Ans. There is a big difference of opinion among scholars regarding the revolt of 1857. British historians have described it as a military revolution or a national uprising or the last attempt to restore Muslim power and some historians have called it the first freedom struggle.

Was it a military rebellion:- According to some scholars this rebellion was only a military rebellion? It neither got the support of the Indian kings nor the active support of the general public. Therefore, it should be given the name of military rebellion only. According to Seeley, John Lawrence, and P.E. Roberts, it was a military mutiny whose immediate cause was the cartridge incident.

Was it a national uprising: – According to some historians, the company’s hundred years of rule exploited the Indian people socially, politically, economically, religiously, and culturally, due to which the national spirit was awakened in them? The suffering of the people increased due to continuous exploitation and in 1857, he made his last effort for his independence.

Was it the last attempt to restore Muslim power:- According to James Outram, the revolution of 1857 was the last attempt to restore Muslim power? Its purpose was to put Bahadur Shah II back on the throne of Delhi. Taking advantage of the discontent of the Hindus, the British were to be driven out of India to bring back the Muslim hegemony. This statement of Outram is baseless because Hindus also took part in this revolution with great enthusiasm.

Was it the first freedom struggle:- Modern historians Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Veer Savarkar, Ashok Mehta, and Vrindavan Lal Verma have called it the first freedom struggle? This freedom struggle was led by Bahadur Shah Zafar and the revolution was started by the army which later took the form of a freedom struggle.

It is proved from the writings of the British that even one-third of the Muslims of the country did not participate in the revolt, yet Rani of Jhansi, Nana Saheb, Kunwar Singh, Tatya Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal, and many talukdars of Awadh conducted the revolution. The revolution of 1857 was not related to only one class, but in this both Hindus and Muslims together renounced the feeling of communalism and participated in the struggle inspired by the national spirit.

The military revolt started at that time when people started considering the British as robbers. The revolt of 1857 was the result of the discontent and hatred of Indians towards the British in which lakhs of Indian farmers, soldiers, landlords, and many deposed kings and nawabs participated. The main objective of the revolution was to drive the British out of India.

Conclusion: – It becomes clear from the discussion of the above facts that the revolt of 1857 was a fierce reaction of the exploited class against British rule, which would be justified to call the First War of Indian Independence.