The English had used Indian soldiers to conquer India. By 1857 these sepoys or infantry and sowars or cavalry not only shared in the general discontent of the people, but also had specific grievances of their own. No Indian soldier could become a staff officer in the process. The highest-ranking Indian was subordinate to the most junior British subaltern. Once closely related officers and sepoys were eventually becoming distant. The foreigners were growing increasingly insensitive to Indian religious scruples. One common rumor that was circulated can be said as Hindu, Sikh and Muslim soldiers would be forcibly converted to Christianity. Some regiments had already been sent to Afghanistan against their wishes. Now it was said that sepoys would be compelled to cross the `black waters` of the ocean. At that time it was a thing forbidden by Hindu religion.

Also the political discontent aggravated the situation. Lord Dalhousie`s policy of annexation was unpopular with the men. In particular, his annexation of Avadh disturbed the many sepoys who came from that province. The mistreatment of the Mughal emperor Bahadur shah II offended many soldiers regardless of their religion. For these reasons, and others, it could be written by a contemporary Indian observer that by 1857 `all the native army, without exception, are inwardly dissatisfied with the government.`

The British were aware of the changed climate in India. They felt that `danger was close, as though a mine were soon to explode`. All that was needed was a spark, and this was provided by the `greased cartridges`. A new rifle was introduced that used paper cartridges covered with grease to keep the powder dry. Before the cartridge could be loaded in the rifle, its end had to be bitten off. The sepoys were unwilling to do this action. They had reason to believe that the grease was made from the fat of cows or pigs. The first animal is held sacred by Hindus, while the Muslims consider the second one as unclean.

In March 1857 trouble broke out over the new ammunition at Barrackpore in Bengal. Order was quickly stored. A sepoy named Mangal Pandey had defied the authority of his British officers, as executed. The next month in Meerut sepoys refused to touch the greased cartridges. The soldiers were court-martialed. They were put in shackles and confined to jail. In the following day on 10 may 1857, their comrades rose and freed them. Meerut was sacked and the cry went up as `Dilli chalo` i.e. on to Delhi. The sepoys reached the old Mughal capital on the morning of the 11th, and by nightfall the city was in their hands. The mutineers secured the support of Bahadur shah, who was the shadow emperor. He became the unifying symbol of the great revolt and also an inspiration to Hindu and Muslim.

The revolt spread like wild fire across northern India. Sepoys mutinied in Mathura, Kanpur and Allahabad. Lucknow was taken and its residency besieged, soon British rule had become non-existent through out most of what is now Uttar Pradesh. For some time parts of western Bihar were controlled by sepoys fighting under the brave Rajput, Kunwar singh.

From its very beginning the revolt was more than a simple military mutiny. Everywhere people took advantage of the soldiers` uprisings to strike out against the British. Peasants destroyed the records of landholders and money-lenders. Princes reasserted their lost authority. Most prominent of these was Nana Sahib, leader of the revolt in Kanpur. He was proclaimed Peshwa, which was a title unfairly denied by the British.

For many months, the British fought with their backs to the wall. If the rebels had combined their forces, they might have succeeded in driving the foreigners from Indian soil. But they were unable to organize themselves, and the rebellion became a chaos-isolated revolts. Local leaders attempted to seize power when British authority was overthrown. Most were interested only in re establishing the old feudal order. Short-lived regimes were set up. Some of them were no more desirable than the British Raj. The leaders of the revolt were unable to offer the populace a progressive programme that could sustain their enthusiasm. So, after striking out against their immediate oppressors, the people went back to their ordinary lives.

Meanwhile the British were using their centralized organization to the best advantage. Fresh reinforcements were obtained. Many of the new soldiers were Indians who felt no qualms about fighting other Indians. The rebels conducted themselves with great courage, but the tide slowly turned against them. Delhi fell in September 1857. Bahadur shah surrendered peaceably, but the royal princes were treacherously killed. The Lucknow residency, where the British had held out doggedly for several months, was relieved in the same month. The British had recaptured Kanpur in the month of July. But the rebels again attacked it in December. At this place the Indian commander was Tatya tope. He was a man of genuine military ability. Tatya was defeated at kanpur, but he escaped to fight again.

After the fall of Lucknow the only rebel stronghold that remained was Jhansi. It was a Maratha state that had recently been annexed by the British. Here the Sepoys had risen in June 1857. Lakshmibai who was the dispossessed Rani of Jhansi, became their leader. In March 1858, the British surrounded Lakshmibai. But she defended the city of Jhansi with great ability. Tatya tope came to assist her, but before he could reach Jhansi he was engaged by the English general rose on the banks of the bias swept away. No more could men dream of setting and defeated. Two days later Jhansi fell. The Rani escaped and joined forces with Tatya tope at the fort of Kalpi. Unfortunately the two leaders quarreled and this prevented them from acting effectively against their common enemy. After suffering defeats at Konch and Kalpi, the rebels withdrew to Gwalior, which they captured without firing a shot. But this triumph was short-lived. On 17 June 1858 the rebel forces were attacked by rose outside the city at Kotah-ki-sarai. Lakshmibai, dressed as a man, fought heroically in this battle before being killed. On June Gwalior fell to the British. Tatya tope escaped and carried out a vigorous guerrilla campaign several months. But he was betrayed by a pretty raja handed over to the British, and executed in April 1859.

The fall of Gwalior marked the effective end of great revolt. The British re-established order executing thousands of Indians in the process. Not only rebels, but also innocent men, women and children were done to death. However it may be said that during the early part of the revolt, rebels had killed hundreds of European civilians. This provided the British with an excuse for their terrible reprisals.

The great revolt of 1857 was the first large scale uprising against British rule in India. It failed because the rebel leaders could not work together. They did not move by feelings of national patriotism. As a matter of fact they were fighting for their state. At worst for their own. There was a new order developing rather the leaders fought for the vanished feudal way of life. With the suppression of the revolt all of this was swept away. Men could not dream of setting up a Mughal or Maratha empire. The way was clear for the development of modern India.