NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History Chapter 10: Rebels and the Raj – The Revolt of 1857 and Its Representations (NCERT 2026–27)
These Class 12 History Chapter 10 solutions cover Rebels and the Raj – The Revolt of 1857 and Its Representations from Themes in Indian History – Part III, updated for the 2026–27 session. The chapter studies the great uprising of 1857: how the mutiny began in Meerut and spread to Delhi, the pattern and coordination of the revolt, the role of leaders, rumours and prophecies, the special intensity of the rebellion in Awadh, what the rebels wanted, British repression, and the way the revolt was represented in British and nationalist images. Below you get exam-ready, step-by-step answers to every NCERT exercise question, plus key terms, extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason and FAQs.
Class: 12Subject: HistoryBook: Themes in Indian History – Part IIITheme: 10Chapter: 10Session: 2026–27
Chapter 10, Rebels and the Raj, examines the Revolt of 1857 — described later by nationalists as the First War of Independence. On 10 May 1857 the sepoys of Meerut broke into mutiny; they rode to Delhi and forced the aged Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah to lend his name to the rebellion, giving it legitimacy. The chapter traces the common pattern of the mutinies (seizing the bell of arms, plundering the treasury, burning records, attacking the British), the evidence of planning and coordination (panchayats, communication between sepoy lines, the chapatti and lotus circulation), and how the rebels turned to old rulers — Bahadur Shah, Nana Sahib, Rani Lakshmibai, Kunwar Singh, Birjis Qadr — and to popular leaders like Shah Mal and Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah. It explains the power of rumours and prophecies (the greased cartridges, bone-dust in flour, the Plassey centenary), the deep grievances in Awadh after the annexation of 1856, what the rebels wanted (the vision of unity in the Azamgarh Proclamation, the rejection of firangi raj), the British repression through martial law, and the visual representations of the revolt in British and Indian art.
Key Terms & Concepts
Mutiny: a collective disobedience of rules and regulations within the armed forces. In 1857 it refers specifically to the rising of the sepoys.
Revolt / Rebellion: a rebellion of people against established authority and power. In the context of 1857 it refers chiefly to the uprising of the civilian population — peasants, zamindars, rajas and jagirdars.
Firangi: a term of Persian origin (possibly from ‘Frank’), used in Urdu and Hindi, often derogatorily, to designate foreigners — here the British.
Bell of arms: a storeroom in which the weapons of a regiment are kept; seizing it was usually the first act of the mutineers.
Sepoy: an Indian soldier in British service; the majority of the Bengal Army sepoys were recruited from the villages of Awadh and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Subsidiary Alliance: a system devised by Lord Wellesley in 1798 under which an Indian ruler accepted British protection, stationed a British force, paid for its upkeep, and surrendered control over foreign relations — imposed on Awadh in 1801.
Taluqdars: powerful landholders of Awadh who controlled land and power, maintained armed retainers and forts; they were disarmed and dispossessed after annexation, especially by the Summary Settlement of 1856.
Resident: the designation of a representative of the Governor General who lived in a state not under direct British rule.
Proclamations / Ishtahars: notifications issued by rebel leaders (such as the Azamgarh Proclamation of 25 August 1857) to spread their ideas and persuade people to join the revolt.
Other key names:Bahadur Shah (nominal Mughal leader of the revolt), Nana Sahib (successor to Peshwa Baji Rao II, Kanpur), Birjis Qadr (young son of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, hailed in Lucknow), Begum Hazrat Mahal (led the fight in Lucknow), Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Kunwar Singh (zamindar of Arrah, Bihar), Shah Mal (Barout, UP) and Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah / Danka Shah (Faizabad and Lucknow).
NCERT Exercise — Full Solutions
All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter exercise. Answers are original, written in CBSE exam-ready style. (The chapter ends with map work and project items, which are activity-based and explained in words.)
