greased cartridges revolt of 1857

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. Furthermore, legal changes introduced by the British were accompanied by prohibitions on Indian religious customs and were seen as steps towards forced conversion to Christianity. 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. 24 October 2009. Such measures were considered a valid negotiating tactic by the sepoys, likely to be repeated every time such issues arose. Or it might have been an aristocratic plot, set off too soon by the Meerut outbreak. Author Pramod Nayar points out that by 1851 there were nineteen Protestant religious societies operating in India whose goal was the conversion of Indians to Christianity. Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago? Match the Country with Its Hemisphere Quiz, Baron Strathnairn of Strathnairn and Jhansi. "[26] Their rule in India had begun with the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The traditional story of the Sepoy Mutiny is that the introduction of a new cartridge for the Enfield rifle provoked much of the trouble. In addition, the General Service Enlistment Act of 1856 required recruits to serve overseas if ordered, a challenge to the castes who composed so much of the Bengal army. The Revolt of 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence, was a significant uprising against British colonial rule in India. Though the revolt failed in its objective, even in failure it served a grand purpose. He ordered his fellow-official to make ten more, and give two to each of the five nearest village Chowkeydars with the same instructions. All the people in the palace wondered what it could mean. The rifle's cartridges contained 68 grains of FF black powder, and the ball was typically a 530-grain Pritchett or a Burton-Mini ball. They shot the British officers and made for Delhi, 40 miles (65 km) distant, where there were no British troops. 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. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 226-228 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. The sepoys were generally under the command of British officers. Few of these participated in the rebellion, and one contingent in particular (the recently raised Punjab Irregular Force) actively participated on the British side. This war of Independence marked the end of rule by the British East India company. The cartridge had to be bitten off before loading it into the gun. Mason, Philip (1974), page 190 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. Privacy Statement [1] As early as the Charter Act of 1813 Christian missionaries were encouraged to come to Bombay and Calcutta under EEIC control. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. The Sepoy Mutinywas a violent and very bloody uprising againstBritish rule in Indiain 1857. The . 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. Extensive inquiries into the meaning of the breads produced plenty of theories but few facts; even the runners and watchmen who baked them and carried them from village to village did not know why they had to run through the night with chupatties in their turbans, though they took them just the same. In contrast, foreign Christians such as Revd Midgeley, John Jennings, and Indian converts to Christianity such as one of Zafar's personal physicians, Dr. Chaman Lal, were killed. The army became an efficient professional body, drawn largely from the northwest and aloof from the national life. Mutiny Memoirs of an Old Officer (London: Folio Society, 1984);Troy Downs. In most accounts of the revolt, the greased cartridge has been referred to as the spark and tinder that lit the flames of rebellion. 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. 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. But in the 1830s and 1840s, tensions began to emerge. A rumor spread that the cartridges of the new Enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. The movement that Hadow was describing was a remarkable example of rumor gone wild. Pandey rebelled by shooting a British sergeant-major and a lieutenant. What was the issue of cartridges? To save content items to your account, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 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. But the back of the rebellion had been broken and time gained for reinforcements to restore British superiority. The Sepoy Mutiny was a violent and very bloody uprising against British rule in India in 1857. The company had an unbroken series of victories in India, against the Marathas, Mysore, north Indian states, and the Gurkhas, later against the Sikhs, and further afield in China and Burma. In the illustration, a mutineer was depicted chained to the front of a British cannon, awaiting his imminent execution, as others were gathered to watch the grisly spectacle. Mangal Pandey, (born July 19, 1827, Akbarpur, Indiadied April 8, 1857, Barrackpore), Indian soldier whose attack on British officers on March 29, 1857, was the first major incident of what came to be known as the Indian, or Sepoy, Mutiny (in India the uprising is often called the First War of Independence or other similar names). 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. Sepoys throughout India were issued with a new rifle, the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musketa more powerful and accurate weapon than the old but smoothbore Brown Bess they had been using for the previous decades. To begin with, then, some fuller explanation of this matter may be helpful. 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). History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857-58 (London, 3 vols. The revolt was sparked by a number of reasons, including economic exploitation, cultural repression, and mistreatment of Indian soldiers. Cookie Policy That, combined with a declining number of British officers who understood India, spoke Indian languages fluently or had any real sympathy for the people whom they ruled, meant that the colonial hierarchy remained perpetually jittery. 