Sepoy rebellion
Who were Sepoys?
Who were the Sepoys? They were local soldiers, the majority Hindu or Muslim, that have been enlisted to the army of the Company. Just before the Rebellion there were over 200,000 sepoys in the army, compared to about 50,000 British. The forces were divided into three presidency armies: Bombay, Madras, and Bengal. The Bengal Army recruited higher castes, such as "Rajputs and Brahmins", mostly from the Awadh (near Lucknow) and Bihar regions and even restricted the enlistment of lower castes in 1855. In contrast, the Madras Army and Bombay Army were "more localized, caste-neutral armies" that "did not prefer high-caste men." The domination of higher castes in the Bengal Army has been blamed in part for initial mutinies that led to the rebellion. In fact, the role of castes had become so important that men were no longer "selected on account of the most important qualities in a soldier, i.e., physical fitness, willingness and strength, docility and courage, but because he belonged to a certain caste or sect".
How did it start?
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh, and the Delhi region. The rebellion posed a considerable threat to Company power in that region, and was contained only with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. The rebellion is also known as the India's First War of Independence, the Great Rebellion, the Indian Mutiny, the Revolt of 1857, the Uprising of 1857, the Sepoy Rebellion, and the Sepoy Mutiny.
The final spark was provided by the ammunition for new Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle. These rifles had a tighter fit, and used paper cartridges that came pre-greased. To load the rifle, sepoys had to bite the cartridge open to release the powder. The grease used on these cartridges included tallow derived from beef; which would be offensive to Hindus, or lard derived from pork; which would be offensive to Muslims.
The final spark was provided by the ammunition for new Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle. These rifles had a tighter fit, and used paper cartridges that came pre-greased. To load the rifle, sepoys had to bite the cartridge open to release the powder. The grease used on these cartridges included tallow derived from beef; which would be offensive to Hindus, or lard derived from pork; which would be offensive to Muslims.
Three types of complaints
§ Muslims – against the decline of the prestige of Mughal , because it was a threat to the Indian Islam. So it was a reaction against an infidel overlord
§ Regional Magnates – aiming for the collapse of British control in Ganges valley, because that was an opportunity to regain their old power
§ Agrarian revolt – against the weight of Company’s land taxation: its efforts to regulate landownership and title wasn’t favorable for everybody
§ Regional Magnates – aiming for the collapse of British control in Ganges valley, because that was an opportunity to regain their old power
§ Agrarian revolt – against the weight of Company’s land taxation: its efforts to regulate landownership and title wasn’t favorable for everybody
Weaknesses
The Indian garrison at Delhi joined the mutineers and proclaimed Bahadur Shah, the titular Mughal emperor as their leader.The capture of Delhi turned the mutiny into a wide-spread revolt. But the leaders were not united, because they sought to revive former Hindu and Muslim regimes, which traditionally had been opposed to each other.
The British had some advantages. They did receive reinforcements from Britain, and they had a base in Bengal, and in the Punjab the Sikhs were so hostile to the Muslims that they supported the British against the Mughal restoration in Delhi. The British recaptured Delhi in the fall of 1857, further campaigns followed the next year and by the spring of 1858 the British were again in full control of India.
The British had some advantages. They did receive reinforcements from Britain, and they had a base in Bengal, and in the Punjab the Sikhs were so hostile to the Muslims that they supported the British against the Mughal restoration in Delhi. The British recaptured Delhi in the fall of 1857, further campaigns followed the next year and by the spring of 1858 the British were again in full control of India.
Conclusion
Though the Sepoy War has been dismissed as a chaotic, disorganized peasant uprising, several facts go undisputed that offer a counter-argument. The "unorganized peasants" of India fought one of the most powerful empires in the world to near defeat with limited resources and even more limited training. Nevertheless, the lesson of the Sepoy War is not one of victory or justice, but failure. Though the exact cause of the Sepoy War has yet to be agreed upon, and it is likely that there were many complex causes rather than one, it is clear that British interference governments and the oppression of the Indian people, religious and economic, created a bloody revolution. If there is a lesson to be learned from any of this, it is that a people, once pushed into a corner, will fight for nothing more than the freedom to fight, and live, if not for religion then for their basic right to live in freedom. Furthermore, in the desperate vengeance of a people reduced to pure indignity, lives a coldness that rivals that of their oppressors.