Answer in 100–150 words
1. Why did the mutinous sepoys in many places turn to erstwhile rulers to provide leadership to the revolt?
ANSWERTo fight the British, the rebels needed effective leadership and organisation; ordinary sepoys did not by themselves command the authority required to unite people and run a campaign. So in many places they turned to those who had been rulers before the British conquest, since such figures already carried legitimacy, prestige and the loyalty of the people.The first act of the Meerut sepoys was to rush to Delhi and appeal to the aged Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah to lead them; once he agreed, the revolt acquired legitimacy because it could be carried on in the name of the emperor. Similarly, at Kanpur the sepoys and townspeople gave Nana Sahib, successor of the Peshwa, no choice but to lead; in Jhansi the rani was pressed to take charge; Kunwar Singh in Arrah and Birjis Qadr in Lucknow were likewise hailed.These rulers had themselves suffered loss of power and territory under the British, so they shared the rebels’ grievances. Their names could rally the masses, command obedience, and provide a symbol of the pre-British order the rebels wished to restore.
2. Discuss the evidence that indicates planning and coordination on the part of the rebels.
ANSWERSeveral pieces of evidence suggest that the revolt was not entirely spontaneous but involved some planning and coordination. The similarity in the pattern of the mutinies in different cantonments — sepoys seizing the bell of arms, plundering the treasury, attacking jail, telegraph office and record room, and burning records — points to a shared design.There was clear communication between sepoy lines. After the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry refused the new cartridges in early May, they wrote to the 48th Native Infantry that “they had acted for the faith and awaited the 48th’s orders”. Emissaries moved from one station to another spreading the message, as the experience of François Sisten and the Bijnor tahsildar shows.Collective decision-making is indicated by the panchayats of native officers. Charles Ball noted that panchayats were a nightly occurrence in the Kanpur sepoy lines; the case of Captain Hearsey was settled by such a panchayat. Since the sepoys lived in lines, shared a common lifestyle and often the same caste, it was natural for them to decide their future collectively. The circulation of chapattis and lotus flowers from village to village was also read as an omen and signal of an impending upheaval.
3. Discuss the extent to which religious beliefs shaped the events of 1857.
ANSWERReligious beliefs played a powerful part in shaping the events of 1857, though they were intertwined with political and economic grievances. The immediate spark was religious: the rumour that the new Enfield cartridges were greased with the fat of cows and pigs — which sepoys would have to bite — convinced Hindu and Muslim soldiers alike that their faith was about to be defiled. The Meerut sepoys justified their action to Bahadur Shah precisely on these grounds.Other rumours deepened the fear: that bone-dust of cows and pigs had been mixed into the flour (atta) sold in markets, and that the British intended to convert Indians to Christianity. These fears, aggravated by the activities of Christian missionaries and reformist laws, stirred people to action.Religion also gave leadership and unity. Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah preached jehad against the British; fakirs and self-styled prophets urged rebellion. The proclamations repeatedly appealed to both Hindus and Muslims to unite to save their faith — the Bahadur Shah proclamation called people to fight under the standards of both Muhammad and Mahavir. Yet religion did not divide the rebels: at Bareilly the British failed even after spending Rs 50,000 to set Hindus against Muslims. Thus religion was a major mobilising force, binding rather than dividing the rebels.
4. What were the measures taken to ensure unity among the rebels?
ANSWERThe rebel leadership made deliberate efforts to ensure unity across caste and creed. The proclamations and ishtahars repeatedly appealed to all sections of the population, irrespective of caste and religion. Even when issued by Muslim princes or in their names, they took care to address the sentiments of Hindus, presenting the rebellion as a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equally to lose or gain.They harked back to the pre-British Hindu–Muslim past and glorified the coexistence of communities under the Mughal Empire. The proclamation issued in Bahadur Shah’s name appealed to people to fight under the standards of both Muhammad and Mahavir — symbolically uniting the two faiths.The choice of the Mughal emperor as a common symbol of legitimacy helped bind diverse groups. The Azamgarh Proclamation addressed zamindars, merchants, public servants, artisans and the learned of both communities, offering each group redress — thus uniting them around shared interests. Remarkably, religious divisions between Hindus and Muslims were hardly noticeable during the uprising, and British attempts to create such divisions, as at Bareilly, failed.
