In the early months of 1857, a stranger comes to a village in North India at night. He hands a chapatti to the village watchman and asks him to make five more and pass them on to the next village. The watchman does as he is told. Within days the same practice is reported from village after village across the region. Company officials send reports about it to their seniors, while villagers talk about it in the bazaars and at the village well.
How did people in North India read such a distribution of chapattis?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → As an omen of an upheaval
Option (1) As an omen of an upheaval — Correct. Whatever its real purpose, people took the chain of chapattis as an <strong>omen of an upheaval</strong>, a sign that great change was coming.
Option (2) As a sign that a famine was about to strike — Incorrect. Food passed on from village to village could suggest scarcity, but people did not read it as a warning of famine.
Option (3) As an order to prepare food for the Nawab's troops — Incorrect. No ruler or army is linked to the chain of chapattis. Its purpose was unclear, and people saw it as a sign.
Option (4) As an offering made for a good harvest — Incorrect. Food offerings for a good crop are a common village custom. This chain spread from village to village at night and was taken as a sign of coming change.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.4 Rumours and prophecies … |