The freedom struggle of 1857 began in Meerut. In this freedom struggle, the struggle
that Rao Kadam Singh, a resident of the nearby village Poothi of the Kila-Parikshitgarh
town of Meerut, waged together with Indian revolutionaries against the foreign tyrannical
British power, is not worthy of being forgotten.
After all, what was the background of Rao Kadam Singh? What was the social capital
that made Rao Kadam Singh the leader of the revolutionaries in his region? To look at
this, we must go back 67 years before 1857 to the year 1790, when, after the death of
Rao Jet Singh Nagar of Kila-Parikshitgarh, his adopted son Nain Singh Nagar sat on the
royal throne.
After the death of Rao Jet Singh Nagar, Nain Singh Nagar became the king of the
eastern pargana (sub-district). He had two sons. One son's name was Nattha Singh,
and the other son's name was Gumani Singh. King Nain Singh Nagar worked hard to
make every section of his region prosperous. He had several roads constructed,
opened hospitals, and gave land for pastures. He built seven palaces in Bahsuma for
himself and his six brothers. He built many temples, such as the Katyani temple and
Shiva temple of Parikshitgarh, donated land for a Jain temple in Hastinapur, and also
had several temples and dharmashalas (rest houses) built in Bahsuma and
Garh-Mukteshwar. He freed the common poor people in his region from the atrocities of
the Sayyid Muslims and put the oppressive Sayyid jagirdars (landlords) to death. For
the security of his kingdom and for revenue collection, King Nain Singh Nagar stationed
his six brothers in garhis (fortresses). He appointed Chain Singh in the garhi of Gohra
Alamgir, Bhup Singh in Bahsuma, Jahangir Singh in a garhi built in Poothi near
Parikshitgarh, Birbal Singh in Dhikoli near Mawana, Ajab Singh in Kankhal, and Khushal
Singh in Sikri.
King Nain Singh Nagar led the jagir (fiefdom) of his region for 13 years under the
Marathas and 15 years under British rule.
In 1803, when the British captured Delhi, according to the British, there were five
political families in the upper Doab region from Saharanpur to Bulandshahr. Among
them were Raja Ramdayal Singh of Landhaura, who had 804 villages; second, Raja
Nain Singh Nagar of Kila Parikshitgarh/Bahsuma, who had 350 villages; third, Rao Ajit
Singh Bhati of Dadri, who had 138 villages; fourth, Magniram Jat of Kuchesar; and fifth,
the Kunwar of Chhatari, Bulandshahr, who were Badgujar Muslim Rajputs. Of these five
families, the families of Landhaura, Kila Parikshitgarh, and Dadri were from the Gurjar
caste.
Adjacent to King Nain Singh Nagar's territory was the principality of Landhaura, of the
Panwar gotra of the Gurjars, whose king was Ramdayal. In 1813, King Ramdayal died.
The British broke this principality apart right after the king's death and divided the
principality by making several members of the royal family *taluqdars* (landholders).
This incident created tension in the region, which also affected the principality of
Kila-Parikshitgarh.
While serving his region like his ancestor, Rao Jet Singh Nagar, King Nain Singh Nagar
passed away in 1818. After the death of King Nain Singh Nagar, his son Nattha Singh
sat on the throne of Parikshitgarh. King Nain Singh Nagar's second son, Gumani Singh,
had become a sanyasi (ascetic).
It is well-known that the principality of Kila-Parikshitgarh came under the Emperor of
Delhi, so for information on what was happening in the politics of Delhi's Red Fort from
when King Nain Singh Nagar became king (1790) until his death (1818), see Appendix
No. 1.
In this article, the purpose of our writing is to shed light on the role of Rao Kadam Singh
Nagar of Kila-Parikshitgarh, Meerut, in the 1857 freedom struggle. Therefore, we again
focus on the events occurring in the Kila-Parikshitgarh principality.
After the death of King Nain Singh Nagar, his son Nattha Singh became the king. At this
time, British rule had been established in Delhi. The British were eliminating Indian
kings, princely states, and jagirdars.
In 1819, the British made Vijay Singh the taluqdar of the Kunja-Bahadurpur talluqa
(estate), which was under the nearby principality of Landhaura. The local farmers,
distressed by the exploitative policies of the British, took up arms. Vijay Singh led the
farmers. Vijay Singh was a close relative of the Landhaura royal family. On 03 October
1824, a fierce battle took place between the farmers and the British army. In this battle,
Vijay Singh was martyred along with his commander, Kalyan Singh. According to British
government figures, 152 freedom fighters were martyred in this battle, 129 were injured,
and 40 were arrested. This struggle by the farmers also created tension among the
farmers of Kila-Parikshitgarh.
The British government launched a campaign to disarm the people in this area. Three
cannons were mounted on the bastion of the Kila-Parikshitgarh fort. Raja Nattha Singh
had those cannons removed from the fort's bastion and hidden in a secret place.
The principality of Parikshitgarh was confiscated by the British. Nattha Singh was given
the right of a zamindari (landholding) of only 3.5 villages and was given only 5%
nankara (allowance) in 183 villages. In this situation, Nattha Singh filed a diwani dawa
(civil lawsuit) against the British rule in court. Raja Nattha Singh's claim was partially
accepted. Now, Nattha Singh received 274 villages, whose annual malguzari (land
revenue) was 50,000 rupees. Thus, during Raja Nattha Singh Nagar's time, the
Parikshitgarh principality was reduced to a small part. Raja Nattha Singh had one child,
a daughter, whose name was Ladkaur. She was married to Raja Khushal Singh of the
Landhaura principality. The wheel of time kept turning, and in August 1833, Raja Nattha
Singh died.
Before learning more about the principality, to understand the British system of
governance, see Appendix No. 2.
