1.      Limited uprising: although the revolt was fairly widespread, a large part of the country remained unaffected by it.

a.      The revolt was mainly confined to the Doab region. Sind, Rajputana, Kashmir, most parts of Punjab.

b.      The large princely states, Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, and Kashmir, as well as the smaller ones of Rajputana, did not join the rebellion

c.      The southern provinces did not take part in it.

2.      No effective leadership: the rebels lacked an effective leader. Although Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope and Rani Lakshmi Bai were brave leaders, they could not offer effective leadership to the movement as a whole. Hence it was more of a mutiny character.

3.      Limited resources: the rebels lacked resources in terms of men and money. When compared to the freedom struggle in the latter half of 20^th century it gets positioned as localised revolts venting out their personnel grievances.

4.      No participation of the middle class: The English educated middle class, the rich merchants, traders and zamindars of Bengal helped the British to suppress the revolt. This support given to britishers by some classes gives an impression of 1857 uprising as a sectional mutiny.

IT WAS WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

1.      Indian masses had been at receiving end of exploitation done by  East India company and an aggressive discontent was rising among them. 1857 uprising was direct result of this discontentment. It was the first expression of organised resistance against the British East India Company

2.      British policy of expansion: one of the political causes of the revolt were the British policy of expansion through the Doctrine of Lapse and direct annexation. A large number of Indian rulers and chiefs were dislodged, thus arousing fear in the minds of other ruling families who apprehended a similar fate. This fear had made the rulers realize the exploitative charter of the company and Imperialist nature of the foreigners.

3.      The rapidly spreading Western Civilisation in India was alarming concerns all over the country. An act in 1850 changed the Hindu law of inheritance enabling a Hindu who had converted into Christianity to inherit his ancestral properties. The people were convinced that the Government was planning to convert Indians to Christianity. The abolition of practices like sati and female infanticide, and the legislation legalizing widow remarriage, were believed as threats to the established social structure.

4.      Introducing western methods of education was directly challenging the orthodoxy for Hindus as well as Muslims. This opposition to change as introduced by the westerners fuelled their sentiments and hence eradication of company through a war of independence was justified.

5.      In rural areas, peasants and zamindars were infuriated by the heavy taxes on land and the stringent methods of revenue collection followed by the Company. Many among these groups were unable to meet the heavy revenue demands and repay their loans to money lenders, eventually losing the lands that they had held for generations .Large numbers of sepoys belonged to the peasantry class and had family ties in villages, so the grievances of the peasants also affected them. After the Industrial Revolution in England, there was an influx of British manufactured goods into India, which ruined industries, particularly the textile industry of India. Indian handicraft industries had to compete with cheap machine- made goods from Britain. Hence this economic exploitation open the eyes of Indians and a rising tide against Britishers got vent through the 1857 war of independence.

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