<P> The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company 's army in the garrison town of Meerut , 40 miles northeast of Delhi ( now Old Delhi ) . It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central India , though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east . The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British power in that region , and was contained only with the rebels ' defeat in Gwalior on 20 June 1858 . On 1 November 1858 , the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder , though they did not declare the hostilities formally to have ended until 8 July 1859 . </P>
who was the first to declare the mutiny against the british
sepoys of the Company 's army