After Raja Nattha Singh's death in 1833, the jagir was again abolished. The British gave
Nattha Singh's queen a pension of 9,000 rupees per year and a 5% allowance. In 1836,
Sir H. M. Elliot made a settlement of the district. 20 villages were distributed among
other members of Raja Nattha Singh's royal family. As we have written above, Raja
Nain Singh had six brothers. All of them were given four villages each. It seems that one
of the six brothers had passed away childless, so four villages each were given to five
brothers out of the 20 villages. Raja Nain Singh's brother, Jahangir Singh, who lived in
the garhi of Poothi village, was the grandfather of Rao Kadam Singh, and Rao Kadam
Singh was the son of Kunwar Devi Singh. Rao Kadam Singh's mother's name was
Prankaur. Rao Kadam Singh was born on 25-10-1831. At this time, Rao Kadam Singh
was a 26-year-old strong young man and was the caretaker on behalf of Rani Ladkaur
of the Kila-Parikshitgarh principality.
Now we look at the sequence of events happening in the Red Fort, which led to the start
of the 1857 freedom struggle in Meerut, and in which Rao Kadam Singh gave his life.
See Appendix No. 3.
As soon as the news of the military mutiny in Meerut on 10 May 1857 spread,
revolutionaries in the eastern region of Meerut, under the direction of Rao Kadam
Singh, blocked all roads and disrupted British transport and communication. All British
people passing through the route were attacked. The revolutionaries of
Mawana-Hastinapur, under the leadership of Rao Kadam Singh's brothers Dalel Singh,
Pirthi Singh, and Devi Singh, formed a joint front with the rebels of Bijnor and shook the
British rule there by raiding the Mandawar, Daranagar, and Dhanora areas of Bijnor.
Rao Kadam Singh was declared the king of the eastern pargana. The revolutionaries,
led by Rao Kadam Singh and Dalel Singh, attacked the police of Parikshitgarh and
drove them back to Meerut. Raja Nain Singh Nagar's brother, Bhup Singh Nagar, had
two sons named Tula Singh and Lakshman Singh. Kunwar Tula Singh's son was
Kunwar Dalel Singh Nagar. Dalel Singh Nagar was married to Jain Kaur, the daughter of
Jaipal Singh of Panchli village, who belonged to the family of Dhan Singh Kotwal.
At that time, the British used to hire Indians for positions below ICS officers, at the clerk
level, on the recommendation of local kings and jagirdars. Therefore, there is a strong
possibility that Dhan Singh Kotwal was given a job in the police by the British on the
recommendation of Rao Kadam Singh. In 1925, Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan
of Chhatari was nominated by the zamindars for the UP Legislative Council. In 1925, he
reached a minister-type position as a Home Member. Although he did not have much
power, he still had the power to recommend. He made a change. At that time, too, jobs
were given on recommendation. He proposed that instead of recommendations, an
examination should be conducted for clerks. Then, after 1925, examinations for general
jobs started in place of recommendations.
Rao Kadam Singh wanted to establish the kingdom of his ancestor, Jet Singh Nagar's
time. He wanted to establish his *garhi* in Panchli and Sikri.
In preparation for a potential war with the British, the three cannons that had been
hidden by Rao Kadam Singh's ancestor, Raja Nattha Singh, were mounted on the
bastion of the Parikshitgarh fort. On 30-31 May, a battle took place between the
revolutionary army and the British army on the banks of the Hindon, in which the
revolutionary army could not win but did not lose either. On 31 May, a revolution also
broke out in Bareilly; the British were also driven out of Bareilly. Nawab Mahmud Khan
of Najibabad, Bijnor, was a descendant of the Rohilla chief Najib-ud-Daula. Rao Kadam
Singh's family had relations with this family since the time of Rao Jet Singh. A member
of Mahmud Khan's family, Bakht Khan, was a subedar in the British army and the
commander of the revolutionary army in Bareilly. After establishing order in Bareilly,
Bakht Khan marched with his army towards Delhi. At this time, there was a bridge of
boats on the Ganga River at Garh-Mukteshwar. The British did not want this army to
reach Delhi. Therefore, the British broke this bridge. But Rao Kadam Singh, using his
resources, arranged for boats and helped this army cross the Ganga river on 27 June
1857. The British could only watch.
The Bareilly brigade, with the help of Rao Kadam Singh Gurjar and other Gurjars,
arranged for boats on the eastern bank of Garh-Mukteshwar and on 27 June, under the
leadership of Bakht Khan, crossed the Ganga river from Garh-Mukteshwar and
marched towards Delhi. The Bareilly brigade destroyed all government buildings,
including the stable building in Babugarh, which fell on the way.
The day of 27 June holds special importance for the British and Indians in the
Ganga-Yamuna Doab. On 27 June, Chaudhary Shahmal Singh broke the bridge on the
Yamuna, which prevented the army of British supporters from entering the Doab to help
the British army. On the same day, 27 June, the army of the Joint Magistrate of
Saharanpur, Robertson, was stopped in Gangoh by the revolutionary leader Fatua
Gurjar, who sacrificed himself on the battlefield with thousands of his associates. The
British army from Saharanpur also could not go to help the British army to stop the
Bareilly brigade from going to Delhi. Thus, on 27 June, the Indian revolutionaries fought
with the British on three fronts, in which the Indians were successful.
Magistrate Williams and his European companions fled to Meerut. With the arrival of the
Bareilly brigade in Delhi, the position of the rebel Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar
became very strong. This entire series of events boosted the morale of the
revolutionaries throughout the country, including Delhi and the Doab.
Had this army not crossed the Ganga and reached Delhi, the British would have gained
control over Delhi in the first week of July itself. On the first of July, Bakht Khan reached
Delhi with his army. Now, the revolutionaries held control over Delhi until the end of
September.
