Rumours of greased cartridges spread like wildfire across cantonments as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Sepoys of different cantonments were in communication with one another
Option (1) Sepoys of different cantonments were in communication with one another — Correct. There was communication between the sepoy lines of various cantonments: regiments wrote to one another, and sepoys or their messengers moved from one station to another. So the rumour that the new cartridges were greased with the fat of cows and pigs spread like wildfire across the sepoy lines of North India.
Option (2) Cantonments published their own newspapers — Incorrect. The news did not travel through newspapers of the cantonments. It passed by word of mouth and letters among the sepoys, who lived together in their lines and shared a common way of life.
Option (3) News was broadcasted on television — Incorrect. There was no television in 1857; the rumours spread from person to person.
Option (4) News spread through British officials — Incorrect. The British tried to explain to the sepoys that the rumour was not true and to calm their fears; they did not spread it.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Lines of communication … The reason for the similarity in the pattern of the revolt in different places lay partly in its planning and coordination. It is clear that there was communication between the sepoy lines of various cantonments. After the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry had refused to accept the new cartridges in early May, they wrote to the 48th Native Infantry that ‘they had acted for the faith and awaited the 48th’s orders’. Sepoys or their emissaries moved from one station to another. People were thus planning and talking about the rebellion. 1.4 Rumours and prophecies … Rumours and prophecies played a part in moving people to action. As we saw, the sepoys who had arrived in Delhi from Meerut had told Bahadur Shah about bullets coated with the fat of cows and pigs and that biting those bullets would corrupt their caste and religion. They were referring to the cartridges of the Enfield rifles which had just been given to them. The British tried to explain to the sepoys that this was not the case but the rumour that the new cartridges were greased with the fat of cows and pigs spread like wildfire across the sepoy lines of North India.…” |