Read the excerpt given below and answer the questions that follow:

These rebels of Delhi must be made an example to all their countrymen for ages to come of the consequences of such crimes, at the same time that every possible precaution is taken to do away with all temptation or provocation to future offences of a similar character.
— The Guardian, Manchester, June 30, 1857

(a) Who are referred to as 'rebels of Delhi' in the excerpt above? When did they rebel and where?

(b) What was the temptation or provocation being talked about in the excerpt?

(c) What were the consequences of their alleged 'crimes”?

(a) The 'rebels of Delhi' being mentioned are the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah, the soldiers who came from Meerut, and the local infantry who joined them. They rebelled in Delhi starting from May 11, 1857 when they proclaimed Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India. They seized Delhi and raised arms against the British.

(b) The temptation or provocation being talked about in the excerpt refers to the causes and motivations behind the Indian rebellion of 1857. Some of the causes being:

1. Political causes like policy of expansion by using the doctrine of lapse, by subsidiary alliance and on the pretext of alleged misrule.
2. Socio-religious causes like interference with social customs, oppression of the poor and activities of missionaries.
3. Economic causes like exploitation of economic resources and decay of cottage industries and handicrafts.
4. Military causes like ill-treatment of Indian soldiers and General Service Enlistment Act.
5. Immediate cause being introduction of the Enfield Rifle.

(c) The consequences of 'their' alleged 'crimes' being talked about in the excerpt are:

1. Emperor Bahadur Shah was found guilty for aiding the movement and as a punishment his two sons were shot dead in front of him and he was sentenced to life imprisonment and deported to Yangon in Myanmar.
2. Mass executions were carried out.
3. The rebel troops were punished harshly.