British India And Revolution

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The rebellion in 1857 can be seen as caused by the accumulating grievances of the Sepoy Army of Bengal. Certain factors contributed to the deterioration of morale amongst the Sepoy army that was comprised of Brahmins and other high caste Hindus who assisted in promoting a “focus of sedition”. The poor standard of British officers and the lack of improvement to the overall position of men serving in the army also increased insurgent tendencies. These military grievances which were significant were not themselves enough to incite rebellion, it took a perceived attack on the Sepoy religious institutions to trigger the rebellion.


English ignorance and indifference can also be seen in the distribution of the Enfield rifle. Its distinct ammunition required the bullet to be bitten before loading. Rumors that the grease used on the bullets was either from the fat of cattle or



pigs, which was disrespectful to both Hindus and Muslims, was interpreted as attacking ...

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of officers in command, implying that British power begin to organize army discipline through the ranks.


The British standpoint was to regard rebellious events as a
“Mutiny”. Here again the British overlook the participation of the civilian population, who was also involved in varying degrees, of anti British activity. For most of the British writers and observers of the events, they agreed in calling it a mutiny for public relations reasons. The term mutiny does not carry the same emotive force as the word “rebellion”. It would not evoke images of widespread activities of disobedience towards British authority, therefore avoiding any kind of ...

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