India

For more than 200 years before the Indian Mutiny of 1857, there had been a British presence in India. They began as merchant ventures and their holdings on the land were relatively small. Over the years they had expanded, creating forts for protection and larger trading stations. Eventually, to make certain that there would be stability and a successful trade business, Britain deployed many of its armed forces there and also raised forces of natives, thus becoming an active power in 18th Century India. Sometimes by their design but also sometimes by accident, the area of British control began to increase. Their expansion lasted until nearly the entire sub-continent was apart or effected by the empire by the year 1857.

The relationship of the British with their Indian subject gradually began to get worse as time passed. Many held the invention of the steamships responsible for the tension between the two peoples. By allowing the British officers a greatly reduced travel time from their English wives and their workplace, created less time with their Indian mistresses. Another very important aspect was the arrival of missionaries from protestant England. The missionaries cast their teachings upon the very conservative Indians, who preferred their own customs and institutions to other people. Indians especially preferred their own religions and Evangelical Christians had little respect, or understanding of, these ancient practices and beliefs.

The spark that started it happened in May of 1857 with a mutiny of Indian troops at Meerut, or a matter of religious principle. The new rifles, which had been issued by the British army, contained a cartridge that required the soldier to bite of the end in order to load the weapon. To make this process easier, the cartridges were greased with the animal fat of a cow or pig. The rumor quickly spread throughout the Indian regiment that this process was being used, and according to ancient Hindu and Muslim religion, this practice is unclean and according to Lord Roberts, “the affair betrayed and incredible disregard of the natives’ religious prejudices.”(Porter, 40) The mutineers took Delhi first with the help of more native regiments, and from there, the rebellion spread quickly but unevenly. Throughout the many battles at Delhi, Cawnpore, and Lucknow, the natives were never able to completely seize all of India. Britain did manage to survive the fourteen month long battle, but with severe losses. Both the rebels and the British looked at people of the opposite color as enemies, and would slaughter them. The war was fought with much ferocity and hatred. Both sides butchered women and children, and The Indian Mutiny of 1857 soon became to be known as the greatest of all imperial wars.

Was the Indian Mutiny caused merely by a revolt of the military or was it the something greater? What started out as a blatant disregard for Indian customs, turned into one of the bloodiest wars of the 19th Century. To the British, it was a series of small skirmishes on the part of the mutineers, which were defeated in a reasonable amount of time. To the nationalist Indians however, it was a War for Independence and ultimately a forerunner for achieving their own freedom. Britain was able to hold India for so long because so many Indians were divided among themselves in religion, race, and politics. Also, many of them, specifically the upper class had no quarrel with the British and often times collaborated with them. This Mutiny, or even called the 'epic of the Race' by historian Sir Charles Crostwaithe, was the beginning of the end for the British Empire, but more importantly was the start India’s search for independence. Throughout history, India never really had its own identity. Made up of many different religious, political, and cultural beliefs, Indians were in a way a blind people, desperate, looking for an answer. During the early stages of battle, many Indians, probably the majority, were loyal to their British rulers. The Indian people were happy with their position in the British ruled country. However, where the rebellion did catch on was in the idea of restoring lost institutions of the Hindu nation. What actually united the participants of the rebellion was the pure hatred of the British. The natives were sick of the British imposing their ideas, and their way of life on them. The British were confident that they knew what was god for India, when in fact the best remedy was for their departure. As one proclaimed, “Even we who live in India for years, who pass our lives there, obtain at last only a very imperfect and grey twilight knowledge of the natives.” This was the type British ignorance that enraged the natives to revolt. The type of radical change, which Britain imposed on India during these times, was all that the natives needed to realize and envision a better, freer