The officers continued to be British, but they were more closely linked with their men. } The revolt began on May 10, 1857, at Meerut as a sepoy mutiny. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. Both Hindu and Muslim sepoys refused to use them. the Sepoy Mutiny (by British Historians) Later, the attitudes of British officers changed with increased intolerance, lack of involvement and unconcern of the welfare of troops becoming manifest more and more. And, historically, much the same thing had happened before in times of trouble. What are the oldest known civilizations of India? [7] Several years before the sepoys' mutiny, Lord William Bentinck had attacked several jagirs in western Bengal. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 186 and 313 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. The old aristocracy, both Muslim and Hindu, who were seeing their power steadily eroded by the EEIC, also rebelled against British rule. The magistrates tried to stop it, but, in spite of all they could do, it passed along to the borders of the Punjab. A keen cricketer and tennis player, he now lives in Delhi and serves as director of a few companies. By a campaign in Avadh and Rohilkhand, Campbell cleared the countryside. When soldiers of the Bengal army mutinied in Meerut on May 10, 1857, tension had been growing for some time. Click to view in higher resolution. The Revolt of 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence, was a significant uprising against British colonial rule in India. Has data issue: true As time passed, the powers of the commanding officers reduced and the government became more unfeeling or distant from the concerns of the sepoys. Many Animals, Including the Platypus, Lost Their Stomachs. A number of Indians began to suspect that the British intended to convert the Indian population to Christianity. Most Indians thought they were the work of the British, whothrough the East India Companyhad ruled over large portions of the country for almost a century (and were, according to one well-known prophecy, due to be unseated at that centurys end). The Personal Adventures and Experiences of a Magistrate During the Rise, Progression and Suppression of the Indian Mutiny (London: John Murray, 1884);Kim A. Wagner. The grotesque executions by cannon became even became widely known in America. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857-58 against the rule of the British East India Company, . [15], The varying stances of the British government, the reduction of allowances, and harsh punishments, contributed to a feeling amongst the troops that the Company no longer cared for them. Pandey, it should be noted, is considered a hero in India, and has been portrayed as a freedom fighter in films and even on an Indian postage stamp. Tall tales, panic and misapprehension spread readily in such a climate, and plenty of people felt a certain disquiet in the early months of 1857. Privacy Statement The army became an efficient professional body, drawn largely from the northwest and aloof from the national life. It began on a point of caste pollution; its leaders were traditionalists who looked to reviving the past, while the small new Westernized class actively supported the British. The resumption of tax-free land and confiscation of jagirs (the grant or right to locally control land revenue) caused discontent among the jagirdars and zamindars. McNamara, Robert. hasContentIssue true, THE FIRING PARADE OF 24 APRIL AND ITS SEQUEL, THE OUTBREAK: (a) The Native Infantry Lines, THE OUTBREAK: (b) The Native Cavalry Lines, THE OUTBREAK: (d) The European Troop Movements and the European Lines, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511563386.003, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. ), 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. Christian organisations from Britain had additionally created 222 "unattached" mission stations across India in the decade preceding the rebellion. And when the Indian independence movement gained momentum in the 20th century, events of the Revolt of 1857 were viewed as having been an early battle for independence, while individuals such as Mangal Pandey were hailed as early national heroes. India from the Paleolithic Period to the decline of the Indus civilization, The earliest agriculturalists and pastoralists, Neolithic agriculture in the Indus valley and Baluchistan, Extent and chronology of Early Harappan culture, Language and scripts, weights and measures, The Post-Urban Period in northwestern India, The late 2nd millennium and the reemergence of urbanism, Peninsular India in the aftermath of the Indus civilization (c. 20001000, The development of Indian civilization from c. 1500, Traditional approaches to Indian historiography, The beginning of the historical period, c. 500150, North India under Muslim hegemony, c. 12001526, Taxation and distribution of revenue resources, The Muslim states of southern India, c. 13501680, Extension and consolidation of the empire, Central, provincial, and local government, Organization of the nobility and the army, The emperor, the nobility, and the provinces, The Afghan-Maratha struggle for northern India, Political and economic decentralization during the Mughal decline, The Afghan factor in northern India, 174772, Cultural aspects of the late precolonial order, India and European expansion, c. 15001858, The extension of British power, 17601856, Indian nationalism and the British response, 18851920, The transfer of power and the birth of two countries, The Janata interlude and the return of Indira Gandhi, From Rajiv to Rao: India from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, V.P. However, in those two years, they were not ordered to use them. The moment at which the sepoys' grievances led them openly to defy British authority also happened to be the most favorable opportunity to do so.[24]. There was thus a suppressed tension in the countryside, ready to break out whenever governmental pressure might be reduced. It was generally believed, in retrospect, that the circulation of the breads had been a warning of trouble ahead, and that the wave of chapatis must have been set in motion by a cunning group of determined conspirators who had begun plotting the rising months, if not years, in advance. The next phase was the central Indian campaign of Sir Hugh Rose. By the time the British came to examine the causes of the rebellion, therefore, the chupatty movement had assumed a fresh significance. To save content items to your account, This would have insulted both Hindu and Muslim religious practices; cows were considered holy by Hindus, while pigs were considered unclean (Haram) by Muslims. He also resumed the practice of tax-free lands in some areas. 