Known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 or the First War of Independence, the uprising was not solely a military mutiny. It expanded to include princes, landowners, and peasants resentful of British economic policies and land annexations. The rebellion's major flashpoints included the capture of Delhi, where rebels declared the aging Mughal Emperor their leader, and the brutal sieges of Lucknow and Kanpur. While ultimately crushed by mid-1858, the rebellion led to the British government dissolving