1. Political Causes
1.1. Policy of Expansion
1.1.1. Out Right War
1.1.1.1. Battle of Plassey 1757
1.1.1.2. The battle of Buxar 1764
1.1.1.3. Anglo Mysore Wars
1.1.1.4. Third Anglo Maratha Wars
1.1.1.5. Second Anglo-Sikh Wars
1.1.2. Subsidary Alliance
1.1.2.1. Lord Wellesley
1.1.2.1.1. New Topic
1.1.3. Doctrine of Laps
1.1.3.1. Lord Dalhousie
1.1.3.1.1. Jhansi, Satara, etc.
1.1.4. New Topic
1.1.5. Pretext of Misrule
1.1.5.1. Awadh
1.2. Disrespect shown to Bahadur Shah
1.2.1. Lord Canning abolished titles.
1.3. Treatment Given to Nana Saheb and Rani Laxmi Bai
1.3.1. Nana Sahab adopted son of Baji Rao 2
1.3.2. Jhansi- Doctrine of Laps
1.4. Absentee Sovereignty of the British
2. Socio-Religious Causes
2.1. Interference with Social Customs
2.1.1. Sati - 1829
2.1.2. Widow Remarriage Act-1856
2.2. Apprehension about Modern Innovations
2.2.1. Railway, Telegraphs, etc.
2.3. Policy of Racial Discrimination
2.4. Corruption in Administration
2.5. Activities of Christian Missionaries
2.6. Fear of Western Education
2.7. Taxing Religious Places
3. Economic Causes
3.1. Exploitation of Economic Resources
3.1.1. High Import Duty vs Low Export Duty
3.1.2. Raw Material vs Finished Goods
3.2. Drain of wealth
3.2.1. Dadabhai Naroji
3.2.1.1. Drain of Wealth
3.3. Decay of Cottage Industries
3.3.1. Silk, Cotton , etc.
3.4. Economic Decline of Peasantry
3.4.1. landlords
3.5. Growing Unemployment, Poverty and Famines
4. Military Causes
4.1. Ill treatment of Indian Soldiers
4.1.1. poorly paid, ill fed and badly housed
4.1.2. Derogatory Names
4.2. General Enlistment Act-1856
4.2.1. Oversea Duty
4.3. Large number of Indians in the British Army
4.4. Bleak Prospects of Promotions, low salaries and Deprivation of Allowances
5. Immediate Cause
5.1. Introduction of the Enfield Rifle
5.1.1. In 1856, the British authorities decided to replace the old fashioned musket, (called the 'Brown Bess) the new Enfield rifle'. The loading process of the Enfield rifle involved bringing the cartridge to the mouth and biting off the top greased paper with the teeth. In January 1857, there was a rumour in the Bengal regiments that the greased cartridge had the fat of cow or pig. The sepoys were now convinced that the introduction of greased cartridges was a deliberate move to defile Hindu and Muslim religions as the cow is sacred to Hindus and the pig is a taboo to Muslims. So, both the Hindus and the Muslim soldiers refused to use these cartridges and staged an uprising when they were forced to use them.