Aman, a history student, is reading the diary of a British officer posted in North India in May 1857. The officer writes that early on the morning of 11 May a band of sepoys, who had ridden through the night, arrived at the gates of the Red Fort and shouted to Bahadur Shah under his window. Some of them rode into the fort and asked the old ruler for his blessings. Surrounded by armed men, he gave them. The officer then records what happened in the cantonments over the following days, and keeps a list of the dates on which each station was affected.
In many of the stations on the officer's list, how did the sepoys begin their action?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → With the firing of the evening gun or the sounding of the bugle, after which they seized the bell of arms
Option (1) With the firing of the evening gun or the sounding of the bugle, after which they seized the bell of arms — Correct. The sepoys began with a signal, often the firing of the evening gun or the sounding of the bugle. They first seized the bell of arms, the storeroom for weapons, and plundered the treasury.
Option (2) With the reading of a proclamation at the morning parade, after which they seized the telegraph office — Incorrect. Proclamations came later, put up in the cities to call on the people. The telegraph office was attacked after the bell of arms was seized.
Option (3) With the ringing of temple and mosque bells at night, after which they freed the prisoners from the jail — Incorrect. Bells of temples and mosques were not the signal. The jail was among the buildings attacked after the first seizure of weapons.
Option (4) With the passing of chapatis from village to village, after which they burnt the officers' bungalows — Incorrect. Chapatis were not the signal for the sepoys' action in the cantonments. Bungalows were burnt later, along with government buildings.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.1 How the mutinies began |