5. What steps did the British take to quell the uprising?
ANSWERThe British took both legal and military measures to crush the revolt. Before sending out troops, they passed a series of special laws in May and June 1857 that placed the whole of North India under martial law. Military officers and even ordinary Britons were given the power to try and punish Indians suspected of rebellion; the ordinary processes of law and trial were suspended, and rebellion was to have only one punishment — death.Reinforcements were brought in from Britain. Recognising the symbolic value of Delhi, the British mounted a two-pronged attack — one force moving from Calcutta into North India and the other from the Punjab — to recapture Delhi, which fell to them in late September 1857. In the Gangetic plain they had to reconquer the area village by village because the countryside was hostile and the uprising had huge popular support (in Awadh, Forsyth estimated three-fourths of the adult male population was in rebellion); Awadh was subdued only in March 1858.Besides military force, the British used conciliation and rewards: to break the unity of landholders and peasants, they promised to restore their estates to big landholders; rebel landholders were dispossessed and loyal ones rewarded. Captured rebels were executed brutally — blown from guns or hanged — as a public performance of terror to deter others.
Write a short essay (250–300 words) on the following:
6. Why was the revolt particularly widespread in Awadh? What prompted the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt?
ANSWERThe revolt was particularly widespread and long-lasting in Awadh because here a whole chain of grievances linked prince, taluqdar, peasant and sepoy, and all of them came to identify firangi raj with the end of their world.The annexation of Awadh in 1856 was deeply resented. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who was widely loved, was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta on the false plea of misgovernment. His departure caused widespread grief; contemporaries wrote that “the life was gone out of the body” of Lucknow. The dissolution of the court ruined musicians, dancers, poets, artisans, cooks and officials who lost their livelihood — an emotional upheaval aggravated by material loss.The taluqdars were the worst hit. They had for generations controlled land and power, maintained armed retainers and forts. After annexation they were disarmed and their forts destroyed. The Summary Settlement of 1856 treated them as interlopers and removed them wherever possible: the share of villages they held fell from 67 per cent to 38 per cent, and those of southern Awadh lost more than half their villages. Naturally they joined Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow to fight the British.The peasants too gained nothing. The British had hoped that removing taluqdars would reduce exploitation, but revenue demand actually rose 30 to 70 per cent in many places, while the old ties of patronage that gave the peasant support in hard times were broken. As a vast majority of sepoys were recruited from Awadh villages, their families’ grievances were carried into the sepoy lines and back again. When the sepoys rose, peasants and taluqdars rose with them, making Awadh the centre of popular resistance.
7. What did the rebels want? To what extent did the vision of different social groups differ?
ANSWERIt is difficult to reconstruct what the rebels wanted because they left few records; most were illiterate sepoys and ordinary people, and our knowledge comes mainly from a few proclamations and ishtahars and from British accounts. Yet these sources reveal certain clear aims.The rebels wanted, above all, to end firangi raj and restore the pre-British world. The proclamations completely rejected everything associated with British rule, condemned the annexations and broken treaties, and accused the British of destroying a familiar, cherished way of life. They expressed the widespread fear that the British were bent on destroying the caste and religion of Hindus and Muslims and converting them to Christianity, and urged people to unite to save their faith, livelihood, honour and identity for the “greater public good”.A strong vision of unity ran through the proclamations: they appealed to all, irrespective of caste and creed, and glorified the Hindu–Muslim coexistence of the Mughal past. The rebels also tried to establish alternative structures of authority in Delhi, Lucknow and Kanpur, making appointments, collecting revenue and paying troops — harking back to the eighteenth-century Mughal world.Yet the vision of different groups differed. The leaders — ranis, rajas, nawabs and taluqdars — mainly wanted to restore their lost power and the old courtly order. The ordinary rebels often went further, attacking local oppressors — moneylenders and the rich — burning account books and looting their houses. This hints at an alternative, more egalitarian vision aimed at overturning all hierarchies, a vision not articulated in the unifying proclamations of the elite.
