The Lucknow garrison held out in the residency from July 1, in spite of the death of Sir Henry Lawrence on July 4. 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. But the spark was interestingly not so much of religious clashes, but the grease used in the new Enfield rifle. [22], The Bengal Army also contained three "European" regiments of infantry and many artillery units manned by white personnel. What was the main cause of revolt of 1857? What was the issue of cartridges? In the event, the chapattis were not harbingers of a coming storm. They were what people made them into, and the significance attributed to them was a symptom of the pervasive distrust and general consternation amongst the Indian population during the early months of 1857. To be loaded, this cartridge had to be torn open so that the powder it contained could be poured down the barrel of the muzzle-loading gun; because the soldiers hands were full, this was done with the teeth. Our Bones Are Scattered: The Cawnpore Massacres and the Indian Mutiny of 1857 (London: John Murray, 2004). What are the major holidays and festivals of India? B. The revolt began on May 10, 1857, at Meerut as a sepoy mutiny. As time passed, the powers of the commanding officers reduced and the government became more unfeeling or distant from the concerns of the sepoys. The greased cartridges had to be opened by biting off the top with your teeth. The Company had upgraded to the new Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle, which used greased paper cartridges. Once defiled, the theory went, men who had consumed the forbidden meal would be shunned by their co-religionists and would be easier to bring into the Christian fold, or could be sent as soldiers overseas (crossing the black water being forbidden to Hindus of high caste). India at the time of the 1857 rebellion. The Great Rebellion of 1857 in India - Biswamoy Pati 2010-01 The Great Rebellion of 1857 in India was much more than a e~sepoy mutinye(tm). The breads formed, in short, what amounted to a culinary chain letter, one that was spreading with such spectacular rapidity that Thornhills boss, George Harvey, in Agra, calculated that a wave of chapatis was advancing across his province at a rate somewhere between 100 and 200 miles a night. Sepoy units in the south of India remained loyal, but in the north, many units of the Bengal Army turned on the British. The rebels were . 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 mysterious appearance of chapatisloaves of an Indian unleavened breadspooked the British administrators of the Raj shortly before the outbreak of rebellion in 1857. The soldiers performed well on the field of battle in exchange for which they were rewarded with symbolic heraldic rewards such as battle honors in addition to the extra pay or "batta" (foreign pay) routinely disbursed for operations committed beyond the established borders of Company rule. Following the fighting of 185758, India was legally considered a colony of Britain, ruled by a viceroy. They shot the British officers and made for Delhi, 40 miles (65 km) distant, where there were no British troops. #Mangal Pandey #1857 Revolt #Cartridges #Sepoy Mutiny The spark for the 1857 Revolt was provided by Greased Cartridges.Why Greased Cartridges triggered the R. rumours abounded that the Enfield cartridges were greased with animal fat. History of the Siege of Delhi (Edinburgh: A&C Black, 1861);John Kaye. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 226-228 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. This book is essentially about the heroes - Tatya Tope, Nana. Some Indians were upset with the draconian rule of the Company who had embarked on a project of territorial expansion and westernization that was imposed without any regard for historical subtleties in Indian society. Saul, David (2003), page 294 "The Indian Mutiny", Penguin Books. The Indian garrison at Delhi joined them, and by the next nightfall they had secured the city and Mughal fort, proclaiming the aged titular Mughal emperor, Bahdur Shah II, as their leader. To save content items to your account, And where had the chowkidar got them? Britain, of course, would rule India well into the 20th century. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. From the confidential physician to the King of Delhi: Nobody can tell what was the object of the distribution of the chupatties. Revolt Of 1857 India Causes Eects History Facts N Info 1 . The dramatic capture of Delhi turned mutiny into full-scale revolt. The immediate cause of the Revolt was the issue of the greased cartridges. The Revolt of 1857-58 was the biggest and bloodiest conflict against any European colonial power during the nineteenth century. Throughout May and June 1857 more units of Indian troops mutinied against the British. Since the batta made the difference between active service being considered munificent or burdensome, the sepoys repeatedly resented and actively opposed inconsiderate unilateral changes in pay and batta ordered by the Military Audit department. Partly owing to this, Bengal sepoys were not subject to the penalty of flogging as were the European soldiers. In an elaborate ceremony, Lord Lytton, the serving viceroy of India, honored a number of Indian princes. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014. 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. Mangal Pandey was an Indian soldier who played an important role in incidents prior to the uprising of 1857, known by different names like the 'Indian Rebellion of 1857,' the 'Sepoy Mutiny' and 'India's First War of Independence.'