Important Leaders Associated with the Revolt of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857-58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown.

Lord Canning was the governor-general of India during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the first Indian to have written in an Indian language on the causes of the Revolt of 1857.

In India, the term First War of Independence was first popularized by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 1909 book The History of the War of Indian Independence, which was originally written in Marathi.

Begun in Meerut by Indian troops (sepoys) in the service of the British East India Company, it spread to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow.

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Mangal Pandey was an Indian soldier who played a key part in the events immediately preceding the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857.

He was a sepoy (infantryman) in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment of the British East India Company.

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Lakshmibai (Rani of Jhansi) was the Maharani consort of the "Maratha princely state" of "Jhansi" from 1843 to 1853 as the wife of Maharaja Gangadhar Rao.

She was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and became a symbol of resistance to the British Raj for Indian nationalists.

Rani Lakshmibai was born on 19 November 1828 in the town of Varanasi into a Marathi Karhade Brahmin family.

She was named Manikarnika Tambe and was nicknamed Manu.

Rani Lakshmi Bai and Major Hugh Rose, two leaders of varying skills, fought against each other in the last phase of the Indian Revolt of 1857, in the battles of Jhansi, Kalpi, and Gwalior.

The Samadhi of Rani Lakshmi Bai is situated in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

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Mirza Ghalib, one of our greatest poets, was in Delhi when the uprising of 1857 was at its peak.

Mirza Ghalib was born in Kala Mahal, Agra into a family of Mughals who moved to Samarkand after the downfall of the Seljuk kings.

According to R.C. Majumdar - "the revolt was neither the first, nor was it national, nor was it a war of independence".

While reorganizing the Indian army in the post-1857 revolt, the Jonathan Peel Commission had the task of identifying social groups and regions from which 'loyal' soldiers could be recruited.