With the disappearance of the two most formidable opponents of the British, the Marathas and the rulers of Mysore, Haidar and Tipu, the way for the consolidation of British power became clear by about 1820 A. D. The East India Company found itself in a position of paramount importance and proceeded to enforce a new Rule of Law, caring little for the sentiments and aspirations of the people. The history of the British in India has been divided into five periods by Michael Edwards. First, there were the Elizabethan Adventurers who established precarious trading stations with the favour of the Moghul emperors and local rulers. Then came the period of interference in the affairs of the local rulers trying to eliminate the French and other European powers. This lasted down to about 1820 A. D. Next the pretence of trading was given up and also the policy of neutrality in religion. An evangelical revolution was inaugurated and freedom was given to various Christian missions to convert the people. This culminated in the Mutiny of 1857. After 1857 down to 1908 there was conscious imperialism, Victorian capitalism and exploitation. And lastly the forces which the British themselves had invoked resulted in the long-drawn-out struggle for national independence.
The Mutiny has been termed as the first war for national independence or as essentially a religious revolt, as a slave revolt against tyranny, etc. There were various contributing factors but it is an acknowledged fact that the ‘greased cartridges’ touched off the incidents at Meerut. Cornwallis began the policy of estrangement of the Indians. The Charter Act of 1813 removed the ban on missionary activities. The evangelical revolution began with Bentinck’s reforms in 1830. The English imagined that they had acquired a moral mission. The Evangelicals thought that the Government could be both imperial and Christian. This attitude changed completely after 1857 when the imperial interests alone became paramount. The Mutiny of 1857 was neither a revolt of all the people of India nor a revolution. It was not a fight for democratic principles. Revolutions are made by a determined minority, well-disciplined and organised, exploiting the blind resentment and hate. Even in Europe nationalism became a conscious force in the middle of the 19th century only. It is however true that there was a general resentment against foreign rule shared alike by the princes and the peasants. Dalhousie’s deliberate policy of annexation of States throughout India, without caring for the sentiments of the people, had created general alarm.