Expert Explains: On May 10, 1857, how Mangal Pandey inspired a rebellion that rattled the British

Mangal Pandey and the discontent of Awadh

Mangal Pandey, who was hanged to death by the Company on April 8, 1857, belonged to the kingdom of Awadh, which had been treacherously annexed by the British in 1856. The Begums of Awadh had an understanding with the British, and had been abiding by the terms of the agreement. In spite of this, Awadh was annexed, which was greatly resented by the people.

Awadh was a region that supplied large numbers of soldiers of war to the Company’s army. There were 75,000 soldiers from Awadh, and almost every agricultural family in the kingdom had a representative in the army. Whatever happened in Awadh was of immediate concern to the Sepoy.

The deposition of the Nawab and the confiscation of the villages of taluqdars during the land revenue settlement of 1856 caused outrage. Some 14,000 petitions were received from the Sepoys about the hardships they faced on account of the revenue system. Mangal Pandey represented the discontent that the misery of British rule had brought upon peasant families.

The mutiny and hanging of Mangal Pandey

Mangal Pandey was born on July 19, 1827 in Nagwa village in Ballia district in a Bhumihar Brahmin family. He joined the East India Company’s army at the age of 22 as a soldier in the 6th company of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry. He refused to use the newly introduced Enfield rifle, the cartridges of which had a covering that was believed to be made of animal fat (beef and pork), and which had to be bit open before the cartridges could be used.

This was viewed by the soldiers as a direct assault on their religious beliefs by the British who intended to bring an end to their religion and propagate Christianity.

A bust of Sepoy Mangal Pandey at Barrackpore in West Bengal. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

On March 29, 1857, Pandey mutinied and fired at his Senior Sergeant Major. He was overpowered and hanged on April 8, 1857, by the order of a Court Martial at Lal Bagan in Barrackpore. His regiment was disbanded, like the 19th infantry at Behrampore, for showing resentment.

The spread of the 1857 revolt and march to Delhi

Pandey’s action was followed by defiance by the soldiers of the 7th Awadh Regiment, and it too met with the same fate.

By the beginning of May, news of the Sepoys’ mutiny had reached Meerut, and in the morning of May 11, 1857, a band of Sepoys from Meerut who had refused to use the new cartridges and killed their European officers the previous day, crossed the Jamuna, set the tool house on fire, and marched to the Red fort.

They appealed to Bahadur Shah II, the elderly Mughal emperor who was a pensioner of the East India Company, to become their leader to provide legitimacy to their cause. After much persuasion, he yielded and was proclaimed Shah-en-shah-i-Hindustan (Emperor of India).

Fighting heroically against all odds

The interchange of identities between the soldier and the peasant, and the groundswell of collective discontent against British rule allowed the revolt to assume the proportions it did. It spread to a greater part of India, and the population felt free for some time from the fear of the state and the control of the administration.

Their accumulated grievances found immediate expression, and they rose en masse in opposition to British rule. Buildings were destroyed, the treasury was plundered, barracks and courthouses were burnt, and prison gates were flung open.

In Awadh, the revolt took the form of a popular movement with the participation of not only taluqdars who had been dispossessed but also peasants who had got titles to lands in 1856. These people fought in the name of their dispossessed Nawab.

For more than a year, the rebels carried on their struggle against difficult odds. They had no source of arms and ammunition. What they had captured from British arsenals could not carry them far. They were often forced to fight with swords and pikes against an enemy equipped with the most modern weapons. They had no quick system of communication at their command, and hence no coordination.

Beyond a shared hatred of alien rule, the rebels had no political perspective or a definite vision of the future. They showed exemplary courage, dedication, and commitment. Thousands of men courted death, fighting for a cause they held dear.

But heroism alone has its limits

But heroism alone could not stem the onslaught of the superior British forces. Delhi fell after a prolonged battle on September 20, 1857. Bahadur Shah, who had taken refuge at Humayun’s Tomb, was captured, tried, and deported to Burma. The British dealt with the rebels in other places as well.

The Rani of Jhansi died fighting on June 17, 1858. Nana Saheb refused to give in, and finally escaped to Nepal in the beginning of 1859, hoping to renew the struggle. Tantiya Tope, who successfully carried out guerrilla warfare until April 1859, was betrayed by a zamindar, captured, and put to death by the British.

Thus came to an end the most formidable challenge the British had to face in India. Despite the limitations of the rebels, their effort to emancipate the country from foreign rule was a patriotic and progressive step.

To commemorate Mangal Pandey’s heroic action, a park has been named after him in Barrackpore on the banks of the Hooghly. It has a small bust of Pandey and a brief history of his sacrifice. Perhaps more should be done to pay homage to a man who selflessly and without any hope of support rose up in revolt against the British. Pandey was hanged from a tree in the police lines, but people cannot visit the place without permission.

Legacy of the revolt of 1857

Pandey’s action had far-reaching consequences, including a change in the nature of British rule in India. The mutiny shocked the British; they had never imagined that Indians, whom they believed to be inferior, were capable of rising against their rule. After the revolt, they realised the need for the adoption of a strategy to hold India for the long term.

The British parliament passed an Act on August 2, 1858, transferring all powers of the Company to the Crown. Queen Victoria was declared the Sovereign of British India. The Queen’s Proclamation made by Lord Canning on November 1, 1858, to the Princes, Chiefs and people of India, unveiled a new policy of perpetual support for the native Princes, and non-intervention in matters of religious beliefs in India.

The governance of India by and in the name of the Monarch through a Secretary of State was aimed at improving the administrative machinery of supervision and control over the Indian government. It was decided to grant the same status to the “Natives of India” as other subjects of the British Empire. It was assured that the Crown would create equality for all people in the eyes of the law.

The Queen’s Proclamation was reinforced in 1877 in a big event held at Delhi’s Coronation Park, which was attended by a large number of people. The event came to be known as the Delhi Durbar. Queen Victoria assumed the title of Qaiser-e-Hind.

Indu Tewari retired as a Professor of Modern Indian History at Panjab University. The piece was first published in 2024.