On this day 169 years ago, the Revolt of 1857 — also known as the Sepoy Mutiny or the First War of Indian Independence — broke out when a band of Indian soldiers (sepoys) in the British army ransacked an army base and murdered their European officers. But the fire was lit when Sepoy Mangal Pandey had fired a shot at the Sergeant Major of his regiment at Barrackpore near Kolkata weeks before, triggering a significant event in the history of Modern India. With the Revolt ended the rule of the East India Company over India, which would now be governed by and in the name of the British Monarch through a Secretary of State. The British were forced to announce the aim of their rule, and what would be their future policy with regard to India. Mangal Pandey and the discontent of Awadh Mangal Pandey, who was hanged to death by the Company on April 8, 1857, belonged to the kingdom of Awadh, which had been treacherously annexed by the British in 1856.…