RAS question
The Revolt of 1857 started on:
Correct answer: (D) May 10, 1857 at Meerut.
The Revolt of 1857 began at Meerut on 10 May 1857.
Explanation
The main revolt broke out at Meerut on 10 May 1857. Its immediate trigger was the punishment of sepoys who had refused the Enfield rifle cartridges, which were rumoured to be greased with cow and pig fat and therefore offensive to both Hindus and Muslims. On 9 May, eighty-five sepoys at Meerut were court-martialled and imprisoned. Britannica’s account supports the sequence: sepoy troopers at Meerut refused the cartridges, were given long prison terms and jailed; their comrades then rose on 10 May, shot British officers, and marched to Delhi. There the local sepoy garrison joined them, and Bahadur Shah II was nominally restored to power, giving the rebellion a political focus.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Calcutta was not the starting point given in the explanation or the verified source; the outbreak began among sepoys at Meerut.
- (B) Barrackpore is linked with Mangal Pandey’s late-March attack, but the main revolt began later at Meerut on 10 May 1857.
- (C) Delhi became central only after the Meerut rebels marched there and the local sepoy garrison joined them, so it was not the place where the revolt started.
Concept
This tests the chronology of the Revolt of 1857, especially the distinction between early incidents and the main outbreak. RAS repeatedly asks such start-point and sequence questions because they anchor wider themes in modern Indian history.