The Mutiny now became a fact, notwithstanding the indignant protestations of officers who sacrificed their lives to the mistaken conviction that their men were faithful. Leaders were soon forthcoming in the persons of Bahádur Sháh (the titular King of Delhi) and others who had long watched for an opportunity; and many parts of India were quickly plunged into a chaos of confusion and bloodshed. Little need be said in regard to the leaders. There were only three of any note. The titular King of Delhi resided with his family in the old palace of the Mughals at Delhi, whence his sons had travelled freely for many years throughout the country, stirring up hopes of a revived Muhammadan Empire. The Rání of Jhánsí, Ganga Bái, had become a bitter enemy of the English on account of the annexation of the principality after the death of her husband without an heir. The Náná Sáhib, Dundhu Panth, an adopted son of a deposed Maráthá Peshwá, although permitted to inherit his adoptive father's personal property, including the estate of Bithúr near Cawnpur, had been refused a lapsed pension, and he now became one of the most infamous and active leaders of the rebellion [1].
- ↑ In connection with this subject, it may not be out of place to quote the opinion of Sir Hugh Rose who, writing home in October, 1857, said, before the more careful subsequent enquiries: —
'The more events unroll themselves the more they seem to show that the revolt in India was not purely a military one, but that the origin of the trouble was in some degree an outcome of a political conspiracy, at the head of which were the King of Delhi, the King of Oudh, and Náná Sáhib, all three candidates for kingdoms.'
Sir Hugh Rose's view, expressed in the heat of the operations,
