Mangal Pandey...


On March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey ...



... a Sepoy (soldier) in the 34th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry attacks ...





... two of his British superiors with the rifle...:



A leftenant (and regimental adjutant) named Baugh and Sergeant Major Hewson.

Pandey is heavily intoxicated with a brew called bhang in India. This drink consists of water, milk / yoghurt, spices, honey - and a large proportion of crushed hemp leaves!



However, the Sepoy's intoxication is not the reason for his attack on the British, but rather he should have drunk his courage beforehand!

Rather, Pandey intends to start a revolt in his regiment with his act!

He shares with his comrades (almost 100 percent Hindus and Muslims) the outrage over the new ammunition of the recently introduced Enfield P-53 rifle ...:



The cartridges are said to be coated with fats from pigs and cows!



While for Hindus like Pandey the cow is a sacred animal, Muslims are not allowed to eat pork and fat, not even to touch it!

And when the cartridges were bite open (to pour the powder charge into the barrel), the shooter inevitably came into contact with the grease ...:



When Leftenant Bough gets up again, he and Sergeant Major Hewitt had not been injured, he orders the regiment to arrest Pandey immediately.

But the Sepoys remain completely passively in line!

Only a single Sepoy, Shaikh Paltu, breaks away from the formation, drops his rifle and slowly approaches Pandey, who meanwhile loudly insults his comrades as "cowards" (still photo from an Indian film) ...:



When Pandey realizes that there will be no revolt, he turns his gun on himself and pulls the trigger!

However, he is seriously injured and stays alive.

Shaikh Paltu and the two British drag the seriously wounded man to the regimental hospital.

When it was poorly restored there, the British put it before a military tribunal ...



... that Mangal Pandey was sentenced to death on the gallows in less than 30 minutes.

The judgment was carried out on April 8, 1857.





On April 22nd, another Sepoy was hanged, namely Pandey's immediate superior, Jamadar (NCO) Ishari Pandey (not related, "Pandey" is a common name in the region!) - for disobeying orders.

Shaikh Paltu is honored for his loyalty and promoted to Jamadar, but can not enjoy his new rank for long:

A few days later he is murdered by members of the regiment!

That settles the matter for the British. Order has been restored.

In their colonial arrogance and delusion, however, the British overlook something. Something very serious!

An entire regiment has refused to come to the aid of its British superiors!

And so the great rebellion in India, which went down in history as the "Sepoy Uprising" (or Indian Mutiny) and which will cost the lives of many thousands of British civilians (and even more Indians) and nearly 3,000 British soldiers, will be complete on May 10, 1857 to come across them surprisingly ...



Mangal Pandey is revered today in India as the first freedom fighter against the British colonial power ...:





The place where he was executed is a national memorial...: