Vellore Mutiny 1806

Vellore Mutiny was the first instance of a mutiny by Indian soldiers against the British. Indian soldiers of Madras infantry in Vellore revolted against the East India Company. The brutal revolt lasted only one day, and the British responded savagely by blowing away many mutineers by canons.

Causes for the revolt

• Some foolish orders were passed by Sir John Cradock and Lord Howdon, the commander in Chief in Madras to regulate the dress of the Sepoys.  For example, they must change the turban of the Indians so that it looks more like the Helmet. The Hindu Brahmin Sepoys should not put tilaks / caste marks on their foreheads. The Muslims must get rid of their beards. The Indian soldiers feared that the British were attempting to undermine their religions for converting them to Christianity. To compound the situation Indian sepoys had to experience numerous difficulties when they went to serve in the Company’s army. This resulted in the revolt.
• The sepoys were forced to serve under the Company since their earlier patrons disappeared. The earlier patrons were their Kinsmen and the British were foreigners. The inability to assimilate also led to increase in discontent against the British.
• The English treated the Indian sepoys as their inferior. There was the racial prejudice. This provided the psychological base for the mutiny.
• Vellore Mutiny was preceded by numerous other outbreaks like revolt of first regiment, attempts of Fettah Hyder, the first son of Tipu, to form an alliance against the British provided a stimulus for the mutiny.

Key events

On the midnight of 10 July 1806, the crowd got collected, sepoys mixed with them led by one of Tipu’s son, massacred the Europeans and hoisted the Flag of the Mysore Sultanate out there. The uprising was swiftly crushed by Col. Gillespie. 800 Indian soldiers were found dead in the fort alone. Six hundred soldiers were imprisoned in Tiruchi and Vellore. The mutiny was subdued by dawn, though it sent ripples of fear among the British overlords, as first sign of losing an empire.
Reasons of Failure

Lack of organizational structure, ammunition and leadership was the primary reason for the failure of the revolt. But it was the starting point of a new era of the resistance of the sepoys to the British rule. The resistance of the local chieftains marked the 18th century. The resistance of sepoys marked the first six decades of the 19th century. V.D. Savarkar calls the Vellore Mutiny of 1806 as the prelude to the first War of Indian Independence in 1857.