This day was remembered as “panic day” by the British residents of Calcutta.
The Indian Uprising had begun in the army in a nearby Barrackpore regiment, with Mangal Pandey’s attack on his British superiors. Pandey was executed on April 6; May 10 saw Indian soldiers in Meerut rising. The tremors were felt severely in Calcutta. There was alarm among the white population as rumours floated about Indian soldiers marching into the city with the full support of the Indian population.
The city reached a state of panic apparently on June 14, and the Europeans frantically sought refuge in Fort William and other government premises or in ships along the Hooghly. No attack took place, but the fear persisted. The British government, to check possession of arms by Indians, would later pass the arms licensing Act.
