A Gandhi who helped the British to suppress the 'First war of Independence(1857)'.

Voltaire, a famous French writer remarked sardonically: "The Holy Roman Empire was in no way Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire."

Similarly many historians like to refer to the 1857 revolt as a mere Sepoy Mutiny rather than calling it 'The first war of Independence' because it was neither the First, nor a War, nor for Independence.

Neither the First...

There is a misconception that 'The 1857 Revolt' was the first revolt against the British's East India Company(EIC), but there are many other revolts like the Santhali rebellion by the Santhali tribes of Jharkand against the atrocities committed by the Zamindars in the name of British. There was Wahabi revolt by the Muslims which was an Islamic revivalist movement whose motive was to condemn the British changes to the original spirit of Islam. There were a few revolts by Tipu Sultan to restore his rule over his territories. All these revolts were swiftly put to an end by the East India Company.

The reason The 1857 revolt is called the 'First war of Independence' is because it was fought by the Indian rulers simultaneously against the EIC.

Nor a War...

Technically a war is something which is fought to serve a purpose against a common cause/causes.

But, when it comes to the 1857 revolt apart from the enemy(EIC/British) there was nothing in common. Different rulers had different reasons to revolt and none were common. Few backed out when their demands were met and the rest were suppressed.

Nor for Independence...

The revolt wasn't for independence but it was rather for the personal gains of the rulers. There were religious, military and political reasons for the people to rebel against the EIC.

In 1857, a rumour surfaced that, the Enfield rifles cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat. This infuriated Hindus and Muslims. 'Mangal Pandey' was the first to respond. He pledged to kill the first British official that he set eyes on. He failed in his attempt and was later hanged. This angered the Sepoys, which eventually led to their mutiny. The mutineers started killing the British officials, when confronted by the British army the mutineers fled to Delhi and claimed

Bahadur Shah-II(the last Moghul king and the ruler of Delhi) as their king. Bahadur Shah-II, the old and uncharismatic king was moved by the importance given to him and pledged to protect the Mutineers. This misadventure was put to an end by the British and the king exiled to Burma(Myanmar).

There were other reasons like salary discrimination between British soldiers and Indian soldiers and the soldiers belonging to upper caste refused sea voyages due to 'Kala Pani' taboo(According to this taboo, crossing the seas causes the loss of one's caste status).

The rulers had entirely different reasons of which some were downright stupid.

Lakshmibai of Jhansi rebelled against the British because of the 'Doctrine of lapse' policy which states "Kingdoms with no legitimate heirs goes to the British". Lakshmibai who had no legitimate heir adopted a son and claimed him her successor which was opposed by the Birtish.

Few rulers revolted in response to the 'Subsidiary alliance' policy which states "The Company(EIC) will provide you with soldiers when needed but they are to be paid(salaries and maintenance) thereafter." The first ruler to accept this offer was the Nizam of Hyderabad. Instead of paying the troops with money, he donated lands to the soldiers which were known as 'ceeded' lands in the present day Rayalaseema region(The reason the movie collections of Rayalaseema are called Ceeded collection).

Few rulers rebelled as the British abolished their titles(Raja Raja, Rajadhi Raja, Raja Bahadur etc..), their pensions and social evils like Sati and child marriages.

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The main reasons for the utter failure of the revolt were lack of unity, lack of leadership and non participation of many provinces. The entire southern India remained uninvolved. Many Indian rulers pledged their fealty to EIC. Few remained neutral and few helped British suppress the revolt.

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How a Gandhi helped British to suppress the 'First war of independence':

In 1857, Porbandar, a princely state, was ruled by Maharaja Rana Sahib Vikramatji Khimojiraj, who's one of the rulers who pledged their fealty to the British.

During the 1857 struggle against the British, the Wagheras of Dwarka revolted and continued to fight the war from the Hills of Abhapara under the leadership of Jodha Manek and Mulu Manik. They assassinated two British officials.

The British needed help, they sought it from all the princely states of Saurashtra region. The Maharaja obliged. He sent 200 soldiers to capture the rebels, which managed to capture and kill Mulu Manek.

The soldiers from Porbandar who helped crush this revolt, were ably lead by the Deewan of Porbandar, Mr. Kaba Gandhi, officially known as Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi.

Only if he knew, what his 4th child will grow up to be.