Why Did Britain's Most Brutal War happen? The 1857 Revolt

Today’s episode is a brief introduction to why the Indian Mutiny (aka 1st War of independence) of 1857 happened. Why did thousands of previously loyal Indian Sepoys turn against their officers?
Here are my key sources for this video: If you purchase via the amazon links I receive a small percentage of the cost.
From Sepoy to Subedhar - Sita Ram - free on this link - archive.org/details/dli.pahar...
Mutiny - Saul David - purchase via this link - amzn.to/40XjF6O
True to their Salt - Ravindra Rathee - amazon link - amzn.to/42SAtgO
Our bones are scattered - Andrew Ward - Amazon link - amzn.to/3zuUYCV
If you are also interested in the Zulu War, then please sign up for my mailing list to receive my free book on the subject: www.redcoathistory.com
If you are very generous, you can also buy me a coffee and help support the channel via ko-fi.com/redcoathistory

[@cavoneant]

I just recently found this channel and it is amazing. In the USA we don't study British Military History to any significant level in school. And courses on it are rarely offered in universities. I just love the level that you take your research to. Excellent work. Keep it up.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks a lot! Appreciate it.

[@britishmuzzleloaders]

For some reason I hadn't been following that this was coming, Chris.... super excited.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks mate. Hope you like it.

[@redcoathistory]

PS I’m abroad for work right now but once things calm down maybe we should schedule an episode on the Enfield?

[@britishmuzzleloaders]

@@redcoathistory For sure!

[@sleeperyjeemtoybox]

Was reading about a planned Indian tv series into the East India Company, be interesting to see how much "literary license" will be taken over real events.

[@roytaylor6361]

For anyone genuinely interested then “The Anarchy” is an excellent balanced book.

[@johnspettell1853]

A bit deeper dive I think was warranted on this topic. "Doctrine of Lapse", Sepoy's loss of preferential treatment in Awadh courts and institutions, breaking of caste via forced overseas service, impact of Sikh War on Sepoy view of EIC, reduction in EIC officers' assimilation in Indian culture via marriage, learning Hindi, etc, etc

[@redcoathistory]

Hi John, a deeper dive is always warranted...but I think it's important to see this as an introduction to the subject. If I made a three-hour presentation I think it would turn most people off so I am always trying to find the sweet spot. Appreciate your input and hopefully you will enjoy some of the future episodes on the topic of the mutiny.

[@FranciscoPreira]

Excellent start Chris. Looking foward the next ones on a very interesting historic moment.

[@billballbuster7186]

The concerns about Enfield Rifle ammunition apparently did not stop the Sepoys from using it in abundance during the mutiny. The high cast Hindu's are given credit as starting the mutiny, but the first regiments to mutiny were Muslim, and it was Muslim Sowars of the Bengal Cavalry that spread news of the mutiny.

[@keithagn]

Very interesting story, as well as tragic. I'm looking forward to your series on this. Regards!

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Keith

[@douglasherron7534]

One very significant cause of the mutiny not mentioned was the introduction of the General Service Enlistment Act of 25 July 1856. This required new recruits into the Bengal Army to accept the possibility of overseas service but serving high-caste sepoys were concerned it would be extended to them (plus it impacted the common practice of sons following fathers into the army).

[@BertPreast]

Flashman in the Great Game is an amusing way of informing oneself of some of what went on. The whole affair was far too fiendishly complex for any one book, mind.

[@redcoathistory]

Really good book 👍🏼

[@Jubilo1]

Superb video.T he Enfiled- the arm of the American Civil War as well.

[@it.is.mario.]

Nice explanation, as an Indian i have always wondered on how britons view this revolution from their point of view and other Indian-British engagements similar to this.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks a lot. I’m glad you found it interesting.

[@comicsshed5381]

Looking forward to how this series goes hoping it will mention the 22nd of foot Cheshire regiment

[@wingcommanderdaltonwalton67]

Absolutely love this channel.

[@redcoathistory]

Glad you enjoy it, Wing commander. Lots of stuff in the pipeline, including more on the Mutiny soon.