Now the political cards were revealed. It became clear that if the result of the war
between the British and the revolutionary army was in favor of the revolutionary army,
Rao Kadam Singh would remain the king of Kila-Parikshitgarh; if the result went in favor
of the British, then what the British wanted would happen. On the first of July, Bakht
Khan reached Delhi with the army.
For information on the events unfolding in Delhi from 10 May until Bakht Khan's arrival,
see Appendix No. 4.
The British started a siege from all sides to stop aid to the revolutionary army fighting in
Delhi. The day after Rao Kadam Singh helped Bakht Khan's army cross the Ganga on
27 June, the then Collector of Meerut, R.H. Dunlop, wrote a letter to Major General
Hewitt on 28 June 1857, stating that if we did not take firm steps to punish the enemies
and help our supporters, the area would go out of control.
Then the British formed a force in Meerut called the Khaki Risala, which had 56
cavalrymen, 38 infantry soldiers, and 10 gunners. In addition, there were 100 riflemen
and 60 soldiers armed with carbines. On the morning of 4 July 1857, the Khaki Risala
attacked the village of Dhan Singh Kotwal. The entire village was blown up with cannon
shells, and Dhan Singh Kotwal's mud mansion was demolished. There was heavy firing.
Hundreds of people were martyred. Of those who survived, 46 were captured, and out
of them, 40 were hanged.
On 9 July, the Khaki Risala attacked Sikri village on the Delhi road. According to a
report sent to the government by the then Commissioner of Meerut, F. Williams, the
struggle in the Gurjar-dominated village of Sikri Khurd lasted for a full five hours, and
170 revolutionaries were martyred in it.
On 17 July, the Khaki Risala attacked Basod village near Baghpat. According to Dunlop,
about 150 people were killed in Basod. On 18 July, the Khaki Risala attacked
Chaudhary Shahmal Singh. In this battle, about 200 Indians were martyred, including
Baba Shahmal. On 22 July, the Khaki Risala reached Akalpura near Sardhana. The
revolutionaries were entrenched around the house of Narpat Singh. But they could not
stand against modern weapons. Any man found in the village was shot dead by the
British. Hundreds of revolutionaries, including Narpat Singh, were martyred.
The British tried to destroy every possibility of aid reaching the revolutionary army of
Delhi from between the Ganga and Yamuna, from Meerut to Delhi.
After these events, Rao Kadam Singh left Parikshitgarh and set up a front in Bahsuma,
from where he continued the fight against the British from the Ganga khadar
(floodplain).
On 18 September, the revolutionaries supporting Rao Kadam Singh attacked Mawana
and surrounded the tehsil. Due to the arrival of the Khaki Risala, the revolutionaries had
to retreat. On 20 September, the British recaptured Delhi. Seeing the situation, Rao
Kadam Singh and Dalel Singh, along with thousands of their supporters, crossed the
Ganga to Bijnor, where a revolutionary government was still running under the
leadership of Nawab Mahmud Khan. Qazi Inayat Ali of Thana Bhawan and three
Mughal princes also fled from Delhi and reached Bijnor.
To know the sequence of events from 14 July until the defeat of the revolutionary army
in Delhi, see Appendix No. 5.
After the defeat of the revolutionaries in Delhi, we now bring the readers back to Meerut,
where Rao Kadam Singh was struggling. In these circumstances, Rao Kadam Singh
and his colleagues decided that the struggle would continue until their last breath,
whatever the outcome. The British army razed the fort of Parikshitgarh and the *garhi*
of Poothi to the ground.
Rao Kadam Singh and Dalel Singh, along with thousands of their supporters, went
across the Ganga to Bijnor, where a revolutionary government was still running under
the leadership of Nawab Mahmud Khan.
The revolutionaries, led by Rao Kadam Singh and others, carried out several
campaigns from Bijnor by crossing the river. They attacked Ranjitpur and snatched the
British horses. On 5 January 1858, they crossed the river and set fire to the police
station in Mirapur, Muzaffarnagar. After that, they attacked the Mayapur Ganga canal
outpost in the Haridwar area. They burned the British bungalows in Kankhal.
Encouraged by these campaigns, Nawab Mahmud Khan planned to attack Meerut with
Kadam Singh and Dalel Singh, but before that, on 28 April 1858, the revolutionaries
were defeated in a battle with the British in Bijnor. The British arrested the Nawab near
Rampur. After that, the revolutionaries were also defeated in Bareilly. What happened to
Kadam Singh and Dalel Singh after that is not known.
A lok mrityu (popularly presumed death) is also considered a death. Therefore, we can
consider 28 April 1858 as the martyrdom day of the last king of Kila-Parikshitgarh, Rao
Kadam Singh, and his associates.
A hundred salutations to Rao Kadam Singh and his companions.
End.
Appendix Number-1
Maratha Sardar Mahadji Scindia, whose center was Gwalior, passed away in the year
1794. Now, Dolat Rao Scindia took the place of Mahadji Scindia. Time continued to
pass. Nine years later, on 11 September 1803, the army of the East India Company
attacked Delhi. Dolat Rao Scindia’s army fought staunchly with the English army.
However, the Maratha army was defeated. The English gained authority over Delhi.
Now, on 16 September 1803, the East India Company's officer General Lake met with
the Mughal Badshah Shah Alam II and assured the Badshah that he need not worry; he
would remain the Badshah as before. On 8 October 1803, Lord Wellesley wrote a letter
to the Badshah saying that the Company government would take full care of the
Badshah's peace and honor. The English could have removed the Badshah if they
wanted, but they wanted to exploit the Indians under the guise of the Badshah.
