169th anniversary of the Revolt of 1857,:
India marked the 169th anniversary of the Revolt of 1857, which officially broke out in Meerut on this day in 1857.The occasion serves to remember the legacy of the First War of Independence and the foundational sacrifice of Sepoy Mangal Pandey.The Revolt of 1857, often called the Sepoy Mutiny by British historians and the First War of Indian Independence by Indian nationalists, was a major, armed uprising against the rule of the British East India Company. It began as a mutiny of sepoys in the Company’s army but soon expanded into a broad-based popular rebellion involving peasants, artisans, and dispossessed royalty.The treacherous takeover of Awadh on grounds of misgovernance deeply hurt the sentiments of the sepoys, as nearly 75,000 soldiers in the British army hailed from this region.The immediate spark was the introduction of the Enfield rifle. Its cartridges were rumored to be greased with beef and pork fat, offending both Hindu and Muslim religious sentiments.The confiscation of land from taluqdars and high revenue demands under the land settlement of 1856 turned the peasantry against the British. On March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry fired at his European officers in Barrackpore. His execution on April 8, 1857, became a rallying cry for soldiers across North India.
