Why was the first independence movement in India called ‘The Sepoy Revolt’?

Why was the first independence movement in India called ‘The Sepoy Revolt’?

The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was a rebellion against British rule by a large part of the Bengal Army in India. It is also called the Sepoy Revolt because Indian troops in the British-controlled Army were called sepoys. The mutiny, which was confined to the north, was the most serious threat to British rule in India in the 19th century.

The Sepoy Revolt was an explosion of festering social wounds. There was simmering resentment against the British and matters came to a head when Indian troops were issued cartridges coated in cow and grease. Hindus consider the cow to be holy and Muslims consider pigs to be unclean. The troops refused to handle the cartridges, and the Sepoy Revolt was the result.

Thousands of Indian soldiers revolted. They proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar as the emperor of India. the revolt was finally quelled in 1858…yet it proved to the forerunner of the Independence Movement in India.