A historian reads British cartoons of late 1857 that call for the reb…

A historian reads British cartoons of late 1857 that call for the rebels to be crushed without mercy. Which reason best explains this demand in Britain at that time?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → The British, threatened by the rebellion, felt they had to show their invincibility.

Option (1) The British, threatened by the rebellion, felt they had to show their invincibility. — Correct. The revolt was a challenge to British honour and power. Threatened by the rebellion, the British felt they had to demonstrate their invincibility, so ruthless punishment seemed just.

Option (2) The British wished to prove that the revolt was a mutiny of the sepoys alone. — Incorrect. British accounts did call the revolt a mutiny. The cry for ruthless punishment grew from the need to show British power.

Option (3) The British wanted to justify the annexation of Awadh carried out in 1856. — Incorrect. The annexation of Awadh came before the revolt. The cry for ruthless punishment came from anger at the revolt itself.

Option (4) The British feared that the loyal Indian princes would now join the rebels. — Incorrect. The demand grew from the need to show that British power could not be challenged.

NCERT (2026-27): “5.3 Vengeance and retribution
As waves of anger and shock spread in Britain, demands for retribution grew louder. Visual representations and news about the revolt created a milieu in which violent repression and vengeance were seen as both necessary and just. It was as if justice demanded that the challenge to British honour and power be met ruthlessly. Threatened by the rebellion, the British felt that they had to demonstrate their invincibility. In one such image (Fig. 10.13) we see an allegorical female figure of justice with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Her posture is aggressive; her face expresses rage and the desire for revenge. She is trampling sepoys under her feet while a mass of Indian women with children cower with fear. …”

A historian reads British cartoons of late 1857 that call for the rebels to be crushed without mercy. Which reason best explains this demand in Britain at that time?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → The British, threatened by the rebellion, felt they had to show their invincibility.

Option (4) The British feared that the loyal Indian princes would now join the rebels. — Incorrect. The demand grew from the need to show that British power could not be challenged.