The Revolt of 1857 in Awadh | CBSE Class 12 History Notes

Part of: Rebels and the Raj (CBSE Class 12 History, Themes in Indian History Part III, Theme 10). This page goes deeper into one of its sections: why the annexation of Awadh caused such widespread resentment. It follows Awadh, spelt Oudh in British records, from 1801 to 1859.

How did Awadh pass from ally to annexed province between 1801 and 1856?

A key step came with the Subsidiary Alliance of 1801. The Dictionary of National Biography (1899) records that the Nawab ceded districts to the Company, which kept a force to protect Awadh, while he cut his own troops. Rudrangshu Mukherjee writes that Wellesley "truncated" the province.

Wajid Ali Shah came to the throne in 1847, says E. H. Hilton's guide to Lucknow (1899). NCERT reports that in 1851 Governor General Lord Dalhousie called Awadh "a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day".

The British case for a takeover was misgovernment. Hilton records that Dalhousie wanted the King to keep his title while the Company ran the government. The authorities in London chose outright annexation instead.

The King was offered a treaty that placed civil and military authority in British hands. Hilton writes that notice of his deposition was given on 4 February 1856. He had three days, refused to sign, and ceased to reign from 7 February.

Mukherjee puts the annexed state at 23,923 square miles, with about five million people.

Source box: G. B. Malleson, The Mutiny of the Bengal Army (London, 1857), chapter 1, as transcribed on Wikisource. "...in an evil hour Lord Dalhousie decided upon seizing Oudh."

What it shows: a British officer, writing anonymously during the revolt, blamed the annexation for unsettling the Bengal Army. It is one contemporary's opinion.

What did the Nawab's removal mean for Lucknow and its people?

Wajid Ali Shah left Lucknow for Calcutta in 1856. Hilton records that he settled at Garden Reach, a suburb of Calcutta, and died there in 1887.

NCERT judges that the British wrongly took him to be unpopular. It prints an observer who mourned the loss of Jan-i-Alam, as he called the Nawab. It also prints a folk song line, Angrez Bahadur ain, mulk lai linho: "the honourable English came and took the country".

With the court gone, the households that served and entertained it lost their patron. Mukherjee (2007) argues that the annexation did not end Lucknow's old court culture; the revolt and the sack of the city in 1858 did.

The student should see that one political act touched a ruler, his servants and a whole city at once.

What did the Summary Settlement of 1856 take from the taluqdars?

Taluqdars were the great landholders of rural Awadh. Under the Nawabs they kept forts and armed retainers; NCERT says some of the biggest had 12,000 foot soldiers. They paid revenue and accepted the ruler's overlordship.

After annexation they were disarmed and their forts pulled down. The instructions of 1856, quoted by the historian Thomas Metcalf (1961), said the government meant to deal with the actual occupants of the soil, without middlemen such as taluqdars.

The Summary Settlement of 1856 to 1857 followed. By NCERT's figures, taluqdars had held 67 per cent of Awadh's villages before British rule; after the settlement they held 38 per cent. Southern Awadh was hit hardest.

NCERT adds that in places the revenue demand rose by 30 to 70 per cent.

Source box: the Earl of Derby, House of Lords, 18 March 1859 (Hansard, UK Parliament). "...the settlement in 1856, as the noble Marquess has truly stated, was undertaken, I think, in a somewhat hasty, inconsiderate, and intemperate manner."

What it shows: Derby accepted in the Lords that the first settlement had been rushed. He added that it brought in new proprietors and pushed out some taluqdars.

Why did peasants and sepoys make common cause with the taluqdars?

NCERT explains why peasants did not welcome the change. The old lords took many dues, but could delay collection after a bad harvest or lend for a festival. The new state allowed no such give.

Rudrangshu Mukherjee's Oxford thesis (1981) calls the old bond between taluqdar and peasant symbiotic and argues that the first British settlement destroyed it. Metcalf suggests that peasants probably followed their chiefs out of a shared loyalty to the deposed King.

NCERT notes that Awadh was called the "nursery of the Bengal Army", since most sepoys came from its villages and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Village grievances reached the army lines, and the sepoys' fears travelled home.

How did the rebellion unfold in Lucknow from 1857 to 1858?

Mukherjee dates the revolt in Awadh from the evening of 30 May 1857, when the Lucknow garrison mutinied. On 30 June, the National Army Museum records, Henry Lawrence's force was defeated at Chinhat.

NCERT notes that Lawrence had gathered Lucknow's Christian population in the fortified Residency, and the rebels besieged it. The National Army Museum records his death on 4 July 1857, after a shell burst in his room.

In July the rebels crowned the young Birjis Qadr, a son of Wajid Ali Shah. Mukherjee writes that his mother, Begum Hazrat Mahal, acted as regent.

NCERT and Mukherjee date Havelock and Outram's entry to 25 September; the National Army Museum gives 26 September. They fought their way in with heavy losses, but could not lift the siege. By the National Army Museum's dates, Sir Colin Campbell's force arrived on 16 November and evacuated the Residency on 22 November. Mukherjee writes that over 50,000 men were then defending the city.

