ABSTRACT
We have seen that by early December 1849 Napier’s warnings about widespread discontent over the reductions in army pay had led the Governor-General to set him down as a wild alarmist. Then at the end of that month Napier had to report that four sepoys who had refused their pay at Wuzzeerabad (the modern Wazirabad, between Lahore and Rawalpindi) were sentenced to hard labour, riveted into their chains on the parade ground for everyone to see, and sent off as felons. He hoped a court-martial would sentence them to death, ‘for never was there a more distinct conspiracy to dictate to Government what pay the troops ought to receive.’ 1 Whether or not Napier was an alarmist, certainly he was trying to sound the alarm here.
