What were the British using to grease the cartridges containing the ammunition for the rifle?

…the introduction of the new Enfield rifle. To load it, the sepoys had to bite off the ends of lubricated cartridges. A rumour spread among the sepoys that the grease used to lubricate the cartridges was a mixture of pigs’ and cows’ lard; thus, to have oral contact with it…

What happened after the British were caught for greasing ammunition cartridges with pig & beef fat?

When rumors spread among the Indian troops at Meerut that the cartridges and bullets were greased with pork and beef fat, they were outraged. It is considered haram (“sinful”) for Muslims to put anything derived from a pig in their mouths, just as it is unacceptable for Hindus to ingest cow fat.

What was the greased cartridge?

Q What was greased cartridge issue? Ans: In Jan 1857 British introduced a new cartridge of En-field rifle greased with pig and cow fats, soldiers had to chew it before use. Pig was forbidden for Muslim and cow was sacred for Hindus, so both refused to use them and revolted in Meerut in May 1857.

When was greased cartridges introduced?

In the year 1857 the new Enfield rifle was introduced.

Why were the British were unwilling to stop using cow and pig fat on the paper cartridges?

One of the alleged causes of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 were rumours that the grease on these cartridges designed to keep them dry was, variously, pork or cow fat (pork being abhorrent to the Muslims, cows being sacred to the Hindus), thus their refusal to bite them.

What happened to the sepoys who refused to use the cartridges?

The first soldier who denied using the greased cartridges was Mangal Pandey, a devoted Hindu Brahmin. He was hanged to death for attacking his officers in Barrackpore, on 29 March 1857. Note: On 9 May 1857, 85 sepoys were dismissed from service and sentenced to ten years in jail for disrespecting their officers.

Why was the greased cartridges incident?

The spark that led to a mutiny in several sepoy companies was the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle in February, 1857. A rumour was spread that the cartridgeswere made from cow and pig fat. Loading the Enfield required tearing open the greased cartridge with one’s teeth.

Why did the greased cartridges?

What was the role of greased cartridge in Indian history?

Many sepoys believed that the cartridges that were standard issue with the new rifle were greased with lard (pork fat) which was regarded as unclean by Muslims and tallow (cow fat) which angered the Hindus as cows were equal to a goddess to them.

Why did the Indian sepoys of East India Company refused to use the greased cartridges?

The rumors spread that the greased paper was made up of beef and pork. The soldiers felt that it was a move by the British to defame their religion because no Hindu would touch the beef and no Muslim would touch the pork. As a result, the Indian sepoys refused to use greased cartridges.

Why did the sepoys refuse to use greased cartridges?

The soldiers felt that it was a move by the British to defame their religion because no Hindu would touch the beef and no Muslim would touch the pork. As a result, the Indian sepoys refused to use greased cartridges.

How did the greased cartridges offended the sentiments of the sepoys?