Rumours and prophecies

The revolt of 1857 was not sparked by a single event or a clear plan. It was fuelled by a wave of rumours and prophecies that spread across North India, turning vague fears into a conviction that the British were deliberately trying to destroy the caste and religion of both Hindus and Muslims. These stories moved ordinary people — sepoys, peasants, and townsfolk — to action.

The cartridge rumour and its origin

The most famous rumour concerned the new Enfield rifle cartridges. Sepoys who arrived in Delhi from Meerut told Bahadur Shah that the cartridges were coated with the fat of cows and pigs, and that biting them would corrupt their caste and religion. The British tried to deny this, but the rumour spread like wildfire through the sepoy lines of North India.

The origin of this rumour can be traced to a specific incident. In the third week of January 1857, at the Rifle Instruction Depot in Dum Dum, a “low-caste” khalasi (a labourer working in the magazine) asked a Brahmin sepoy for a drink of water from his lota (a brass water-pot). The sepoy refused, saying the lower caste man’s touch would defile the vessel. The khalasi reportedly retorted: “You will soon lose your caste, as ere long you will have to bite cartridges covered with the fat of cows and pigs.”

We do not know if this report by Captain Wright, commandant of the depot, was entirely accurate. But once the rumour started, no amount of official assurances could stop its circulation or the fear it spread.

The conspiracy rumour: bone dust in flour

This was not the only rumour circulating in early 1857. A second, even more alarming story claimed that the British government had hatched a gigantic conspiracy to destroy the caste and religion of Hindus and Muslims. To this end, the British had supposedly mixed the bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour (atta) sold in the market.

In towns and cantonments, sepoys and common people refused to touch the atta. There was a widespread fear that the British wanted to forcibly convert Indians to Christianity. British officers tried to allay these fears, but in vain. Panic spread fast, and these fears stirred men to action.

The prophecy of British downfall

The response to the call for action was reinforced by a specific prophecy. It was widely believed that British rule would come to an end on the centenary of the Battle of Plassey — that is, on 23 June 1857. This gave the revolt a precise, almost fated deadline, making the uprising seem not just justified but inevitable.

The mysterious chapatti movement …