Veer Kunwar Singh
The oldest hero of the 1857 revolt.
Veer Kunwar Singh was one of the heroes of the 1857 Revolt, who at 80 years, led the rebellion in Bihar and Eastern UP. The oldest of the rebel leaders, and the one who gave the toughest fight to the British too.
He belonged to the Ujjainiya Rajput clan, who are primarily found in Bihar- Eastern UP. They claim descent from Raja Bhoj, and in fact Bhojpur region gets it's name from this. Most of the Purbiya soldiers known for their martial skills were from this clan. He was the ruler of Jagdishpur , one of the more prominent Zamindari estates, located in Bhojpur district. Established in 1702 by Sujan Sahi, it was expanded later by his son Udwant Singh. They had a reputation of being one of the finest cavalry warriors.
Kunwar Singh was born on November 13, 1777 to Maharaja Shahabzada Singh and Maharani Panchratan Devi in Jagdishpur. An imposing physique, about 6 feet tall, he was also a keen huntsman and enjoyed horse riding. Inheriting the estate of Jagdishpur after his father’s death in 1826, he married the daughter of Raja Fateh Naraiyan Singh, a wealthy zamindar of Gaya who belonged to the Sisodia clan.
When the 1857 revolt broke out, Kunwar Singh was 80, his health was failing, yet he led the revolt in Bihar along with his brother Amar Singh. It was his commander in chief Hare Krishna Singh who convinced him to take up arms against the British. On July 25, 3 regiments of the sepoys at Danapur had revolted against the hanging of Pir Ali of Patna, one of the rebel mutineers. These regiments marched towards Jagdishpur, where they joined forces with Kunwar Singh.
The British comming to know of this invited Kunwar Singh for a feast to trap him. However being suspicious of the British intentions, he refused the invitation. He then attacked the district headquarters at Arrah, where a large number of Britishers were present. The treasury was looted in Arrah, the prison and Govt offices destroyed. The Britishers there took refuge in the Arrah House,along with 50 Sikhs. The rebels made many attempts to win the Sikhs over to their side, in vain though.
The British immediately rushed a force from Danapur under Captain Dunbar with 270 Englishmen and 100 Sikhs to relieve the siege. However Kunwar Singh’s forces attacked them at night and a fierce battle ensured, in which Dunbar and many of the Company’s soldiers were killed. Only 50 managed to survive the massacre. The British sent another force under Captain Ayer, with 3 cannons. Getting wind of the information Kunwar Singh, attacked him in the forest,however the rebels fell to the cannon fire, and had to flee.
After 8 days, Ayer managed to recapture Arrah and relieve the siege of Arrah House. Kunwar Singh retreated to Jagdishpur and tried to mobilize his army, however Ayer attacked once again, forcing him to flee and take refuge in the jungles nearby. Jagdishpur was captured by Ayer on August 14, 1857 and Kunwar Singh’s palace was taken over. Knowing that he had far less strength, Kunwar Singh bided his time till he learnt that a combined British-Nepali force was starting from Azamgarh towards Lucknow.
Kunwar Singh decided to attack once again using guerilla tactics and on March 18, 1858, some other rebels too joined him. Knowing that he was camping at Atrauli, the British under Millman attacked with a 300 strong infantry, cavalry and 2 cannons. When the British reached Atrauli on March 22, the rebels made a strategic retreat, making them believe that they had secured the place. Just as the British were relaxing, the rebels surrounded them and fired from all sides,forcing Millman to flee.
Kunwar Singh kept harassing the British from Atrauli to Kausila using a series of guerilla attacks. A totally harried Millman, managed to reach Azamgarh exhausted from hunger and thirst, chased by the rebels all the way. After Azamgarh was secured, Kunwar Singh advanced towards Varanasi, planning to secure this city as well as Allahabad.His plan was to cut off the road from Kolkata to Lucknow, denying British the movement.
Lord Canning immediately ordered Lord Marker, famous for his exploits in the Crimean War, to attack. Advancing with a force of 500 and 60 cannons, he clashed with Kunwar Singh on April 6,1858 near Azamgarh. While the cannons were assaulting his forces, Kunwar Singh attacked the British from the rear, foiling Marker’s plan. The British once again had to retreat in the face of the furious assault towards Azamgarh.
Sensing their intentions, he gave up his plan of capturing Varanasi and Allahabad, and instead choose to recapture Jagdishpur. And for this he needed to evade the British who under Gen Lagarde were comming to relieve Azamgarh. Leaving some of his very skilled soldiers on the bridge across the Tons River to stop Lagarde, he left for Ghazipur. He instructed them that when the entire rebel army, would join them on the road to Ghazipur, then they could retreat from the bridge.
And the rebel soldiers fiercely counter attacked Lagarde not allowing him to cross the bridge, before making a sudden retreat. Lagarde seeing the retreating rebels, went in hot pursuit of them, for around 12 miles, before he found himself fully surrounded by Kunwar Singh’s army. They had been drawn into a trap, and another fierce battle ensured, where the British were again routed. On hearing of the defeat Col Douglas, once again advanced to attack the forces, Kunwar Singh again asked some of the rebels to block the British.
However when this group was resting at a place called Manohar, Douglas arrived at night with his cavalry,and launched an assault. The rebels lost to the British, who captured many elephants and ammunition. Knowing that defeat was imminent now, Kunwar Singh split up his army into smaller units, and asked them to gather at another location. It was another ruse, as the British were tricked into believing the army had disbanded, when in fact they were once again advancing.
He also fed false information to the British that they would be crossing the Ganga by elephants, ensuring Douglas rushed to Ballia, where he lay in wait for the rebels. However once again the British were fooled, as the rebels escaped across the Ganga by boats. But the British attacked the rebels, and this was when Kunwar Singh was hit by a grenade in the shoulder. Badly injured and bleeding, he had to amputate his arm. Finally on April 22, 1858, Kunwar Singh attacked Jagdishpur and captured it back from the British.
Furious the British commander Lagrande, launched an assault on Jagdishpur on April 23. Kunwar Singh once again attacked the British in the forests, routing them, Lagrande himself was killed. Just 80 of the 190 odd British forces survived the rout. The Union Jack was bought down on Jagdishpur palace. Veer Kunwar Singh had given the British one of the toughest fights ever in the 1857 Revolt, at an age of 80 years.
Veer Kunwar Singh passed away on April 26,1858, a nightmare to the British in the plains and forests of Bihar, Eastern UP. A true legend.
His legacy lives on in Bihar to date. The university in Arrah is named after him. The bridge over Ganga connecting Arrah and Chapra is named as Veer Kunwar Singh Sethu. The Hardinge Park in Patna too was renamed after him as Veer Kunwar Singh Azadi Park. Many Bhojpuri folk songs, are on his bravery and how he took on the British. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan's poem on Jhansi ki Rani also mentions him.
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