Rumours and prophecies

Rumours spread fast. The best known began at Dum Dum, near Calcutta, in January 1857: that the cartridges of the new Enfield rifle were greased with the fat of cows and pigs, so biting them would pollute both Hindus and Muslims.

Other rumours said the British had mixed bone dust of cows and pigs into the atta (flour) sold in markets, and that they planned to convert Indians to Christianity.

A prophecy said that British rule would end on 23 June 1857, the centenary of the Battle of Plassey. And chapattis were mysteriously passed from village to village, as some kind of signal.

Why did people believe these rumours? Because they matched people's deep fears: rumours spread when they speak to anxieties people already have.

Those fears had grown from British policies: Lord William Bentinck's 'reforms' and Western education; the abolition of sati (1829); laws permitting widow remarriage; the annexation of Indian states; and the activities of Christian missionaries. Rumours reveal fears, not facts.