mutiny, concerted disobedient or seditious action by persons in military or naval service, or by sailors on commercial vessels. Mutiny may range from a combined refusal to obey orders to active revolt or going over to the enemy on the part of two or more persons. In the armed forces it is considered one of the gravest crimes against military law. Mutiny may be committed on a private vessel whether it is at sea or in port. As a result of two major naval mutinies in Great Britain in 1797—one at Spithead and one at Nore and Sheerness—many of the abuses in the navy, such as bad food, brutal discipline, and withholding pay, were remedied. Mutinies tend to occur with some frequency in the armed forces of nations on the point of suffering defeat; thus, in 1918 the German navy mutinied at Kiel and the Austrian navy at Cattaro (now Kotor). A mutiny may be the signal for a revolution, as were the Russian mutinies in 1905 and 1917 at Kronshtadt.

Indian Mutiny, 1857-58, revolt that began with Indian soldiers in the Bengal army of the British East India Company but developed into a widespread uprising against British rule in India. It is also known as the Sepoy Rebellion, sepoys being the native soldiers.

Causes of the Mutiny

In the years just prior to the mutiny many factors combined to create a climate of social and political unrest in India. The political expansion of the East India Company at the expense of native princes and of the Mughal court aroused Hindu and Muslim alike, and the harsh land policies, carried out by Governor-General Dalhousie and his successor, Lord Canning, as well as the rapid introduction of European civilization, threatened traditional India. In 1853, Nana Sahib, leader of the Marathas, was denied his titles and pension by the British, and the aged Bahadur Shah II, last of the Mughal emperors, was informed that the dynasty would end with his death.

The Indian soldiers were dissatisfied with their pay as well as with certain changes in regulations, which they interpreted as part of a plot to force them to adopt Christianity. This belief was strengthened when the British furnished the soldiers with cartridges coated with grease made from the fat of cows (sacred to Hindus) and of pigs (anathema to Muslims). The British replaced the cartridges when the mistake was realized; but suspicion persisted, and in Feb., 1857, began a series of incidents in which sepoys refused to use the cartridges.

Revolt

On May 10 the sepoys revolted at Meerut; they captured Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah II the emperor of all India. The mutiny spread rapidly through N central India, and, by the end of June, Cawnpore (Kanpur) had fallen to the sepoys of Nana Sahib, and Lucknow was besieged. In repressing the rebellion the British were aided by the loyalty of the Punjab (the Sikhs did not wish to see the restoration of Mughal rule) and the passivity of the south. Troops (largely British) under generals Colin Campbell and Henry Havelock accomplished the reconquest. Delhi was recaptured in Sept., 1857, and Lucknow (which had been abandoned in Nov., 1857) was retaken in Mar., 1858. The rebellion was marked by atrocities on both sides, the British taking savage reprisals for the massacres perpetrated by the rebels.

The Beginning of Reform

Despite the army's sometimes savage reconquest, the British government did recognize the urgent need for reform, and in 1858 the East India Company was abolished and rule assumed directly by the British crown. Expropriation of land was discontinued, religious toleration was decreed, and Indians were admitted to subordinate positions in the civil service. However, the rebellion was long remembered with bitterness by the British. Military precautions against further uprisings included increasing the proportion of British to native troops and restricting artillery service to Britons. Although it is too much to say that the mutiny constituted a nationalist uprising, it was at that time that the first stirrings of active Indian nationalism began to be felt.

Any concerted resistance to lawful military authority. Mutiny was formerly regarded as a most serious offense, especially aboard ships at sea. Wide disciplinary powers were given the commanding officer, including the power to inflict capital punishment without a court-martial. With the development of radio communications, the threat diminished and harsh punishment was prohibited in the absence of a court-martial.

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or Sepoy Mutiny

(1857–58) Widespread rebellion against British rule in India begun by Indian troops (sepoys) in the service of the English East India Company. The mutiny began when sepoys refused to use new rifle cartridges (which were thought to be lubricated with grease containing a mixture of pigs' and cows' lard and thus religiously impure). They were shackled and imprisoned, but their outraged comrades shot their British officers and marched on Delhi. The ensuing fighting was ferocious on both sides and ended in defeat for the mutineers. Its immediate result was that the East India Company was abolished in favour of direct rule of India by the British government; in addition, the British government began a policy of consultation with Indians. British-imposed social measures that had antagonized Hindu society (e.g., a proposed bill that would remove legal obstacles to the remarriage of Hindu women) were also halted.

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