Riya, a Class 12 student in Meerut, is writing a school essay on the events of 1857 in several parts of north India. In her essay she uses the words mutiny, revolt and rebellion in turn, as if all three meant the same thing. Her teacher circles some of these words and returns the essay. She asks Riya to find out how historians of 1857 use each of the three terms, and which groups of people each term is meant to cover, before she writes the final draft.
Which of the following correctly states how the three words Riya uses are related?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Revolt and rebellion may be used for each other, while mutiny keeps a narrower sense.
Option (1) Revolt and rebellion may be used for each other, while mutiny keeps a narrower sense. — Correct. A revolt is a rebellion of people against established authority and power, so revolt and rebellion are synonyms. A mutiny is narrower: a collective disobedience of rules within the armed forces.
Option (2) Mutiny and revolt may be used for each other, while rebellion keeps a narrower sense. — Incorrect. Mutiny cannot stand for revolt. It covers only disobedience within the armed forces.
Option (3) Mutiny and rebellion may be used for each other, while revolt keeps a narrower sense. — Incorrect. Mutiny and rebellion do not mean the same. Rebellion is another word for revolt, a rising of people.
Option (4) Each of the three words keeps its own separate sense and cannot replace another. — Incorrect. Two of the words do share a meaning. Revolt and rebellion can be used for each other; only mutiny has its own sense.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Lines of communication … “In the context of the revolt of 1857 the term revolt refers primarily to the uprising of the civilian population (peasants, zamindars, rajas, jagirdars) while the mutiny was of the sepoys.” |