Mangal Pandey, a sepoy in the 34th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) of the East India Company, made a mark in the Indian history for attacking his British officers. This attacked sparked off the First War of Indian Independence, or as the British termed it, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.
A new Enfield rifle was introduced in India by the British and rumours had it that the cartridges were greased with animal fat, primarily from pigs and cows. To use the rifle, the soldiers would have to bite off the ends of the greased cartridges in order to load the gun. Since cows are holy animals to the Hindus, and the pigs were abhorrent for the Muslims, the use of these fats was considered controversial by the Indian soldiers. The Indian soldiers thought that this was a deliberate attempt by the British to dishonour their religion.
Therefore, Mangal Pandey, a devoted Hindu Brahmin, was furious by the suspected use of fat in the cartridges and decided to display their disapproval by taking violent action against the British.
At the Barrackpore ground near Kolkata, on the afternoon of 29 March 1857, Pandey attacked and injured his British sergeant and wounded an adjutant.
While Pandey incited his fellow soldiers to join him in the rebellion, a native soldier prevented him from killing the adjutant and the sergeant-major. He was arrested for the attack and sentenced to death.
His actions against the British triggered a series of revolts all over India, which ultimately culminated in India’s First War of Independence.
Mangal Pandey was hanged to death on April 8, 1857.
Picture Credit : Google