Sahib and Sepoy : The British Perspective on the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857

The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 was a truly significant event in the annals of British history and imperial study as well. The recent historiography on the British perspective of the event neglects to consider the positive Anglo-Indian perspective, dismissing it as a dissident or non-existent sentiment. However, through analyzing the British Parliamentary debates, military memoir, and Victorian literature, a more dynamic picture emerges of mid-Victorian Britain. Britons from varying social classes felt sympathy and admiration for their Indian counterparts, even in lieu of the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857. They differentiated between loyal Indian soldiers and the rebels that threatened to overthrow the crown jewel of the British Empire. This thesis revises previous scholarshipon the British perspective of the Sepoy Rebellion and brings to light the divergent AngloIndian feelings that many Britons held