In the nineteenth century, the British owned, East India Company, was a huge export enterprise in need of local soldiers to help protect its interests. These local men were called 'sepoys'. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 happened when the natives turned against the foreign officers in charge of them, due to a variety of grievances.
Although the East India Company started just as a trading business, it expanded greatly and ended up controlling a extremely large area of India. This lead to tensions, as areas were taken over unjustly, the Indian people were dealt with very badly and charged extortionate taxes. Laws were also introduced making some traditional practices illegal, and the influx of lots of British missionaries at this time, suggested that they were trying to convert the Indians to Christianity.
Many soldiers lost respect for their officers who had a different culture to them. Perhaps the event that started the uprising, was the introduction of gun cartridges coated in tallow, which is made from the byproducts of meat from cows and sheep. The problem was, they needed to have the tops bitten off before they could be loaded in rifles, which was an impossibility for the Sikhs and Muslims because their religions forbade them from putting these animal products in their mouths.
The uprising is commonly believed to have started with the actions of a man called Mangal Pandey, regarded by Indians as a hero. He was disgusted when his fellow soldiers, refusing to use the new cartridges for religious reasons, were punished. This man shot the commanding sergeant major and lieutenant. The event lead to more and more revolts across the north of India.
In Meerut, some soldiers in a unit revolted when some of their colleagues were stripped of their uniforms and put in chains because they would not put the offensive cartridges in their mouths. The men attacked many British people, including women and children. This very violent uprising spread to Delhi where many more people were killed.
In some areas, the British were forced to surrender, and unsurprisingly, many tried to flee. In Kanpur (then known as Cawnpore), people leaving were attacked. Men were killed on the spot, and a couple of hundred women and children prisoners were butchered and their bodies chucked into a well.
When officers managed to catch members of the mob, they were executed. One particularly horrible way in which they did this was by firing live men from cannons. Other soldiers were expected to watch and heed the warning. Britons were aided from reinforcements from England, and the loyalty of the Sikhs (who largely disliked the Muslims)in the south, enabling them to eventually quell the uprising.
The government back in London, dissolved the East India Company, at the end of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The government then took control of India, which was ruled by Britain for a long time. Pandey, who started the revolt, is regarded as beginning the fight for Indian independence, however.
Although the East India Company started just as a trading business, it expanded greatly and ended up controlling a extremely large area of India. This lead to tensions, as areas were taken over unjustly, the Indian people were dealt with very badly and charged extortionate taxes. Laws were also introduced making some traditional practices illegal, and the influx of lots of British missionaries at this time, suggested that they were trying to convert the Indians to Christianity.
Many soldiers lost respect for their officers who had a different culture to them. Perhaps the event that started the uprising, was the introduction of gun cartridges coated in tallow, which is made from the byproducts of meat from cows and sheep. The problem was, they needed to have the tops bitten off before they could be loaded in rifles, which was an impossibility for the Sikhs and Muslims because their religions forbade them from putting these animal products in their mouths.
The uprising is commonly believed to have started with the actions of a man called Mangal Pandey, regarded by Indians as a hero. He was disgusted when his fellow soldiers, refusing to use the new cartridges for religious reasons, were punished. This man shot the commanding sergeant major and lieutenant. The event lead to more and more revolts across the north of India.
In Meerut, some soldiers in a unit revolted when some of their colleagues were stripped of their uniforms and put in chains because they would not put the offensive cartridges in their mouths. The men attacked many British people, including women and children. This very violent uprising spread to Delhi where many more people were killed.
In some areas, the British were forced to surrender, and unsurprisingly, many tried to flee. In Kanpur (then known as Cawnpore), people leaving were attacked. Men were killed on the spot, and a couple of hundred women and children prisoners were butchered and their bodies chucked into a well.
When officers managed to catch members of the mob, they were executed. One particularly horrible way in which they did this was by firing live men from cannons. Other soldiers were expected to watch and heed the warning. Britons were aided from reinforcements from England, and the loyalty of the Sikhs (who largely disliked the Muslims)in the south, enabling them to eventually quell the uprising.
The government back in London, dissolved the East India Company, at the end of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The government then took control of India, which was ruled by Britain for a long time. Pandey, who started the revolt, is regarded as beginning the fight for Indian independence, however.
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