Any three Military causes of the revolt.

(1) DISCRIMINATION in pay and promotion — an Indian sepoy was paid far less than a British soldier doing the same duties, and however able he was he could rise no higher than the rank of Subedar. (2) The GENERAL SERVICE ENLISTMENT ACT of 1856 required every new recruit to serve wherever ordered, including overseas; crossing the sea meant loss of caste for a Hindu. The foreign service allowance (batta) was also withdrawn. (3) The LOSS OF BRITISH PRESTIGE after their defeats in the First Afghan War (1838-42) and the Crimean War convinced the sepoys that the British were not invincible — if the Afghans could beat them, why could not Indians?

One mark per cause. The three strongest are discrimination, the 1856 Act, and the loss of British prestige. Keep the GREASED CARTRIDGES for a question asking the IMMEDIATE cause — it is the spark, not an accumulated grievance, though it is acceptable here if clearly labelled as such. The Afghan War point is the one candidates most often omit and psychologically the most telling: the myth of British invincibility had been broken.