8. What do visual representations tell us about the revolt of 1857? How do historians analyse these representations?
ANSWERVisual representations — paintings, pencil drawings, etchings, posters, cartoons and bazaar prints — are an important record of 1857, because written sources on the rebels’ point of view are so few. They tell us how the events were perceived and how feelings were shaped, both in Britain and in India.British images served several purposes. Some celebrated the saviours: Thomas Jones Barker’s “Relief of Lucknow” (1859) placed Campbell, Outram and Havelock at the centre as heroes, reassuring the British public that order had been restored. Others, inflamed by tales of violence against women and children, upheld British honour: Joseph Noel Paton’s “In Memoriam” showed helpless English women and children awaiting rescue, while “Miss Wheeler” depicted a woman heroically defending her honour and her faith. A third set demanded vengeance and retribution — the allegorical figure of “Justice” trampling sepoys, and “The British Lion’s Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger” in Punch — and even ridiculed mercy, as in “The Clemency of Canning”.Nationalist images of the twentieth century, by contrast, presented the leaders as heroic figures; Rani Lakshmibai was portrayed in battle armour, sword in hand, a symbol of resistance to alien rule, kept alive in poems such as Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s.Historians analyse these images by examining their elements — composition, light, gesture, captions and symbols — to identify the perspective of the artist and the emotions they sought to provoke. They treat such images critically, recognising that pictures did not merely reflect feelings but actively shaped sensibilities: British images sanctioned brutal repression, while nationalist images shaped the nationalist imagination.
9. Examine any two sources presented in the chapter, choosing one visual and one text, and discuss how these represent the point of view of the victor and the vanquished.
ANSWERThe chapter contains both visual and textual sources that allow us to compare the point of view of the victor (the British) and the vanquished (the rebels).Visual source – “In Memoriam” by Joseph Noel Paton (1859): This painting represents the victor’s viewpoint. It shows English women and children huddled in a circle, looking helpless and innocent, seemingly awaiting dishonour, violence and death, while British rescue forces arrive in the background as saviours. Though it shows no actual violence, it suggests it, and represents the rebels — though invisible in the picture — as violent and brutish. Its aim is to stir the spectator’s anger and fury and to justify retribution, presenting the British as innocent victims and the rebels as savages.Textual source – the arzi (petition) of rebel sepoys (Source 6): This rare surviving document expresses the vanquished’s viewpoint. The sepoys explain that they had loyally served the British for a century and helped them conquer India, sacrificing thousands of their men without ever revolting. They rebelled only when ordered to bite cartridges greased with the fat of cows and pigs and to eat flour mixed with powdered bones — a direct threat to their faith. They describe how 84 troopers who refused were imprisoned in irons to frighten the rest, and declare that they fought for two years to protect their religion: “If the religion of a Hindoo or Mussalman is lost, what remains in the world?”Together these sources show how the same event was represented in opposite ways: the British image portrays the rebels as cruel aggressors and the British as innocent victims deserving revenge, while the rebel arzi portrays the British as betrayers of faith and the rebels as men forced to fight to defend their religion and honour.
Map work
10. On an outline map of India, mark Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai), three major centres of British power in 1857. Refer to Maps 1 and 2 and plot the areas where the revolt was most widespread. How close or far were these areas from the colonial cities?
ANSWER (activity – described in words)How to mark the map: On an outline map of India, locate and mark the three Presidency capitals and centres of British power — Calcutta (Kolkata) on the eastern coast in Bengal, Bombay (Mumbai) on the western coast, and Madras (Chennai) on the south-eastern coast. Then shade the region where the revolt was most widespread.Areas of widespread revolt: The revolt was concentrated in North and Central India — the Gangetic plain and the area to the west of Delhi — including Meerut, Delhi, Aligarh, Etawah, Mainpuri, Etah, Kanpur, Lucknow and the rest of Awadh, Bareilly, Jhansi, Arrah (Bihar) and Gwalior. These were the centres of mutiny and popular rebellion shown in Maps 1 and 2.Distance from the colonial cities: The areas of widespread revolt were far from the three coastal Presidency cities. Calcutta lay to the east of the rebel heartland but the British had to march up the Ganga from there to reconquer the region; Bombay and Madras in the south and west were well away from the disturbed zone, which is why the Bombay and Madras armies and the southern and coastal regions remained largely loyal and quiet. The revolt was thus mainly an affair of the interior plains of northern India, distant from the seats of British coastal power.
Projects (choose one)
11. Read a biography of any one of the leaders of the revolt of 1857. Check the sources used by the biographer. Do these include government reports, newspaper accounts, stories in regional languages, visual material, anything else? Do all the sources say the same thing, or are there differences? Prepare a report on your findings.
