Step 30 of 95

Background and causes

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Religious offense: New Enfield rifle cartridges were rumored to be greased with pork fat (offensive to Muslims) and beef fat (offensive to Hindus). Sepoys had to bite the cartridges to use them, requiring them to consume the offending substance. Many sepoys refused.
Resentment of British policies: The Company had annexed princely states under flimsy pretexts (the Doctrine of Lapse), forcibly displaced rulers, taxed peasants heavily, and undermined traditional landholding patterns.
Cultural anxieties: Christian missionaries were active. British social reforms (banning sati, the burning of widows; permitting widow remarriage) were widely seen as attacks on Hindu tradition.
Economic disruption: British policies had destroyed the Indian cotton textile industry, ruining millions of artisans.