Question

What were the administrative and military causes of the Great Revolt of $1857$?

Answer 1

Administrative Causes:
$1$. The Indians disliked and distrusted the administration of the British. For example, the replacement of persian language by English as the court language was not liked by the people.
$2$. The Judicial system of the British was costly, Mehcanical and involved much time. The people always felt insecure of their property, life and honours. The most affected part of British administration was the revenue system.
$3$. Under the British the peasants and the landlords suffered equally. The peasants had to pay heavy taxes.
$4$. The British excluded the Indians from all high civil and military jobs. So the educated Indians who expected to get gainful employment in the service of the company were disappointed.
Military causes:
$1$. A feeling of discontent developed among the Indian Sepoys. The highest pay given to an Indian sepoy as subedar was less than the minimum pay of a raw European recruit.
$2$. Generally there was no promotion for Indian soldiers. The sepoys were also insulted very badly.
$3$. The feeling of discontent was intensified by lord Canning's General Services Englistment Act$\left(1856\right)$ ordering all recruits of the Bengal army to be ready for service both with in and outside India and even overseas.
$4$. The promotion of the Indian troops to the British troops was very high. The number of Indian soldiers was five times more than that of the British. Further, places of strategic importance like Delhi and Allahabad were wholly held by the Indian soldiers. These factors emboldened the sepoys to rise against the British.