From Meerut to Delhi

On the afternoon of 10 May 1857, the sepoys in the cantonment of Meerut mutinied. Ordinary people of the town and surrounding villages joined them. Buildings were burnt, officers killed, and the telegraph line to Delhi was cut.

On 11 May, a group of cavalrymen rode into Delhi and reached the Red Fort. They demanded that the old Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, give them his blessings. Surrounded by sepoys, he had little choice. His blessing gave the revolt a new legitimacy: it could now be carried on in the name of the Mughal emperor.

Mutinies in other cantonments followed a similar pattern: a signal (a gun fired or a bugle sounded), the seizure of the bell of arms (where weapons were kept), an attack on the treasury, and then on government buildings: the jail, the treasury, the telegraph office, the record room, the bungalows.

Rebel proclamations urged Hindus and Muslims to unite and drive out the firangis (foreigners).

Soon, others became targets too: moneylenders and the rich, who were seen as allies of the British. What began as a military mutiny became a popular rebellion.