Mangal Pandey, whose name is often preceded by Shaheed meaning a martyr in Hindi, was an Indian soldier during the pre-independence era. A member of the 34th Regiment of the Bengal native infantry of the East India Company, Mangal Pandey is counted among the most popular figures associated with India's freedom struggle in present times. He was born on 19 July 1827 in the Nagwa village in the Ballia district of the Uttar Pradesh state. He joined the English East India Company's forces in 1849 at the age of 22, as per this account. Pandey was part of the 5th Company of the 34th B.N.I. regiment. His name got etched into the pages of the Indian history after he attacked his senior British officers in an incident, which is today called the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the India's First War of Independence. Due to this, he was later captured and hung till death on 8 April in 1857.
On March 29, 1857 Mangal Pandey reaped the seed for a struggle which gave India her freedom and us Indians independence.At Barrackpore (now Barrackpur), near Calcutta on March 29, 1857, Pande attacked and injured his British sergeant on the parade ground, and wounded an adjutant with a sword after shooting at his horse.Further, it was reported to him that one of them, Mangal Pandey was pacing in front of the regiment's guard room by the parade ground, armed with a loaded musket, calling upon the men to rebel and threatening to shoot the first European he set his eyes on. He was however attacked by a native soldier called Shaikh Paltu who prevented him from killing the adjutant and later the sergant-major.When General Joyce Hearsay ordered the Jemadar of the troops, a man called Ishari Prasad, to arrest him, the Jemadar refused, as did the rest of the company except Shaikh Paltu. At this juncture, Shaikh Paltu, while trying to defend two Englishmen called upon the other sepoys to assist him. Assailed by other sepoys, who threw stones and shoes at his back, he called on the guard to help him hold Pandey, but they threatened to shoot him if he did not let go of Pandey. The General threatened to shoot the first man that disobeyed. The men of the guard fell in, and followed Hearsey towards Pandey. Mangal then turned the gun against himself, and used his foot to try to pull the trigger to shoot himself.He failed, was captured and sentenced to death along with the Jemadar. Mangal Pandey was hanged on April 8. His execution was scheduled for April 18, but he was summarily executed 10 days prior to the date, fearing the possibility of a larger-scale revolt. The Jemadar Ishari Prasad was executed on April 22. The whole regiment was dismissed "with disgrace" on 6th May as a collective punishment, because it was felt that they harboured ill-feelings against their superiors. Other sepoys of the Bengal Army thought this was a harsh punishment.Mangal Pandey's actions and the failure of the armed and on duty sepoys of the quarter-guard to take action convinced the British military authorities that the whole regiment was unreliable. It appeared that Pandey had acted without first taking other sepoys into his confidence but that antipathy towards their British officers within the regiment had led most of those present to act as spectators rather than obeying orders Shaikh Paltu was promoted on the spot to the post of a Havaldar (native sergant) by General Hearsay.This was the end of the first warrior of Indian Independence.
The primary motivation behind Mangal Pandey's behaviour is attributed to a new type of bullet cartridge used in the Enfield P-53 rifle which was to be introduced in the Bengal Army that year.The cartridge was rumoured to having been greased with animal fat, primarily from pigs and cows, which could not be consumed by Muslims and Hindus respectively (the former being abhorrent to Muslims and the latter a holy animal of the Hindus).To load his rifle, the sepoy had to first bite off the rear of the cartridge to pour the powder down the barrel. He then inverted the tube (the projectile was placed in the cartridge base up), pushed the end-portion into the muzzle to the approximate depth of the bullet and tore off the remaining paper. The bullet could then be easily rammed on top of the charge.The Indian troops were of the opinion that this was an intentional act of the British, with the aim of defiling their religions.Commandant Wheeler of the 34th BNI was known as a zealous Christian preacher, and this may also have impacted the Company's behaviour. The wife of Captain William Halliday of 56th BNI had the Bible printed in Urdu and Nagri and distributed among the sepoys, thus raising suspicions amongst them that the British were intent on converting them to Christianity. Also, the 19th and 34th Bengal Native Infantry were stationed at Lucknow during the time of annexation of Oudh because of alleged misgovernment by the Nawab, on February 7, 1856. The annexation had another implication for sepoys in the Bengal Army (a significant portion of whom came from that princely state). Before the annexation, these sepoys had the right to petition the British Resident at Lucknow for justice — a significant privilege in the context of native courts. As a result of the annexation, they lost that right, since that state no longer existed. Moreover, this action was seen by the residents of the state as an affront to their honour, the annexation being done in violation of an existing treaty.The sepoys were accordingly affected by the general discontent which had been stirred up by the annexation
The Government of India commemorated Mangal Pandey by issuing a postage stamp bearing his image on October 5, 1984. A film based on his life and times titled Mangal Pandey: The Rising starring Indian actor, Aamir Khan directed by Ketan Mehta was released in August 2005.His life was also the subject of a stage play titled The Roti Rebellion.