NCERT notes that the Lucknow court was still planning counter-attacks in early 1858. The National Army Museum records that Campbell returned on 1 March 1858 and that the Nawab's palace was taken and looted on 14 March.

How did the British regain Awadh and win back the taluqdars?

The fall of Lucknow did not end the war. Many defenders escaped to fight on in the countryside, and NCERT calls Awadh the region where resistance lasted longest.

Shepherd records that Hazrat Mahal answered Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1 November 1858 with one of her own. She later found refuge in Nepal and died there in 1879.

NCERT notes that the British offered big landholders their estates back to split them from the peasants. Lord Canning's proclamation on Awadh went to Outram with a letter dated 3 March 1858. In the Lords on 7 May 1858, Derby summed it up as confiscating every landholder's property, with a few exceptions.

A letter read in the Commons on 20 May 1858 said that Outram had objected to its severity, so Canning added a sentence on restoring property to those who submitted.

Metcalf (1961) reports that Canning saw the measure as the route back to the taluqdari system. In practice, taluqdars who submitted got their estates back; Derby told the Lords in March 1859 that returning taluqdars had re-entered their old properties.

The Oudh Estates Act of 1869 confirmed a permanent, heritable right for each taluqdar settled with between 1 April 1858 and 10 October 1859, or granted a sanad.

How have historians read the revolt in Awadh?

Names carry views. Malleson's book of 1857 spoke of The Mutiny of the Bengal Army. V. D. Savarkar's book of 1909 was titled The Indian War of Independence of 1857. The student should notice which name a source uses.

For Awadh, NCERT writes: "In Awadh, more than anywhere else, the revolt became an expression of popular resistance to an alien order."

Mukherjee's thesis (1981) and his book Awadh in Revolt (1984), which NCERT lists for further reading, make a similar case. They study how far taluqdars and peasants took part and how the rebels fought.

Metcalf (1961) argues that British officials read the peasants' part as a preference for taluqdari rule, and reshaped land policy to suit it, though he doubts that was the peasants' motive. The student should name the historian behind each reading rather than treat any as settled.

Timeline: when did Awadh's key events happen, 1801 to 1859?

The dates run from the first alliance with the Company to the taluqdars' restoration.

Sources: which texts and records support this page?

• NCERT, Themes in Indian History Part III, Theme 10, "Rebels and the Raj", reprint 2026-27 (1801; 1851; 1856 to 1857; March 1858); CBSE History syllabus, 2026-27.
• Rudrangshu Mukherjee, "A study of a dying culture", Seminar 575, July 2007 (1801; 1856; 30 May and 25 September 1857; 1858).
• Rudrangshu Mukherjee, "The rebellion in Awadh, 1857-58", DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 1981 (abstract, Oxford University Research Archive); Awadh in Revolt, 1984.
• E. H. Hilton, The Tourist's Guide to Lucknow, 1899, chapter 1, Wikisource (1847; 4 and 7 February 1856; 1887).
• G. B. Malleson, The Mutiny of the Bengal Army, London, 1857, Wikisource.
• Dictionary of National Biography, "Wellesley, Richard Colley", 1899, Wikisource.
• National Army Museum, "Decisive events of the Indian Rebellion", consulted November 2026 (June to November 1857; March 1858).
• Kenneth R. Shepherd, "Hazrat Mahal", Women in World History, Encyclopedia.com, consulted November 2026 (July 1857; 1 November 1858; 1879).
• Hansard, UK Parliament: House of Lords, 7 May 1858; House of Commons, 20 May 1858; House of Lords, 18 March 1859.
• Oudh Estates Act, 1869, section 3 (1 April 1858 to 10 October 1859).
• Thomas R. Metcalf, "The Influence of the Mutiny of 1857 on Land Policy in India", The Historical Journal, 4 (2), June 1961.
• V. D. Savarkar, The Indian War of Independence of 1857, first published 1909.

Glossary

• Nawab: the title NCERT uses for Awadh's ruler; Wajid Ali Shah, who came to the throne in 1847, was the last.
• Taluqdar: a great landholder of rural Awadh who kept forts and armed retainers and paid revenue to the Nawab.
• Summary Settlement: the quick first British revenue assessment of Awadh in 1856 to 1857, which removed taluqdars wherever possible.
• Overassessment: a revenue demand set too high for the land to bear; NCERT reports rises of 30 to 70 per cent in places.
• Residency: the British Resident's fortified compound in Lucknow, besieged from 30 June 1857 until its evacuation that November.
• Regent: a person who rules for a sovereign too young to govern, as Begum Hazrat Mahal did for Birjis Qadr.
• Sanad: a written grant from the government; after 1858, taluqdari sanads confirmed taluqdars in their restored estates.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Awadh had no British presence until 1856. Correct: After the alliance of 1801, Company troops and a British Resident were already in Awadh.
• Misconception: The Summary Settlement took every village from the taluqdars. Correct: By NCERT's figures their share fell from 67 to 38 per cent; southern Awadh was hit hardest.
• Misconception: Havelock and Outram ended the siege of the Residency in September 1857. Correct: They reinforced the garrison but could not lift the siege; Campbell evacuated it on 22 November 1857.
• Misconception: The revolt in Awadh ended when Lucknow fell in March 1858. Correct: Many defenders fought on in the countryside, and Hazrat Mahal later took refuge in Nepal.
• Misconception: Canning's proclamation of March 1858 stripped the taluqdars of their land for good. Correct: Most who submitted got their estates back, and the Oudh Estates Act of 1869 confirmed their rights.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. According to NCERT, which British measure cut the taluqdars' share of Awadh's villages from 67 to 38 per cent? (a) The Permanent Settlement (b) The Summary Settlement (c) The Subsidiary Alliance (d) The Ryotwari Settlement [1 mark]

