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{{Short description|1806 revolt against the East India Company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Vellore Sepoy Mutiny
| image = ১৮০৬ সালের ভেলোর বিদ্রোহের স্তম্ভ.jpg
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| caption = Pillar at Hazrath Makkaan Junction commemorating the Vellore sepoy mutiny.
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| duration = 1 day
| date = {{start date|df=yes|1806|07|10}}
| venue =
| location = [[Vellore Fort]]<br/>[[Vellore]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[Company Raj]]
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| type = [[Mutiny]]
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| casualties1 = '''Indian rebel sepoys:''' 100 summarily executed. Total 350 sepoys killed, 350 wounded.
| casualties2 = '''British officers''' of sepoy regiments: 14
| casualties3 = '''British soldiers''' of 69th Regiment: 115
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}}

The '''Vellore mutiny''', or '''Vellore Revolution''', occurred on 10 July 1806 and was the first instance of a large-scale and violent [[mutiny]] by Indian [[sepoy]]s against the [[East India Company]], predating the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] by half a century. The revolt, which took place in the [[India]]n city of [[Vellore]], lasted one full day, during which mutineers seized the [[Vellore Fort]] and killed or wounded 200 British troops. The mutiny was subdued by cavalry and artillery from [[Arcot, Vellore|Arcot]]. Total deaths amongst the mutineers were approximately 350; with [[summary execution]]s of about 100 during the suppression of the outbreak, followed by the formal [[court-martial]] of smaller numbers.<ref>{{cite news|title=John Company's bloody lesson: on Vellore Fort mutiny of 1806|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/a-little-over-200-years-ago-soldiers-at-vellore-fort-staged-indias-very-first-uprising-against-the-british/article28580104.ece |website=The Hindu |date=20 July 2019 |access-date=2019-07-21|last1=Balakrishnan |first1=Uday }}</ref>

==Causes==
The immediate causes of the mutiny revolved mainly around resentment felt towards changes in the sepoy dress code, introduced in November 1805.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kanti Ghosh |first=Sumit |date=2023-05-18 |title=Body, Dress, and Symbolic Capital: Multifaceted Presentation of PUGREE in Colonial Governance of British India |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14759756.2023.2208502 |journal=Textile |language=en |pages=1–32 |doi=10.1080/14759756.2023.2208502 |s2cid=258804155 |issn=1475-9756}}</ref> Hindus were prohibited from wearing religious marks on their foreheads while on duty, and Muslims were required to shave their beards and trim their moustaches. In addition General Sir John Craddock, [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[Madras Army]],<ref name="Philip Mason page 238">Philip Mason, page 238, ''A Matter of Honour – an Account of the Indian Army'', {{ISBN|0-333-41837-9}}</ref> ordered the wearing of a round hat resembling that associated at the time with both Europeans in general and with Indian converts to Christianity. The new headdress included a leather [[cockade]] and was intended to replace the existing [[turban]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Christopher|last=Hibbert|page=62|title=The Great Mutiny|isbn=0-14-004752-2}}</ref> These measures offended the sensibilities of both Hindu and Muslim sepoys and went contrary to an earlier warning by a military board that sepoy uniform changes should be "given every consideration which a subject of that delicate and important nature required".<ref name="Philip Mason page 238"/>

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 [[Fort Saint George]] (Madras then, now [[Chennai]]). Two of them – a Hindu and a Muslim – were given 90 lashes each and dismissed from the army. Nineteen sepoys were sentenced to 50 lashes each but successfully gained pardon from the East India Company.<ref>{{cite book|first=Philip |last=Mason|author-link=Philip Mason|page=240|title=A Matter of Honour – an Account of the Indian Army|year=1986|publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0-333-41837-9}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061202074724/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/08/06/stories/2006080600360400.htm ''The Hindu'', 6 August 2006]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071223015345/http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/11/stories/2007071160801100.htm ''The Hindu'', 11 July 2007]</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=353|title=The Anarchy. The Relentless Rise of the East India Company|year=2019|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4088-6438-8}}</ref> Tipu's wives and sons, together with numerous retainers, were [[pensioner]]s of the East India Company and lived in a palace within the large complex comprising the Vellore Fort.<ref>{{cite book|first=Kim A.|last=Wagner|page=35|title=The Great Fear of 1857|year=2014|publisher=Dev Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-93-81406-34-2}}</ref> 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.<ref>Philip Mason, page 239, ''A Matter of Honour – an Account of the Indian Army'', {{ISBN|978-0-333-41837-6}}</ref> However, Tipu's sons were reluctant to take charge after the mutiny arose.<ref name=Archana>{{cite news|last1=Subramanian|first1=Archana|title=Mutinous firsts|work=The Hindu|date=9 July 2015}}</ref>

