Question

Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Two rebels of 1857
Shah Mal

Shah Mal lived in a large village in pargana Barout in Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to a clan of Jat cultivators whose kinship ties extended over chaurasee des (eighty-four villages). The lands in the region were irrigated and fertile, with rich dark loam soil. Many of the villagers were prosperous and saw the British land revenue system as oppressive: the revenue demand was high and its collection inflexible. Consequently cultivators were losing land to outsiders, to traders and moneylenders who were coming into the area.

Shah Mal mobilised the headmen and cultivators of chaurasee des, moving at night from village to village, urging people to rebel against the British. As in many other places, the revolt against the British turned into a general rebellion against all signs of oppression and injustice. Cultivators left their fields and plundered the houses of moneylenders and traders. Displaced proprietors took possession of the lands they had lost. Shah Mal’s men attacked government buildings, destroyed the bridge over the river, and dug up metalled roads – partly to prevent government forces from coming into the area, and partly because bridges and roads were seen as symbols of British rule. They sent supplies to the sepoys who had mutinied in Delhi and stopped all official communication between British headquarters and Meerut. Locally acknowledged as the Raja, Shah Mal took over the bungalow of an English officer, turned it into a “hall of justice”, settling disputes and dispensing judgments. He also set up an amazingly effective network of intelligence. For a period the people of the area felt that firangi raj was over, and their raj had come.

Shah Mal was killed in battle in July 1857.

How did the rebellion led by Shah Mal challenge the authority of the British?

Hint:

Rebellions during colonial rule often took the form of challenging both military dominance and administrative structures, as seen in Shah Mal’s creation of a parallel governance system.

Answer 1

Shah Mal’s rebellion challenged the authority of the British in several ways. First, it directly disrupted British control over the region by attacking government buildings, destroying key infrastructure such as bridges, and preventing British forces from entering the area. The rebellion also undermined British legitimacy, as Shah Mal set up a “hall of justice,” taking over the duties of colonial administrators. By organizing local resistance, he directly challenged the colonial power structure and created a parallel authority based on local customs and leadership, which diminished the British hold over the region.