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Entry 193 of 240War

The Indian Rebellion and the Raj

1857 CE/South Asia/British India
Today India (Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow)Span British Raj · 1858–1947

Indian soldiers of the East India Company's army revolted — the spark was a rumor that new cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat, offensive to Hindus and Muslims alike — and the uprising spread into a widespread revolt against Company rule. Both sides committed atrocities; the Company won, and was then abolished. The British Crown took direct control of India, ending the strange era in which a corporation had governed a subcontinent, and beginning ninety years of formal empire.

◆ Worth knowingUntil 1858, India was not ruled by Britain but by a private company with shareholders and its own 200,000-strong army. The rebellion ended that arrangement — the corporation was nationalized, and a country became a possession of the Crown.
◆ The mechanismRevolution from hardship

Hardship plus a sudden opening (weak state, lost war, fiscal collapse) lets those who bear it overthrow the order — usually installing a new elite.

Also: Legitimating-narrative collapse · State formation & institutional founding

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