TN marks 1806 sepoy mutiny

Vellore, Tamil Nadu, July 10 (UNI) The Vellore Fort threw open its gates today to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Sepoy Mutiny in which the British killed 800 Indian soldiers and jailed 600 others besides hanging 16 Indian generals.

The Tipu Mahal and the Hyder Mahal in the fort have been opened for public view. The clothes worn by soliders, guns, copies of orders issued by the British and photographs are on display.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will release a commemorative stamp at a function later in the evening.

Earlier, Vellore District Officials led by Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav paid tributes to the martyrs at the pillar erected to mark the revolt.

In November 1805, the commander-in-chief of the Madras Army, Sir John Cradock, ordered a change in head-dress from turban to 'round hat,' removal of beards, face-painting and joys (jewellery), caste-marks and beards.

The new regulations were seen as an attack on the troops' religion. This and rumours that the government was mixing pigs' blood into the salt sold in public, as a deliberate attempt to defile the religious, led to a revolt by the sepoys in 1806.

British General Rollo Gillespie, considered as one of the most capable and energetic officers in India, set out with forces to quell the revolt which was put down with an iron fist.

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