Which of the following statements is correct in the context of British India?

Statement 1) The relationship of the sepoys with their superior white officers underwent a significant change in the years preceding the uprising of 1857.
Statement 2) In the 1820s, white officers made it a point to maintain friendly relations with the Indian sepoys.
Statement 3) In the 1840s, the officers developed a sense of superiority and started treating the sepoys as their racial inferiors, riding roughshod over their sensibilities.

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

Statements 1, 2 and 3, all are correct.

The correct answer is Option 3 - Statements 1, 2 and 3, all are correct.

Statement 1) The relationship of the sepoys with their superior white officers underwent a significant change in the years preceding the uprising of 1857.
Statement 2) In the 1820s, white officers made it a point to maintain friendly relations with the Indian sepoys.
Statement 3) In the 1840s, the officers developed a sense of superiority and started treating the sepoys as their racial inferiors, riding roughshod over their sensibilities.

The grievances of the peasants were carried over into the sepoy lines since a vast majority of the sepoys were recruited from the villages of Awadh. For decades the sepoys had complained of low levels of pay and the difficulty of getting leave. By the 1850s there were other reasons for their discontent. The relationship of the sepoys with their superior white officers underwent a significant change in the years preceding the uprising of 1857. In the 1820s, white officers made it a point to maintain friendly relations with the sepoys. They would take part in their leisure activities – they wrestled with them, fenced with them and went out hawking with them. Many of them were fluent in Hindustani and were familiar with the customs and culture of the country. These officers were disciplinarian and father figure rolled into one. In the 1840s, this began to change. The officers developed a sense of superiority and started treating the sepoys as their racial inferiors, riding roughshod over their sensibilities. Abuse and physical violence became common and thus the distance between sepoys and officers grew. Trust was replaced by suspicion. The episode of the greased cartridges was a classic example of this.