Vellore Mutiny
Company Raj | |
Type | Mutiny |
---|---|
Casualties | |
Indian rebel sepoys: 100 summarily executed. Total 350 sepoys killed, 350 wounded. | |
British officers of sepoy regiments: 14 | |
British soldiers of 69th Regiment: 115 |
The Vellore mutiny, or Vellore Revolution, occurred on 10 July 1806 and was the first instance of a large-scale and violent
Causes
The immediate causes of the mutiny revolved mainly around resentment felt towards changes in the sepoy dress code and general appearance, introduced in November 1805.
These changes, intended to improve the "soldierly appearance" of the men, created strong resentment among the Indian soldiers. In May 1806 some sepoys who protested the new rules were sent to
In addition to the military grievances listed above, the rebellion was also instigated by the sons of the defeated Tipu Sultan, confined at Vellore since 1799.[9] Tipu's wives and sons, together with numerous retainers, were pensioners of the East India Company and lived in a palace within the large complex comprising the Vellore Fort.[10] One of Tipu Sultan's daughters was to be married on 9 July 1806, and the plotters of the uprising gathered at the fort under the pretext of attending the wedding. The objectives of the civilian conspirators remain obscure but by seizing and holding the fort they may have hoped to encourage a general rising through the territory of the former Mysore Sultanate.[11] However, Tipu's sons were reluctant to take charge after the mutiny arose.[12]
Outbreak
The garrison of the Vellore Fort in July 1806 comprised four companies of British infantry from H.M. 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot and three battalions of Madras infantry: the 1st/1st, 2nd/1st and 2nd/23rd Madras Native Infantry.[13] The usual practice for sepoys having families with them in Vellore was to live in individual huts outside the walls. However the scheduling of a field-day for the Madras units on 10 July had required most of the sepoys to spend that night sleeping within the fort so that they could be quickly assembled on parade before dawn.[14]
Two hours after midnight on 10 July, the sepoys killed fourteen of their own officers and 115 men of the 69th Regiment,[15] most of the latter as they slept in their barracks. Among those killed was Colonel St. John Fancourt, the commander of the fort. The rebels seized control by dawn, and raised the flag of the Mysore Sultanate over the fort. Retainers of Tipu's second son Fateh Hyder emerged from the palace part of the complex and joined with the mutineers.[16]
However, a British officer, Major Coopes, had been outside the walls of the fort that night and was able to alert the garrison in
The prompt and ruthless response to the mutiny snuffed out any further unrest in a single stroke and provided the history of the British in India with one of its true epics; for, as Gillespie admitted, with a delay of even five minutes, all would have been lost for the British. In all, nearly 350[15] of the rebels were killed, and about the same number wounded before the fighting had finished. Surviving sepoys scattered across the countryside outside the fort. Many were captured by local police; to be eventually released or returned to Vellore for court-martial.[18]
Aftermath
After formal trial, six mutineers were
After the incident, the incarcerated royals in Vellore fort were transferred to
There are some parallels between the Vellore Mutiny and that of the
The only surviving eyewitness account of the actual outbreak of the mutiny is that of Amelia Farrer, Lady Fancourt (the wife of St. John Fancourt, the commander of the fort). Her manuscript account, written two weeks after the massacre, describes how she and her children survived as her husband perished.[25]
In literature
English poet Sir Henry Newbolt's poem "Gillespie" is an account of the events of the Vellore mutiny.[26]
The novel Strangers in the Land (1976;
See also
References
- ^ Balakrishnan, Uday (20 July 2019). "John Company's bloody lesson: on Vellore Fort mutiny of 1806". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- S2CID 258804155.
- ^ ISBN 0-333-41837-9
- ISBN 0-14-004752-2.
- ISBN 978-93-81406-34-2.
- ISBN 0-333-41837-9.
- ^ The Hindu, 6 August 2006
- ^ The Hindu, 11 July 2007
- ISBN 978-1-4088-6438-8.
- ISBN 978-93-81406-34-2.
- ISBN 978-0-333-41837-6
- ^ Subramanian, Archana (9 July 2015). "Mutinous firsts". The Hindu.
- ^ Moulana, Ramanujar (16 April 2018). "Day-trip down history lane". Metro Plus. Chennai: The Hindu. p. 4.
- ^ Captain John Blakiston page 285 "Twelve Years Military Adventures in Three Quarters of the Globe or Memoirs of an officer who served in the Armies of His Majesty and of the East India Company between the years 1808 and 1814" Vol 1, published London by Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street 1829
- ^ ISBN 0-333-41837-9
- ^ ISBN 0-333-41837-9
- ^ Captain John Blakiston page 295 "Twelve Years Military Adventures in Three Quarters of the Globe or Memoirs of an officer who served in the Armies of His Majesty and of the East India Company between the years 1808 and 1814" Vol 1, published London by Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street 1829
- ^ Captain John Blakiston page 308 "Twelve Years Military Adventures in Three Quarters of the Globe or Memoirs of an officer who served in the Armies of His Majesty and of the East India Company between the years 1808 and 1814" Vol 1, published London by Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street 1829
- ISBN 0-7137-1074-8.
- ^ Saul David, Location 2930 Kindle Edition, "The Devil's Wind", Sharpe Books 2018
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7475-8726-2.
- ^ Outlook 2006
- ^ The Hindu, 25 March 2007
- ISBN 0-14-004752-2.
- ^ Fancourt, Amelia Farrer, Lady (14 June 1842). "An Account Of the Mutiny at Vellore, by the Lady of Sir John Fancourt, the Commandant, who was killed there July 9th, 1806". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Alden, Raymond Macdonald (1921). Poems of the English Race. C. Scribner's Sons. pp. 213–214. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
External links
- Fancourt, Amelia Farrer, Lady (14 June 1842). "An Account Of the Mutiny at Vellore, by the Lady of Sir John Fancourt, the Commandant, who was killed there July 9th, 1806". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) at A Celebration of Women Writers - More about Madras Army and Vellore mutiny
- Memorial to H. M. 69th Regiment, who defended Vellore Fort during the uprising, at Church of South India Cemetery, Vellore
- Tamils dispute India mutiny date