Mangal Pandey was an Indian sepoy in the service of the British East India Company. He was a Hindu of the aristocratic Brahman caste, which had been especially dispossessed under British paramountcy. Pandey inspired the Indian Mutiny (also called the Indian Rebellion of 1857, among other names) after rumours circulated that cow lard was used to grease rifle cartridges, which was repugnant to Hindus.