[1857-1858 A.D.] weighed heavier in the scale than a superstitious and frequently fraudulent fiction of inheritance.

The first state to escheat to the British government in accordance with these principles was Satara, which had been reconstituted by Lord Hastings on the downfall of the peshwa in 1818. The last direct representative of Sivaji died without a male heir in 1848, and his deathbed adoption was set aside. In the same year the Rajput state of Karauli was saved by the interposition of the court of directors, who drew a fine distinction between a dependent principality and a protected ally. In 1833 Jhansi suffered the same fate as Satara. But the most conspicuous application of the doctrine of lapse was the case of Nagpur. The last of the Bhonslas, a dynasty older than the British government itself, died without a son, natural or adopted, in 1853. That year also saw British administration extended to the Berars, or the assigned districts which the nizam of Hyderabad was induced to cede as a territorial guarantee for the subsidies which he perpetually kept in arrear. Three more distinguished names likewise passed away in 1853, though without any attendant accretion to British territory. In the extreme south the titular nawab of the Carnatic and the titular rajah of Tanjore both died without heirs. Their rank and their pensions died with them, though compassionate allowances were continued to their families. In the north of India, Baji Rao, the ex-peshwa, who had been dethroned in 1818, lived on till 1853 in the enjoyment of his annual pension of £80,000. His adopted son, Nana Sahib, inherited his accumulated savings, but could obtain no further recognition.

The marquis of Dalhousie resigned office in March, 1856, being then only forty-four years of age; but he carried home with him the seeds of a lingering illness which resulted in his death in 1860. Excepting Cornwallis, he was the first, though by no means the last, of English statesmen who have fallen victims to their devotion to India's needs. He was succeeded by his friend, Lord Canning, who, at the farewell banquet in England given to him by the court of directors, uttered these prophetic words: "I wish for a peaceful term of office. But I cannot forget that in the sky of India, serene as it is, a small cloud may arise, no larger than a man's hand, but which, growing larger and larger, may at last threaten to burst and overwhelm us with ruin." In the following year the sepoys of the Bengal army mutinied, and all the valley of the Ganges from Patna to Delhi rose in open rebellion.

MOTIVES FOR THE MUTINY

The various motives assigned for the Mutiny appear inadequate to the European mind. The truth seems to be that native opinion throughout India was in a ferment, predisposing men to believe the wildest stories, and to act precipitately upon their fears. The influence of panic in an Oriental population is greater than might be readily believed. In the first place, the policy of Lord Dalhousie, exactly in proportion as it had been dictated by the most honourable considerations, was utterly distasteful to the native mind. Repeated annexations, the spread of education, the appearance of the steam engine and the telegraph wire, all alike revealed a consistent determination to substitute an English for an Indian civilisation.

The Bengal sepoys, especially, thought that they could see into the future farther than the rest of their countrymen. Nearly all men of high caste, and many of them recruited from Oudh, they dreaded tendencies which they deemed to be denationalising, and they knew at first hand what annexation meant. They believed that it was by their prowess that the Punjab had

[1857-1858 A.D.]

been conquered, and all India was held quiet. The numerous dethroned princes, their heirs and their widows, were the first to learn and take advantage of the spirit of disaffection that was abroad. They had heard of the Crimean War, and were told that Russia was the perpetual enemy of England. They had money in abundance with which they could buy the assistance of skilful intriguers. They had everything to gain, and nothing to lose, by a revolution.b

Writing on the subject of the causes of the Indian Mutiny, Lord Roberts says: "The discontent and dissatisfaction were produced by a policy which, in many instances, the rulers of India were powerless to avoid or postpone, forced upon them as it was by the demands of civilisation and the necessity for a more enlightened legislation. Intriguers took advantage of this state of affairs to further their own ends. Their plan of action was to alienate the native army, and to increase the general feeling of uneasiness and suspicion, by spreading false reports as to the intentions of the authorities in regard to the various measures which had been adopted to promote the welfare and prosperity of the masses. It can hardly be questioned that these measures were right and proper in themselves, but they were on that account none the less obnoxious to the Brahman priesthood, or distasteful to the natives generally. In some cases also they were premature, and in others they were not carried out as judiciously as they might have been, or with sufficient regard to the feelings and prejudices of the people." e

On this subject Sir A. Lyall says: "Except in the calamitous retreat from Kabul in 1841-1842, where a whole division was lost, the Anglo-Indian troops had been constantly victorious; but in Asia a triumphant army like the Janissaries of the mamelukes almost always becomes ungovernable so soon as it becomes stationary. The sepoys of the Bengal army imagined that all India was at their feet; while in 1856 the annexation of Oudh, which was the province which furnished that army with most of its high-caste recruits, touched their pride and affected their interests. When therefore the greased cartridges roused their caste prejudices they turned savagely against their English officers, and broke out into murderous mutiny." h

The nature of Great Britain's hold upon India was so anomalous that the reflective had constantly doubted of its permanence. Her conquests had been chiefly effected by native armies, and continued to be ruled by their instrumentality; but it was unreasonable to think that the mere military allegiance of the sepoy would be always superior to those ties of nationality which connected him with the vanquished.