According to their plan, the English increased the pension of Badshah Shah Alam II,
which the Marathas gave at 17,000 rupees per month, to 60,000 rupees per month.
Now the region of the Ganga-Yamuna doab came under the authority of the English. On
19 November 1806, Badshah Shah Alam II died. Now, the English made the son of
Badshah Shah Alam II the Badshah of Delhi. His name was Akbar II; he was the 18th
Mughal Badshah of India. Time began to pass. In the year 1818, two more incidents
occurred. One, the princely state of Awadh, which came under the Mughal Badshah,
became a fully subordinate state of the East India Company. Second, the Maratha
Peshwa Bajirao II was removed from Poona by the English and, after being given a
pension, was sent to Bithur near Kanpur.
English courts had begun to be established in India. The verdicts of civil cases
proceeded according to English law, and criminal cases continued according to Shariat.
To hang Indians, the English used to take permission from the Badshah. However, this
permission was a pretense; the Badshah was a salaried employee of the English, and
signing every order was the Badshah's compulsion. The English rule had two faces.
One was a liberal face; in this face, their courts, churches, hospitals, roads, bridges, and
railways were visible, which was very just.
But behind this just face was the real face, under which the English used their courts to
hang Indians; they used railways, roads, and bridges to transport military materials and
to carry raw materials produced in India to the ports. They began to use schools,
churches, and hospitals to convert Indians to Christianity.
Appendix Number-2
The English considered Indians to be of a lower grade; their behavior with the common
man was very bad. English officials were drowned in corruption. To rule over Indians, the English created the Indian Civil Service; in it were 2,000 English officers, 10,000
English officers in the army, and 60,000 English soldiers were posted in India. No Indian
could go to a high post; Indian employees were humiliated. In the court of an Indian
judge, no case was registered against any Englishman. No Indian could sit in the
first-class compartment of a railway carriage. On placards in hotels and clubs run by the
English, it was written that the entry of dogs and Indians is prohibited.
The Indian soldiers were also dissatisfied. The salary of an Indian Subedar in the army
was 35 rupees per month, whereas the salary of an English Subedar posted at the
same rank was 195 rupees per month. Indian soldiers were not given promotions. From
the year 1806 to the year 1855, Indian soldiers rebelled many times. But the English
crushed them with great cruelty. The English had devastated Indian agriculture. They
made the farmers grow crops of their own choosing, due to which the Indian farmers'
crop cycle was ruined.
The condition of the native kings was that, on one hand, they were floundering in the
clutches of the English; on the other hand, they felt that their existence would end as
soon as they moved away from the English. Many kings and princes were not won by
the English in war but were directly usurped after the kings died.
The India that had disintegrated after Aurangzeb came together again under the
leadership of the English. However, this integration was as painful as the Mughal rule.
The English propagated their liberal face so widely that what would the common Indian
see of their exploitative face? The one who was exploited would only find out when they
were in no position to do anything. This was the political skill of the English, or their
deceit. This is for everyone to decide from their own perspective.
Appendix Number-3
In the year 1835, the English changed the Mughal Badshah's title. Now, instead of the
Badshah of India, they began to call the Badshah the king of Delhi. In the same year,
the inscription on the coins was also changed. Until now, the coins were inscribed in the
Persian language. On the other side, the Badshah's name was marked. Now the
language written on the coins was made English. The Badshah's name was removed.
This was, in a way, a declaration of the end of Mughal rule. But there would have been
a protest against this only if the Badshah was truly a Badshah. In the year 1837, a
terrible famine occurred in the Ganga-Yamuna doab. In this famine, about 8 lakh people
died. There was an outcry everywhere. The East India Company's government did
nothing to help the famine victims. When the people protested, the public was
suppressed by the force of power. In the year 1837 itself, the Mughal Badshah Akbar II
died. Now, keeping their own interest in mind, the English, instead of the deceased
Badshah Akbar II's elder son, made his younger son Mirza Abu Zafar, alias Bahadur
Shah Zafar, the Badshah. He was the 19th Mughal Badshah of India. The cycle of time
continued to turn. The Badshah was getting by on the pension received from the
Company. But this was not to last forever. In the year 1842, Lord Ellenborough came to
India as the Governor-General. He stopped the gifts given to the Badshah on behalf of
the Company government. In the year 1848, Lord Dalhousie came to India as the
Governor-General. He told the Mughal Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar to leave the Red
Fort and go live in Mehrauli. But the Badshah did not accept this. He did not go out of
the Red Fort. Upon this, in 1856, the English made a treaty with one of the Badshah's
wayward princes, Mirza Quwaish. The English settled with Mirza Quwaish that he would
leave the Red Fort and go to Mehrauli. The Company government would give him a
pension of 15,000 rupees a month. He would use the title of Shahzada (prince) instead
of the title of Badshah.
In the year 1856 itself, the English usurped the state of Awadh. The Nawab of Awadh at
this time was Wajid Ali Shah. It was a prosperous state, and the state owed the
Company government four crore rupees. The English exiled Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and
sent him to Calcutta. The Nawab's wife, Begum Hazrat Mahal, was made the ruler of
the state. When the news of this incident spread in the country, all the kings of the
princely states were startled.
In the year 1852, Peshwa Bajirao II died. The English stopped the pension of the
Peshwa's adopted son, Peshwa Nana Saheb II. At this time, Nana Saheb II wrote letters
to all the kings whose pensions had been stopped by the English, or those kings and
jagirdars whose jagirs had been confiscated, to unite and struggle against the English.