==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.<ref name=cycle>{{cite news|title=Day-trip down history lane|publisher=[[The Hindu]]|work=Metro Plus|date=16 April 2018|last=Moulana|first=Ramanujar|page=4|location=Chennai}}</ref> 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.<ref>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</ref>

Two hours after midnight on 10 July, the sepoys killed fourteen of their own officers and 115 men of the 69th Regiment,<ref name="Mason238"/> 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 [[Kingdom of Mysore|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.<ref name="Philip Mason pages 240-241">Philip Mason, pages 240–241, ''A Matter of Honour – an Account of the Indian Army'', {{ISBN|0-333-41837-9}}</ref>

However, a British officer, Major Coopes, had been outside the walls of the fort that night and was able to alert the garrison in [[Arcot, Vellore|Arcot]]. Nine hours after the outbreak of the mutiny, a relief force comprising the British [[19th Light Dragoons]], [[galloper gun]]s and a squadron of Madras cavalry, rode from Arcot to Vellore, covering {{convert|16|mi|km}} in about two hours. It was led by Sir [[Robert Rollo Gillespie]] (one of the most capable and energetic officers in India at that time), who reportedly left Arcot within a quarter of an hour of the alarm being raised. Gillespie dashed ahead of the main force with a single troop of about twenty men.<ref name="Philip Mason pages 240-241"/>

Arriving at Vellore, Gillespie found the surviving Europeans, about sixty men of the 69th, commanded by NCOs and two assistant surgeons, still holding part of the ramparts but out of ammunition. Unable to gain entry through the defended gate, Gillespie climbed the wall with the aid of a rope and a sergeant's sash which was lowered to him; and, to gain time, led the 69th in a bayonet-charge along the ramparts. When the rest of the 19th arrived, Gillespie had them blow open the gates with their galloper guns, and made a second charge with the 69th to clear a space inside the entrance to permit the cavalry to deploy. The 19th and the Madras Cavalry then charged and sabred any sepoy who stood in their way.<ref name=Mason238>Philip Mason, page 241, ''A Matter of Honour – an Account of the Indian Army'', {{ISBN|0-333-41837-9}}</ref> About 100 sepoys who had sought refuge inside the palace were brought out, and by Gillespie's order, placed against a wall and shot dead. John Blakiston, the engineer who had blown in the gates, recalled: "Even this appalling sight I could look upon, I may almost say, with composure. It was an act of summary justice, and in every respect a most proper one; yet, at this distance of time, I find it a difficult matter to approve the deed, or to account for the feeling under which I then viewed it".<ref>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</ref>

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<ref name="Mason238"/> 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.<ref>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</ref>

==Aftermath==
After formal trial, six mutineers were [[Blowing from a gun|blown away from guns]], five shot by [[firing squad]], eight [[hanging|hanged]] and five [[penal transportation|transported]]. The three Madras battalions involved in the mutiny were all disbanded.<ref name=Mason238/><ref>{{cite book|first=Boris|last=Mollo|page=14|title=The Indian Army|year=1981 |publisher=Blandford |isbn=0-7137-1074-8}}</ref> The senior British officers responsible for the offending dress regulations were recalled to England, including the Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, John Craddock, the company refusing to pay even his passage. The orders regarding the 'new turbans' (round hats) were also cancelled.<ref>Saul David, Location 2930 Kindle Edition, "The Devil's Wind", Sharpe Books 2018</ref>