As if also to teach these men their own strength and resources, the native armies in the British service had now increased to an alarming amount as compared with the European soldiers. Each of the three presidencies, Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, had its own army; but while they mustered in all 300,000 men, of these there were only about 43,000 who were British. Of all these armies, the most efficient for useful service, as well as the most prompt for revolt, and the most to be feared in such an event, was the army of Bengal, consisting of 118,600 native, and only 22,600 European soldiers. It was from this army accordingly that most danger had for some time been apprehended. A single random spark would be enough to set its whole religious bigotry in a blaze. And even already a deep cause of offence existed in the Bengal army, on account of the annexation of the kingdom of Oudh.

These and other such causes, which had been gathering and growing for years, had already matured into a deep and widely-extended conspiracy for the overthrow of the British dominion in India; but the particulars of the plan and the persons who devised it are still involved in obscurity. It is

[1857-1858 A.D.] supposed, however, that the court of Persia was the principal focus of the conspiracy, and that the Mohammedans of the north of India were its chief agents and disseminators. Those men, who might be termed the Norman aristocracy of Hindustan, owed an especial grudge to the British by whom they had been supplanted; and they endeavoured to work upon the credulity of the Hindu soldiery, by assuring them that the British intended to overthrow their creed and compel them to become Christians. This was enough to remind them of the conversions of Tipu Sahib, who propagated Islam by fire and sword.

It is supposed that these Mohammedan intriguers intended to replace the old king of Delhi upon the throne of his ancestors, and to rule under his name; and it is known that they were endeavouring to incite Dost Muhammed, the king of Kabul, to prepare for the invasion of the Punjab, as soon as the revolt of the Bengal army, upon which they had calculated, should leave that territory defenceless. Even these representations might have been ineffectual with the Hindu soldiers, had they not been apparently confirmed by an act of the British government itself.

THE GREASED CARTRIDGES AND THE UNLEAVENED CHUPATTIES

This was the affair of greased cartridges, that served at the commencement of rebellion and signal of outbreak. The Enfield rifle, an improvement upon the Menié, had been introduced at the commencement of 1857 into the Bengal army; and as greased cartridges were necessary for its effective use, these were issued to the troops along with the weapon. A report immediately started up and flew abroad that the grease employed in the preparation of these cartridges consisted of a preparation of the fat of cows and pigs - the first of these animals being the objects of Hindu adoration, and the last of Mohammedan abhorrence.

The first occasion on which the rumour was heard was the following: at Dumdum, where there was a school of practice for the new Enfield rifle, a sepoy soldier, a Brahman, was asked by a man of low caste to be permitted to drink out of his lotah, or vessel of water, to whom he replied, "I have scoured my lotah, and you will pollute it by your touch." "You think much of your caste," said the other angrily, "but wait a little, and the European will make you bite cartridges soaked in cow and pork fat, and then where will your caste be?"

The sepoy reported these words to his comrades, and they quickly reached Barrackpur, at which several native regiments were stationed. It was in vain they were assured by the government that no such grease had been used in the preparation of the paper in question, and that if they had scruples in the matter, they were at liberty to procure their own ingredients at the bazaar. The report still continued to strengthen at Barrackpur among the four native regiments stationed there; and on the 6th of February a sepoy revealed to an officer the plot of his companions, who were alarmed with the fear of being compelled to abandon their caste and become Christians. From his revelation it appeared that these regiments intended to rise against their officers, and after plundering or burning down their bungalows, to march to Calcutta, and there attempt to seize Fort William, or failing in this, to take possession of the treasury.

This state of things was too alarming to be neglected, and measures were taken by the British commanders and their officers to still the apprehensions of the native soldiery. They were publicly addressed on parade with the

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assurance that there was no design to make them Christians; that they could not become such without being able to read, and to understand the rules that were written in the Christan's book; and that nothing but their own free choice and request after they had so learned, could admit them to the privilege of baptism. The issue of the obnoxious ammunition was stopped, and plans were suggested by which the cartridge might be used by tearing off the end, instead of putting it to the mouth and biting it. Native officers were also appointed to learn the process of cartridge-making in which the forbidden articles were to be excluded.

But the alarm had grown too strong to be put down by such assurances or concessions: a rebellion was inevitable even where the original cause had dwindled into a mere pretext or watchword. The first open manifestation was at Berhampur, on the morning of the 26th of February, 1857, when the 19th regiment of native infantry were ordered out on parade. Percussion caps were about to be issued to them, but these the soldiers refused to receive, declaring that it was still doubtful how the cartridges were made; and on the evening of the same day they assembled on parade by their own authority, broke open the bells (small oval buildings) in which their arms were piled, and having taken possession of the weapons and ammunition, carried them off to their lines. Their commander, Colonel Mitchell, ordered them to pile arms and disperse, and on their refusal called up the cavalry and artillery; but they still refused to obey until these troops were withdrawn, which was done accordingly. For this concession, the colonel was tried by a court of inquiry, and censured. It was resolved also to disband this dangerous regiment, and accordingly it was marched off to Barrackpur, where the 52nd and 84th queen's regiments were stationed to disarm them.

