Mangal Pandey was an Indian soldier who played a key part in the events immediately preceding the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857.
Mangal Pandey was a sepoy in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry regiment of the British East India Company.
Mangal Pandey was born in Nagwa, a village of upper Ballia district, Ceded and Conquered Provinces, to a Hindu Brahmin family.
Mangal Pandey took position behind the station gun, which was in front of the quarter-guard of the 34th, took aim at Baugh and fired.
Mangal Pandey missed Baugh, but the bullet struck his horse in the flank bringing both the horse and its rider down.
Mangal Pandey was sentenced to death by hanging, along with Jemadar Ishwari Prasad, after three Sikh members of the quarter-guard testified that the latter had ordered them not to arrest Pandey.
The life of Mangal Pandey was the subject of a stage play titled The Roti Rebellion, which was written and directed by Supriya Karunakaran.
Samad Iqbal, a fictional descendant of Mangal Pandey, is a central character in Zadie Smith's debut novel White Teeth.
The Government of India commemorated Mangal Pandey by issuing a postage stamp bearing his image on 5 October 1984.