Cause of the Sepoy Mutiny between England and Indians

About the cause of the Sepoy Mutiny in India between English and Indian soldiers when Muslim and Hindu troops refused on relgious grounds to use rifles that used pig and cow parts.

YEAR: 1857

WAR: The Sepoy Mutiny

PLACE: India

OPPONENTS: England v. British Indian regiments

PROVOCATION: England's best native regiments were the Sepoys, Hindu soldiers who were Mohammedans and Brahmans. England insisted these troops use the new Enfield rifle, which had cartridges that had to be bitten off before loading. The cartridges were greased with lard (pig fat) and tallow (cow fat). Moslems were forbidden to taste lard, and Brahmans held the cow sacred. Most Indians refused to use the rifle. Some were jailed in Meerut. Their comrades mutinied, freed them, slaughtered and mutilated hundreds of English in Cawnpore, Delhi, Lucknow. Current Day Note: The cow is still sacred in India. "The cow is a poem of pity," said Gandhi. "Protection of the cow means protection of the whole dumb creation of God." A third of the world's cattle are in India. In Kashmir, to kill a cow even accidentally means 7 years in prison.

RESULT: England crushed the mutiny, and India came totally under the British Crown.

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