HistoryModern India: Rebels and the Raj

An old sepoy recalled that officers who once shared the sepoys' leisu…

An old sepoy recalled that officers who once shared the sepoys' leisure later treated them as racial inferiors. In which decade did this change in the officers' attitude begin?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → 1840s

Option (1) 1820s — Incorrect. In the 1820s officers were friendly: they shared the sepoys' games and knew their customs. The memoir's earlier memory belongs to this decade.

Option (2) 1830s — Incorrect. The officers' attitude is dated twice: friendly in the 1820s and turning in the 1840s. The 1830s mark no such turn.

Option (3) 1840s — Correct. In the 1840s officers developed a sense of superiority, treated sepoys as racial inferiors and used abuse and violence. Trust gave way to suspicion, as the memoir describes.

Option (4) 1850s — Incorrect. By the 1850s the change was already old. The sepoys then had other reasons for discontent, and the greased cartridges showed the distrust.

NCERT (2026-27): “2.3 Firangi raj and the end of a world …
In the 1840s, this began to change. The officers developed a sense of superiority and started treating the sepoys as their racial inferiors, riding roughshod over their sensibilities. Abuse and physical violence became common and thus the distance between sepoys and officers grew. Trust was replaced by suspicion. The episode of the greased cartridges was a classic example of this.”