SSC
Mangal Pandey, who attacked British officers at Barrackpore in March 1857, belonged to the:
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Answer: Option A — 34th Bengal Native Infantry
Detailed Solution
Mangal Pandey (1827-1857) was a sepoy (soldier) of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment of the East India Company's army. He was born at Nagwa village in the Ballia district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.
In 1857, the Company introduced the new Enfield rifle. To load it, soldiers had to bite off the end of a paper cartridge. A rumour spread that the cartridges were greased with the fat of cows (sacred to Hindus) and pigs (forbidden to Muslims). This angered both Hindu and Muslim sepoys, who felt that the British were trying to destroy their religion and convert them to Christianity.
On 29 March 1857, at the Barrackpore cantonment near Calcutta, Mangal Pandey openly rebelled. He called on his fellow sepoys to rise against the British and attacked and wounded British officers, including Lieutenant Baugh and Sergeant-Major Hewson. Most of the other sepoys did not join him, and Jemadar Ishwari Prasad refused to arrest him. Mangal Pandey tried to shoot himself but survived. He was court-martialled and hanged on 8 April 1857, earlier than the scheduled date, to prevent unrest. The 34th BNI was disbanded in May 1857 as a punishment.
Although Mangal Pandey's action was an individual act of rebellion, it is regarded as the first major spark of the Revolt of 1857. The word "Pandey" became a slang term used by the British for rebellious sepoys. The large-scale revolt began a few weeks later at Meerut, on 10 May 1857, among the sepoys of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry.
Earlier, in February 1857, the 19th Bengal Native Infantry at Berhampore had also refused to use the new cartridges and was disbanded.
The Government of India issued a postage stamp in Mangal Pandey's honour in 1984. A park in Barrackpore, "Shaheed Mangal Pandey Maha Udyan", is named after him, and the Hindi film "Mangal Pandey: The Rising" (2005) is based on his life.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry revolted at Meerut on 10 May 1857.
- ✗The 19th Bengal Native Infantry refused the cartridges at Berhampore in February 1857.
- ✗The Madras Army largely did not join the revolt.
Quick tip
Remember: Mangal Pandey = 34th Bengal Native Infantry, Barrackpore, 29 March 1857, hanged 8 April 1857; Meerut revolt (10 May) = 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry; Berhampore = 19th BNI.
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Revolt of 1857 — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Revolt of 1857, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
The Revolt of 1857 was the first large-scale uprising against British rule in India. This topic covers its causes, the immediate trigger of the greased cartridges, its leaders and centres, the reasons for its failure, and its results, including the end of Company rule through the Government of India Act 1858. The most common questions match a leader with a centre of the revolt: Bahadur Shah Zafar and Bakht Khan at Delhi, Rani Lakshmibai at Jhansi, Nana Saheb and Tatya Tope at Kanpur, Begum Hazrat Mahal at Lucknow and Kunwar Singh at Arrah in Bihar. The revolt began at Meerut on 10 May 1857, and Mangal Pandey's protest at Barrackpore came earlier that year. Practise the Revolt of 1857 questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.