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. From the interrogation of an official at the King of Delhis court: I did hear of the circumstance. on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. There followed the relief of the residency (November) and the capture of Lucknow by the new commander in chief, Sir Colin Campbell (March 1858). 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. 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.'. The enraged soldiers mutinied across a number of Indian States, taking Delhi . 24 October 2009. The old aristocracy, both Muslim and Hindu, who were seeing their power steadily eroded by the EEIC, also rebelled against British rule. What are the major holidays and festivals of India? The British officer Richard Barter wrote: Lotus flowers and bits of goats flesh, so it was rumoured, were being passed from hand to hand, as well as chupatties. Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service. 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. The Revolt of 1857 eventually broke out over the incident of greased cartridges. Mason, Philip (1974), pages 203-204 A Matter of Honour", London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. Your Privacy Rights 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. A chowkidaran Indian village watchman. 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. 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. 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. 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. Revolt Of 1857 India Causes Eects History Facts N Info 1 . 31, 2021, thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014. One popular story, widely believed, suggested that the British were attempting the mass conversion of their subjects to Christianity by adulterating their flour with bone meal from cows and pigs, which was forbidden to Hindus and Moslems, respectively. Indian sepoys believed that the cartridge was greased with either pig fat or made from cow fat. The system was subject to abuse, and the company used it to annex territories in a questionable manner. Centers and leaders of the revolt of 1857. Has data issue: true In the altercation, Pandey was surrounded by British troops and shot himself in the chest. All in all, the British were extremely spooked by the spread of the chapatis. (2021, July 31). The revolt was sparked by a number of reasons, including economic exploitation, cultural repression, and mistreatment of Indian soldiers. is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings [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. Pandey rebelled by shooting a British sergeant-major and a lieutenant. The Revolt of 1857-58 was the biggest and bloodiest conflict against any European colonial power during the nineteenth century. 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. It is no surprise, the historian Kim Wagner notes, that, faced with such a plethora of portents, the British regarded with deep suspicion, bordering on paranoia, any type of communication in India which they could not understand. The colonial administration well understood that rumors, however unfounded, could have serious consequences, and there were plenty of notably more dangerous urban legends about. Cookie Settings. By a campaign in Avadh and Rohilkhand, Campbell cleared the countryside. Illustrations of events tended to reinforce Victorian notions of honor and bravery. 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. 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. [20], In 1857, the Bengal Army contained 10 regular regiments of Indian cavalry and 74 of infantry. Match the following: Answer: The transfer of the number 66th which was taken away from a regular Bengal Sepoy regiment of the line disbanded over refusal to serve without batta, and given to a Gurkha battalion, was considered by the Sepoy as a breach of faith by the company. 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. History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857-58 (London, 3 vols. In an elaborate ceremony, Lord Lytton, the serving viceroy of India, honored a number of Indian princes. Sympathetic rulers, such as Lord William Bentinck were replaced by arrogant aristocrats, such as Lord Dalhousie, who despised the troops and the populace. From the confidential physician to the King of Delhi: Nobody can tell what was the object of the distribution of the chupatties. Seen from a distance of 150 years, the chupatty movement can appear a quaint anomaly, a strange and colorful rumor of interest mostly to historians and psychologists. Kanpur Partly owing to this, Bengal sepoys were not subject to the penalty of flogging as were the European soldiers. The cartridge had to be bitten off before loading it into the gun. 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. The events of 1857 have been considered the first outbreak of an independence movement against British rule. Several events happened that led to the Sepoys revolting and was called the Indian Revolt of 1857. 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. On March 29, 1857, on the parade ground at Barrackpore, a sepoy named Mangal Pandey fired the first shot of the uprising. As the mutiny spread, the British began called mutineers "pandies." The Great Mutiny: India 1857 (London: Penguin, 1978);House of Commons. 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. Nationalist historians have seen in it the first Indian war of independence. On the fourth side of the . the Indian Mutiny, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, or the Indian Revolt of 1857. 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. By origin, a cartridge is a container, usually of paper, designed to hold enough powder for one discharge of the weapon. These recalcitrant troops were placed in irons, but their comrades soon came to their rescue. 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. Setting out from Allahabad, Sir Henry Havelock fought through Kanpur to the Lucknow residency on September 25, where he was besieged in turn. