The changes introduced in the administrative setup of the British territories in India after the revolt of 1857 were:
(i) The East India Company's rule was ended after the revolt.
(ii) The Indian territories came under the direct control of the British Crown.
(iii) Queen Victoria become the Emperess of India.
(iv) The power of the company were transferred to a Cabinet Minister.
(v) The Governor General was changed to Viceroy.
(vi) The Indian administration was run by the Viceroy on the behalf of the British crown.

The economic causes which led to the revolt of 1857 are as follows :
(i) The British encouraged the imports of British Goods to India.
(ii) Due to the introduction of clothes made in England, the Indian Handloom industry was adversely affected.
(iii) Many craftsmen and artisans were thrown out of employment.
(iv) The new plantation system brought misery for the peasants.
(v) The new land revenue system was impoverished on the peasants.
(vi) Zamindars and Taluqdars were displaced.

Effects of the Revolt of 1857:
(i) It brought the Mughal Empire to an end.
(ii) The rule of East India Company in India came to an end.
(iii) The British Crown took over the control of Indian administration.
(iv) Company's Board of Centre and Court of Director were abolished and all the powers were transferred to the Secretary of State of India.
(v) The British became suspicious of Indians and began to keep themselves confined to their clubs and offices.
(vi) The policy of balance and counter check was adopted regarding military administration.
(vii) Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858 promised to abstain from all interference in religious beliefs of the Indian people.
(viii) Indian rulers were given the right to adoptions.

Following were the causes of the failure of the revolt:
(i) Revolt did not embrace the entire country. In southern and most of the western Indian states, it could not even start.
(ii) A large number of local zamindars and Indian princes did not join the revolt.
(iii) The revolt was not supported by the educated Indians.
(iv) The rebellious soldiers had lack of modern weapons and other materials of war.
(v) The organization of the rebellion soldiers was very weak.
(vi) Modern concept of Nationalism had not reached in India at that time.
(vii) It broke out before the planned date.

I would take the following steps to keep my plans of fighting a top secret:
(i) I would discuss my plans with the British Officers personally
(ii) I would do personal meetings with the British officers at a very secret place, so that no one would be able to know about the meeting.
(iii) All the decisions that had been taken in the meetings would be conveyed through Britishers only to the concerned officers.
(iv) I would convey all the important messages to the concerned authorities only through Englishmen.
(v) I would avoid Indians at each and every stage. It would prevent the chance of leaking the plan.
(vi) I would keep close watch on all of those Indians who were in the British army.

The revolt of 1857 had a popular character due to two reasons.
These are:
(i) The revolt was started by the Indian sepoys employed by the East India Company and continued by them all over North India. These sepoys were mostly ordinary people from peasant families in rural areas and so it was a popular uprising.
(ii) The leaders of the revolt were the local rulers and chieftains, most of whom were well-liked by the populace due to their treatment of the people under their control. Thus most of them, with a few exceptions, were popular rulers. All the above people disliked the British officials, whom they felt was interfering in their normal way of life. Due to this, the revolt developed a popular character.

The British did not need to justify the takeover of India to themselves, as it was part of their policy of colonialism.
To the outside world, they justified it by saying that they were civilising the natives, who were following uncivilised traditions and practices.
As part of their policy, they economically impoverished India by taking away products valued by them at throwaway prices or as taxes for governing the people.
This policy was not justified because India lost much of its resources to the British, resulting in the poverty which we see and feel even today. Further, there were many loopholes in the policy which could be used by individuals for their personal gain and enjoyment at the cost of the country.

The soldiers who mutinied in Meerut rushed to Delhi and forced the Mughal king to give his backing to the revolt.
His writing a letter to all the chiefs to revolt was significant, as troops mutinied and joined other troops at nodal points like Delhi, Kanpur and" Lucknow.
Seeing this, the people of the towns and villages revolted and rallied around local leaders, zamindars and chiefs who were prepared to establish their authority and fight the British.
These leaders included Nana Saheb (Kanpur), Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Begum Hazrat Mahal and Birjis Oadr (Lucknow), Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah (Faizabad), Bakht Khan (Bareilly) and Kunwar Singh (Bihar), among others. The British troops were outnumbered and were defeated in a number of battles.