Revolt Of 1857 Essay

Q. To what extent was the issue of the greased cartridge from the Enfield rifle the key reason for the Revolt of 1857?

The Revolt of 1857 was the rebellion of Indian sepoys against the British officers. It is a watershed in the history of pre-independent and early colonial India. The revolt took place on 10th May, 1857 in the town of Meerut, India. Like the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that sparked World War I, the issue of the greased cartridge from the new Enfield rifle was the immediate cause of this revolt. Although it was the immediate cause that triggered the first war of independence, long term factors also played an important role, such as military, social, religious, economic and political causes. This essay aims to discuss whether the greased cartridge issue was the main reason for the revolt of 1857.

To begin with, the pretext for the Revolt was the introduction of the new Enfield rifle (1856). The Britishers had introduced a new rifle, called the Enfield rifle as it was more powerful and accurate than previously used rifles, such as the Brown Bess. Rumour had it, that to load it, the sepoys had to bite off the ends of lubricated cartridges. The grease

However, its role could have not been more than just a catalyst. Other factors, that were long term causes had stirred up anger and frustration in the Indians. Such factors were military, social, religious, economic and political causes. It started off as a mutiny and moved on to a revolt in which all sections of society were involved. The Sepoy mutiny was a complete surprise to the British, many of whom were "blind to the unrest that had been created, in part, by the rapid imposition of direct British control over two-thirds of India. However, we cannot call this the first war of independence as only the Northern part of India was impacted and most of the states didn’t fight, such as Punjab and the