A teacher in a school in North India is explaining to her class why rumours spread so fast in 1857. She asks them to set aside, for a moment, the question of whether the rumours were true. Instead she puts before them the events of the decades before the revolt: new schools and new laws, missionaries at work, and the loss of several kingdoms to the British, after which new systems of administration, law and land revenue were brought in.
Which condition, in the historian's view, allows a rumour like those of 1857 to circulate?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → It resonates with the deeper fears and suspicions of people
Option (1) It comes from a person of rank, such as an officer or a ruler — Incorrect. The cartridge rumour began with a khalasi, a worker in the magazine, and still spread widely.
Option (2) It is backed by some written report or official document — Incorrect. Even Captain Wright's report on the cartridge story could not show whether it was true, and the rumour spread anyway.
Option (3) It resonates with the deeper fears and suspicions of people — Correct. Rumours circulate only when they resonate with the deeper fears and suspicions of people. In 1857 fear for caste, religion and old ways gave the rumours their force.
Option (4) It is carried by sepoys who have already mutinied — Incorrect. Sepoys did carry news, but common people in towns also believed the rumours. They spread because they matched people's fears.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.5 Why did people believe in the rumours? |