Knowledge Nugget: Why Mangal Pandey's role in revolt of 1857 matters for your UPSC exam

Indian Express

19-07-2025

Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up on your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget on Mangal Pandey and other prominent leaders' contributions to the Revolt of 1857.
(Relevance: UPSC has asked questions on the Revolt of 1857 in both Prelims and Mains. Also, the contribution of Mangal Pandey holds immense significance in the outbreak of the revolt, making it an important topic for your UPSC exam.)
On March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey fired a shot at the Sergeant Major of his regiment at Barrackpore near Kolkata, triggering a great event in the history of Modern India — the Revolt of 1857, or the Sepoy Mutiny, or the First War of Indian Independence.
With it ended the rule of the East India Company over India with Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858. It changed the British system of colonial rule in India with the enactment of the Government of India Act 1858 which appointed a Viceroy as the Crown representative in India in place of the Governor General of India. Lord Canning became the First viceroy under this new system.
1. 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.
2. He refused to use the newly introduced Enfield rifle. It was believed that the new Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket issued to the sepoys of the East India Company came with a cartridge dipped in beef and pork fat, which made it anathema to both Hindu and Muslim sepoys, who had to bite open the cartridge to load the weapon.
3. 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.
4. Mangal Pandey was hanged to death by the Company on April 8. He belonged to the kingdom of Awadh, which had been treacherously annexed by Lord Dalhousie in 1856 on the grounds of misgovernance. It was not under the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Dalhousie to annex other regions.
It was introduced by Lord Dalhousie during his time as the Governor-General of India (1848–56). According to this doctrine, the adopted heir to the throne was not allowed to acquire the state, and the state automatically 'lapsed' into British dominion if the ruler died without any natural, biological heir. The territories of Satara (1848), Punjab (1849), Sambalpur (1850), and Jhansi and Nagpur (1854) were annexed under it.
Bahadur Shah Zafar II was the Delhi emperor from 1836 to 1857. He was the second son of and became the successor to his father, Akbar II. After the failure of the Revolt of 1857, he was exiled to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma, and the Red Fort was illegally captured by the British on September 19, 1857. He lived in prison till his death in 1862.
5. Notably, 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.
6. 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.
7. Next, the soldiers of the 7th Awadh Regiment rose in defiance, and they also met the same fate. After this, the incidents of disobedience, incendiarism, and arson were reported from the army cantonments in Ambala, Lucknow, and Meerut, until finally, the Meerut sepoys started the revolt on 10 May.
8. The marching band of sepoys from Meerut reached the Red Fort and 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.
Leaders across the northern region joined the revolt to provide leadership. Here are some of the prominent leaders that you shouldn't miss.
1. Nana Sahib: He was the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II, the last Maratha peshwa (ruler), who assumed the leadership from Kanpur. Lord Dalhousie has refused the extension of the pension of his adoptive father to him, and the threat from sepoys made him join the revolt. He provided a strong front; however, in 1859, he was driven into the Nepal hills, where he is thought to have died.
2. Begum Hazrat Mahal: Begum, one of the younger queens of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was a freedom fighter who made major contributions to the revolt of 1857. She took command of the revolt from Lucknow. She took charge of the affairs of the state after the British annexed it in 1856, exiling the nawab, and leaving the kingdom without a leader, in a chaotic mess. She crowned her son, Birjis Qadr, as the royal heir of Awadh. Ultimately, she escaped to Nepal with her son and a clutch of followers under adverse circumstances in 1859. She maintained her opposition through 20 years of exile in Nepal, until she died in 1879.
3. Veer Kuwar Singh: At the age of 80, Kuwar Singh was the chief organiser from the Bhojpur region of Bihar against the British East India Company during the revolt. He led the siege of Aarah for eight days. He was a master of guerrilla warfare and was able to elude the British for quite some time. At the battle of Jagdishpur, April 23, 1858, he was able to win back his homeland from the Britishers. He died of injuries, passing on the mantle to his successor and brother Amar Singh II.
4. Rani Laxmibai: Rani Laxmibai, original name Manikarnika, was born in Varanasi, was the leader of the revolt from Jhansi. In 1842, she was married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao Newalkar. The couple adopted a son, Damodar Rao. However, after the death of the Maharaja, the British East India Company refused to recognise his claim to the throne under the Doctrine of Lapse. It became the factor for Rani to join the rebellion. In 1858, General Hugh Rose arrived in Jhansi leading his forces. It is then that Rani Laxmibai decided to take up arms to arms to defend her state.
5. Khan Bahadur Khan: The city of Bareilly was one of the strongholds during the rebellion of 1857 and remained so for nearly a year. Here, the resistance was led by an 82-year-old Khan Bahadur Khan. He put up a strong fight against Sir Colin Campbell, who was then the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and marching towards Bareilly. In an action that lasted for nearly six hours and nearly cost the renowned war correspondent his life, the British forces were successful in making Khan's force retreat and take over the city.
6. Maulvi Liaqat Ali: He took control of the uprising from Allahabad. He enforced law and order in the city and made Khusro Bagh as his military operational headquarters. In 1872, he was arrested at Bombay Railway Station by British officials and was sentenced to transportation for life to the penal settlement of Andaman.
(1) What was/were the object/objects of Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1858)? (UPSC CSE 2014)
1. To disclaim any intention to annex Indian States.
2. To place the Indian administration under the British Crown.
3. To regulate the East India Company's trade with India.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(2) Consider the following pairs:
Which of the following pairs is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 4 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(Source: Remembering Mangal Pandey, and the legacy of the revolt he inspired, Knowledge Nugget: Why is the Revolt of 1857 important for UPSC? )
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Khushboo Kumari is a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She has done her graduation and post-graduation in History from the University of Delhi. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. She holds experience in UPSC-related content development. You can contact her via email: [e-mail] ... Read More