Question

The sepoys were angry with British because of _______.

Answer 1

Hint: The British had permitted the East India Company to operate in India independently, but they were concerned that the Company's men were becoming too powerful. The term "nabob" was used to denote Englishmen who seized control of Indian subjects and exercised control over more than just trade. Some nabobs were enamoured with Indian culture, adopting native practises and marrying Indian women.

Complete answer:
In the 1850s, relations between Indian soldiers (sepoys) in the East India Company's armed forces in India and British authority were tense. There were rumours that the new bullet cartridges were lubricated with animal fat that was unfit for Hindus (beef fat) or Muslims (sheep fat) (pork fat). The sepoys believed that the British did not respect their religion, which led to their mutiny in 1857, which sparked the Great Rebellion.

- During the Great Rebellion in April 1857, 85 sepoys refused to use the new cartridges, believing them to be dirty.
- The 85 sepoys were tried and imprisoned by a court-martial. The British humiliated the sepoys by stripping them of their uniforms and shackling their ankles in front of 4000 other sepoys at the sentencing.
- The 4000 sepoys revolted, shocked by the degradation they had witnessed. The British were shortly overwhelmed, and the sepoys who had been imprisoned were released.
- The sepoys then began shooting each British man, woman, or child they came across. Thousands of sepoys and other Indians were executed by British troops after they regained control.
- Following the rebellion's chaos and carnage, the British government centralised the authority of the Indian Empire at Westminster and stripped the East India Company of its power.

Note: The so-called "Doctrine of Lapse," which was adopted by Lord Dalhousie in 1848, was one British change that enraged Indians. This was a British statute prohibiting an Indian royal who lacked a natural heir from adopting an heir. Adopted children in India, unlike in nineteenth-century England, had the same legal status as biological offspring.