Bareilly was a centre of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The rebellion began as a mutiny of native soldiers (sepoys), employed by the British East India Company's army, against race- and religion-based injustices and inequities on 10 May 1857 in Meerut. It expanded into other mutinies and civilian rebellions, primarily in the major north-central Indian river valleys; local episodes extended northwest to Peshawar (on the northwest frontier with Afghanistan) and southeast (beyond Delhi). There were riots in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, and Muslims in Bareilly, Bijnor and Moradabad called for the revival of a Muslim kingdom.