After the incident, the incarcerated royals in Vellore fort were transferred to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]].<ref name="Dalrymple 450">{{cite book|first=William |last=Dalrymple|page=450|title=The Last Mughal|year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-0-7475-8726-2}}</ref> The Governor of [[Madras]], [[Lord William Bentinck|William Bentinck]], too was recalled, the Company's Court of Directors regretting that "greater care and caution had not been exercised in examining into the real sentiments and dispositions of the sepoys before measures of severity were adopted to enforce the order respecting the use of the new turban." The controversial interference with the social and religious customs of the sepoys was also abolished.<ref>[http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231918 Outlook 2006]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071206044305/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/03/25/stories/2007032500140400.htm ''The Hindu'', 25 March 2007]</ref><ref name=Mason238/>

There are some parallels between the Vellore Mutiny and that of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], although the latter was on a much larger scale. In 1857 the sepoys proclaimed the return of [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] rule by re-installing [[Bahadur Shah II|Bahadur Shah]] as Emperor of India; in the same way mutineers of Vellore, nearly 50 years before, had attempted to restore power to Tipu Sultan's sons.<ref name="Dalrymple 450"/> Perceived insensitivity to sepoy religious and cultural practices (in the form of leather headdresses and greased cartridges) was a factor in both uprisings. The events of 1857 (which involved the [[Bengal Army]] and did not affect the Madras Army) caused the British crown to take over company property and functions within India through the [[Government of India Act 1858]] which saw the total dissolution of the East India Company.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christopher |last=Hibbert|pages=389–390|title=The Great Mutiny India 1857|isbn=0-14-004752-2}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Fancourt>{{cite news|last=Fancourt|first=Amelia Farrer, Lady|title=An Account Of the Mutiny at Vellore, by the Lady of Sir John Fancourt, the Commandant, who was killed there July 9th, 1806|url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/fancourt/sydney/fancourt.html|access-date=4 November 2013|newspaper=The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser|date=14 June 1842}}</ref>

==In literature==
English poet Sir [[Henry Newbolt]]'s poem "Gillespie" is an account of the events of the Vellore mutiny.<ref name="Alden1921">{{cite book|last=Alden|first=Raymond Macdonald|title=Poems of the English Race|url=https://archive.org/details/poemsenglishrac01aldegoog|access-date=7 July 2018|year=1921|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|pages=[https://archive.org/details/poemsenglishrac01aldegoog/page/n245 213]–214}}</ref>

The novel ''Strangers in the Land'' (1976; {{ISBN|0-432-14756-X}}) by [[George Shipway]] centers on the Vellore mutiny, from the perspectives of both British and Indian participants.

==See also==
* [[Barrackpore mutiny of 1824]]
* [[Indian independence movement]]
* [[Velu Nachiyar|Rani Velu Nachiyar]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite news|last=Fancourt|first=Amelia Farrer, Lady|title=An Account Of the Mutiny at Vellore, by the Lady of Sir John Fancourt, the Commandant, who was killed there July 9th, 1806|url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/fancourt/sydney/fancourt.html|access-date=4 November 2013|newspaper=The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser|date=14 June 1842}} at [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ A Celebration of Women Writers]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060717104552/http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/30/stories/2005083006941100.htm More about Madras Army and Vellore mutiny]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311091253/http://www.indian-cemeteries.org/ICImages/Vellore/ChurchofSouthIndiaCemetery/100_0286.JPG Memorial to H. M. 69th Regiment, who defended Vellore Fort during the uprising, at Church of South India Cemetery, Vellore]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5168550.stm Tamils dispute India mutiny date]
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{{Authority control}}

{{Indian Independence Movement}}

[[Category:Conflicts in 1806]]
[[Category:1806 in India]]
[[Category:1806 in British India]]
[[Category:Military history of the British East India Company]]
[[Category:Mutinies]]
[[Category:Rebellions in India]]
[[Category:Rebellions against the British Empire]]
[[Category:Wars involving British India]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Vellore]]
[[Category:July 1806 events]]
[[Category:Events that led to courts-martial]]

Vellore Mutiny - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article