Worn out by sensual excess, rotten to the core with political corruption, its ruling houses racked with murderous petty jealousies, the Moghul war lords became, for the most part, mere pensioners of their British conquerers. There were, of course, a few warlike peoples in India. These the British overcame on the battlefield, or won over with bribes, or by appealing to that common bond of contempt with which martial races ever regard their more peaceable neighbours. Thus it came about that a handful of resourceful and daring adventurers lorded it over a huge country with a teeming, varied population. A century of British rule passed away with nothing but a few minor wars, isolated expressions of native unrest, easily put down in most instances.
Political philosophy is one thing, religious sensibility quite another.
Secure in the combined power of their arms and a system of official bribery, the British foresaw no problems when, in 1853, they introduced a new type of cartridge into the army. This cartridge was covered in tallow and beeswax to ease its passage into the rifle barrel. Before the cartidge could be loaded it was necessary to bite the end off it. Outraged by rumours that these new cartridges were in fact coated in animal fat, the native troops of the Indian Army, known as Sepoys, refused to use them. Force was used to persuade the Sepoys, who defied their officers orders.