ANSWER (project guidance)This is a research project, so prepare your own report; the steps below show how to do it well. Choose one leader — for example Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Nana Sahib, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh, Tantia Tope or Bahadur Shah — and read a biography of that person.List the sources used by the biographer. Note whether they include (i) official government and military reports (mutiny records, despatches, court records), (ii) newspaper and magazine accounts of the time, (iii) stories, ballads and poems in regional languages (such as Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s poem on the Rani), (iv) visual material (paintings, prints, photographs, posters and films), and (v) letters, memoirs or oral traditions.Compare what the sources say. You will usually find that British official sources, nationalist writings and folk traditions differ — for instance, British reports may describe a leader as a rebel or aggressor, while regional ballads and nationalist accounts celebrate the same person as a hero. Record these differences, explain why they exist (the perspective and interests of each author), and conclude that a balanced biography must read all sources critically rather than accept one version as the whole truth.
12. See a film made on the revolt of 1857 and write about the way it represents the revolt. How does it depict the British, the rebels, and those who remained loyal to the British? What does it say about peasants, city dwellers, tribals, zamindars and taluqdars? What kind of a response does the film seek to evoke?
ANSWER (project guidance)This too is an activity, so watch a film yourself — for example Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), 1857: Kranti, or a documentary on the revolt — and write your own account guided by the points below.How the revolt is represented: Note whether the film treats 1857 as a mere mutiny or as a popular war of independence, and how dramatically it portrays key episodes such as the greased cartridges, the rising at Meerut and the events at Delhi or Jhansi.Depiction of different groups: Observe how the film shows the British (as rulers, officers, victims or oppressors), the rebels (as heroes or villains), and those who remained loyal to the British. Note how it presents peasants, city dwellers, tribals, zamindars and taluqdars — whether they are shown joining the revolt out of grievance and loyalty to old rulers, or staying aloof. Finally, comment on the response the film seeks to evoke — usually patriotic pride, sympathy for the rebels and indignation against colonial injustice — and how music, dialogue and imagery are used to create it.
Extra Practice Questions
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. How did the mutiny in Meerut begin and reach Delhi?
ANSWERLate in the afternoon of 10 May 1857, the sepoys at Meerut broke into mutiny, spreading from the native infantry to the cavalry and the city. They seized the bell of arms, attacked the British, burnt records and cut the telegraph line. As darkness fell, a group rode off to Delhi and reached the Red Fort on the morning of 11 May, forcing Bahadur Shah to bless the revolt.
Q2. What was the ‘greased cartridge’ rumour and why was it powerful?
ANSWERThe rumour held that the new Enfield rifle cartridges, which sepoys had to bite open, were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. Hindus regarded the cow as sacred and Muslims the pig as unclean, so biting them would defile the faith of both. The rumour spread like wildfire because it resonated with deeper fears that the British meant to destroy their caste and religion.
Q3. Who was Shah Mal and what role did he play in the revolt?
ANSWERShah Mal was a Jat cultivator of pargana Barout in Uttar Pradesh whose kinship ties spread over eighty-four villages (chaurasee des). He mobilised the headmen and cultivators against the oppressive British land-revenue system, attacked government buildings, destroyed a bridge and dug up roads, and set up a “hall of justice”. Locally acknowledged as Raja, he was killed in battle in July 1857.
Q4. Why did the British annex Awadh, and how did Dalhousie describe it?
ANSWERThe British wanted Awadh because its soil was good for indigo and cotton and it was ideally placed to become the principal market of Upper India; its takeover in 1856 completed the process of annexation begun with Bengal. In 1851 Lord Dalhousie described Awadh as “a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day”; it was formally annexed five years later on the plea of misgovernment.
Q5. What was the Azamgarh Proclamation?
ANSWERIssued on 25 August 1857, the Azamgarh Proclamation is a key source on what the rebels wanted. Divided into sections addressing zamindars, merchants, public servants, artisans, and pundits and fakirs, it accused the British of ruining each group through heavy revenue, monopolies, low pay and imported goods, and promised redress under a restored Badshahi (Mughal) government, calling on all to join the holy war.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q1. Explain how rumours and prophecies played a part in moving people to action in 1857, and why people believed them.
