RAS question
Mangal Pandey, who attacked British officers at Barrackpore on 29 March 1857, belonged to which regiment?
Correct answer: (C) 34th Bengal Native Infantry.
Mangal Pandey belonged to the 34th Bengal Native Infantry when he attacked British officers at Barrackpore on 29 March 1857.
Explanation
Mangal Pandey was a sepoy of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry. The Ministry of Culture places the Barrackpore incident in the chain of resentment over the 1853 Royal Enfield rifle cartridges, noting that the 19th Bengal Native Infantry had first protested and was disbanded. That resentment then spread to other native regiments. On 29 March 1857, Pandey, a sepoy in the 34th Regiment, attempted to kill Lieutenant Henry Baugh at Barrackpore; he also attacked Sergeant Major James Hewson and Adjutant Lt. Baugh. His own regiment did not rise as he expected, and he was publicly executed on 8 April 1857.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Pandey belonged to the 34th Regiment, not the 11th Bengal Native Infantry.
- (B) The 19th Bengal Native Infantry is linked to the earlier cartridge protest and disbandment, not to Mangal Pandey's own regiment.
- (D) Pandey was a sepoy in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry, so a cavalry unit such as the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry does not match.
Concept
This tests Modern Indian History through a precise 1857 uprising attribution: actor, place, date and regiment. Such fact-links recur in RAS MCQs because the same event can be framed through several nearby regiments at Barrackpore.