In an elaborate ceremony, Lord Lytton, the serving viceroy of India, honored a number of Indian princes. By the 1850s the East India Company controlled much of India. Nationalist historians have seen in it the first Indian war of independence. What was the issue of cartridges? In spite of their apparently desperate situation, the British possessed long-term advantages: they could and did receive reinforcements from Britain; they had, thanks to the resolution of Sir John Lawrence, a firm base in the Punjab, and they had another base in Bengal, where the people were quiet; they had virtually no anxiety in the south and only a little in the west; and they had an immense belief in themselves and their civilization, which gave resolution to their initial desperation. ), Find out more about saving to your Kindle, Book: The Mutiny Outbreak at Meerut in 1857, Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511563386.003. The traditional story of the Sepoy Mutiny is that the introduction of a new cartridge for the Enfield rifle provoked much of the trouble. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Dalhousie had also appointed Inam Commission with powers to confiscate land. The revolt is known by several names. Eleven of the sepoys were executed and hundreds more sentenced to hard labor. The Siege of Delhi. Many Indians felt that the company was asking for heavy tax from the locals. Vital though their Indian empire was to them, they controlled the subcontinent with a comparative handful of menabout 100,000 in all, less than half of whom were soldiers, ruling over a population of 250 millionand they were all too aware of just how inadequate these numbers would be in the event of any serious rebellion. Both Hindu and Muslim sepoys refused to use them. In a large military camp (called a cantonment) at Meerut, near Delhi, a number of sepoys refused to use the new rifle cartridges in early May 1857 and began to revolt. He is on the expert panel on weapons for several museums of Rajasthan. Most worryingly of all, some very similar rumors had once been recorded far to the south, in the Madras Presidency in 1806, at the time of a serious outbreak of mutiny among Indian soldiers stationed at Vellore. Proceedings of the Trial of Badahur Shah. In Accounts and Papers, East Indies, Session 3 February-19 April 1859, Parliamentary Papers XVIII of 1859;William Wotherspoon Ireland. A cartridge of this kind, containing powder and nothing more, is often specified as an unballed cartridge. The Lucknow garrison held out in the residency from July 1, in spite of the death of Sir Henry Lawrence on July 4. By origin, a cartridge is a container, usually of paper, designed to hold enough powder for one discharge of the weapon. The old aristocracy, both Muslim and Hindu, who were seeing their power steadily eroded by the EEIC, also rebelled against British rule. However, nearly every sepoy was either Muslima religion that forbids eating the fat or any other part of a pig, or Hinduwhere the same rule applies to cows. Greased Cartridges: The Revolt of 1857 was triggered by the use of new Enfield rifles whose cartridges were believed to be greased with cow and pig fat, leading to the refusal of both Hindu and Muslim sepoys to use them. A popular American illustrated magazine, "Ballou's Pictorial", published afull-page woodcutillustration showing the preparations for such an execution in its issue of October 3, 1857. Indian soldiers had to blow the cartridge which was made of pork and beef. Finally, there was the activity of Christian missionaries, by that time widespread. An uprising in several sepoy companies of the Bengal army was sparked by the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle in February 1857. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. The cartridges were wrapped in paper, which had been coated in grease which made the cartridges easier to load in rifle barrels. Wild stories circulated freely in the panic-stricken atmosphere of 1857, and there were enough real massacres and murders to make almost anything seem possible. The cartridge was then rammed down the muzzle of the rifle.. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. The serving high-caste sepoys were fearful that this requirement would be eventually extended to them, violating observance of the kala pani prohibition on sea travel. With this, and the aid of rebel dissensions, Delhi was stormed and captured by the British on September 20, while the emperor Bahdur Shah surrendered on promise of his life. It was against this backdrop of uneasiness in which the mutiny erupted in 1857. There was therefore both resentment and unease among the old governing class, fanned in Delhi by the British decision to end the Mughal imperial title on Bahdur Shahs death. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 291-292 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. There was thus a suppressed tension in the countryside, ready to break out whenever governmental pressure might be reduced. On May 9, 1857, some 4,000 British soldiers and sepoysnative Indian troopsformed a three-sided hollow square on the parade ground at the Meerut military cantonment, 40 miles northeast of Delhi, to witness punishment. The revolt began on May 10, 1857, at Meerut as a sepoy mutiny. Company officers became aware of the rumours through reports of an altercation between a high-caste sepoy and a low-caste labourer at Dum Dum. [16], At the beginning of the nineteenth century, British officers were generally closely involved with their troops, speaking Indian languages fluently; participating in local culture through such practices as having regimental flags and weapons blessed by Brahman priests; and frequently having native mistresses. Partly owing to this, Bengal sepoys were not subject to the penalty of flogging as were the European soldiers. Mike Dash By a campaign in Avadh and Rohilkhand, Campbell cleared the countryside. The sepoys were generally under the command of British officers. Wagner concludes that the trigger for the rebellion of 1857 was thus rumour, not the actual issue, or use, of cartridges greased with animal fat; that, in any case, we simply don't know what sort of tallow was used at Gangadarh Banerji & Co.; and that - remarkable as it now seems - the truth of the matter never was established, even by the [22], The Bengal Army also contained three "European" regiments of infantry and many artillery units manned by white personnel. Rich people like the merchants and moneylenders were, therefore, able to speculate in British land sales and drive out the most vulnerable peasant farmers. The campaign then settled down to British attempts to take Delhi and relieve Lucknow. 