ANSWERRumours and prophecies were a major force in 1857. The rumour of cartridges greased with cow and pig fat convinced sepoys their faith was in danger; a related rumour said the British had mixed bone-dust into market flour, so sepoys and common people refused to touch the atta. There was widespread fear of forced conversion to Christianity. A prophecy declared that British rule would end on the centenary of the Battle of Plassey, on 23 June 1857, and chapattis were mysteriously passed from village to village and read as an omen of upheaval. To understand the power of such rumours we must look not at whether they were factually true but at what they reveal about people’s minds. They made sense in the context of British policies from the late 1820s under Bentinck — Western education, laws abolishing sati and permitting widow remarriage, and sweeping annexations like Awadh, Jhansi and Satara, each followed by new laws and revenue systems. People felt that everything they cherished — kings, customs, landholding and revenue patterns — was being destroyed and replaced by an alien, impersonal and oppressive order, aggravated by missionary activity. In such a climate of uncertainty, rumours spread with remarkable swiftness because they resonated with the deep fears and suspicions of the people.
Q2. Describe the changing relationship between the sepoys and their British officers in the decades before 1857.
ANSWERThe relationship between sepoys and their white officers changed significantly in the years before the uprising. In the 1820s, officers made it a point to maintain friendly relations with the sepoys: they took part in their leisure activities — wrestling, fencing and hawking with them — and many were fluent in Hindustani and familiar with the customs and culture of the country. Such officers were disciplinarian and father-figure rolled into one, and trust marked the bond between them and their men. From the 1840s this began to change. Officers developed a sense of racial superiority and began treating the sepoys as their inferiors, riding roughshod over their sensibilities. Abuse and physical violence became common, and the distance between sepoys and officers grew; trust was replaced by suspicion. The episode of the greased cartridges was a classic example of this loss of trust. At the same time, the sepoys had long-standing grievances about low pay and the difficulty of getting leave, and close links with the rural world of Awadh meant that village grievances were carried into the lines and sepoy fears carried back to the villages. So when the sepoys finally defied their officers and took up arms, they were swiftly joined by their brethren in the villages, turning a mutiny into a general rebellion.
Q3. How did the British use visual images, and how did nationalist imagery of the revolt differ from British imagery?
ANSWERBritish images of the revolt were designed to provoke particular emotions and reactions. Some commemorated British heroes — Barker’s “Relief of Lucknow” celebrated Campbell, Outram and Havelock, reassuring the public that order was restored and the British were victors. Others, inflamed by reports of violence against women and children, sought to defend British honour: “In Memoriam” showed helpless English women and children awaiting rescue, suggesting rather than showing violence, while “Miss Wheeler” depicted a woman heroically defending her honour and Christianity. A third group demanded vengeance — the figure of “Justice” trampling sepoys, “The British Lion’s Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger”, and images of executions by blowing from guns — sanctioning brutal repression as both necessary and just; even Canning’s plea for mercy was mocked in “The Clemency of Canning”. Nationalist imagery of the twentieth century differed sharply. It drew inspiration from 1857, celebrating it as the First War of Independence in which all sections of Indians united against imperial rule. Leaders were presented as heroic figures rousing the nation; Rani Lakshmibai, sword in hand and riding her horse, became a symbol of resistance to injustice and alien rule, kept alive in poems like Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s. Thus British images justified repression, while nationalist images shaped the nationalist imagination.
MCQs & Assertion–Reason
1. The mutiny of 1857 began at Meerut on:
(a) 10 May 1857 (b) 11 May 1857 (c) 23 June 1857 (d) 29 March 1857
2. The aged Mughal emperor who was made the nominal leader of the revolt was:
(a) Akbar II (b) Bahadur Shah Zafar (c) Shah Alam II (d) Jahandar Shah
3. The first act of the mutinous sepoys in a cantonment was usually to seize the:
(a) post office (b) court (c) bell of arms (d) Residency
4. “A cherry that will drop into our mouth one day” was Lord Dalhousie’s description of:
