Video narration
How could a cartridge dispute threaten an empire? Think of an unfair rule at work—and others protesting too. On 10 May 1857, sepoys at Meerut refused cartridges believed greased with cow and pig fat, offending Hindu and Muslim soldiers. The spark caught because anger at East India Company rule—taxes, annexations, and military treatment—was already widespread. Rebels seized Delhi, but the uprising was suppressed by 1858. Britain ended Company rule and placed India under the British Crown.