Mangal Pandey of the 34th BNI, angered…

Mangal Pandey of the 34th BNI, angered by the recent actions by the British, declares on March 29, 1857, at the Barrackpore parade ground, near Calcutta, that he will rebel against his commander.

When his adjutant Lieutenant Baugh comes out to investigate the unrest, the twenty-nine-year-old Pandey opens fire but hits his horse instead.

General John Hearsey comes out to see him on the parade ground, and will later claim that Mangal Pandey was in some kind of "religious frenzy".

He orders a Jemadar Ishwari Prasad to arrest Mangal Pandey, but the Jemadar refuses.

The whole regiment with the single exception of a soldier called Shaikh Paltu draws back from restraining or arresting Mangal Pandey.

Shaikh Paltu restrains Pandey from continuing his attack.

Mangal Pandey, after failing to incite his comrades into an open and active rebellion, tries to take his own life by placing his musket to his chest, and pulling the trigger with his toe.

He only manages to wound himself, is court-martialed on April 6, and hanged on April 8.

The Jemadar Ishwari Prasad too is sentenced to death and hanged on April 22.

The whole regiment is disbanded—stripped of their uniforms because it is felt that they harbor ill-feelings towards their superiors, particularly after this incident.

Shaikh Paltu is, however, promoted to the rank of Jemadar in the Bengal Army.

Sepoys in other regiments think this a very harsh punishment. (The show of disgrace while disbanding contributed to the extent of the rebellion in view of some historians, as disgruntled ex-sepoys returned home back to Awadh with a desire to inflict revenge, as and when the opportunity arose.)