INTRODUCTION: (The Mutiny Outbreak At Meerut)

On the evening of Sunday IO May 1857 there occurred at Meerut city about 4o miles north-east of Delhi, the outbreak of the native regiments which marked the real beginning of the Indian Mutiny. This outbreak at Meerut is the true subject of the present volume and I should like at the outset to define as exactly as possible the scope and intention of the work, so as to avoid misunderstanding on the part of any reader. This is not a full study of the origins of the Mutiny, such as is to be found in the classic work of Sir John Kaye or the more recent but 110 less admirable work of S. N. Sen. To those works the reader is referred for the full prolegomena to
the history of die actual Mutiny itself: he may, if he wishes, push his examination further into the collections of the papers of former Viceroys or Presidents of the Board of Control now surviving in the India Office Library but either not available to, or not fully examined by, the distinguished historians just mentioned. Except to the extent which is specified below, the general subject of the origins or causes of the Mutiny falls beyond the scope of the present work.