The new Enfield rifle from the Crimean War in 1853 was introduced to the British Indian Army in the subcontinent. The rifles with greased cartridges were first tried in Dum Dum, Ambala, and Sialkot. However, soon, the rumor spread that the cartridge for the new Enfield rifle, which had to be bitten off by mouth, contained cow and pig fat, which were opposed to the native religious sensibilities. This was the immediate trigger that set off the revolt. However, the developments were not entirely a product of these religious sentiments but rather a culmination of the longer history of grievances of the native soldiers in the army, peasants, landlords, and native elites against the Company.
The Enfield Rifle was introduced in the Meerut cantonment on April 24th. The sepoys who refused to use the new rifle were court-martial and sentenced to ten years of imprisonment.
A mutiny of sepoys erupted in the Meerut garrison. The mutineers released the imprisoned brethren, killed many British officers, and set fire to buildings. The rebellion spread across the town. The next day, mutineers marched from Meerut to Delhi, which was about 40 miles away. Many soldiers and civilians joined the rebel march enroute.
The mutineers from Meerut marched to Delhi. They entered the Red Fort on the 11th and appealed to the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II to lead their revolt. By this time, almost half of the entire 2,32,224 sepoys of the Company had risen against them. As the rebel march reached Delhi, the sepoy garrison there also joined the group. The rebels proclaimed the emperor Bahadur Shah II as the Emperor of India. This move provided some legitimacy to the movement. The revolt soon spread to the other parts of the subcontinent.
The British forces captured the Ridge in Delhi, but the attempt to recapture the city was faced with strong resistance from the rebel forces. The British forces had two successful engagements with the rebels at Ghazi-ud-din Nagar and the river Hindon before the battle of Badli-ki-Serai. The battle exposed the weaknesses of the rebel front and its lack of coordination. However, the exhausted British forces were not able to march into the city and recapture it.
General Bakht Khan, the leader of the sepoy revolt at Bareilly, arrived in Delhi, reinforcing the rebel side. He was appointed as the Commander-in-chief by Bahadur Shah II.
After months of preparation and planning, the British forces were ready to attack and recapture Delhi. The assault began in early September from different sides of the city–from Ludlow Castle to Kashmiri Gate and Lahore Gate. Within a few weeks, the Company recaptured Delhi. The Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, was taken prisoner by Major William Hudson. Zafar was then tried and exiled to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma next year.
When the news of the Meerut and Delhi mutiny reached Lucknow on May 14-15, concerns about the uprising began to surface. Henry Lawrence, the British Resident and the Chief Commissioner of Awadh, acquired plenary power and began fortifying the Residency. The military store, ration, garrison, etc. were moved from the cantonment to the Residency. All the British civilians from nearby areas made their way to the residency. By the end of the month, there were around 1000 white (32nd Regiment) and 700 native troops (13th and the 71st N.I) in defense of the Residency.
Sepoys from various Bengal and Awadh infantry units revolted, and the uprising spread to the civil and military stations in Awadh (Sitapure, Faizabad, Sultanpur) within the next ten days. The revolt broke out four miles away from the city.
The battle was fought in Chinhat near Lucknow between the rebel forces led by Barkat Ahmad and the Company army. The rebel army consisted of sepoys, armed retainers of the Taluqdars (local powerful landlords), and peasants. The British army made the first attack to stop the rebels from entering Lucknow but had to retreat.
The residency faced four attacks from the besiegers from July onwards. On September 23, Major-General Henry Havelock made the first attempt to ‘relief’ Lucknow with 2500 men that he brought from Kanpur. Half of them died during the struggle, and the siege continued.
Colin Campbell, Commander-in-Chief of India, with his 5000 men managed to enter the Residency and break the siege. They rescued the garrison and the civilians from the Residency, leaving General James Outram behind at Alambagh with 4000 men.
The rebels took control of the Residency and ruled Lucknow under the name of the Nawab of Awadh Birjis Qadr under the leadership of Begum Hazrat Mahal. The removal of the British flag from the Residency not only signified a long-due military victory for the rebels but also had great political importance.
After suppressing the revolt in many parts of the central and North-Western Provinces, Campbell’s forces made their way to capture Lucknow in March 1858 with around 22000 European and native troops. The attack was well-planned and coordinated with Outrum on the Iron Bridge, the main army occupying Dilkusha, and one by one, “fortified palaces, the walled gardens, mosques, and mausoleums were seized.” (Sen 1958, 240)
The rebel forces began to leave the post as the defense was becoming impossible to carry out. By the end of the day, all the main posts were in British control. The last prominent battle was fought at Musabag, where the rebel forces held the ground till the next day. According to a report, there were around 100,000 rebels in the city, including 35000 sepoys.
By the 21st of March, the city was declared free of rebels, and what followed was destruction and plunder. Lucknow was one of the most crucial battle fronts. The recapture of Lucknow marked the end of native forces' dominance in the struggle and reinstated the British empire in India.