'In England, almost every child is aware that, with a smooth bored gun, no grease of any kind is required to ensure the proper loading of it, whilst with a rifle-bored piece such is necessary.' So writes Mrs Peile, one of those who escaped from Delhi on 11 May 1857. Many Animals, Including the Platypus, Lost Their Stomachs. [7] Several years before the sepoys' mutiny, Lord William Bentinck had attacked several jagirs in western Bengal. : WH Allen, 1864);Tapti Roy. Mason, Philip (1974), page 225 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. The Indian papers are full of surmises as to what it means. The rani found a soldiers death, and Tantia Topi became a fugitive. A chowkidaran Indian village watchman. Beyond that, however, opinions remained divided. A hardcore corporate, he initially worked for Hindustan Unilever and was later Director of Brooke Bond, India. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Famous For: Revolt of 1857. The rapid spread of disorder in 1857when regiment after regiment had mutinied, and revolts against British rule had sprung up throughout most of northern and central Indiamade it almost impossible to believe that the rebellion could have been spontaneous (as most modern historians concede it was), and considerable effort was made to chronicle the movement and trace the spread of the anomalous chapatis. The mutiny and great revolt of 1857-59. This seems to have been a very important reason for the spread of the rebellion, keeping in view the speed at which they ignited in many villages in northern India where farmers rushed to get back their unfairly grabbed title deeds. In the altercation, Pandey was surrounded by British troops and shot himself in the chest. He also passed decrees allowing Hindus who had converted to Christianity to be able to inherit property, which had previously been denied by local practice. The greased cartridges thus posed precisely the same threat to observant sepoys as would flour adulterated with the blood of pigs and cows, and though the British recognized the problem early on, and never issued a single greased cartridge to any Indian troops, fear that the Company was plotting to defile them took hold among the men of many Indian regiments and resulted in the outbreak of rebellion in the cantonment of Meerut in April 1857. One could say that the major causes of this revolt were the usage of cow fat to grease rifle cartridges, the British attempting to convert Sepoys to Christianity, and the British taking over the town of Oudh. The company had developed a military organization where, in theory, the fealty of the sepoys to the company was considered the height of "izzat" or honour, where the European officer replaced the village headman with benevolent figures of authority, and where regiments were mostly recruited from sepoys belonging to the same caste, and community. Yet discreet inquiries soon revealed that many hundreds of chapatis were passing through his district, and through other parts of India as welleverywhere from the Narmada river in the south to the border with Nepal several hundred miles to the north. The particular reason, the greased cartridges for the Enfield rifles, was a mistake rectified as soon as it was discovered; but the fact that explanations and reissues could not quell the soldiers suspicions suggests that the troops were already disturbed by other causes. The magistrates tried to stop it, but, in spite of all they could do, it passed along to the borders of the Punjab. Loading the Enfield often required tearing open the greased cartridge with one's teeth, and many sepoys believed that the cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat. Pandey rebelled by shooting a British sergeant-major and a lieutenant. For instance, once the rebellion was underway, Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar met the sepoys on 11 May 1857, he was told: "We have joined hands to protect our religion and our faith." Mason, Philip (1974), page 263 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, Last edited on 28 September 2022, at 04:39, Details of the rifle issued as a result of the mutiny, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Causes_of_the_Indian_Rebellion_of_1857&oldid=1112793629, This page was last edited on 28 September 2022, at 04:39. Hostname: page-component-7f44ffd566-7cttp please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. British officials were alarmed at the rapid distribution of mysterious Indian breads across much of the Raj, There is a most mysterious affair going on throughout the whole of India at present, Dr. Gilbert Hadow wrote in a letter to his sister in Britain in March 1857. Several events happened that led to the Sepoys revolting and was called the Indian Revolt of 1857. Increasing numbers of Christian missionaries began arriving in India, and their presence gave credence to rumors of impending conversions. ThoughtCo, Jul. Victoria added the title "Empress of India" to her royal title. All the people in the palace wondered what it could mean. By the time of the chupatty movement, no more than a handful of aged India hands could remember such long-ago events as the Vellore Mutiny. Economically and socially, there had been much dislocation in the landholding class all over northern and western India as a result of British land-revenue settlements, setting group against group. Before loading these rifles the sepoys had to bite off the paper on the cartridges. The army so far had been quipped with the smooth-barrelled musket, which had a protracted loading procedure and was not accurate over long ranges. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 226-228 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. The British Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856 was Lord Dalhousie who passed the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 which allowed widows to remarry, like Christian women. "The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857." The surrender of Kanpur, after a relatively brief siege, was followed by a massacre of virtually all British citizens and loyal Indian soldiers at Kanpur. ThoughtCo. 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