The revolt, once ignited at Meerut and Delhi, spread to a string of major centres across North and Central India. Delhi was captured by the sepoys who proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar emperor, and it became the symbolic heart of the rebellion under General Bakht Khan.

At Kanpur, Nana Saheb led the uprising; at Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai fought the British heroically; in Lucknow, Begum Hazrat Mahal led the resistance on behalf of her young son Birjis Qadr; in Arrah, Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur spearheaded the revolt in Bihar; and Tantia Tope organised guerrilla operations from Gwalior and Kalpi. The British, however, regrouped and recaptured Delhi in September 1857, and the other centres fell one by one.