The Indian Mutiny of 1857 failed for a number of reasons. First ofall, only a limited number of Indian states joined the rebellion,while a much larger number of states remaine
…d loyal to the Britishand others did not get themselves involved. Also many sepoy troopsand the Sikhs, Gurkha and Pathans - renowned and fierce fighters -remained loyal, and all in all the British had over 100,000 troopswith which to counter the rebellion. A call for Jihad against theBritish largely failed, because of Sunni / Shia disagreements onthe matter. And cruelties and mass murders by the rebels ofEuropeans - a large part of them women and children - made theBritish fiercely determined not to come to any agreement with therebel forces and states. It took a while for the British to get themselves organized, butwhen they did, they moved their armies against the less well armedand organized rebels and their strongholds. They retook importantcities like Delhi and Lucknow and from 1857 on gained groundeverywhere. A peace treaty was concluded in 1858, after which only'mopping up'-operations remained to be done. (MORE)