In May of 1857 soldiers of the Bengal Army shot their British officers and marched on Delhi. The mutiny encouraged several other parts of India to rebel as well and soon the British presence in India was considerably reduced until forces were able to launch offenses that helped restore Imperial power in 1858. The Indians rebelled in large part because their way of life, customs, and religions were all largely being disregarded by their British rulers which they found depply offensive. Back in the UK the genreal public was shocked by the rebellion and the loss of life on both sides "involving the massacre by the rebels of captured Europeans, including women and children, and the indiscriminate killing of Indian soldiers and civilians by the avenging British armies" (Marshall). This rebellion, and the picture it painted of India, undoubtedly helped to shape the general opinion of the British public that India was a somewhat savage place.

In Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Speckled Band the antagonist of the story is very obviously shown to have been corrupted by having lived in India. He surrounds himself with animals and traditions from India, and his step-daughter mentions that while he was always a little unpleasant his condition was exacerbated by living in the tropics of India. Doyle wrote his story in 1892 and would have been well aware of the events in India in 1858. As a result the caricature of India being a wild, savage place that corrupts Englishmen continued well after the rebellion was over. 

Kippling's The Man Who Would Be King is another story from this time dealing with India - this one being partly set there. Jeffrey Meyers suggests that one of the morals of Kipling's story is that Peachy's and Dravot's imperialistic adventures fail because they do not have the moral authority represented by the British Empire. Kipling, and many others, viewed the British's role in India to be a necassary one to help the native people be better people as well as to help them live a better life. "Better life", of course, meant their way of life. 

Sources:

"British India and the 'Great Rebellion'" by Peter Marshall (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/indian_rebellion_01.shtml)