[@martyn8116]

Really interesting. This is going to be a brilliant new series. All the better for you visiting India. Years ago, I read a fascinating account of a grizzled old Sepoy sergeant from sometime in the first half of the 19th Century. He recalled how the first wave of British officers to arrive in India were very high-calibre young men. Consummate soldiers who led by example, cared about the men under their command, as well as their families, spoke native languages and were respectful of native customs. Those British officers, he observed, earned the respect of their men. However, fast-forward a few decades and it had all changed, he complained. Too many British officers of the day spent time drinking and whoring, and didn't earn the same respect from the men. This obviously led to some resentment from the Sepoys. I often wonder how it might have been different if the British officers of 1857 were more like their high-quality predecessors.

[@redcoathistory]

Yes, it's certainly interesting. I think you may have a good point.

[@zetectic7968]

I have read similar stories. The EIC men were accused of "going native". When the British Army took over there was a more "us & them" attitude, the Imperialist mindset thus less willingness to learn local languages & treat sepoys with respect, considering them lesser because they were not Christian.

[@martyn8116]

@@zetectic7968 Yes, sponsoring missionary work was virtue signalling of the Victorian upper middle class. At the same time, Indian military service would have appealed to lazy, low-calibre, entitled, young men. Douglas S. Russell's book Soldier, about Churchill's military service, describes well the life of a British officer in India in the 1890s. They were allocated servants, waited on hand and foot, and lived a hedonistic lifestyle.

[@zetectic7968]

I take it the reference was to the author William Dalrymple who wrote White Moguls. It is a novel that won the Booker prize & worth a read: The siege of Krishnapur by J G Farrell set during the mutiny. Look forward to more videos on this important topic.

[@Rohilla313]

White Mughals isn't a novel.

[@chrisstewart7420]

Top man as usual Chris. Surely C4 or C5 should pick you up as one if not the one of their History presenters

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks mate - if only!

[@danielblake6850]

Brilliant channel, i appreciate the way you put the meat of the stories on the bones ofbthe facts. Not gloryfying the British Empire nor apologising for our history.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks mate. Appreciate that. I try and avoid being in anyway political and just stick to the stories of the brave men invovled. Thanks for the comment.

[@danielblake6850]

No worries at all. I am hoping in the near future to visit a few of the battlefields you have covered, till then your videos are the next best thing. Ps hows the boxing training going? Hope you dont mind me asking, i nearly felt that black eye you were wearing on a couple of your other videos😂 Sorry mate youve probably had hundreds of comments on that too! All the best

[@teambridgebsc691]

fascinated by the history, the pictures, the reports from the era --- waiting on all instalments ---

[@redcoathistory]

Great stuff - the next three episodes are all now out so they should keep you going for a while. Just check my feed 👍🏼

[@theblackprince1346]

Wow, great on location video Chris. Didn't you visit the gate house in the intro of the video in one of your earliest videos?

[@redcoathistory]

Good memory! Yes I did but I’ve since deleted that video as I felt I rushed it (was with the Mrs!)

[@paulargent1003]

Ah the Enfield rifle urban myth again ! For anyone interested the Sepoys were not armed with the new Enfield rifles but a mixed assortment of EIC fire arms , it was the new cartridges for these forests that caused the issue . There were only a very small number of regular British regiments in India with the new Enfield .

[@roytaylor6361]

Thank you!

[@thehistoadian]

Awesome video!

[@lkgreenwell]

My grandfather, South Staffs, left a large illustrated history of India. It was pretty hair-raising - then I got onto another volume, that on the Balkans. How was there anybody left alive there, at all?

[@lkgreenwell]

They call Vlad Drakula *the* Impaler. He was playing at it! Chandragupta Mauria, there was an impaler! 10 cities before lunch!

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Thanks again mate

[@redcoathistory]

welcome mate

[@davidsoulsby1102]

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the ammunition sent out to India for the sepoy had been greased with Duck fat. But the ammunition for white troops was beef or pork, it was labelled for this reason. The problem came when someone got some of the beef/pork, labelled ammunition and used that to prove the British were sending tainted ammunition and how could they trust the sepoy got the correct ammunition. A fair point when there is already lots of propaganda circulating and the trust was already lost. Apparently the tainted ammunition got loaded up and sent to the US but it was too late by then. the harm was done. How true this is as it was a long time ago I don't know and it was an historical book (1900 ish), not a modern one.

