Sepoys attack Meerut jail, 1857. An illustration depicts a gang of mutinous sepoys storming Meerut jail to liberate their comrades: 85 Muslim and Hindu soldiers who had been imprisoned for refusing, on religious grounds, to handle musket carriages greased with animal fat. This was one of a series of events that sparked the Indian Mutiny and Rebellion (1857-58). Meerut, North West Province (Uttar Pradesh), India, 1857., Uttar Pradesh, India, Southern Asia, Asia.