Shaikh Paltu, IOM (c. 1820s – 6 May 1857) was a

havildar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian and Pakistani armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry and armoured units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British sergea ...

initially being a

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...

(soldier), with the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

who served in the 34th

Bengal Native Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing in ...

in March 1857, shortly before widespread discontent broke out in the

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...

. When on March 29, Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the same regiment attacked a British lieutenant, Shaikh Paltu intervened to assist the officer and seized Mangal Pandey. The sepoys of the quarter guard on duty and others present refused to take any action against their comrade and remained as "idle spectators of a murderous assault".

History

An English sergeant-major had been first to arrive at the scene but was knocked down by the musket of a member of the quarter-guard. While other sepoys looked on, the lightly armed Shaikh Paltu continued to defend the two British officers, grabbing Mangal Pandey by the waist and calling upon other soldiers to join him. A number of off-duty sepoys had crowded around the struggle and some abused and struck at Shaikh Paltu with stones and shoes. But shaikh paltu didn't loosen his grip for a moment and continued to hold mangal pandey tightly The intervention of Shaikh Paltu enabled Adjutant Baugh and Sergeant-Major Hewson, both injured, to rise. Some members of the quarter-guard detachment are reported to have attacked their officers with the butts of their

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s, while four others were ordered by the guard commander ''

Jemadar Jemadar or jamadar ( Hindustani: जमादार; جمعدار) is a title used for various military and other officials in the Indian subcontinent. Etymology The word stems from Urdu (), which derives through Persian ''jam'dar'' from Arab ...

'' Ishwari Prasad not to intervene in support of Shaikh Paltu. Major-General J. Hearse, who with other officers had ridden to the scene, now took control of the situation. Pandey shot and wounded himself, and the members of the quarter-guard now obeyed orders. Mangal Pandey "shivering and convulsed" with a chest wound was brought to the regimental hospital under guard.

Aftermath

Mangal Pandey and the ''Jemadar'' in command of the guard were subsequently court-martialed, and executed by hanging on 8 and 21 April respectively. The seven companies of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) stationed at Barrackpore on 29 March were disbanded five weeks later on May 6. Three companies of the regiment located elsewhere on that day, plus the loyalist Shaikh Paltu, continued in service. Shaikh Paltu was promoted to ''

Havaldar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian and Pakistani armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry and armoured units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British serge ...

'' (sergeant) and recommended by General Hearse to be presented with the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

. Shortly after receiving his decoration and just before the discharging of most of the 34th BNI, Shaikh Paltu was murdered by several of his former comrades in an isolated part of the cantonment. The Great

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

broke out at Meerut on the evening of Sunday 10 May 1857, following closely on the incident involving Mangal Pandey and Shaikh Paltu exactly six weeks earlier.

In popular culture

Films and television

In the 2005 Bollywood Hindi movie Mangal Pandey: The Rising, directed by

Ketan Mehta Ketan Mehta (born 21 July 1952) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who has also directed documentaries and television serials since 1975. Early life and education Born on 21 July 1952 in Navsari in Gujarat, Mehta did his sch ...

, Shaikh Paltu was portrayed by

Murali Sharma Murali Sharma (born 9 August 1972) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu language, Telugu and Hindi films. Sharma has starred in over 130 feature films including Telugu language, Telugu, Hindi, Tamil language, Tamil, Marathi lang ...

History

Aftermath

In popular culture

Films and television

References

Suggested readings