(b) The Summary Settlement. It was the first British revenue settlement after annexation, and it removed taluqdars wherever possible.

Q2. Explain three ways in which the annexation of 1856 affected different groups in Awadh. [3 marks]

1. The court: Wajid Ali Shah ceased to reign and left for Calcutta, so those who served his court lost their patron.
2. Taluqdars: they were disarmed, their forts were pulled down, and the Summary Settlement cut their share of villages from 67 to 38 per cent.
3. Peasants: the demand rose by 30 to 70 per cent in places, and no taluqdar could now ease it in a hard year.

Q3. Read the Earl of Derby's words of 18 March 1859 in the source box. (i) Which settlement is he describing? (ii) State two ways it affected the taluqdars. (iii) How did British policy towards the taluqdars change after 1858? [4 marks]

1. (i) The Summary Settlement of 1856 to 1857, the first British revenue settlement of Awadh after annexation.
2. (ii) First, it treated taluqdars as men with no lasting right to the land and removed them wherever possible.
3. (ii) Second, their share of Awadh's villages fell from 67 to 38 per cent, and southern Awadh was hit hardest.
4. (iii) From 1 April 1858 the British settled with taluqdars again and granted sanads, and the Oudh Estates Act of 1869 confirmed their rights.

Q4. Why was the revolt of 1857 particularly widespread in Awadh? Examine the part played by the court, the taluqdars, the peasants and the sepoys. [8 marks]

1. Background: the alliance of 1801 cost Awadh districts and most of its army, so the Nawab relied on Company troops.
2. Annexation: after refusing a treaty that gave the British full civil and military authority, Wajid Ali Shah ceased to reign on 7 February 1856.
3. The court: NCERT records wide grief at his exile, and the court's dependants lost their living.
4. Taluqdars: they were disarmed and lost their forts, and the Summary Settlement cut their share of villages from 67 to 38 per cent.
5. Peasants: the demand rose by 30 to 70 per cent in places, and Mukherjee argues the settlement broke their symbiotic tie with the taluqdars.
6. Sepoys: most Bengal Army sepoys came from Awadh's villages, so grievances passed between the army and the countryside.
7. Leadership: the rebels crowned Birjis Qadr in July 1857, with Hazrat Mahal as regent, giving the revolt a centre in Lucknow.
8. Scale: NCERT cites a British official, Forsyth, who estimated that three-fourths of the adult men were in rebellion, and Lucknow held out until March 1858.

Key takeaways

• The alliance of 1801 cost Awadh districts and most of its army, leaving the Nawab dependent on Company troops.
• Wajid Ali Shah ceased to reign on 7 February 1856, after he refused a treaty that would have handed civil and military authority to the British.
• By NCERT's figures, the Summary Settlement of 1856 to 1857 cut the taluqdars' share of Awadh's villages from 67 to 38 per cent.
• Peasants and sepoys shared the taluqdars' losses, which helps explain why the revolt in Awadh drew such wide rural support.
• Lucknow rose on 30 May 1857 and was retaken only in March 1858, and fighting went on in the countryside after that.
• Canning's proclamation of March 1858 threatened confiscation, but most taluqdars got their estates back, and an Act of 1869 confirmed their rights.

Test yourself

When did Wajid Ali Shah cease to reign, according to Hilton?

From 7 February 1856, three days after he was told of his deposition on 4 February.

What did the revenue instructions of 1856 tell British officers to do?

Deal with the actual occupants of the soil, without middlemen such as taluqdars.

Why was Awadh called the "nursery of the Bengal Army"?

Most Bengal Army sepoys were recruited from the villages of Awadh and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Who acted as regent in rebel Lucknow?

Begum Hazrat Mahal, the mother of the young Birjis Qadr, whom the rebels crowned in July 1857.

When was the Lucknow Residency finally evacuated?

On 22 November 1857, after Sir Colin Campbell's force arrived on 16 November.

What did the Oudh Estates Act of 1869 confirm?

A permanent, heritable right for each taluqdar settled with between 1 April 1858 and 10 October 1859, or granted a sanad.