Nana Saheb also included Nawab Wajid Ali Shah's wazir, Ali Naqi Khan, who was in
Calcutta, and Begum Hazrat Mahal in his plan. At the beginning of 1857, in the Dum
Dum arsenal, a verbal altercation occurred between a Brahmin sepoy and a Dalit
employee over drinking water. In this exchange, the Dalit employee revealed the fact
about cow and pig fat being applied to cartridges. His name is said to be Matadin
Valmiki. This spread outrage in the army. The point is that the atmosphere against the
English was heating up everywhere. In these circumstances, Nana Saheb and Wazir Ali
Naqi Khan, in the guise of Muslim fakirs and Hindu sadhus, sent their messengers all
over North India to contact Indian soldiers and aggrieved jagirdars. At the beginning of
1857, Nana Saheb Peshwa, with his younger brother Bala Saheb and his general
Azimullah Khan, set out on a tour of India on the pretext of a pilgrimage. Nana Saheb
contacted the kings of all the princely states of India and soldiers in military
cantonments. Nana Saheb, upon reaching Delhi, also met with Badshah Bahadur Shah
Zafar and his wife Begum Zinat Mahal in the Red Fort. Perhaps it was then that the date
of 31st May was decided for the revolution, and the Indian army also joined this
campaign. For the propagation of the revolution, Nana Saheb's workers, in the guise of
fakirs and sanyasis, conducted intensive publicity from Barrackpore in Bengal to
Peshawar in Pakhtunistan, and from Lucknow to Satara in Maharashtra. Through this
effort, Delhi, Bithur, Lucknow, Calcutta, and Satara became the main centers of the
revolution. An English officer, Wilson, informed his superior that the date of 31st May
had been fixed by the Indians for the revolt. At that time, the capital of India was
Calcutta, but as the Mughal Badshah sat in the Red Fort of Delhi, the importance of
Delhi was not less.
Nana Saheb, with his power and intellect, had shaken and awakened the goddess of
revolution and her sons (Indian soldiers and anti-English jagirdars and kings). When the
goddess of revolution opened her eyes and looked towards the Red Fort, the Badshah
sitting inside the Red Fort was extremely weak, poor, old, and unenthusiastic. He did
not have enough strength to stand up and open the gate of the Red Fort to welcome the
goddess of revolution. In this state, the sons of the goddess of revolution themselves
came forward, kicked open the door of the Red Fort, and, embracing the Badshah
sitting inside the Red Fort, made him stand at the gate of the Red Fort to welcome the
goddess of revolution, even though he did not want to.
When the information about the rebellion on 31st May reached the English, they too
became alert. The English kept an eye on wherever they perceived a threat. Among the
cantonments of the Bengal Army, there was also a cantonment in Meerut. Based on the
information that reached the English, they had no threat from Meerut. In Meerut, there
were only two regiments of native sepoys, whereas here there was a full rifle battalion
and a dragoon regiment of white soldiers; there were 2200 English soldiers in Meerut. A
good artillery unit was also under the full control of the English. In this situation, the
English were carefree. But it was only the grace of God that the credit for starting the
1857 war of independence went to Meerut.
At this time, the cantonment area came under the Sadar Kotwali of Meerut, and the
Kotwal of this police station was Dhan Singh Gurjar, who was a resident of Panchli
Khurd village on the Meerut-Baghpat road. As mentioned above, contact was made with
the people participating in the revolution by Nana Saheb's spies in the guise of sadhus,
sanyasis, and fakirs. In this connection, Dhan Singh Kotwal had contact with a sadhu
who came from Ayodhya at Surajkund. It is probable that Rao Kadam Singh must have
also had a meeting with someone.
In Meerut, on 8th May, the weapons of those soldiers who had refused to take the
cartridges greased with cow and pig fat were confiscated, and they were imprisoned.
These arrested sepoys were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by the
Major General of the Meerut division, W.H. Hewitt.
On 10th May, with the ringing of the church bell, the activities of the Indian soldiers
began. At 6:30 PM, the Indian soldiers killed the commanding officer of the Eleventh
Regiment, Colonel Finnis, and Captain MacDonald, who was an officer of the education
department of the Twentieth Regiment, and broke open the jail to free their 85
comrades. The Kotwal of the Sadar Kotwali, Dhan Singh Gurjar, immediately became
active; he immediately sent a sepoy to his village, Panchli, which was only five
kilometers from the police station. The village of Sikri was only 10 kilometers away from
Panchli. Immediately, those who were fit to fight gathered, and thousands of them
reached the Sadar Kotwali with Dhan Singh Kotwal's brothers. According to the legend
prevalent in the villages around Meerut, this revolutionary crowd, under the leadership
of Dhan Singh Kotwal, broke the jail late at two o'clock at night, freed 839 prisoners, and
set fire to the jail. This revolutionary crowd had already destroyed everything related to
the English in Meerut city and the cantonment. The revolutionary crowd had burned
down all establishments related to the English in Meerut; so that information could not
be exchanged, the telegraph line had been cut. The English rule had ended in Meerut;
no Englishman was left; the English were either killed or had hidden somewhere.
After walking 70 kilometers throughout the night, these revolutionary soldiers from
Meerut reached the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi before daybreak on 11th May. Among
these soldiers were cavalrymen from the 3rd, 11th, and 20th numbered battalions of the
Bengal Native Infantry. These three contingents were being led by the soldiers of the
3rd battalion. To enter Delhi, a bridge was made by joining boats. It was through this
bridge that these soldiers entered the city. These soldiers, reaching outside the Red
Fort, sent a message to the Badshah through the fort's guard that the sepoys from
Meerut wanted to meet. The Badshah refused to meet and said that they should wait for
the Badshah's order outside the city. By this time, the English had received information
about this army coming from Meerut. The English tried to close the gates of the walled
city of Delhi. But by then, it was too late. The revolutionary soldiers had entered Delhi
from the direction of the Rajghat gate in southern Delhi. Upon entering, the
revolutionary soldiers set fire to a customs office. Now they moved towards the Civil
Lines situated in northern Delhi, where the high officials of Delhi and their families lived.
