Dum Dum khalasi rumour
Topic: The Revolt of 1857 · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"
Meaning
This is the earliest known source of the greased cartridge rumour. It began in an exchange at Dum Dum, near Calcutta, in January 1857. It matters because it shows how one remark could grow into a fear that spread through the army.
Example
Captain Wright reported the event in January 1857. At Dum Dum, a "low-caste" khalasi, a worker in the magazine (arms store), asked a Brahmin sepoy for water from his lota (water pot). The sepoy refused. The khalasi answered that the sepoy would "soon lose caste" anyway, because he would have to bite cartridges covered with the fat of cows and pigs.
Don't confuse with
- Bone-dust flour rumour: this was about flour sold to the public. The Dum Dum story was about army cartridges.
Related concepts
- Greased cartridges
- Enfield rifle
- Bone-dust flour rumour
- Plassey centenary prophecy
- Chapatti movement
- Rumours in 1857
- Francois Sisten