The Indian Rebellion & Britain’s National Day of Humiliation, October 7th 1857
On October 7th 1857
Queen Victoria proclaimed a day of
national humiliation in recognition of the barbarous acts by rebellious
Sepoys and the brutal reprisals made by British troops.
Throughout the spring of 1857 several incidents successively raised
tensions and in May the long simmering resentments and tensions of
Indians living under British rule boiled over. When native troops
refused to train with a new rifle cartridge, used by the
1853 Enfield rifle-musket,
which was said to be coated in beef (offensive to Hindus) and pork
(offensive to Muslims) fat. While this was indeed the case the
cartridges were not in wide circulation and the British eventually took
steps to issue ungreased ammunition and also altering the loading drill
so cartridges were ripped not bitten. Regardless of these changes many
Sepoys still believe this to be an attempt by the British to further
humiliate and undermine their religious beliefs.
Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket
The refusal to use the cartridge, which would have required the
troops to bite the fat covered cartridge led to the troops being
disarmed, court martialed, stripped of their uniforms and imprisoned.
Comrades of the disarmed troops revolted and freed them the next day,
killing their European officers and several dozen European civilians in
the process, beginning the
Indian Rebellion, or
First War of Indian Independence.
Enfield Pattern 1853 Percussion Rifle Musket cartridges
The B
ritish East India Company’s policy since the 18th
century had been to maintain an indigenous army of Sepoys, native troops
while the British Crown garrisoned a relatively small number of British
troops in india. These troops were spread through isolated garrison
towns and were often supplemented by Sepoy troops at the same post. As
a result European forces and surviving civilians were quickly
surrounded in hastily defended cantonments.
Even once the rebellion spread it was far from general with civilians
remaining indifferent in much of Southern India and even some areas in
the North. This mostly stemmed from the depth of resentment in civilian
populations in these areas, some for instance had received much
assistance from the
East India Company and saw no reason to
rebel. Many native troops in the Bombay & Madras elements of the
Indian Army remained loyal, especially Sikh troops.
However, in the areas where the rebellion was most rife a number of massacres took place. The worst of these at
Cawnpore
where for some 20 days British officers and civilians defended a
barrack block against rebel attack until their position was untenable.
They agreed to surrender terms offered by the rebels that agreed to the
survivors being ferryed to safety down the Ganges River. However as
the survivors of the siege boarded boats at
Satichaura Ghat the
boats were set alight with the British onboard and the rebels opened
fire from the banks killing hundreds (see image two).
Miraculously some 120 women and children survived but were rounded up
and held in terrible cramped conditions in a nearby house. When a
small British relief force approached the rebels opened the doors of the
house and poured volleys into the huddled mass inside before refusing
to fire again so several local butchers were hired to finish off the
survivors with their knives. The bodies of the massacred were thrown
down the house’s well. When the house was found by British troops,
rebels captured in the area were forced to return to the house before
being hung from trees.
Accounts of the massacre, the betrayal by the rebels and the stories
of individuals like Margaret Wheeler (the camp commandants daughter)
killing her rapist and herself (see image three) quickly reached
Britain, capturing the public’s imagination and causing uproar. 30,000
troops were immediately mustered and dispatched to deal with the
rebellion, India was the British Empire’s most prized possession and
fears that the whole continent would rise up were rife.
The British response was typically harsh. The Victorian moral
mindset venerated women and children, they were seen as the very essence
of Victorian family life and were placed on the highest pedestal. When
met with the atrocities committed at
Meerut, Cawnpore and Satichaura Ghat.
The public at home called for the most brutal responses possible but
British forces were already in the process of rooting out the leaders
and any rebel they captured was often tortured, beaten, forced to eat
religiously offensive food such as pork for Hindus and then hung (see
image one) or in some cases lashed to the muzzle of a cannon and blown
apart (a punishment that originated from Mughal India - see images four
& five), often as a demonstration to the local populace. There are
reports that rebels caught near Cawnpore were forced to lick the
congealed blood of the rebel’s victims from the floor and walls of the
house were survivors of the
Satichaura Ghat Massacre had been gathered and slaughtered.
Photograph of Satichaura Ghat (jetty), where hundreds were killed
News of the initial rebel atrocities and British reactions quickly reached England where
Queen Victoria and her husband
Prince Albert were appalled.
Victoria
and her husband were the focal point of Victorian Britain’s moral
rejuvenation seeking to spread civilised, family centric moral values.
The atrocities and the British reprisals were in complete contrast with
Victoria’s beliefs. The reprisals represented a reawakening of the savage parts of British psyche which
Victoria and the upper and middle classes had thought long overcome. In response
Victoria
took the unusual step of declaring October 7th a day of national
humiliation before God. While days like this were not without
precedence it was the first in many years. Often a monarch will call
days of national mourning for the loss of a public figure or the deaths
of many in an accident or a day of national celebration historically
marked with the ringing of bells. In this case the Queen called for a:
"day appointed by proclamation for a solemn fast, humiliation and
prayer before Almighty God: in order to obtain pardon of our sins, and
for imploring his blessing and assistance on our arms for the
restoration of tranquillity in India."
The day saw all business, museums and shops closed with much of the
population attending church. From the sermons given on the 7th it is
clear the the British felt it was God’s will that these atrocities had
occurred because of their shyness and reticence in spreading the Gospel
in India.It is indeed ironic then that the British reprisals were on a
par if not worse than the atrocities that led to them. The day of
humiliation was not in recognition of Britain being humiliated by
rebellious subjects but rather a showing of humility before God seeking
forgiveness of the sins that Victorians felt led to the rebellion and
for the brutal massacres that occurred.
By late 1858 the rebellion had been crushed and
Queen Victoria
issued a proclamation to her Indian subjects announcing the removal of
the East India Company from power and expressing respect for all of
India’s indigenous religions. The British Crown took over from the
East India Company
in August 1858 and the Bengal Army which had seen the worst mutinies
effectively ceased to exist in its original configuration. The Indian
Army went through a number of reforms appointing more Indian officers,
recruiting more Sikhs and
Gurkhas and disbanding all Indian artillery units.
