The correct word to fill in the blank is "Ishtahars".
During the 1857 revolt, rebel leaders sought to spread their ideas and rally support for their cause. To achieve this, they issued proclamations and utilized other means of communication. The term "Ishtahars" refers to public notices or manifestos in the Indian context, often used at that time to disseminate messages and ideas to a broader audience.
Let's examine the options to understand why "Ishtahars" is the correct choice:
Therefore, the best answer is "Ishtahars".
The rebel leaders issued Proclamations and few Ishthahars (or Ishtahars) to propagate their ideas during the 1857 Revolt.
Key Details:
Proclamations: These were formal declarations by rebel leaders (e.g., Bahadur Shah Zafar, Nana Saheb, Kunwar Singh) to rally people against British rule.
Ishthahars (Ishtahars): These were posters or pamphlets distributed among the public to spread messages of resistance, religious unity, and anti-colonial sentiments.
Content: They often appealed to Hindus and Muslims to unite, criticized British policies, and called for the restoration of pre-colonial rule.
These documents were crucial in mobilizing public support and spreading the rebellion’s ideology across North and Central India.
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?
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 Shah Mal’s leadership contribute to the spread of the rebellion?