In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: The sepoys of Meerut claimed that they had killed all the Englishmen in Meerut when they came to meet Bahadur Shah Zafar on 11 May 1857.

Reason: The Englishmen had asked the soldiers to bite bullets that were coated with the fat of cows and pigs with their teeth.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The sepoys arrived at the gates of the Red Fort early in the morning on 11 May 1857. It was the month of Ramzan, the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting. The old Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, had just finished his prayers and meal before the sun rose and the fast began. He heard the commotion at the gates. The sepoys who had gathered under his window told him: “We have come from Meerut after killing all the Englishmen there, because they asked us to bite bullets that were coated with the fat of cows and pigs with our teeth. This has corrupted the faith of Hindus and Muslims alike.’’ Another group of sepoys also entered Delhi, and the ordinary people of the city joined them. Europeans were killed in large numbers; the rich of Delhi were attacked and looted. It was clear that Delhi had gone out of British control. Some sepoys rode into the Red Fort, without observing the elaborate court etiquette expected of them. They demanded that the emperor give them his blessings. Surrounded by the sepoys, Bahadur Shah had no other option but to comply. The revolt thus acquired a kind of legitimacy because it could now be carried on in the name of the Mughal emperor.