From Mutiny to Revolt : Women and the Beginning of 1857

Why did the nonviolent mutiny of Indian soldiers at Meerut in 1857 lead to a war that threatened to destroy the British Empire from within? Foregrounding the role of women, William Pinch demonstrates the importance of gender, honour, and humiliation in 1857, as well as their literary and historiographical reverberations.

Why did the nonviolent Meerut mutiny of 1857 in India explode into a violent military revolt? Breaking new ground on the events of May 10, William Pinch reexamines the evidence, shifting our focus toward the identity of female participants and their actions in the hours before the revolt began. Drawing upon a wide range of sources, including Hindi folksongs, military records, police reports, literary fiction, and Urdu memoir, he creates snapshots from the perspective of key figures to uncover the social and emotional world of the military 'cantonment' and its rural hinterland. By foregrounding the lives of ordinary 'military women' and 'their men' - the Indian sepoys who peopled the revolt - Pinch challenges conventional narratives and guides readers through the literary and historiographical echoes of the fateful decision to take up arms against the British.