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FREEDOM MOVEMENT
Eternal India
encyclopedia
as an attack on the Hindu
religion,
for
they
would
have to cross the seas, in |
violation
of
their
relig-
ious
code,
to
fight
in
Burma.
|
iv)
Immediate cause : Then came
the bigger provocation, the
use of greased cartridges
made of pig and cow's fat, a
taboo for Muslims and Hin-
dus, which had to be inserted
into the rifles only after their
ends had been bitten off. This
triggered off the revolt.
v)
The introduction of greased
cartridges showed the British
rulers' complete disregard of
in 1857 at Barrackpore and Berhampur in
Bengal. In January 1857, the sepoys of Dum
Dum refused to accept the new cartridges and
in March a regiment in Barrackpore which
followed their example was disbanded.
Mangal Pandey was executed in Bar-
rackpore for rebelling against their introduc-
tion.
On 9th May, some troops of Meerut
cantonment were stripped of their uniforms
and put behind bars for disobedience of or-
ders. On the next day, all the three regiments
based at Meerut rose up in arms, released the
prisoners and put their British officers to the
sword. Then they headed for Delhi, seized the
city with the help of the local Indian garrison
and proclaimed Bahadur Shah as the Em-
peror of India.
In this way the rebellion spread to the
whole of Northern India. The major centres
were Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly,
Bundelkhand and Oudh. Local revolts took
place in many other parts of the country.
Leaders of the Revolt were Mangal Pan-
dey, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Tantia Tope, Nana
Saheb, Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, Bakht
Khan, Azimullah Khan, Kunwar Singh, Maulvi
Ahmadullah, Bahadur Khan and Rao Tula
Ram.
The British suffered heavy casualties at
Kanpur. Lucknow, too, fell rather easily to a
force led by Hazrat Mahal. More and more
mutineers joined the fray, helping Tantia
Tope and the Rani of Jhansi to acquire control
of Bundelkhand, Khan Bahadur Khan to seize
Rohilkhand and Kunwar Singh to establish
himself in west Bihar.
Suppression of the Uprising
*
The Indian triumph was however short-
lived, as they lacked both central leadership
and the resources to carry on
a
prolonged
struggle.
The
British on the other hand
were very well organised and
equipped.
* The scope and suddenness
of the revolt had given the Brit-
ish a terrible shock. Their repri-
sal was therefore vicious in the
extreme. Recaptured with the
help of troops from the Punjab,
Delhi was subjected to a reign
of terror, a general massacre of
the population combined with
prolonged looting reduced the
city to a bloody shambles.
* Captured sepoys were blown
out of field guns or simply bayo
neted to death.
Bahadur Shah II
(b 1775-1862) :
He was the last
Mughal
Emperor
of
Delhi.
From
1837-57, he was
allowed to retain
the imperial title by
the English East
India
Company.
During the Sepoy
Mutiny
in
1857
mutineers
pro-
claimed him Em-
peror of Hindustan at Delhi.
He wasa gifted Urdu poet (pen name
Zafar) and writer of commentary on Sheikh
Saadi's Guhstan. He was also a Persian scholar
and talented Calligrapher.
He was exiled to Rangoon in Burma. He
died in 1862.