Sepoy Mutiny: The Inclusion Of British Policies

One of the fundamental causes of the Sepoy Mutiny was the inclusion of British policies. The British had no concern for the Indian rulers who ruled before they established their raj. Furthermore, ex-kings and ex-rulers were not allowed to be a high ranked official in the British system of government. The East India company passed many policies that pushed former elites and princes down the social hierarchy. One such policy passed by Lord Dalhousie, was the Doctrine of Lapse . This Doctrine was passed in 1848 and stated that the East India Company will control the territories of kings who don’t have a natural heir to their throne (“Doctrine of Lapse….”). The East India Company also gained export rights such as, gold, silver, jewelry, spices,
textiles, and chai (Lovett 12). Hence many traditional textile makers, and private jewelry shops ran out of business, because these small businesses could not cope up with the demand from the East India Company.
The Indian Textile industry alone lost £35,000,000 to Britain. In addition to this, Great Britain passed the Charter Act of 1813, which allowed one way free trade for British citizens this plunged India’s economy in a further recession because Indian industries did not make enough profit in order to continue these businesses (Mondal). On the other hand, The East India Company made £225,000,000 in gross sales from the gold, silver, chai, and textile exports alone ("Ruin of India…”). Due to this doctrine, many kings and other high ranking Indian officials lost their positions and were forced to serve as Sepoys or were left with nothing. This caused tension between the East India Company and these ex-kings because they were being forced against their will to fight for Britain, this was considered unpatriotic by many Indians (Lovett 14). Despite this tension, Britain realized a conflict could arise, in an attempt to avoid conflict the British awarded many ex-princes and other groups monetary rewards as well as favoritism for being loyal to them. One such group who was awarded monetary rewards was, the
sikhs. The sikhs chose to be loyal to Great Britain because they believed that if Britain managed to crush the Sepoys, their sacred worshiping places would not get destroyed. The sikhs also remained loyal to Great Britain because the Leaders of the East India Company appointed Sikhs be viceroys of Northern India and for remaining loyal, The Sikhs gained 2-3 acres of land (“The British Empire...”) This angered many Sepoys because the Sikhs were Indian, yet took sides with Britain (Granger).
Furthermore, in 1857 the East India Company ordered the Sepoys to bite off beef and pork grease on the seals covering the cartridges. The cow is a goddess to Hindus because Hindus believe that the cow gives humans milk and other dairy products. On the other hand, Muslims are not allowed to eat pork because pigs are considered to be filthy animals (Lovett 12). In response to this the Sepoys decided not to bite off the beef and pork seals and ninety sepoys were consequently jailed for insolence ("Indian Freedom Struggle"). Meanwhile other sepoys were notified of this and were enraged. They quickly moved to capture Delhi. This is known to be a direct cause of the Sepoy Mutiny according to The Telegraph. "The Sepoys were forced to bite off the seals otherwise the sepoys and their families would be killed under the orders of the East India company" ("Causes of the...."). While the Sepoys being forced to bite off the beef and pork seals was a direct reason for the rebellion to occur, Upon further historical research , the historians discovered that the Sepoy rebellion was also caused by the punitive tax system established by the British, which angered the Indian soldiers ("Causes of the....").