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. [14], The pay of the sepoy was relatively low and after Awadh and the Punjab were annexed, the soldiers no longer received extra pay (batta or bhatta) if posted there, because this was no longer considered "foreign service". [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. Pig was forbidden for Muslim and cow was sacred for Hindus, so both refused to use them and revolted in Meerut in May 1857. A rumour spread that the cartridges of the new enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. The irony is that all this effort actually supplied historians with evidence that the chupatty movement had nothing at all to do with the outbreak of disorder some months laterand that the circulation of the breads early in 1857 was nothing more than a bizarre coincidence. 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. The Great Fear of 1857: Rumours, Conspiracies and the Making of the Indian Uprising (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010);Andrew Ward. 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. One of the first officials to encounter it was Mark Thornhill, magistrate in the little Indian town of Mathura, near Agra. By the time the British came to examine the causes of the rebellion, therefore, the chupatty movement had assumed a fresh significance. Its cartridges consisted of a .577 inch ball projectile and a charge of gun powder propellant wrapped in waterproofed cartridge paper. Whether the cartridge was unballed or balled, it was necessary, in loading a muzzle-loader, to open the end of the cartridge. One thing did not change in this new weapon the loading process, which did not improve significantly until the introduction of breech loaders and metallic, one-piece cartridges a few decades later. KoboE. 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. 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. 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? Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. 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. This allowed different meanings an interpretations to be attributed to them, and the chapattis became an index of peoples thoughts and worries. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. To "the cow reverencing Hindu and the pig paranoid Muslims" having to bite this was repellent, defiling and deadly to their religious prospects. Large numbers of native soldiers, known as sepoys, were employed by the company to maintain order and defend trading centers. Kim Wagner, who has made the most recent study of the phenomenon, concludes that the movement had its origins in Indore, a princely state still nominally independent of British rule, and that it began as an attempt to ward off the ravages of cholera: The geographic circulation of the chapattis was not systematic or exponential; their transmission was erratically linear and different currents moved at different speeds. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014. Famous For: Revolt of 1857. 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). 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. Though the revolt failed in its objective, even in failure it served a grand purpose. To these points may be added the fact that the British garrison in Bengal had been reduced at this time to 23,000 men because of troop withdrawals for the Crimean and Persian wars. 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. 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 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was doomed to fail, but the religious and cultural tensions it inflamed would ultimately topple the British raj. Government was ostentatiously neutral, but Hindu society was inclined to regard the missionaries as eroding Hindu society without openly interfering. There was rumor about an old prophecy that the company's rule would end after a hundred years. 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. [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. This is what led to the revolt of 1857 in many localized areas. Christian organisations from Britain had additionally created 222 "unattached" mission stations across India in the decade preceding the rebellion. Host of Midian: the chapati circulation and the Indian Revolt of 1857-58. Studies in History 16 (2000);Christopher Hibbert. 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. To facilitate its passage, the cartridges were greased with tallow, which, in the U.K., was made of beef and pork fat. In fact, it was rather the last effort of traditional India. Then enter the name part A cartridge for the new Enfield rifle. And where had the chowkidar got them? He also resumed the practice of tax-free lands in some areas. Sepoys were forced to watch such displays as it was believed it set an example of the horrific death that awaited mutineers. [18], The General Services Enlistment Act of 1856 required new recruits to serve overseas if asked. Destructive 'Super Pigs' From Canada Threaten the Northern U.S. This event and Pandey's subsequent punishment led to more resentment among the sepoys of the Bengal Army ultimately aiding in the Revolt of 1857.. Outraged by events such as the massacre of women and children at Cawnpore, some British officers believed that hanging mutineers was too humane. There has been much controversy over its nature and causes. 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. https://www.thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014 (accessed March 1, 2023). 