[@johnspettell1853]

A little deeper dive I think was warranted. "Doctrine of lapse", preferential treatment granted to Sepoy's in Awadh courts - which was lost, breaking of caste via overseas service, etc.

[@redcoathistory]

@@johnspettell1853 Hi John - it seems the brevity of this film has upset you. I mentioned previously this is a short, punchy introduction not a three hour deep dive into every conceivable reason the Sepoys were angry. Apologies that you are dissapointed. I hope you enjoy future episodes.

[@johnspettell1853]

@@redcoathistory I think characterizing my comment as having "upset" me is a bit of a stretch. It was simply an opinion, and a bit of criticism. The brevity of your certainly did not upset me.

[@asimnawaz9256]

Yes. I can't understand that commanders would be so ignorant about religious affiliations of their troops.

[@historytube77]

So well put I have a exam Tom I didn’t start this chapter yet but I think I’m a,ready prepared from this vid 😅😂😂

[@tombogan03884]

3:45 It has always caught my notice that these guys would not load the bullets for targets, but they were quick enough to use them to revolt .That, along with the fact the original story about pig fat was not true makes me wonder who really stirred that up.

[@reynardthefox]

the Russians,the Great Game

[@ducthman4737]

I just received your book 'The Peninsular War volume 1' so a lot of reading to do. Is volume 2 not in book form?

[@redcoathistory]

Hi. I’m afraid it isn’t yet. Just been snowed under. Hopefully eventually.

[@ducthman4737]

@@redcoathistory 👍 I'm old school and prefer paper.

[@redcoathistory]

@@ducthman4737 me too!

[@redcoathistory]

Hi mate - I've just uploaded volume two in paperback to Amazon. Enjoy!

[@ducthman4737]

@@redcoathistory great 👍 This weekend Vitoria.

[@captainspacebones3795]

I blame EIC sgt Bickerstaff! "When I say shine my boots, I want them GLEAMING"

[@stevenguevara2184]

Why didnt it happen sooner?

[@matthewarnold6794]

My great-great grand mother's parents were killed during the Sepoy rebellion, so I find this lesson very interesting. She and her sister survived because a few unknown Indian staff or police at the school refused to let the hyped up mob massacre the European children at the school. I am very grateful to those wonderful Indians who protected the European children at the school.

[@Aman-hm6cw]

Yes I hv heard many stories of Indians saving women and children Even to this day local India at cawnpore call that place cursed Wonder brits do regret abt their deeds too?

[@roytaylor6361]

It was a mutiny. Read the book “From Sepoy to Subedar: Being the Life and Adventures of Subedar Sita Ram, a Native Officer of the Bengal Army. Published 1873

[@willhovell9019]

Extraordinary that a British company should rule a great chunk of ancient and rich Indian subcontinent , developing the opium industry and supressing economic development.

[@hellachan8080]

So did the bullet had cow n pig fat?

[@redcoathistory]

Not that can be proven out right. It’s possible some early rounds did but after that the sepoys were given the option to grease their own with their lubricant of choice. But by then trust had been lost.

[@hellachan8080]

@@redcoathistory someone need to investigate on which fat was used.

[@redcoathistory]

@@hellachan8080 There were investigations at the time I believe. In a way it doesn't even matter any more as the war happened anyway. Thanks for being interested, I have a two hour documentary on the rebellion being released tomoorrow that you may enjoy.

[@hellachan8080]

@@redcoathistoryI disagree. it is an important question. I believe ambiguity on the source of fat was the main reason for rebellion. It's sad that such ambiguity still exist today. Ambiguity imo breaks trust.

[@davidbirt4643]

It was pig fat on the cartridge

[@redcoathistory]

Hi David. feel free to watch the film. It was actually very complex.

[@flintflyer575]

if you swear allegiance then rebel it is a mutiny, you gave away independence by swearing allegiance.

