Page 52 - NIS English 16-31 July,2023

Nation Amrit Mahotsav

MANGAL PANDEY

FIRST REVOLUTIONARY

OF THE INDIAN

FREEDOM STRUGGLE

Born: 19 July 1827, Died: 8 April 1857

n the afternoon of 29 March 1857 at Barrackpore,
ILieutenant BH Baugh, an officer in the 34th Bengal
Native Infantry then stationed at Barrackpore, was
informed that several men in his regiment were in
an agitated state. Further, it was also informed that
one of the sepoys, Mangal Pandey, was coming
from the parade ground with a loaded musket in
front of the regimental guard room and inciting the
other sepoys to mutiny. Threatening to gun down
the first European who comes before him. As soon
as Baugh reached there, Mangal Pandey opened
fire on seeing him. Mangal Pandey was hanged on Immediately the case was heard and Mangal
April 8, 1857, for attacking two British soldiers. The Pandey was sentenced to death. Earlier, the date
hanging of Mangal Pandey, who was a soldier of of hanging of Mangal Pandey was fixed for 18 April.
the English army, raised such a spark of freedom The British felt that this rebellion might not spread
among the people of the country that after 90 years to other areas, so they hanged Mangal Pandey ten
the British had to leave the country. days in advance on April 8 in Barrackpore. Mangal
Mangal Pandey, a key figure in India's first war of Pandey was the first Indian to die in the Revolt of
independence in 1857, was born on 19 July 1827 1857. A month after this incident, on 10 May 1857,
in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh. He was the the sepoys in Meerut mutinied, which gave rise to
harbinger of the 1857 revolution. He ignited the the First War of Independence of 1857.
flame of revolution among the public, whose light His patriotism and sacrifice inspired millions of
and splendor shook the roots of foreign rule. He was countrymen to participate in the freedom movement
a soldier in the 34th Bengal Infantry at Barrackpore. and embodied the spirit of freedom among the people
In 1857, the British Army gave its soldiers a new through ideological revolution. On 19 July 2022,
Enfield rifle, which had to be loaded with the tip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to freedom
a greased cartridge. It was rumored that either cow fighter Mangal Pandey on his birth anniversary and
or pig fat had been used to lubricate the cartridges. said, “The great Mangal Pandey is synonymous with
The soldiers were convinced that the British had courage and determination. He ignited the spark of
deliberately used grease on the cartridges. On 29 patriotism at a very crucial time in our history and
March 1857, Pandey asked his fellow soldiers to inspired countless others. Remembering him on his
revolt against the British officers. Mangal Pandey birth anniversary." At the beginning of the year 2022
attacked two officers and tried to shoot himself also, Prime Minister Modi paid tribute to Mangal
on resistance but was arrested by British soldiers. Pandey in his hometown in Meerut.

50 New India Samachar July 16-31, 2023