Astrology and soothsaying are serious matters in India; they were even more so 150 years ago. There was the prophecy that the rule of the detested East India Company would end on the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Plassey. Prophecies can be self-fulfilling: they are sometimes fulfilled in curious and unforeseen ways. The rule of the East India Company did end in 1857 but only to be replaced by direct governance by the British Crown. The Indians found the shackles even more oppressive than before. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 saw some of the most fiercely fought battles in the history of India. No quarter was given, none asked for. Those subdued were killed. The British would not take any prisoners; the natives, who were mostly on the run, did not know where to keep them.