Mangal Pandey (Shaheed Mangal Pandey)

Mangal Pandey

Born on July 19, 1827 in the village of Nagwa, district Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, Mangal Pandey was introduced to Indian history as the first freedom fighter and martyr of 1857. He is popularly named ‘Shaheed Mangal Pandey’ because ‘Shaheed’ means martyr in Urdu and he was the first Indian sepoy who woke up the Indian masses to fight for the nation.

Mangal Pandey had spent a quintessential village life during his childhood in Akbarpur Tehsil. He had his all-time companion Nakki Khan, the son of the village Maulavi. They belonged to the typical village middle-class, with his father serving as a peasant. Mangal Pandey was yet to become enlightened in British policies and politics. A young Mangal had remained witness to two remarkable incidents, which was to transform his life forever and alter his view of the British masters.

Mangal Pandey was 22 years old when he joined the Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) in the 34th Regiment. However, his joining in the army was entirely unplanned. During his visit to Akbarpur, a regiment that was marching towards Varanasi recruited him on the road. He willingly gave his consent. However, his move was not entertained by his friend Nakki Khan although his father, Divakar Pandey, had agreed to it impassively. He was a true freedom fighter who gave a spark to the First War of Indian Independence. The British termed it as Sepoy Mutiny 1857 as it was a mass revolt of Indian soldiers in the British Army.

The main reason of Sepoy Mutiny was the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket. To load a new rifle, the soldiers had to bite the cartridge and open to pour gunpowder into the rifle’s muzzle. There was a widespread rumor that these cartridges were greased with lard or tallow. Lard is the pork fat which the Muslims regarded as unclean and tallow is the beef fat which the Hindus regarded as sacred. The British army constituted 96% of Indians and so both the Hindus and the Muslims refused to accept these cartridges. Everyone had a firm belief that this was done intentionally and this discontent turned into a major revolt.

Mass revolt forced Pandey to attack his British sergeant on the parade ground, besides wounding an adjutant. A native soldier stopped him from killing them. The officer in charge ordered a Jamadaar of the troop to arrest Pandey but he refused to do so. Mangal tried to commit suicide to light the flame of nationalism in the hearts of millions of Indians but he failed to do so. He was then captured and sentenced to death on April 8, 1857 in Barrackpore. March 29, 1857 is considered to be a day when Mangal Pandey reaped the seed for a struggle which gave India her freedom.