Study the picture and answer the following questions:

(a) Who are the people depicted in the picture?

(b) What were their grievances against the British?

(c) Name the person, who led an attack on his senior at Barrackpore? What punishment was given to him by the British? How is his act viewed by the Indians?

(a) The people depicted in the picture are Indian Sepoys in the British Army.

(b) Their grievances against the British were:

1. Indian soldiers were poorly paid, ill-fed and badly housed.
2. They were forbidden from wearing caste or sectarian marks, beards or turbans. This showed disregard for the sentiments of the sepoys.
3. All higher positions in employment were reserved for the British, irrespective of their performance.
4. The Indian soldiers were required to serve in areas away from their homes without extra payment.
5. The wages of the Indian soldiers were inadequate. British soldiers received more than eight times the salary of the Indian soldiers.
6. As per the General Service Enlistment Act in 1856, the Indian soldiers could be sent overseas on duty. The Brahmin soldiers saw this as a danger to their caste as it was a taboo for them to cross the seas.

(c) Mangal Pandey led an attack on his senior at Barrackpore. He was executed by the British after a Court Martial. He is hailed as a martyr by Indians for his heroic act.