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 decade prior to the rebellion, the EEIC had imposed a "doctrine of lapse" (of Indian leadership succession), and the policy of "subsidiary alliance", both of which deprived many Indian rulers of their customary powers and privileges. 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. What are the major holidays and festivals of India? A New Type of Rifle Cartridge Caused Problems, The Indian Revolt of 1857 Brought the End of the East India Company. https://www.thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014 (accessed March 1, 2023). [20], In 1857, the Bengal Army contained 10 regular regiments of Indian cavalry and 74 of infantry. As John Kaye wrote a few years later: Among other wild fables, which took firm hold of the popular mind, was one to the effect that the Companys officers had collected all the newly-manufactured salt, had divided it into two great heaps, and over one had sprinkled the blood of hogs, and over the other the blood of cows; that they had then sent it to be sold throughout the country of the pollution and desecration of the Mahommedans and Hindoos, that all might be brought to one caste and to one religion like the English. 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. In the Punjab were some 10,000 British troops, which made it possible to disarm the Indian regiments; and the recently defeated Sikhs were so hostile to the Muslims that they supported the British against the Mughal restoration in Delhi. In some districts like Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur, Bose and Jalal argue that "the revolt took on a distinctly millenarian flavor. A small British army was improvised, which held the ridge before Delhi against greatly superior forces until Sir John Lawrence was able to send a siege train under John Nicholson. This war of Independence marked the end of rule by the British East India company. Victoria added the title "Empress of India" to her royal title. 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. In the altercation, Pandey was surrounded by British troops and shot himself in the chest. It consisted of the distribution of many thousands of chapatisunleavened Indian breadsthat were passed from hand to hand and from village to village throughout the mofussil (interior) of the subcontinent. Ferocity led to grave excesses on both sides, distinguishing this war in horror from other wars of the 19th century. It was against this backdrop of uneasiness in which the mutiny erupted in 1857. These are deep waters that we trawl in, and dangerous ones, too. It is called the chupatty movement. . The Politics of a Popular Uprising: Bundelkhand in 1857 (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994);Mark Thornhill. But something important was required to provoke so many to seize the opportunity of a military uprising to stage a war of independence. A rumor spread that the cartridges of the new Enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. Leader of the British Conservative Party and future prime minister Benjamin Disraeli argued these objects were signs to rebel and evidence of a conspiracy, and the press echoed this belief. In a few hours the whole country was in a stir, from Chowkeydars flying around with these cakes. Beyond that, however, opinions remained divided. A rumour spread that the cartridges of the new enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. '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. 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. When soldiers of the Bengal army mutinied in Meerut on May 10, 1857, tension had been growing for some time. In 1877, outside Delhi, essentially in the spot where bloody fighting had taken place 20 years earlier, an event called the Imperial Assemblage was held. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Although the armies of many Rajas or states which rebelled contained large numbers of guns, the British superiority in artillery was to be decisive in the siege of Delhi after the arrival of a siege train of thirty-two howitzers and mortars. What was the issue of cartridges? When Muslim and Hindu troops learned that the tip of the Enfield cartridge had to be bitten off to prepare it for firing, a number of troops refused, for religious reasons, to accept the ammunition. Few of these participated in the rebellion, and one contingent in particular (the recently raised Punjab Irregular Force) actively participated on the British side. Historians have identified diverse political, economic, military, religious and social causes of the Revolt of 1857 (First War of Indian Independence 1857). (2021, July 31). (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. The . of your Kindle email address below. In some cases, they used an execution method of lashing a mutineer to the mouth of a cannon, and then firing the cannon and literally blasting the man to pieces. 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 Or it might have been an aristocratic plot, set off too soon by the Meerut outbreak. The campaign then settled down to British attempts to take Delhi and relieve Lucknow. Sepoy units in the south of India remained loyal, but in the north, many units of the Bengal Army turned on the British. In India, it has been viewed quite differently. It is not known who first projected the plan. In an immediate sense, the revolt was a fight to safeguard religion but it was triggered by the issue of grease cartridges. Mike Dash is a contributing writer in history for Smithsonian.com. [11] If the caste of high-caste sepoys was considered to be "polluted", they would have to expend considerable sums of money on ritual purification before being accepted back into society. In an elaborate ceremony, Lord Lytton, the serving viceroy of India, honored a number of Indian princes. The immediate cause of military disaffection was the deployment of the new breech-loading Enfield rifle, the cartridge of which was purportedly greased with pork and beef fat. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. Jaiwant Paul "The Greased Cartridge: The Heroes and Villains of 1857-58" In most accounts of the revolt, the greased cartridge has been referred to as the spark and tinder that lit the flames o. Render date: 2023-03-01T21:49:14.745Z Indian soldiers in the East India Company's armies believed they risked defilement because the new rounds were being issued greased with the fat of pigs and cowsuntrue, but sufficient to spark the most dangerous uprising against British imperial rule since the American Revolution. 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. Lands were confiscated from the landlords and auctioned. Then the bullet had to be rammed down the rifled barrel. But the spark was interestingly not so much of religious clashes, but the grease used in the new Enfield rifle. Prior to the outbreak of the Revolt, Bahadur Shah Zafar lived in Delhi as a Pensioner of the British. 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