Shah II now became a prisoner and his two sons and grandson were shot dead after their surrender. Resistance in Awadh was prolonged because of the involvement of talukdars as well as peasants in the revolt. Many of these taluqdars were loyal to the Nawab of Awadh, and they joined Begum Hazrat Mahal (the wife of the NawabWajid Ali Shah) in Lucknow to fight the British. Since a vast majority of the sepoys were from peasant families in the villages of Oudh, the grievances of the peasants had affected them.
Oudh was the nursery of the Bengal Army for a long time. The sepoys from Oudh complained of low levels of pay and the difficulty of getting leave. They all rallied behind Begum Hazrat Mahal. Led by Raja Jailal Singh, they fought against the British forces and seized control of Lucknow and she declared her son, Birjis Qadra, as the ruler (Wali) of Oudh.
Neill who wreaked terrible vengeance in Kanpur was shot dead in the street fighting at Lucknow. Lucknow could be finally captured only in March . Further the religious sentiments of the sepoys – Hindus and Muslims – were outraged when information spread that the fat of cows and pigs was used in the greased cartridges. The Indian sepoys were to bite them before loading the new Enfield rifle.
This was viewed as a measure to convert people to Christianity. In every sense, therefore, was a climatic year. The cartridge affair turned out to be a trigger factor for the rebellion. The dispossessed, discontented rajas, ranis, zamindars and tenants, artisans and workers, the Muslim intelligentsia, priests, and the Hindu pandits saw the eruption as an opportunity to redress their grievances.
Course of the Revolt The rebellion first began as a mutiny in Barrackpore (near Calcutta). Mangal Pandey murdered his officer in January and a mutiny broke out there. In the following month, at Meerut, of the sepoys who were to receive their cartridges only five obeyed orders. On May three sepoy regiments revolted, killed their officers, and released those who had been imprisoned.