The Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian soldiers and civilians rose against the British East India Company in a massive rebellion — the first large-scale challenge to colonial rule.
On May 10, 1857, sepoys (Indian soldiers) in the British East India Company's army mutinied at Meerut, triggering a widespread rebellion across northern and central India. The immediate cause was the introduction of the Enfield rifle cartridge, rumored to be greased with cow and pig fat — offensive to both Hindu and Muslim soldiers. But the underlying causes ran deep: the Company's aggressive annexation policies, the Doctrine of Lapse, economic exploitation, cultural insensitivity, and resentment of foreign rule. The rebels briefly restored the aged Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar to nominal power in Delhi. The rebellion was brutally suppressed by 1858, and its aftermath was transformative: the East India Company was dissolved, India came under direct Crown rule (the British Raj), and Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India. Indians call it the First War of Independence; the British called it the Sepoy Mutiny.
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