At this time, three kilometers from Delhi, there were two barracks of the Bengal Native
Infantry; in these barracks were the jawans of the 38th, 54th, and 74th battalions of the
infantry. They provided gunpowder and cannons to the sepoys who came from Meerut.
After getting the weapons, the revolutionary soldiers, after destroying all the important
offices built by the English in northern Delhi, set fire to the bungalows of English officials
and priests, and killed whichever Englishman they found. Some English escaped this
slaughter and went to hide in the main guard. The revolutionary soldiers surrounded
them right there. But by then, English soldiers from the barracks arrived; the English
hiding there were saved. Now the revolutionary soldiers attacked the British arsenal.
The English soldiers tried their best to save this magazine, but the Indian soldiers and
employees present in the magazine sided with the revolutionary soldiers. A struggle
ensued for five hours. Seeing the magazine being snatched away, the English set it on
fire with their own hands. All the English officers present there were killed; only three
managed to escape. These three officers were later given the Victoria Cross. After this,
the revolutionary soldiers reached Kashmere Bazar. Seeing these soldiers, a stampede
broke out among the English. Some English officers and their families went to hide in
the Fakhrul-Masajid, where they were killed. After this, the mansion of the English
officer, Mr. Collins, and St. James's Church were torched. By this time, the revolutionary
soldiers were bloodthirsty. Local people came out in their support. The English were
hunted down and killed in the streets of Delhi. 23 Englishmen found in a church were
killed. After killing the English, local people began to point out the Indians who had been
supporters of the English. Now the revolutionary soldiers killed the pro-English Indians.
The pro-English Jain and Marwari moneylenders were annihilated along with their
houses. This massacre continued for the entire day and night of 11th May. The English
who survived gathered at the Flagstaff Tower, built on a hillock in north-west Delhi,
which is called the Ridge. It is still near Delhi University today; from here, the
information about the incident in Delhi was sent to distant English officials via telegraph.
That same night, the English left for Karnal.
On 12th May, in the afternoon, Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar sent his guard to
Daryaganj and had it proclaimed that the killing should stop. The English or their
families who were hidden somewhere should be brought to the Red Fort, and the
bodies of the dead English should be cremated. The Badshah entrusted this task to
Thanedar Mohiuddin Khan. 19 hidden Englishmen were found in a church, who were
brought to the Red Fort. The Badshah had the bodies of all the English cremated. On
the night of the 12th, the revolutionary soldiers again reached the Badshah's palace in
the Red Fort. They sent a message through the Badshah's guard to meet the Badshah.
The Badshah refused to meet. These sepoys could have gone by force if they wanted,
but they understood the delicacy of the time. If they did not get the Badshah's
patronage, everything would be finished. They would be left alone. So they remained
steadfast outside and repeatedly requested to meet the Badshah. At midnight, the
revolutionary soldiers had a meeting with the Badshah. The Badshah reprimanded
them, saying what would be gained by killing the people of the city? They had done very
wrong. In the end, the Badshah accepted the leadership. The Badshah said that they
should not kill any innocent person now and should remain disciplined. At 12 o'clock on
the night of 12th May, a 21-gun salute was given to the Badshah. The whole of Delhi
trembled with the roar of the cannons. The Badshah made his eldest prince, Mirza
Mughal, the commander of his army. Now the revolutionary soldiers were not without
leadership. The revolutionary soldiers requested the Badshah that the people of Delhi
should also know that he is the Badshah and they are his soldiers. Therefore, on 13th
May, the Badshah was seated on an elephant, and a procession was taken out on the
streets of Delhi, in which slogans in the name of the Badshah were being raised. What a
turn of time it was that the Badsha,h who did not have money to pay the salary of one
soldier, had become the master of the soldiers of Asia's most advanced army, the
Bengal Native Infantry.
Appendix Number-4
On 13th May, when the royal procession of Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar came out on
the streets of Delhi, the people of Delhi welcomed the revolutionary soldiers by
showering flowers and feeding them sweets at various places. The English who had
survived in Delhi were all under the Badshah's protection in the Red Fort; their number
was 52. The Badshah had also had the dead English cremated. Therefore, the leaders
of the revolutionary soldiers felt that the Badshah was playing a double game; if, for
some reason the revolutionary army lost and the English reoccupied Delhi, the Badshah
could get a pardon in exchange for his positive behavior towards the English. Therefore,
to eliminate this possibility, the revolutionary soldiers reached the Badshah on 16th May
and asked his permission to kill the 52 English who were under the Badshah's
protection. The Badshah did not give permission, but the revolutionary soldiers, without
the Badshah's permission, took these 52 Englishmen outside the Red Fort under a
peepal tree and killed them. When this news reached the people of Delhi, most were
pleased. But the Badshah was very sad. The sycophants of the English were still
present around the Badshah; they conveyed the news of this incident to the English.
The Badshah and his prince had no experience of war. Therefore, what preparations
should be made to face the English? They did not know. They had to arrange for
provisions for the army, medical treatment for the wounded, and security for those
people from all around Delhi from whom the Badshah was to get help, and suppression
of those who could help the English, and an arrangement of spies to keep track of the
English strategy, but they did nothing. Whatever was there was dependent on the
revolutionary soldiers and the public. The people of Delhi were bearing the burden of
the revolutionary soldiers' food. The Gurjars living around Delhi were cooperating with
the revolutionary soldiers in the same way as they had in Meerut on May 10th. They
established blockades on the roads to Delhi and were deployed, and began to assist the
army in maintaining order.
