In the vast plain which stretches from the border of Bengal to the Panjab the revolt was widespread. Even those who were inclined to belittle its range and compass, were constrained to admit that in this region atleast the rising assumed the form of popular movement. In Oudh, Rohilkhand,.....  "the great bulk of the people rose against British rule, and the risings of the people and Sipahis were almost simultaneous in point of time."

Duff judged its nature correctly when he wrote in his letter to Dr. Tweedie on 10th December, 1857: "That it is rebellion, and a rebellion, too, of no recent or mushroom growth, every fresh revelation tends more and more to confirm - a rebellion which has been able to array the Hindu and mohammedan in an unnatural confederacy, a rebellion which now manifestly nurtured and sustained by the whole population of Oudh and directly or indirectly, sympathised with and assisted by well nigh half of that of the neighbouring provinces."

The first signs of rebellion appeared at Rohini in the Snathal Pargana where Indian troops attacked their officers. Soon the whole of Bihar, which had been simmering with discontent, was in open rebellion. In the northern districts across the Ganga from Purnea in the East to Champaran everywhere the smouldering ambers started to burst into flames.

The districts of Shatarabad, Patna and Gaya were the main centres where the revolt was at its hottest. Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur and after his death his brother Amar Singh commanded the rebel forces. For a time British authority was supported in parts of Bihar.

The insurrection began in the sepoy army, but soon spread among the civil population too. A British Army officer wrote, "At first, apparently, a mere military mutiny, it speedily changed its character and became a national insurrection. The Rajpoot Villages in Bihar, shook off our rule and declared war against us."

Samuells, Commissioner of Patna Division, reported to the Bengal Government that the "movement in Shahabad assumed all the dignity of a national revolt". Tayler had informed the Government that the "the people of the districts to the west of Chupra are in open revolt."

The Hindus and Muslims fought shoulder to shoulder. They had co-operated against the Government in 1845-46. When the outbreak of 1857 occurred they maintained their common front. This unity did not quite suit the tastes of the rulers and they liked to think of it as a Muslim conpiracy which utilised Hindu grievances. But there is no doubt that in Bihar as well as other places in the country, the people of the two religious communities were up in arms. In the case of Bihar this was confirmed by Tayler, Commissioner of Patna, who had already suggested that the old police force should be disbanded and a new force raised in which "no Rajpoots, Brahmins or Mahomedans are to be admitted." In view of the general character of the revolt in Bihar, the whole of northern and southern Bihar was placed under martial law.

Both the Maulavis and the Pandits encouraged the rebels. In the Patna Division the Muslim leaders like Pir Ali formented trouble. Both the Rajput and Muslims Zamindars joined their ranks. The Maulavis of Sadikpur, the Hindu and Muslim land holders of Nawada, Jehanabad, Rajgir, Amarthu, Amana, etc., acted in concert.

In Chotanagpur, there were risings in the districts of Palamu, Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Singhbhum, Manbhum and Sambalpur. The situation became so tense that the British officers had an arduous task of repelling attack, of checking petty risings, of suppressing pretenders to power, of hunting down armed freebooters, of recovering places which had been surprised, and of avenging the injuries.

The participants in these troubles were the aboriginal tribes and land owners. The aim of the rebellious troops and disaffected zamindars was to join their forces with those of Babu Kunwar Singh. The Kols of Singhbhum led by the Raja of Porahat, and the Chero and Khairawar tribes of Palamu rose against the British and carried on guirella warfare for months.