Mangal Pandey: Brave Martyr or Accidental Hero?
- Publisher : Penguin Random House
- Publishing year : December 2025
- Binding : Paperback
- ISBN : 9780143467533
- Age Group : Adult
- Language : English
n a sleepy Sunday afternoon in March 1857, an agitated sepoy of the East India Company's 34th Native Infantry marched on ...
n a sleepy Sunday afternoon in March 1857, an agitated sepoy of the East India Company's 34th Native Infantry marched onto the parade ground at Barrackpore, urging his comrades to rise in defense of their faith. When British officers moved to arrest him, he drew his sword and then turned his musket on himself. A few days later, Mangal Pandey was executed--entering history and legend as the man who sparked the 1857 Rising.
But who was the real Mangal Pandey? A fearless patriot fighting for his country's honor? A tragic, impulsive soldier driven by outrage? Or merely an intoxicated sepoy whose rash act ignited a revolution by accident?
In this lively, thought-provoking, and deeply researched study, historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee unravels the myths surrounding Mangal Pandey and the rebellion he came to symbolize. Drawing on historical records and eyewitness accounts, he paints a vivid portrait of life in the East India Company's cantonments, explores the tensions simmering within the ranks, and reveals how one man's act became the catalyst for one of the most defining uprisings in India's history.
Rudrangshu mukherjee is vice chancellor and professor of history at ashoka university. earlier, he taught at calcutta university; he has held visiting appointments at princeton university, manchester university and the university of california, santa cruz. he was the editor of the editorial pages of the telegraph, calcutta, and continues in that role as a consultant. he is the author and editor of several books which include awadh in revolt, 1857–58: a study of popular resistance, and spectre of violence: the 1857 kanpur massacres, as well as the penguin gandhi reader.