On the other hand, the English preparations were proceeding rapidly. The largest army
of the English was the Bengal Native Infantry, which had 139,000 soldiers, of which
132,000 soldiers had raised the flag of revolution. Now, to control them, the English had
a large army stationed on the Afghanistan border. Until that army reached Delhi, a plan
was prepared to use the English forces located in Meerut, Ambala, and Karnal near
Delhi to keep the revolutionary soldiers surrounded, and on 17 May 1857, the white
platoons of Ambala and Meerut were sent towards Delhi. When the Ambala army
reached Karnal, cholera broke out in the army. The army's General Anson died of
cholera. After some days, when the outbreak of cholera subsided, the army marched
under the leadership of General Henry Barnard. These white platoons from Meerut and
Ambala met at a place called Alipur on 7 June 1857. A Gurkha platoon also joined
them.
Meanwhile, William Hodson, who was an English officer and had been the Deputy
Commissioner of Amritsar, was appointed to assist the Commander-in-Chief John
Anson, and he formed a cavalry detachment from Punjab in which all were Sikh
horsemen. This detachment was named Hodson's Horse. This detachment was not to
fight with the enemy. Its job was to spy ahead of the English army so that the army
would receive accurate information. Not only this, but Hodson made Maulvi Rajab Ali
the head of his intelligence department. This Rajab Ali had previously spied for the
English. His men were throughout the Doab and even inside the Red Fort of Delhi. It
was because of this Rajab Ali that every news from the Red Fort was reaching Hodson.
The marvel of Rajab Ali was that Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar's wife, Begum Zinat
Mahal, Prime Minister Hakim Ahsanullah Khan, and the father-in-law of the Badshah's prince, Mirza Fakhru, Mirza Ilahi Bakhsh, had also become Hodson's informants. These
were the people who wanted to have ladoos in both hands. They thought that if the
revolutionary army lost to the English, they would gain from Hodson, and if the Badshah
won, they were close to him anyway. The poor Badshah and his commander-in-chief
prince did not know anything.
On 8 June 1857, the English army reached a place called Badli-ki-Sarai, ten kilometers
from the Yamuna bank. The revolutionary army was also camped here. The white army
attacked this army and pushed the revolutionary army towards Delhi. The English army
captured the Ridge, which was a big success. From 10th June, the white army started
shelling Delhi with small cannons. Hodson set up his office on the Ridge itself. On 13th
June, Hindu Rao's House and the Bank of Delhi building were destroyed in the shelling.
There was a stir in Delhi. On 19th June, the revolutionary army launched a strong attack
on the white army positioned on the Ridge, but the Ridge could not be captured. On 23
June 1857, another big attack was made by the revolutionary army on the English
positioned on the Ridge. This attack also failed.
Cholera broke out again in the English army. On 5th July, General Barnard died of
cholera. In these circumstances, Archdale Wilson became the Major General.
On 14 July 1857, Brigadier Neville Chamberlain was badly wounded in the shelling by
the revolutionary soldiers.
On the other hand, due to the weakness of leadership in Badshah Bahadur Shah
Zafar's army, resentment was spreading. The revolutionary soldiers clearly told
Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar that the leadership of Mirza Mughal and the Badshah's
grandson, Abu Bakr was not acceptable to them. In these circumstances, the Badshah
appointed Bakht Khan as the chief commander of the revolutionary army.
Appendix Number-5
From the cannons placed on the ramparts of the Red Fort of Delhi by the revolutionary
army and from the cannons placed on the Ridge by the English army, there was
continuous firing. Battalions of the Bengal Native Infantry from different cantonments of
India were reaching Delhi and joining the revolutionary army. In this sequence, on 14
August 1857, a brave English officer, John Nicholson, reached the Ridge with about four
thousand white soldiers. The revolutionary soldiers again launched a strong attack on
the Ridge. But because the English army was at its height, the revolutionary army did
not achieve any success. On 25th August, Nicholson launched a strong attack on the
revolutionary army that had taken up positions in Najafgarh. In this attack, the
revolutionary army had to retreat from Najafgarh. Nicholson killed the revolutionary
soldiers who came into his hands. An officer named Sir John Lawrence wrote a letter to
Nicholson saying that the rebel soldiers should first have a court-martial, their list should
be made, and then they should be punished. Behind this letter, Nicholson wrote a line
and sent the letter back, which read that there is only one punishment for every rebel,
and that is death. At this time, the three English officers stationed on the Ridge,
Nicholson, Hodson, and Metcalfe, had become of one mind. The English army was
fighting under the leadership of Archdale Wilson. Because the English did not have
large cannons, a way to enter Delhi could not be made. In September 1857, large
cannons from Punjab reached the white army. On 6th September and 8th September,
the white army launched a strong attack on the revolutionary army with large cannons
and tried to enter Delhi. But the revolutionary army foiled this attempt and pushed the
white army back. Now the English carried out heavy shelling with 50 cannons, in which
about 300 revolutionary soldiers were martyred. On 14th September, under the
leadership of Nicholson, a tremendous attack was launched on the revolutionary army;
the revolutionary soldiers fought a heavy battle at Kishanganj outside the Kabul Gate.
Both sides fought with their heads on their palms. A fierce battle was fought over the
control of St. James' Church in which 1170 English soldiers were killed. The English
officer Nicholson was wounded. In this struggle, so many English officers were killed
that the English soldiers became confused as to who their officer was.
On 16th September, the English regained control of the magazine, which the
revolutionary soldiers had captured on 11th May. On 16th September itself, Commander
Bakht Khan met the Badshah. Bakht Khan said that now Delhi is about to slip from our
control, so instead of fighting in one place, we should fight outside in the open field. We
should not surrender to the enemy. Bakht Khan asked the Badshah to go with him. But
the Badshah was scared, dejected, and disappointed; the bravery that was needed at
this time was not in him at all. Many jihadis began to gather below the Red Fort; the
common citizens of Delhi also reached the front of the Red Fort with sticks and guns.
