Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1829-1902) was an English historian and a professor of history at King’s College in London. He wrote several books on English history. The excerpt below comes from a book he wrote for young students, ​The Indian Mutiny of 1857​. The religion of the Hindus, who form a great part of the natives in India, teaches many things which seem very strange to Englishmen. Among other things they are taught that they will be ​defiled​ if they eat any part of a cow. By this defilement they will meet with much ​contempt​ from their fellows and will suffer much after death in another world. The bulk of the army in India was composed of Hindus. It happened that an improved rifle had lately been invented for the use of the soldiers, and that the ​cartridges​ used in this rifle needed to be greased so they could be rammed down easily into the barrel. The Hindus men believed that the grease was made of the fat of cows, though this was not really the case. There was, therefore, much suspicion and angry feeling among the native soldiers, and when ignorant men are suspicious and angry, they are likely to break out into deeds of unreasoning ​fury​.
Source: Gardiner’s English History for Schools, an English textbook edited for American students, 1881.

Source A: Gardiner’s History
1) What kind of document is this? When was it written?

2) Who was the intended audience of this document? ​

3) What are the author’s main claims about what caused the Sepoy Rebellion?​ ​

4) Do you think this is a reliable source? Why or why not?​