greased cartridges revolt of 185702 Apr greased cartridges revolt of 1857
However, in those two years, they were not ordered to use them. ), 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 dramatic capture of Delhi turned mutiny into full-scale revolt. [6]. Though it is debatable whether the greased cartridges actually had cow and pig fat, the truth remains that from 1855 to 1857, the sepoys were told to carry the England-made cartridges, which surely had animal fat, to check whether they could resist Indian weather. The powder and bullet for the new rifle were put together in a paper cartridge. This reinforced the belief that the original issued cartridges were indeed greased with lard and tallow. https://www.thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014 (accessed March 1, 2023). With the British recovery of Gwalior (June 20, 1858), the revolt was virtually over. Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago? Lands were confiscated from the landlords and auctioned. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014. 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. Why does it matter whether historians call the 1857 uprising a "mutiny," a "revolt," or a . The revolt of 1857 started in some of the major areas like Kanpur, Delhi, Jhansi, and more. Due to the need for technical specialists, the artillery units generally had a higher proportion of British personnel. } [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. And where had the chowkidar got them? Then enter the name part Centers and leaders of the revolt of 1857. The sepoys' British officers dismissed these claims as rumors and suggested that the sepoys make a batch of fresh cartridges, using a religiously acceptable greasing agent such as ghee or vegetable oil. Hostname: page-component-7f44ffd566-7cttp As the East India Company annexed Indian states in the 1840s and 1850s, the Indian soldiers in the company's employ began to feel offended. A rumor that spread like wildfire among the sepoys (Indian soldiers) stationed at cantonments throughout the north of the country was that the British had come up with yet another diabolical contrivance for breaking their caste and defiling their bodies: the greased cartridge. In fact, it was rather the last effort of traditional India. Narasimha Rao, The BJP becomes the largest party in the Lok Sabha, BJP reelection bids and tensions in Kashmir, Addressing COVID-19 and its economic impact. "[26] Their rule in India had begun with the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. Mike Dash is a contributing writer in history for Smithsonian.com. Thereafter he headed the National Mineral Water Company in Muscat, Oman. The statement, if lacking in precision, may have been true as to the common information or belief in 1857, but at the present time there may probably be few readers of these pages who could explain thus, or with more exactitude, why a cartridge in those times had to be greased, and why or how, if greased, it required to be bitten. It was initiated by sepoys in the Bengal Presidency against the British officers. Total loading time: 0 A rumour spread that the cartridges of the new Enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. the Sepoy Mutiny (by British Historians) Our Bones Are Scattered: The Cawnpore Massacres and the Indian Mutiny of 1857 (London: John Murray, 2004). 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. 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. Mason, Philip (1974), page 225 "A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. The revolt is known by several names. 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. [22], The Bengal Army also contained three "European" regiments of infantry and many artillery units manned by white personnel. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 203-204 A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. 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. Other irregular units were raised in frontier areas from communities such as Assamese or Pashtuns to maintain order locally. Singhs coalitionits brief rise and fall, Congress government of P.V. Or it might have been an aristocratic plot, set off too soon by the Meerut outbreak. 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. Coconuts had passed at great speed from village to village in central India in 1818, at a time when the mofussil was being ravaged by large bands of merciless looters known as the Pindaris. 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. 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. The Revolt of 1857 started as a Mutiny of the sepoys. 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. The Revolt of 1857-58 was the biggest and bloodiest conflict against any European colonial power during the nineteenth century. It was against this backdrop of uneasiness in which the mutiny erupted in 1857. Published online by Cambridge University Press: He first defeated the Gwalior contingent and then, when the rebels Tantia Topi and Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi had seized Gwalior, broke up their forces in two more battles. Indian sepoys believed that the cartridge was greased with either pig fat or made from cow fat. The Revolt of 1857-58 was the biggest and bloodiest conflict against any European colonial power during the nineteenth century. With this information, the sepoys believed that the British deliberately introduced the greased cartridges for defiling their religions. Historians have identified diverse political, economic, military, religious and social causes of the Revolt of 1857 (First War of Indian Independence 1857). The greased cartridge - what was it all about? A cartridge for the new Enfield rifle. Some currents simply ran cold, while others moved in parallel, or paused before continuing. 