The Sepoy Rebellion
Sepoy Rebellion In May 1857, the Indian Soldiers, called Sepoys, rose against their employer, the British East India Company. At the culmination of the fighting, hundreds of thousands of people were killed on both sides. The British government disbanded the British East India Company and took control themselves. The ended the Mughal Empire and sent their last emperor to exile in Burma. The commencement of this rebellion started during the British Imperialistic take over in India. After acquiring sixty-six percent of the Indian land, they started dominating the Indian way of life, affecting their culture, education, religion, technology, etc. This created a lot of tension between the two nations. What set the Indians off to finally start the revolt? Thenagain.info states that “The "spark" that came to begin this period of revolts was the introduction of the new, more accurate breech-loading Enfield rifle. The loading of these rifles entailed the biting of a greased cartridge, which the Sepoys feared was made with either cow or pig fat.” The Hindu Sepoys saw this as an attempt to break their caste as a preliminary to making them all Christians” The Indians saw this as an insult and felt absolutely disgusted as eating beef, pork, cows, and other meats are considered haram- meaning forbidden or displeasing God. This was the biggest of the various incidents that occurred therefore making it the catalyst for the revolt. One of India’s biggest figures during the mutiny is Mangal Pandey, regarded as India’s First Freedom Fighter. It all started with his displease of the British East India Company. While being a Sepoy, his commander went to investigate him only to be shot by Pandey himself. He also attempted to shoot a Lieutenant and was ordered to be arrested on the parade grounds. Every Sepoy in attendance didn’t attempt to arrest Pandey except Shaikh Paltu. He failed to influence his comrades to an active rebellion on the spot and attempted to shoot himself, not
Bibliography: http://postcolonialstudies.emory.edu/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857/ http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/india/sepoyreb.html http://asianhistory.about.com/od/india/f/What-Was-The-Revolt-Of-1857-in-India-All-About.htm