Caste & Cartridges
Sepoys of the Bengal Army at rifle practice, 1857. NAM 1971-02-33-495-1
Discipline, administration and command in the Bengal Army had for some time been inferior to that in the Company’s other two armies, Bombay and Madras. Matters were brought to a head by the introduction of the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle.
The rumour spread that the cartridges for the new rifle were greased with pig and cow fat. This made them offensive to both Muslims and Hindus, and added weight to the fear of forced conversion to Christianity through breaking caste.
In February 1857 the 19th Bengal Native Infantry refused to use the new cartridges. They were quickly disbanded but their actions started a chain of similar events across central and northern India.
Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle. NAM 1992-11-63
The fire is lit
The outbreak of revolt at Khurkowhah, 1857. NAM 1958-12-43
10 May 1857 is seen as the start of the mutiny. On that day more than 80 members of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, who had been jailed for refusing to use the new cartridges, were broken out of prison by their comrades.
The situation rapidly escalated, and the British reacted slowly. Some civilians joined the rebels. The following day the city of Delhi fell to the mutineers. News of these events spread, encouraging further mutinies elsewhere. Eventually all ten Bengal Light Cavalry Regiments and most of the 74 Bengal Native Infantry Regiments were affected.
Some regiments were disarmed before they had the chance to mutiny. In other cases British officers refused to believe their men would mutiny until it was too late. Not all those who mutinied took up arms against the British, many just went home and refused to assist either side.
Disarming of the 11th Cavalry at Berhampore, 1857. NAM 2002-08-77
The Bengal Mutiny
British and Sikh officers of Hodson's Horse, 1858. NAM 1956-08-6-20
There were only 35,000 British soldiers in the whole sub-continent and these were widely scattered. Reinforcements took months to arrive. Fortunately for the British it was almost exclusively soldiers of the Bengal Army who mutinied.
The Company’s Madras and Bombay Armies were relatively unaffected and other Indian units, including Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims and Gurkhas, supported the British.