(a) Jhansi (b) Satara (c) Punjab (d) Awadh
5. The Subsidiary Alliance was imposed on Awadh in:
(a) 1798 (b) 1801 (c) 1856 (d) 1857
6. The Nawab of Awadh who was deposed and exiled to Calcutta in 1856 was:
(a) Wajid Ali Shah (b) Birjis Qadr (c) Asaf-ud-Daula (d) Saadat Ali Khan
7. The prophecy predicting the end of British rule was linked to the centenary of which battle?
(a) Buxar (b) Plassey (c) Panipat (d) Chinhat
8. The Azamgarh Proclamation was issued on:
(a) 10 May 1857 (b) 25 August 1857 (c) 14 June 1857 (d) 12 September 1857
9. Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah was popularly known as:
(a) Danka Shah (b) Nana Sahib (c) Kunwar Singh (d) Shah Mal
10. The painting “Relief of Lucknow” (1859) was made by:
(a) Joseph Noel Paton (b) Felice Beato (c) Thomas Jones Barker (d) Francis Grant
For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.
A-R 1. Assertion: The revolt of 1857 acquired legitimacy once Bahadur Shah blessed it.
Reason: The rebellion could now be carried on in the name of the Mughal emperor, who still commanded respect.
A-R 2. Assertion: The taluqdars of Awadh were content with the British annexation of 1856.
Reason: The Summary Settlement of 1856 disarmed the taluqdars and reduced their share of villages from 67 per cent to 38 per cent.
A-R 3. Assertion: The revolt was particularly widespread in Awadh.
Reason: A chain of grievances in Awadh linked prince, taluqdar, peasant and sepoy against firangi raj.
A-R 4. Assertion: The British recognised the symbolic value of Delhi during the revolt.
Reason: They mounted a two-pronged attack, one force from Calcutta and the other from the Punjab, to recapture Delhi.
A-R 5. Assertion: British visual images of the revolt encouraged moderation and mercy towards the rebels.
Reason: Images such as “Justice” and “The British Lion’s Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger” sanctioned brutal repression and revenge.
Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(D), 3-(A), 4-(A), 5-(D).
Exam Tips & Common Mistakes
How to score full marks in this chapter
Learn the key dates from the timeline (Subsidiary Alliance 1801, annexation of Awadh 1856, mutiny at Meerut 10 May 1857, Delhi 11–12 May, Battle of Chinhat 30 June, Delhi recaptured late September 1857, Awadh subdued March 1858). For long essays, build a clear structure: leadership, planning and coordination, religion, Awadh grievances, what the rebels wanted, repression, and representations. Always support points with the textbook’s own evidence — the panchayats, the Sisten episode, the Azamgarh Proclamation, Hanwant Singh, the arzi of the sepoys, and the named paintings. Distinguish carefully between the British (victor) and rebel (vanquished) points of view in source-based answers.
Common mistakes to avoid
Confusing mutiny (rising of the sepoys) with revolt/rebellion (rising of the civilian population).
Mixing up the dates — Meerut was 10 May, Delhi was reached on 11 May 1857.
Writing that religion divided the rebels — in fact Hindu–Muslim unity was striking, and British attempts to divide them (as at Bareilly) failed.
Forgetting that the Summary Settlement of 1856 (not the Permanent Settlement) hit the taluqdars of Awadh.
Treating British paintings as neutral records — they shaped opinion and justified repression.
Leaving map-work and project questions blank — describe the centres of revolt and follow the project steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Class 12 History Chapter 10 ‘Rebels and the Raj’ about?
Chapter 10, Rebels and the Raj, studies the Revolt of 1857 — how the mutiny began at Meerut and spread to Delhi, the pattern and coordination of the revolt, the role of leaders, rumours and prophecies, the intense rebellion in Awadh, what the rebels wanted, British repression, and how the revolt was represented in British and nationalist images.
Why was the revolt of 1857 so widespread in Awadh?
The annexation of Awadh in 1856 displaced the popular Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and dissolved his court, while the Summary Settlement of 1856 dispossessed the taluqdars and raised the revenue burden on peasants. As most Bengal Army sepoys came from Awadh villages, grievances of prince, taluqdar, peasant and sepoy combined, making the rebellion especially strong and long-lasting there.
How do historians reconstruct the rebels’ point of view?
Because most rebels were illiterate and left few records, historians rely on a small number of proclamations, ishtahars, letters and arzis written or issued by rebel leaders, alongside British official accounts read critically. Visual sources — paintings, prints and cartoons — are also analysed to understand both British and nationalist perspectives on the revolt.