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. McNamara, Robert. The revolt of 1857, which the British call the Indian Mutiny but many Indians prefer to think of as the First War of Independence, was the defining event in British imperial history. Mopping-up operations followed, lasting until the British capture of rebel leader Tantia Topi in April 1859. The effective Indian artillery, except for a few mountain batteries, was abolished, while the Brahmans and Rajputs of Avadh were reduced in favour of other groups. Famous For: Revolt of 1857. 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. One common punishment was to tie mutineers to the mouth of a cannon and then fire the cannon, completely obliterating the victim. The movement that Hadow was describing was a remarkable example of rumor gone wild. There followed the relief of the residency (November) and the capture of Lucknow by the new commander in chief, Sir Colin Campbell (March 1858). Thousands of entirely blameless Indians who found themselves caught up in the hysterical aftermath of the rebellion were flogged, or blown from cannon, or forced to clean bloodied paving stones using only their tongues before being summarily hanged. From the interrogation of an official at the King of Delhis court: I did hear of the circumstance. The mysterious appearance of chapatisloaves of an Indian unleavened breadspooked the British administrators of the Raj shortly before the outbreak of rebellion in 1857. No, it is not by any means a custom; I am 50 years old, and never heard of such a thing before. Though the revolt failed in its objective, even in failure it served a grand purpose. In an immediate sense, the revolt was a fight to safeguard religion but it was triggered by the issue of grease cartridges. Politically, many princes of India had retired into seclusion after their final defeat in 1818. Your Privacy Rights Books and articles about the bloody fighting and heroic deeds by British officers and men were published for decades in London. Sepoys were forced to watch such displays as it was believed it set an example of the horrific death that awaited mutineers. 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. Order was restored by the firmness of Charles John Canning (later Earl Canning), first viceroy of India (governed 185862), whose title of Clemency was given in derision by angry British merchants in Calcutta, and of Sir John Lawrence in the Punjab. The Great Mutiny: India 1857 (London: Penguin, 1978);House of Commons. [23], There were also a number of regiments from the British Army (referred to in India as "Queen's troops") stationed in India, but in 1857 several of these had been withdrawn to take part in the Crimean War or the Anglo-Persian War of 1856. 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. The sepoys were generally under the command of British officers. [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. And yet its just as possible to see the bloody results of the mutual incomprehension between the British and native communities in India as a potent reminder that mistrust and panic can have serious consequences. The British had accentuated caste consciousness by careful regulations, had allowed discipline to grow lax, and had failed to maintain understanding between British officers and their men. He ordered his fellow-official to make ten more, and give two to each of the five nearest village Chowkeydars with the same instructions. The musketry books also recommended that, "Whenever the grease around the bullet appears to be melted away, or otherwise removed from the cartridge, the sides of the bullet should be wetted in the mouth before putting it into the barrel; the saliva will serve the purpose of grease for the time being" This meant that biting a musket cartridge was second nature to the Sepoys, some of whom had decades of service in the company's army, and who had been doing musket drill for every day of their service. the Indian Mutiny, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, or the Indian Revolt of 1857. Ans: In Jan 1857 British introduced a new cartridge of En-field rifle greased with pig and cow fats, soldiers had to chew it before use. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. [7] Several years before the sepoys' mutiny, Lord William Bentinck had attacked several jagirs in western Bengal. 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 chupatty movement first came to British attention early in February 1857. There is reason to believe that this was originated by some intriguers of the old Court of Lucknow. But the only evidence for either of these was the circulation from village to village of chapatis, or cakes of unleavened bread, a practice that, though it also occurred on other occasions, was known to have taken place at any time of unrest. Increasing numbers of Christian missionaries began arriving in India, and their presence gave credence to rumors of impending conversions. These recalcitrant troops were placed in irons, but their comrades soon came to their rescue. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. 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