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. Finally, there was the activity of Christian missionaries, by that time widespread. Whether the cartridge was unballed or balled, it was necessary, in loading a muzzle-loader, to open the end of the cartridge. In fact, it was rather the last effort of traditional India. [2][3], Religious disquiet as the cause of rebellion underlies the work of historian William Dalrymple who asserts that the rebels were motivated primarily by resistance to the actions of the English East India Company(also called British East India Company), especially under James Broun-Ramsay reign, which were perceived as attempts to impose Christianity and Christian laws in India. A number of Indians began to suspect that the British intended to convert the Indian population to Christianity. What are the oldest known civilizations of India? Find out more about saving to your Kindle. 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 British, who had nothing to do with the mysterious transmission, guessed the breads were a piece of mischief-making on the part of the Indians, though opinion was divided as to whether the breads came from the east, near Calcutta (Kolkata), from the north, in the province of Oude (Avadh) or from Indore, in the center of the country. The Bengal army of some 130,000 Indian troops may have contained as many as 40,000 Brahmans as well as many Rajputs. As time passed, the powers of the commanding officers reduced and the government became more unfeeling or distant from the concerns of the sepoys. At some point the chapattis passed beyond the limits of their meaningful transmission and simply continued through the country as a blank message. 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]. [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. 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. The Muslims had lost the large state of Avadh; the Marathas had lost Nagpur, Satara, and Jhansi. From Delhi the revolt spread in June to Kanpur (Cawnpore) and Lucknow. He survived and was put on trial and hanged on April 8, 1857. By origin, a cartridge is a container, usually of paper, designed to hold enough powder for one discharge of the weapon. Immediate Cause The Revolt of 1857 eventually broke out over the incident of greased cartridges. As mutineers were captured, they were often killed on the spot, and many were executed in dramatic fashion. [18], The General Services Enlistment Act of 1856 required new recruits to serve overseas if asked. This included an increase in the taxation on land. [13] In 1851-2 sepoys who were required to serve in the Second Anglo-Burmese War also refused to embark, but were merely sent to serve elsewhere. Before loading these rifles the sepoys had to bite off the paper on the cartridges. Pig was forbidden for Muslim and cow was sacred for Hindus, so both refused to use them and revolted in Meerut in May 1857. This book is essentially about the heroes - Tatya Tope, Nana. Hostname: page-component-7f44ffd566-7cttp When the mood of the sepoys turned against their masters, they remembered Kabul and that the British were not invincible. In contrast to their Indian predecessors, the British considered such refusals at times to be outright "mutinies" and therefore to be suppressed brutally. 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. 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.'. It was initiated by sepoys in the Bengal Presidency against the British officers. 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. Revolt Of 1857 India Causes Eects History Facts N Info 1 . To save content items to your account, Numerous explanations were considered. A rumour spread that the cartridges of the new enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. Render date: 2023-03-01T21:49:14.745Z Thus, long after the chapattis reached their northern-most point of Meerut, there was another northwards distribution from Cawnpore to Fattehgarh, which was widely reported in the newspapers The circulation took place along well-established routes of transmission, which followed the main trade and pilgrimage routes between the bigger cities. | READ MORE. In 1885, however, the founding of the Indian National Congress marked the beginnings of effective, organized protest for national self-determination. Scottish Highlanders charge during the suppression of the rebellion of 1857. There was also a general feeling that English officers were losing touch with the Indian troops under them. And, historically, much the same thing had happened before in times of trouble. I have the honour to inform you that a signal has passed through numbers of the villages in this district, the purport of which has not yet transpired. Indian soldiers had to blow the cartridge which was made of pork and beef. Mason, Philip (1974), page 236 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. The ratio of British to Indian troops was fixed at roughly 1:2 instead of 1:5one British and two Indian battalions were formed into brigades so that no sizable station should be without British troops. Is the sending of such articles about the country a custom among the Hindoos or Mussulmans; and would the meaning be at once understood without any accompanying explanation? The whole episode falls into three periods: first came the summer of 1857, when the British, without reinforcements from home, fought with their backs to the wall; the second concerned the operations for the relief of Lucknow in the autumn; and the third was the successful campaign of Sir Colin Campbell (later Baron Clyde) and Sir Hugh Henry Rose (later Baron Strathnairn of Strathnairn and Jhansi) in the first half of 1858. 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. 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. India at the time of the 1857 rebellion. Furthermore, the superstitious impulse that still encourages the transmission of chain letters clearly applied in 1857: Although the original specific meaning of the chapattis had been lost early in the distribution, the dire consequences of breaking the chain of transmission remained, and thus ensured their successful circulation over an immense area. #Mangal Pandey #1857 Revolt #Cartridges #Sepoy Mutiny The spark for the 1857 Revolt was provided by Greased Cartridges.Why Greased Cartridges triggered the R. In the event, the chapattis were not harbingers of a coming storm. 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