The Revolt of 1857: Causes, Course, Nature and Consequences — Part 3: Military Causes and Immediate Trigger

2.4 Military Causes

The Bengal Army drew its sepoys overwhelmingly from the villages of Awadh and eastern Uttar Pradesh; Awadh was called the "nursery of the Bengal Army." These sepoys personally experienced the economic degradation of their families following annexation — their relatives had to pay more taxes, and it adversely affected the sepoys' own purses.

Conditions of service were harsh. Sepoys earned a monthly salary of 7 to 9 rupees, out of which they had to meet food, uniform, and transport costs — while the cost of maintaining an Indian sepoy was only one-third that of his British counterpart. Despite their valor, Indian soldiers could rise no higher than the rank of Subedar, while fresh British recruits were appointed their superiors overnight.

By the 1840s, the relationship between Indian sepoys and their British officers had deteriorated sharply. Where earlier officers had mixed with sepoys, learning Hindustani and sharing leisure activities, a new racial arrogance had taken hold. Abuse and physical violence became common; trust was replaced by suspicion. Prior episodes of sepoy resistance — the 47th Regiment's refusal to go to Burma by sea in 1824 (for which it was disbanded), and the revolt of seven battalions over pay and allowances in 1844 — had been suppressed, but the underlying grievances smoldered.

2.5 Immediate Cause: The Greased Cartridges

In early 1857, the British army introduced the new Enfield rifle, whose cartridges had a greased paper cover that had to be bitten off before loading. The grease was in some instances made of beef and pig fat. The rumour that the cartridges were greased with the fat of cows (sacred to Hindus) and pigs (forbidden to Muslims) spread like wildfire across the sepoy lines of North India. When a khalasi at the Dum Dum magazine reportedly told a Brahmin sepoy that he would soon lose his caste by biting such cartridges, no amount of official reassurance could stop the panic.

The cartridge issue was accompanied by other rumours: that bone dust had been mixed into market flour; that the British had hatched a conspiracy to destroy Hindu and Muslim religion; and — most electrifying of all — that British rule would end on the centenary of the Battle of Plassey (23 June 1857). Chapattis were also being passed from village to village during the winter of 1856–57, perceived widely as an omen of imminent upheaval. The dry tinder-box of accumulated grievances needed only this spark.