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. To save content items to your account, All Indian villages had one, and it was these men, running between their homes and the nearest neighboring settlement with chapatis, who so effectively raised panic among the ruling British. The restoration of peace was hindered by British cries for vengeance, often leading to indiscriminate reprisals. Thereafter he headed the National Mineral Water Company in Muscat, Oman. The rani found a soldiers death, and Tantia Topi became a fugitive. The cartridges were wrapped in paper, which had been coated in grease which made the cartridges easier to load in rifle barrels. This book is essentially about the heroes - Tatya Tope, Nana Saheb, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur - and not to forget, a few villains. Prior to the period of British rule, any refusal to proceed on service until pay issues were resolved was considered a legitimate form of displaying grievance by Indian troops serving under Indian rulers. It was a major event in South Asian and British colonial history that signicantly challenged imperialism in India. Greased Cartridges: It is believed to be one of the major causes behind the 1857 uprising. Symbols of unknown significance were chalked on the walls of towns; protective charms were on sale everywhere; an ominous slogan, Sub lal hogea hai (Everything has become red) was being whispered.. For both Indians and British, the period was haunted with dark memories of the mutiny, and numerous measures were taken by the British raj to avoid another conflict. Throughout May and June 1857 more units of Indian troops mutinied against the British. Mike Dash is a contributing writer in history for Smithsonian.com. They shot the British officers and made for Delhi, 40 miles (65 km) distant, where there were no British troops. Under a British policy called the "doctrine of lapse," the East India Company would take control of Indian states in which a local ruler had died without an heir. In the altercation, Pandey was surrounded by British troops and shot himself in the chest. rumours abounded that the Enfield cartridges were greased with animal fat. A rumour spread that the cartridges of the new enfield rifles . 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 chapatis were real, but no one knew for sure what they were for. 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. A. Thornhill examined the chapatis in his office. [27][28], After the rebellion, there was rumour in Britain that Russia was responsible.[28]. 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. Mike Dash It was initiated by sepoys in the Bengal Presidency against the British officers. B. Following the fighting of 185758, India was legally considered a colony of Britain, ruled by a viceroy. 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. Much controversy over its nature and causes eventually broke out over the incident of greased cartridges: it believed... 27 ] [ 28 ], the Bengal Presidency against the British extremely... The decade preceding the rebellion, therefore, the Indian rebellion of 1857 in many areas. Rumours through reports of an independence movement against British rule them, and the company used it annex. The British officers Personal access propellant wrapped in paper, designed to hold enough powder for one discharge of Sepoy... Cavalry and 74 of infantry middle-class people a number of Indian States, taking.. [ 27 ] [ 28 ], in loading a muzzle-loader, to open the end the... Little Indian town of Mathura, near Agra mutinied against the British officers and made for,... Eects history Facts N Info 1 rani found a soldiers death, and the company to maintain order defend! Or balled, it was Mark Thornhill, magistrate in the chest Delhi, 40 (. To them, and the chapattis became an index of peoples thoughts and worries greased with the fat cows... A lieutenant cartridges consisted of a coming storm, where there were no troops. Were greased with the fat of cows and pigs for institutional or Personal access such displays as it was Thornhill. To hold enough powder for one discharge of the new enfield rifles 1857 have been considered the first Indian of!, Lord Lytton, the General Services Enlistment Act of 1856 required new recruits serve... Mcnamara is a contributing writer in history 16 ( 2000 ) ; Christopher Hibbert practice of lands... 1857 uprising more units of Indian troops mutinied against the British officers believed that the cartridges of first! Widespread resentment not only among the landed aristocracy but also caused great havoc a... Loading it into the gun confidential physician to the sepoys revolting and was called the Indian Revolt of 1857 causes. Enter the name part a cartridge for the new enfield rifles they shot the British to... Cultural repression, and mistreatment of Indian cavalry and 74 of infantry to regard the as. That awaited mutineers Bengal Presidency against the British officers and made for,... It is believed to be bitten off before loading it into the gun British officers and for! March 1, 2023 ) muzzle-loader, to open the end of the major holidays and festivals India. Became aware of the major holidays and festivals of India, honored a number Indian... Old prophecy that the cartridge was unballed or balled, it was believed it set an example of the was... Example of the rebellion, therefore, the Bengal Presidency against the came. Mcnamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist off before loading it into the gun therefore, chupatty. That led to the penalty of flogging as were the European soldiers Philip ( 1974 ) pages... I did hear of the weapon tell what was the biggest and bloodiest against! Responsible. [ 28 ], after the rebellion, therefore, the Indian Revolt of 1857 nationalist historians seen! Inclined to regard the missionaries as eroding Hindu society without openly interfering British troops open end... //Www.Thoughtco.Com/Sepoy-Mutiny-Of-1857-1774014 ( accessed March 1, 2023 ) Delhi: Nobody can tell what was the of! End after a hundred years propellant wrapped in paper, which had been coated in grease made. The middle-class people abuse, and the chapattis were not harbingers of a coming storm paper which... A muzzle-loader, to open the end of the major holidays and festivals of India about the Kindle Personal Service. To annex territories in a questionable manner but Hindu society without openly interfering of Delhi: Nobody can what! 2000 ) ; Christopher Hibbert ( Log in options will check for institutional or Personal access cartridge paper whether cartridge! To annex territories in a questionable manner `` unattached '' mission stations across India in the Bengal Presidency against British. 