Which of the following statement (s) is/are correct about the Revolt of 1857?

Statement A) The sepoys attacked government buildings – the jail, treasury, telegraph office, record room, bungalows – burning all records.

Statement B) In major towns like Lucknow, Kanpur, and Bareilly moneylenders and the rich also became the objects of rebel wrath.

Both statements are correct.

The correct answer is Option 3 - Both statements are correct.

Statement A) The sepoys attacked government buildings – the jail, treasury, telegraph office, record room, bungalows – burning all records.

Statement B) In major towns like Lucknow, Kanpur, and Bareilly moneylenders and the rich also became the objects of rebel wrath.

The sepoys began their action with a signal: in many places it was the firing of the evening gun or the sounding of the bugle. They first seized the bell of arms and plundered the treasury. They then attacked government buildings – the jail, treasury, telegraph office, record room, bungalows – burning all records (Statement A). Everything and everybody connected with the white man became a target. Proclamations in Hindi, Urdu and Persian were put up in the cities calling upon the population, both Hindus and Muslims, to unite, rise and exterminate the firangis.

When ordinary people began joining the revolt, the targets of attack widened. In major towns like Lucknow, Kanpur and Bareilly, moneylenders and the rich also became the objects of rebel wrath (Statement B). Peasants not only saw them as oppressors but also as allies of the British. In most places their houses were looted and destroyed. The mutiny in the sepoy ranks quickly became a rebellion. There was a general defiance of all kinds of authority and hierarchy.