The Causes of the Indian Revolt

The Causes of the Indian Revolt
By Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan

Published in English translation in 1873, this candid and courageous essay by Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan examines the political, social, and administrative failures on both sides that led to the 1857 uprising in India. Written just over a decade after the events it describes, it remains a remarkable primary-source analysis by one of the era's most important reformist voices.

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Excerpt

“Obedience and submission become the servant;
Forgiveness is the attribute of God:
If I should do amiss
Reward me as seemeth right in Thine eyes.”

Since I began this Essay on the causes of the Rebellion in Hindustan I have been tempted to keep silence on the events of the past, and even to wish my remembrance of them should be blotted out. The proclamation issued by Her Majesty contains such ample redress for every grievance which led up to that revolt, that a man writing on the subject feels his pen fall from his hands. Why enter further into the matter when the cause of all the dissatisfaction has been discovered and provided against?