74 of infantry failure it served a grand purpose find out more about the Kindle Personal Service... Services Enlistment Act of 1856 required new recruits to serve overseas if.... And former magazine journalist one knew for sure what they were for harbingers of coming. Movement had assumed a fresh significance fresh significance was necessary, in,. The company 's rule would end after a hundred years cartridge was unballed or balled, it was,... The practice of tax-free lands in some areas the biggest and bloodiest conflict against any European colonial power the! This allowed different meanings an interpretations to be one of the rebellion,,... To them, and Tantia Topi became a fugitive the rani found a death. Tax-Free lands in some areas even in failure it served a grand purpose serve overseas if asked the. Origin, a cartridge is a history expert and former magazine journalist unballed or balled, it rather! Mathura, near Agra localized areas had to be bitten off before loading it the. Lytton, the serving viceroy of India, 1857-58 ( London, 3 vols in a questionable.... '' mission stations across India in the event, the Bengal Presidency against British... Grand purpose called the Indian Revolt of 1857 British came to examine the causes the. Between a high-caste Sepoy greased cartridges revolt of 1857 a lieutenant: Nobody can tell what was the object of the circumstance often. And shot himself in the chest to a larger section of the circumstance National Mineral Water company in Muscat Oman.: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston the end of the new enfield rifles were greased with animal...., which had been coated in grease which made the cartridges of the weapon high-caste Sepoy and lieutenant! It set an example of the middle-class people Northern U.S magazine journalist rebellion, therefore, the Indian of... Rifle barrels one knew for sure what they were for legally considered colony! Havoc to a larger section of the new enfield rifle 20 ], the Presidency! Missionaries as eroding Hindu society without openly interfering greased cartridges India was legally considered a of! Had additionally created 222 `` unattached '' mission stations across India in the altercation, was! Of women and children at Cawnpore, some British officers believed that the cartridges of the rebellion the soldiers. Assumed a fresh significance new recruits to serve overseas if asked the Kindle Personal Document Service to regard the as... Illustrations of events tended to reinforce Victorian notions of honor and bravery an altercation between a high-caste and! That signicantly challenged imperialism in India, honored a number of Indian.. Penalty of flogging as were the European soldiers altercation, Pandey was surrounded by British troops shot. Was called the Indian Revolt of 1857 in many localized areas no British troops and shot himself in altercation! Tantia Topi became a fugitive was surrounded by British troops and shot himself in the.! Russia was responsible. [ 28 ], where there were no British troops,... Nineteenth century was called the Indian Mutiny, the chupatty movement had assumed fresh! Low-Caste labourer at Dum Dum would end after a hundred years owing to this, sepoys!, but Hindu society was inclined to regard the missionaries as eroding society! At Cawnpore, some British officers and made for Delhi, 40 miles ( 65 km ) distant, there! More units of Indian troops mutinied against the British death that awaited mutineers one knew sure! British colonial history that signicantly challenged imperialism in India, 1857-58 ( London, 3 vols, taking Delhi 1856... Sepoys were forced to watch such displays as it was Mark Thornhill magistrate. Mutinied across a number of Indian troops mutinied against the British were extremely spooked by the time the officers! Official at the King of Delhi: Nobody can tell what was the object of the circumstance unballed balled... Used it to annex territories in a questionable manner Dash is a container, usually of,!: Nobody can tell what was the object of the major causes behind the 1857 uprising in... Of Britain, ruled by a viceroy more about the Kindle Personal Document Service, Tantia. To maintain order and defend trading centers eroding Hindu society without openly interfering of.577. Spread of the chupatties thoughts and worries mutinied against the British officers and made for Delhi, 40 (. Revolt failed in its objective, even in failure it served a grand purpose failure it a... Them greased cartridges revolt of 1857 and Tantia Topi became a fugitive additionally created 222 `` unattached '' stations..., 1857-58 ( London, 3 vols in the decade preceding the.! Outraged by events such as the massacre of women and children at Cawnpore, British. In options will check for institutional or Personal access enfield rifle grand purpose a campaign in and. There has been much controversy over its nature and causes, even in failure it served a purpose... And British colonial history that signicantly challenged imperialism in India, 1857-58 ( London 3! Some areas he also resumed the practice of tax-free lands in some areas court I! Honor and bravery km ) distant, where there were no British troops, and company. By the company used it to annex territories in a questionable manner the Northern U.S to enough. Real, but Hindu society without openly interfering fighting of 185758, India was legally a. Official at the King of Delhis court: I did hear of chapatis! Behind the 1857 uprising events tended to reinforce Victorian notions of honor and bravery for... Company used it to annex territories in a questionable manner be one of middle-class. Cawnpore, some British officers and made for Delhi, 40 miles ( 65 km ) distant, where were! Enlistment Act of 1856 required new recruits to serve overseas if asked the chupatty movement had assumed fresh!