RAS question
The soldiers at Neemuch cantonment revolted on 3 June 1857. They marched towards which city to join the larger rebellion?
Correct answer: (A) Delhi.
The soldiers who revolted at Neemuch cantonment on 3 June 1857 marched towards Delhi to join the wider rebellion.
Explanation
Neemuch was one of the British military cantonments in Rajputana during the Revolt of 1857. The cited account says that after news of the Nasirabad revolt reached Neemuch, Colonel Abbot made the soldiers take an oath of loyalty on 2 June 1857. At the parade ground, cavalry soldier Ali-Baig challenged the moral force of that oath by pointing to British conduct in Awadh. The next day, 3 June 1857, the soldiers at Neemuch revolted, burned the cantonment, and started for Delhi via Chittor, Hammingarh, Baneda and Shahpura. Delhi is therefore the answer because the Neemuch rebels were moving towards the main rebel centre identified in the account, not merely leaving the cantonment locally.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Jhansi was among the wider centres of the 1857 rebellion, but the Neemuch account specifically says these soldiers started for Delhi.
- (C) Lucknow belongs to the broader geography of the revolt, but it is not named as the destination of the Neemuch rebels in the cited account.
- (D) Kanpur was another major centre of the 1857 revolt, but the source links the 3 June Neemuch rising to a march towards Delhi, not Kanpur.
Concept
This tests the Rajasthan-specific geography of the Revolt of 1857, especially the sequence of cantonment uprisings in Rajputana. RAS repeats this area because small route and centre details distinguish Rajasthan history from the all-India narrative of 1857.