National Movement.
  **b) **Sacrifices made by Rani Luxmi Bai, Nana Sahib, Mangal Panday inspired Indians.
  **c) **Started a tradition of resistance to the British rule.
  14) Depriving the Muslims:
  **a) **The war ended up with the sweeping victory of the British Raj and the end of 800 years of Muslims rule.
  **b) **The victory in War gave them authorities to avenge their disobedience, they made the policies later on to deprive the Muslims of their due rights in India.
  **c) **They denied their due shares in employments, education, trade and finance, while the Hindus were given priority in these domains.
  **d) **Posts of ink fillers, koolies and messengers were fixed for the Muslims as punishment for their audacity in 1857.