. Match the Country with Its Hemisphere Quiz, Baron Strathnairn of Strathnairn and Jhansi. Increasing numbers of Christian missionaries began arriving in India, and their presence gave credence to rumors of impending conversions. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 305-306 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. As the mutiny spread, the British began called mutineers "pandies." Post this, India was directly ruled by the British government through representatives known as Governor-General. Certain actions of the government, such as increased recruitment of Sikhs and Gurkhas, peoples considered by the Bengal sepoys to be inferior in caste to them, increased the distrust of the sepoys who thought that this was a sign of their services not being needed any more. Mason, Philip (1974), page 226 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. This reinforced the belief that the original issued cartridges were indeed greased with lard and tallow. 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. 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. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. In an immediate sense, the revolt was a fight to safeguard religion but it was triggered by the issue of grease cartridges. A cartridge for the new Enfield rifle. please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. This is what led to the revolt of 1857 in many localized areas. 31, 2021, thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014. British and Indian military drills of the time required soldiers to bite off the end of the Beeswax paper cartridge, pour the gunpowder contained within down the barrel, stuff the remaining paper cartridge into the barrel, ram the paper cartridge (which included the ball wrapped and tied in place) down the barrel, remove the ram-rod, return the ram-rod, bring the rifle to the ready, set the sights, add a percussion cap, present the rifle, and fire. Setting out from Allahabad, Sir Henry Havelock fought through Kanpur to the Lucknow residency on September 25, where he was besieged in turn. A New Type of Rifle Cartridge Caused Problems, The Indian Revolt of 1857 Brought the End of the East India Company. 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 came as a greater shock than the loss of the American colonies, and prompted reprisals far more hysterical and vicious than those visited on rebellious subjects elsewhere in the Empire. 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. 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. Many sepoys believed that the victory was the destruction of cartridges that were standard issue with the new rifle were greased with lard (pork fat) which was regarded as unclean by Muslims and tallow (cow fat) which angered the Hindus as cows were equal to a goddess to them. On 29 March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy of the 34 th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) mutinied against his commanding officers of the East India Company. 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. Advertising Notice "[4] Those European men and women who had previously converted to Islam such as Sergeant-Major Gordon, and Abdullah Beg, a former Company soldier, were spared. Victoria added the title "Empress of India" to her royal title. Dalhousie had also appointed Inam Commission with powers to confiscate land. Stbere im grten eBookstore der Welt und lies noch heute im Web, auf deinem Tablet, Telefon oder E-Reader. These changes caused widespread resentment not only among the landed aristocracy but also caused great havoc to a larger section of the middle-class people. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. And the uprising became extremely violent. Christian organisations from Britain had additionally created 222 "unattached" mission stations across India in the decade preceding the rebellion. Mutiny Memoirs of an Old Officer (London: Folio Society, 1984);Troy Downs. Another suggestion they put forward was to introduce a new drill, in which the cartridge was not bitten with the teeth but torn open with the hand. At other times however, the Company directly or indirectly conceded the legitimacy of the sepoy's demands, such as when troops of the Bengal and Madras armies refused to serve in Sindh without batta after its conquest. Scottish Highlanders charge during the suppression of the rebellion of 1857. The enraged soldiers mutinied across a number of Indian States, taking Delhi . The Indian Mutiny of 1857-59 was a widespread but unsuccessful rebellion against the rule of British East India Company in India which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British crown. The events of 1857 have been considered the first outbreak of an independence movement against British rule. 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. [5], Dalrymple further points out that as late as 6 September, when calling the inhabitants of Delhi to rally against the upcoming Company assault, Zafar issued a proclamation stating that this was a religious war being prosecuted on behalf of 'the faith', and that all Muslim and Hindu residents of the imperial city, or of the countryside were encouraged to stay true to their faith and creeds. Delhi, 40 miles ( 65 km ) distant, where there were no troops. Rumors of impending conversions and Jhansi fight to safeguard religion but it was triggered the. Murray, 2004 ) 1857, at Meerut as a sepoy mutiny officers made! 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