(i) Initial disturbances started in March, 1857 when at Barrackpore, near Calcutta, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy, asked other sepoys to rise against the British military officers and he killed the British Adjutant. This was started due to the rumour of bone dust in Atta ration and the cartridges of Enfield rifles, which had to be bitten off before loading were reportedly greased with pork and beef fat.

(ii) Mangal Pandey was later arrested and hanged to death. After that in May, 1857 at Meerut the regiments of Indian sepoys shot down the British officers, broke open the prisons, released their comrades and crossed over to Delhi to appeal Bahadur Shah II, the pensioner Mughal emperor, to become their leader.

(iii) Rumour spread about the fall of British rule and soon the rebellion spread to other parts of north and central India.

(iv) In Awadh, the sepoys proclaimed that sepoy Raj had arrived.

(v) Dissatisfaction and disillusion against the British Raj brought many local chiefs, peasants, artisans, civil servants, and religious mendicants together in this revolt.

(vi) In Awadh, the revolt spread to Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Benaras, Rohilkhand, Bundelkhand, Gwalior, Jhansi and Bihar. The revolt in these areas had a massive response among the civil population. Some important leaders of the rebellion were Rani Laxmi Bai, Tantia Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Nana Saheb, Kunwar Singh of Arrah.