[@roytaylor6361]

Whoah! I liked this channel till now. What happened? Were you bullied whilst there? This is crazy inaccurate. 1. It was not Britains Most Brutal War. This was a mutiny. Even allowing for argument war is legally defined as: War is a phenomenon of organized collective violence that affects either the relations between two or more societies or the power relations within a society. War is governed by the law of armed conflict, also called “international humanitarian law.” So what were the two societies because what it was NOT was a war between the British and Indians. Had it been then independence would have happened in 1857. It’s deeply upsetting to watch a video made by a Brit making such anti British inaccurate nonsense. The retreat from Kabul was disgraceful but it was also something that the Indians looked up to because of what happened. On the morning of the 13th January 20 British Officers and 45 Europeans made a last stand immortalized by the painting of The Battle of Gandamak. Your video

[@roytaylor6361]

is also just wrong. It makes no mention of the build up of messages inciting revolt in biscuits. It makes no mention of the fact the cartridges is erroneous. Saul David devotes some time to this question in Victoria's Wars. In short, his conclusion is that the issue of cartridges was more of an excuse or a rallying cry than a real issue. The rebellion was more driven by other factors, particularly a general loss of prestige and status. It's not entirely clear, but it seems that the test cartridges prepared for use in India did originally use a mixture of animal tallows. These were prepared by the Bengal Ordnance Department against a warning from the Commander in Chief that they should not be "of a nature to offend or interfere with the prejudices of caste." When the rumour spread that the cartridges were greased with pork and beef tallow, planned firing drills were altered to allow sepoys to apply their own grease. Despite this, a regiment at Bernhapur refused to drill with the new cartridges. Objections "it seems, had switched from the grease on the enfield cartridge to the paper used for the new cartridge, and finally to the paper on the old musket cartridge." The British, not unreasonably, suspected the issue was being manipulated by agitators. In response they changed the drill so that sepoys would tear cartridges with their left hand rather than their teeth. If cartridges were not the main issue, what was? Sepoys had quite a range of grievances and motivations for rebellion, including: • ⁠A falling proportion of high caste hindus in the ranks. • ⁠Declining rates of pay. • ⁠An end to the practice of only taking volunteers on overseas service (dying overseas could lead to a person losing their caste) • ⁠Reduced opportunities for making money from plunder, without serving overseas. • ⁠Poor opportunities for power and promotion, and being commanded by younger, less experienced, but white, officers. • ⁠Centralised control reducing the ability of officers to discipline their men. • ⁠The annexations of Indian states by force or cunning, particularly that of Oudh in 1856, an area which supplied as many as 3/4 of sepoys. • ⁠The support of many dispossessed (but often still wealthy) Indian princes, nobles, officials, etc. So while the introduction of the new cartridges seems to have genuinely been viewed badly, it was exploited as an issue. Discontent had been reported before the new cartridges, and the rebellion itself didn't break out for some time after their introduction, and after a range of concessions had been made by the British.

[@roytaylor6361]

I mean for goodness sake isn’t this channel about revealing the truth about redcoat history? I could cite at least another 20 inaccuracies and falsehoods in this video and it deeply saddens me because I have been such a fan till now.

[@roytaylor6361]

Finally what about some simple math? Had a huge majority of Indians not supported the British they could not have endured. The fact is that we were better than the alternative. I love India and Indians, many will tell you that compared to Mohdi they wish we were still there.

[@redcoathistory]

@@roytaylor6361 No worries mate - whatever you think.

[@roytaylor6361]

@@redcoathistory that was a nice reply, thank you, its just this video is so different from the others, and they are absolutely terrific.

[@YanestraAgain]

The way you pronounce Indian words makes me angry.

[@redcoathistory]

The way you pronounce Zulu and Sesotho words really gets my goat. Let's settle it with a fist fight.

[@hotdog2265]

Question why Britain putting thier nose around the world creating trouble for countries

[@douglasherron7534]

India wasn't a "country" then. It was a series of kingdoms and principalities - often at war with each other. One could say that India would not exist without the British having united the sub-continent...

[@juanzulu1318]

Why not? All countries did.

[@snowflakemelter1172]

Because they had the technology and will to do it, every nation that was colonised would have done the same If they could have.

[@RajuDas-qu1li]

@@douglasherron7534 you are quite correct. I am an Indian and I know that everything that existed in those days in the name of religion is not good. The local leaders could not bring a renaissance as they were too indulged in themselves.

[@Aman-hm6cw]

​@@douglasherron7534India is a 5000 years old civilization Concept of nation hood is very new Same can be said abt uk France China too

[@juanzulu1318]

So the answer to that question is: because of ignorance created by religion.