Their number was about 70,000. Seeing this heavy crowd, the Badshah also came out
in his palanquin. It was rumored in the city that Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar had come
to the field for battle. Firing was going on from the side of the white army in front. Just
then, the English officer Hodson's spy, Hakim Ahsanullah Khan, scared the Badshah,
asking why he had come out. A fierce attack is happening, and his life will be lost.
Bahadur Shah Zafar had come out to fight for the first time in his life; in about three
hours, he went back to the fort without fighting. Again, a rumor spread in the city that the
Badshah had fled. A stampede broke out in Delhi. The English officers were surprised
to see this; they understood that Delhi had accepted defeat. At 11 o'clock on the night of
16th September, the Badshah called his daughter Kulsum Zamani and gave her some
jewelry and money, and told her to go with her husband Mirza Ziauddin. Her life was in
danger here. Kulsum Zamani left Delhi for Meerut that very night. But on the way, Gurjar
revolutionaries were positioned on the roads. They were all enraged by the news of the
Badshah's flight. When they saw the Badshah's daughter fleeing, they snatched all the
money from Kulsum Zamani.
On 17th September, before sunrise, Bahadur Shah Zafar left the Red Fort with his
trusted servants. He was also carrying some luggage with him. He got down in a boat
on the ghat of the old fort on the Yamuna River and reached the dargah of Khwaja
Nizamuddin Auliya, three miles south of Shahjahanabad. He kept that luggage there. In
this luggage were three holy hairs of the Prophet's beard, which he had received as a
legacy of the Timurid dynasty. After this, the Badshah headed towards his Mehrauli
palace, where he was to meet Bakht Khan. The Badshah thought that no one had seen
him, but Hodson's spies were right behind him. The Badshah's relative Ilahi Bakhsh
reached the Badshah; he told the Badshah not to go outside Delhi, as the Gurjars had
captured all the roads of Delhi. They will treat him the same way they have treated the
English so far. But the Badshah did not listen to him and kept going. Ilahi Bakhsh told
the Badshah that Begum Zinat Mahal has made a deal with Hodson. There is no danger
to his life. The Begum is waiting for him at the dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya. Now the
Badshah stopped. He took Begum Zinat Mahal with him and went to Humayun's tomb.
Now the Badshah had, in a way, become Hodson's prisoner, of which he had no inkling.
When this information spread in Delhi that the Badshah had fled, leaving the Red Fort,
the common people of Delhi lost courage. The exodus of the general public began. In
the meantime, this rumor spread that Gurjars and Meos were positioned on the roads
leading out of Delhi. So this public turned back towards the English. As has been
mentioned earlier, the propaganda of the liberal face of the English was so much that
the people of Delhi considered the English more suitable for their protection than their
Indian Gurjar and Meo revolutionaries. But when they faced the English, their lives and
property were all snatched away.
In the struggle that took place between the Indian revolutionaries and the English for the
capture of Delhi, 3817 soldiers were killed on the English side, and 5000 soldiers were
wounded. An estimated 5000 revolutionary Indian soldiers were martyred; no written
figure for the wounded is available.
On 18th September, the English captured the Jama Masjid, and on 19th September,
they laid siege to the Red Fort. On the morning of 20th September, the English army
attacked the Red Fort and entered inside. Major General Wilson had come to the
Diwan-i-Khas. Whoever was found in the Red Fort was killed by the white army. The
English officers ordered the army to completely 'clean up' Delhi. Cleaning up meant
killing whoever was found. The old, sick women, wounded revolutionary soldiers,
whoever was found was killed. English soldiers took 300 women from the royal harem
to the military camp and raped them. The English soldiers believed that while Badshah
Bahadur Shah Zafar was there, the Indian revolutionaries had raped English women.
After peace was established, an English officer, Charles Saunders, investigated these
allegations; during the investigation, Saunders found that the allegation of rape by
English soldiers against Indian revolutionaries was false.
On 20th September, Bakht Khan again asked the Badshah to go with him, but he did
not agree. Now, taking Ilahi Bakhsh with him, Hodson arrested the Badshah and locked
him in Begum Zinat Mahal's haveli. The Badshah's two princes, Mirza Mughal and Khizr
Sultan, and grandson, Abu Bakr, could not be caught yet. When Ilahi Bakhsh saw that
the English had not killed the Badshah, he told Hodson the whereabouts of the three
princes. Hodson arrested the three princes from Humayun's tomb, took them to Delhi,
and shot them dead after stripping them naked in front of the Red Fort. The bodies of
the three lay in front of the police station for three days. After three days, the bodies
were picked up and thrown on the bank of the Yamuna.
On 21 September 1857, the English officers officially declared victory over Delhi. The
revolutionary army had been defeated, the Badshah had been arrested; now the
English had to establish peace all around.
Governor-General Lord Canning showed generosity and said that whoever lays down
their arms will get justice. But this announcement of his remained only a political
announcement. The English army did not follow it. Lord Canning himself wrote in his
letter to Queen Victoria about the atrocities committed against the Indians.
Reference Books
1. Dr. Dayaram Verma - A Political and Cultural History of the Gurjar Caste.
2. Dr. Mohan Lal Gupta - The Painful Saga of the Red Fort
(YouTube-164,165,167,168,189 -193,197 -202,204-212,222)
3. Dr. Sushil Bhati - Rao Kadam Singh, the Crown Jewel of Meerut's Revolutionaries.
4. Kunwar Pratap Singh Nagar, Secretary, Raja Nain Singh Memorial Committee.
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