But on the 29th of March, two days previous to the disbanding, while the 19th was at Barrackpur, the rebellion commenced in bloodshed. A sepoy of the 34th regiment of native infantry, having intoxicated himself with bang, discharged his musket at Lieutenant Baugh, and shot that officer's horse; the lieutenant fired a pistol at his assailant, but missed him, and was wounded in return by the madman, as was also the sergeant-major of the corps, who went to the lieutenant's assistance. The mutineer, whose name was Mungal Pandy, was seized, tried, and sentenced to be hanged; and on the scaffold he expressed his regret for the crime, and tried, but in vain, to persuade his fellow soldiers to return to their duty. As for the 19th regiment, it was drawn up on parade in the square of Barrackpur, surrounded by the two British and several native regiments and for a moment it was doubted whether the latter might not side with the 19th, and offer battle to the 52nd and 84th. But no such outbreak occurred: the rebels surrendered their arms, and were marched off under an escort of cavalry to Chinsurah, bewailing their infatuation, and petitioning when too late to be readmitted to the service.

It was not, however, by such checks that the spirit of revolt was to be suppressed, or even retarded; it was diffused like a pestilence far and near by mysterious agencies which the authorities could neither detect nor surmise. One of these was the transmission of a kind of little unleavened cakes, called chupatties, a symbol which the Europeans did not understand, but which seems to have been as significant to the natives as to the fiery cross to the Highlanders of Scotland, and used for a similar purpose. A chowkodar, or village policeman of Cawnpore, gave two of these cakes, the common food of the poor, to another chowkodar in Fathigarh (Futtehghur), telling him to Hence the name of Pandies, which was afterwards given to the rebel sepoys by the British soldiers in India.

[1857-1858 A.D.] make ten more, and give them to five of his brethren of the nearest station, with a similar charge to each; and thus at every hour these runners were multiplying among a class of men who were spread over India, and whose mischievous errand was least liable to be suspected.

The circulation of chupatties commenced in Oudh and elsewhere in the beginning of 1857, and European conjecture was utterly at a loss to penetrate this Indian mystery, which subsequent events made only too intelligible. Reports also were industriously spread in the bazaars that the missionaries had petitioned the queen of Great Britain to enforce the use of the greased cartridges, in order to compel the Hindus to become Christians. They even pretended to give the very words of this petition, which, they alleged, were the following: "Tipu made thousands of Hindus become of his religion, while your majesty has not made one Christian. Under your orders are sepoys of all castes. We therefore pray you to adopt this plan - namely, to cause to be mixed up together bullocks' fat and pigs' fat, and to have it put upon the cartridges which your sepoys put into their mouths, and after six months to have it made known to the sepoys how they have thereby lost their caste, and by this means a certain road will be opened for making many Christians." They added that the queen was highly satisfied with this petition, and had given her assent to it.

Notwithstanding the absurdity of this report, it was so well suited to the credulity and ignorance of the people, and gained such belief, that the governor-general, Lord Canning, in council, was obliged on the 16th of May to issue a proclamation on the subject, disclaiming any attempt to interfere with the castes or religion of the people, and warning them against the arts of those who attempted to withdraw them from their allegiance.

THE OUTBREAK AT MEERUT

But this proclamation was too late, and even had it been earlier it would have been equally useless. The rebellion had already broken out in full violence, and in those districts where it could be least resisted. Of the European regiments in the presidency of Bengal, the greater part were dispersed over the whole extent of Great Britain's Indian Empire, and isolated among a hostile people. One important military station was Meerut (Mirath), thirtyfive miles to the northeast of the city of Delhi, between the Ganges and the Jumna. At this place were two regiments of native infantry and one of light cavalry, comprising in all 2,700 men, and a European force numbering 1,717 men, the whole being under the command of Major-General Hewitt. On the 6th of May, when cartridges, which, to avoid offence, had been made for the purpose, were offered to the native cavalry, eighty-five troopers refused to receive them. They were tried by court-martial for their disobedience; eighty were sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour for ten years, and five for six years; and on the 9th, after their sentences were read to them on parade, they were put in irons and conducted to jail.

But their companions sympathised in their rebellion. On the following morning, which was Sunday, the native regiments rose in mutiny, fired upon their officers, and after making a rush upon the prison, from which they rescued not only their fellows but upwards of one thousand convicts who were confined there, they set the building on fire. The wildest license now prevailed in Meerut. Several British officers with their wives and children, were massacred with circumstances of aggravated atrocity. While bungalows were blazing in every direction, and the streets filled with the hurrying