Beginning and Spread of the Revolt: Meerut and Delhi

At a Glance

• What it is The outbreak of the 1857 revolt and its first spread
• Spark Greased cartridges of the Enfield rifle
• Date and place Meerut, 10 May 1857, then Delhi
• Symbolic head Bahadur Shah Zafar, last Mughal emperor
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: The Revolt of 1857

Where Does It Fit?

This is the third topic of the category on the Revolt of 1857. The previous topics gave the causes. This topic tells how the revolt began at Meerut, how it reached Delhi and how it spread. The next topic covers the main centres and leaders of the revolt. Previous topic: Socio-Religious Causes, Outside Events and Sepoy Discontent.

What Was the Spark?

Reports about the mixing of bone dust in atta (flour) and the introduction of the Enfield rifle increased the sepoys’ growing disaffection. The greased wrapping paper of the cartridge of the new rifle had to be bitten off before loading, and the grease was reportedly made of beef and pig fat. The cow was sacred to Hindus, while the pig was taboo for Muslims. The army administration did nothing to allay these fears, and the sepoys felt their religion was in grave danger.

The greased cartridges did not create a new cause of discontent in the army, but supplied the occasion for the simmering discontent to come out in the open, as set out in Socio-Religious Causes, Outside Events and Sepoy Discontent. Some modern historians question how widely greased cartridges were actually issued before the revolt, but the belief was widespread, and that was what mattered.

What Happened Before Meerut?

Even before Meerut there were rumblings of resentment in various cantonments.

What Happened at Meerut?

The revolt began at Meerut, 58 km from Delhi, on 10 May 1857. Gathering force rapidly, it soon embraced a vast area from the Punjab in the north and the Narmada in the south to Bihar in the east and Rajputana in the west.

The punishment of the troopers sparked a general mutiny among the Indian soldiers stationed at Meerut.

Why Was Bahadur Shah Chosen as Symbolic Head?

In Delhi the local infantry joined the Meerut sepoys, killed their own European officers, including Simon Fraser, the political agent, and seized the city. Lieutenant Willoughby, the officer in charge of the magazine, offered some resistance but was overcome. The aged and powerless Bahadur Shah Zafar was proclaimed the Emperor of India.

Delhi soon became the centre of the Great Revolt, and Bahadur Shah its symbol. The spontaneous raising of the last Mughal king to the leadership of the country was a recognition that the long reign of the Mughal dynasty had become the traditional symbol of India’s political unity. With this single act the sepoys transformed a mutiny of soldiers into a revolutionary war, and all Indian chiefs who took part in the revolt hastened to proclaim their loyalty to the Mughal emperor. It also signified that the rebels were politically motivated. Though religion was a factor, the broad outlook of the rebels was not influenced by religious identity but by the perception of the British as the common enemy.

After initial vacillation, Bahadur Shah wrote to all the chiefs and rulers of India urging them to organise a confederacy of Indian states to fight and replace the British regime. The entire Bengal Army soon rose in revolt, and Awadh, Rohilkhand, the Doab, Bundelkhand, central India, large parts of Bihar and East Punjab shook off British authority.

How Did Civilians Join?

The revolt of the sepoys was accompanied by a rebellion of the civil population, particularly in the north-western provinces and Awadh. Their accumulated grievances found immediate expression, and they rose en masse. The widespread participation of the peasantry, artisans, shopkeepers, day labourers, zamindars, religious mendicants, priests and civil servants gave the revolt real strength and the character of a popular revolt.

Peasants and petty zamindars attacked the moneylenders and zamindars who had displaced them from the land. They took advantage of the revolt to destroy the moneylenders’ account books and debt records. They also attacked the British-established law courts, revenue offices (tehsils), revenue records and police stations. According to one estimate, of about 150,000 men who died fighting the English in Awadh, over 100,000 were civilians. Within a month of the capture of Delhi the revolt had spread to different parts of the country.

As an analytical point, the targets show what the revolt meant to ordinary people: the court, the tehsil and the account book were the symbols of the order that had taken their land, and the earlier peasant and civil risings, told in Peasant Movements With Religious Overtones, had attacked the same targets. The economic causes are set out in Causes of the Revolt of 1857: Economic, Political and Administrative.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Dates and names Meerut, Mangal Pande, Bahadur Shah and the cartridge are asked in Prelims
• Mains theme How a mutiny became a popular revolt
• Foundation The later topics on centres, leaders and suppression build on this

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the storm centres and leaders of the revolt. Next topic: Storm Centres and Leaders of the Revolt.

Key People and Terms

• Enfield rifle The new rifle whose greased cartridge sparked the revolt
• Mangal Pande The sepoy of the 34th Native Infantry who fired at his sergeant major
• 3rd Native Cavalry The Meerut unit whose men refused the cartridges
• Bahadur Shah Zafar The last Mughal emperor, proclaimed Emperor of India
• Tehsil A revenue office attacked by rebels
• Confederacy A league of states against a common enemy

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask how the revolt began and became popular. These points add depth.

• Symbolic leadership Bahadur Shah gave the revolt a political centre
• Civilian role Peasants and artisans gave it a popular character
• Targets Moneylenders and colonial offices were attacked