Company rule in India · 1857-1858

1857: rebellion in India

In May 1857 Indian soldiers of the East India Company rise up, and the revolt spreads across northern India. Princes, soldiers and farmers fight the Company until 1858. Students follow the rebellion, meet Rani Lakshmibai and ask what the events should be called.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1800 to AD 1880
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In May 1857 Indian soldiers of the East India Company rise up, and the revolt spreads across northern India. Princes, soldiers and farmers fight the Company until 1858. Students follow the rebellion, meet Rani Lakshmibai and ask what the events should be called.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain the causes of the rebellion of 1857, from the cartridge rumour to anger at Company rule.
  • Locate Meerut, Delhi, Lucknow and Jhansi and describe what happened there.
  • Explain how British rule in India changed after 1858.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1800

India before 1857

Open the map in 1800 and turn on Historical Maps: a map of India in the 1700s appears. Then drag the slider to 1815. Which power is taking over more and more of India?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1857

The Ganges plain

Open the map in 1857 and zoom in on the plain of the Ganges. Find Delhi, Meerut, Lucknow and Kanpur. Most of the fighting happened in this region.

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1880

From Company to Crown

Drag the slider from 1857 to 1880. How does the name of the British-ruled area change on the map?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Sepoys were told the new cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat. Why was that rumour so explosive?
  2. Besides the cartridges, what other reasons did soldiers, princes and farmers have to rise against the Company?
  3. Both sides killed prisoners and civilians in 1857-1858. Why do wars of rebellion often become so cruel?
  4. The rebels chose the old Mughal emperor as their leader. Why might a poet in his eighties be a powerful symbol?
  5. The British took fierce revenge after the rebellion. How might that have shaped Indian feelings about British rule?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Akbar in Rule History, the Mughal emperor who ruled India at the height of the dynasty. Discuss: in 1857 the rebels made Akbar's descendant, Bahadur Shah II, their leader. Why did the Mughal name still carry so much weight 250 years later?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.