Read the passage answer the questions :
The reason for the similarity in the pattern of the revolt in the different places lay partly in its planning and coordination. It is clear that there was communication between the sepoy lines of various cantonments. After the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry had refused to accept the new cartridges in early May, they wrote to the 48th Native Infantry that “they had acted for the faith and awaited the 48th’s orders”. Sepoys or their emissaries moved from one station to another. People were thus planning and talking about the rebellion.
Why did the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry refuse to accept new cartridges?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Because cartridges were coated with the fat of cows and pigs.
The passage says that the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry refused to accept the new cartridges in early May and wrote to the 48th Native Infantry that they “had acted for the faith”. The faith was in danger because of the rumour about the cartridges of the new Enfield rifles: they were said to be greased with the fat of cows and pigs, and biting them would corrupt the caste and religion of both Hindus and Muslims.
Hence, the answer is because the cartridges were coated with the fat of cows and pigs.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Lines of communication … The reason for the similarity in the pattern of the revolt in different places lay partly in its planning and coordination. It is clear that there was communication between the sepoy lines of various cantonments. After the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry had refused to accept the new cartridges in early May, they wrote to the 48th Native Infantry that ‘they had acted for the faith and awaited the 48th’s orders’. Sepoys or their emissaries moved from one station to another. People were thus planning and talking about the rebellion. 1.4 Rumours and prophecies … Rumours and prophecies played a part in moving people to action. As we saw, the sepoys who had arrived in Delhi from Meerut had told Bahadur Shah about bullets coated with the fat of cows and pigs and that biting those bullets would corrupt their caste and religion. They were referring to the cartridges of the Enfield rifles which had just been given to them. The British tried to explain to the sepoys that this was not the case but the rumour that the new cartridges were greased with the fat of cows and pigs spread like wildfire across the sepoy lines of North India.…” |