The basic cause Of and the strongest stimulant to, revolt in 1857
in the case of Awadh was a consciousness, on the part of the people, of the loss of their freedom following the annexation of Awadh to the British empire. The plea, of a "mismanaged native rule in Awadh", advanced by the British authorities in justification of the policy of annexation of Lord Dalhousie seemed least convincing to the people.