Read the passage answer the questions :
The reason for the similarity in the pattern of the revolt in the 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.

How did sepoy lines communicate during the rebellion?
A. Sepoy Panchayat
B. Rumours/word of mouth
C. Telegrams
D. Farmans

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. A, B only
2. B, C only
3. C, A only
4. C, D only

1

The correct answer is Option 1 - 1

During the Revolt of 1857, sepoy lines mainly communicated through:

• Sepoy Panchayats — informal groups or councils among soldiers where discussions and planning took place.
• Rumours/word of mouth — information spread rapidly among sepoys and civilians through personal communication.

Telegrams were primarily used by the British administration, not by sepoy lines for internal communication during the rebellion. In fact, the telegraph was a major tool for the British to suppress the rebellion, as it allowed them to coordinate troop movements faster than the sepoys could communicate.

Note: The given answer is as per NTA. However, there is nothing specifically mentioned in the NCERT which explicitly supports the view that soldiers communicated through rumours or word of mouth during the rebellion.

NCERT: The reason for the similarity in the pattern of the revolt in the 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...

One incident provides clues as to how the mutinies came to be so organised. Captain Hearsey of the Awadh Military Police had been given protection by his Indian subordinates during the mutiny. The 41st Native Infantry, which was stationed in the same place, insisted that since they had killed all their white officers, the Military Police should also kill Hearsey or deliver him as prisoner to the 41st. The Military Police refused to do either, and it was decided that the matter would be settled by a panchayat composed of native officers drawn from each regiment. Charles Ball, who wrote one of the earliest histories of the uprising, noted that panchayats were a nightly occurrence in the Kanpur sepoy lines. What this suggests is that some of the decisions were taken collectively. Given the fact that the sepoys lived in lines and shared a common lifestyle and that many of them came from the same caste, it is not difficult to imagine them sitting together to decide their own future. The sepoys were the makers of their own rebellion."