the grease cartridges were the main cause of the 1857 Indian Mutiny

To prove that the grease cartridges weren't the main cause for the 1857 Indian Mutiny ,we firstly need to look at the cartridges themselves. Secondly we need to see what effect using the cartridges would have on the Indian people. Lastly, we need to look at the other factors that caused the Indian Mutiny. The grease cartridges were used o fire the Enfield rifle. You would have to bite on the grease paper cartridge to fire one. However the 1857 cartridge were coated in pig and cow fat. To both Hindus and Muslims, this was an insult to their religion.If they bit the cartridge coated with grease, they would be demoted in the Indian hierarchy and become an 'untouchable.'It was this that spurred the rebel's uprising. However, an uprising doesn't begin with one misunderstanding but many. When the English took over India in 1763, two completely different cultures were forced to live together. Certain 'savage 'practices were not accepted by the 'good Christens of the West.' The Indians still ran on a hierarchy system, however this didn't annoy the British. The 'barbaric practices is what annoyed the British. Over 50,000 people had been killed by a religious group called the Thuggee. The Thuggee thought it was their sacred duty to commit ritual murder for their goddess ,Kali. The British therefore saw this as barbarianism and hoped to crush this religious group. They sent seypoy troops, many of which would rebel in the mutiny, to crush the Thuggee. They never succeeded in fully wiping this group and therefore their practice still carried on. However, by attempting to wipe the Thuggee out, the damage had already been done. The British also banned Suttee. This was another religious tradition, where the women of dead husbands were burnt alive to be buried with their husbands. By the English banning Suttee in 1829, this angered the Indians because they couldn't have their wives go to the afterlife with their husbands. However, this 'barbaric' practice still went on. Those who were caught were killed or broken up. Again many of the seypoy regiments who would rebel in the mutiny were involved in this. Therefore, not only the seypoys started to hate their foreign masters, but member of the Indian public itself were starting to hate them too because they were interfering with religious traditions that had gone on for thousands of years. I will point out to my opponent that despite having their religious customs insulted, the 1857 mutiny was short lived. Only a few Indian regiments and anti-British followers rebelled. Many Indians despite the grease cartridges and other insults to their religion, stayed loyal to the British, despite this chance for freedom. The rebellion was therefore crushed simply because India was not ready for independence and needed their foreign maters to hold their country together, even if it meant having their religion insulted. In conclusion, the grease cartridges ,weren't the main cause for the 1857 Indian Mutiny, but the short term cause. It was the British banning certain 'barbaric practices 'and applying force if they didn't comply that was the main and the long term cause for the rebellion. It is ultimately this and therefore religion that caused the Indian Mutiny and eventually be the cause for the Indians to liberate their country from the British.