1857 Gadar and Gujjars

[AP Singh]

Hi Gujjars,
See How the True Patriots the Gujjars and Musalman Rajput suffered at the hands of Britishers.

dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/text.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V09_056.gif

Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 9, p. 50.


The police were at once reorganized, while measures of repression were adopted
against the refractory Gujars, many of whom still continued under
arms. It was necessary to march against rebels in Etah early in 1858 ;
but the tranquillity of Bulandshahr itself was not again disturbed.
Throughout the progress of the Mutiny, the Jats almost all took the
side of Government, while the Gujars and Musalman Rajputs
proved our most irreconcilable enemies.

[AP Singh]

Hi Gujjars,
See How the Gujjars took control of Buland Shahar and the british were not able to take it back with the help of Gurkha Regiment.

dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/text.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V09_056.gif

Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 9, p. 50.



The Mutiny of 1857 was ushered in at Bulandshahr by the revolt of
the 9th Native Infantry, which took place on May 21, shortly after
the outbreak at Aligarh. The officers were compelled to fly to Meerut,
and Bulandshahr was plundered by a band of rebellious GCijars. Its
recovery was a matter of great importance, as it lies on the main road
from Agra and Aligarh to Meerut. Accordingly, a small body of volun-
teers was dispatched from Meerut for the purpose of retaking the town,
which they were enabled to do by the aid of the Dehra Gurkhas.
Shortly afterwards, however, the Gurkhas marched off to join General
Wilson's column, and the Gujars once more rose. Walidad Khan
of Malagarh put himself at the head of the movement, which proved
strong enough to drive the small European garrison out of the District.
From the beginning of July till the end of September Walidad held
Bulandshahr without opposition, and commanded the line of com-
munication with Agra. Meantime internal feuds went on as briskly
as in other revolted Districts, the old proprietors often ousting by force
the possessors of their former estates. But on September 25 Colonel
Greathed's flying column- set out from Ghaziabad for Bulandshahr,
whence Walidad was expelled after a sharp engagement and forced to
fly across the Ganges. On October 4 the District was regularly occu-
pied by Colonel Farquhar, and order was rapidly restored. The police
were at once reorganized, while measures of repression were adopted
against the refractory Gujars, many of whom still continued under
arms. It was necessary to march against rebels in Etah early in 1858 ;
but the tranquillity of Bulandshahr itself was not again disturbed.
Throughout the progress of the Mutiny, the Jats almost all took the
side of Government, while the Gujars and Musalman Rajputs
proved our most irreconcilable enemies.

[AP Singh]

Hi Brothers,
The Gadar of 1857 and the matryrdom of the braves and patriots did not go waste and it sealed the Mutiny sealed the fate of the East India Company and got better Governance under the queen and India became free from the hands of the Company and its Gundas.

See this page:
dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/text.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V02_549.gif


Downfall after a life of more than two and a half centuries. The
of the original Company received its Charter of Incorporation from
Company,
1858. Elizabeth in I6oo. Its political powers, and the constitution
Its history of the Indian Government, were derived from the Regulating
epitomized,
87173_858. Act of x773, passed by the ministry of Lord North. By that
Actof5773. statute the Governor of Bengal was raised to the rank of
Governor-General; and, in conjunction with his Council of
four other members, he was entrusted with the duty of super-
intending and controlling the Governments of Madras and
Bombay, so far as regarded questions of peace and war;
a Supreme Court of Judicature was created for Calcutta, to
which the judges were appointed by the Crown; and a power
of making rules, ordinances, and regulations was conferred
ActofI784. upon the Governor-General and his Council. Next came the
India Act of Pitt (1784), which founded the Board of Control
and strengthened the supremacy of Bengal over the other
Presidencies. At the renewal of the charter in I813 the
commerce with India was thrown open to the English nation,
though the Company was allowed to retain the exclusive trade
Actofi833. to China. By the Act of r833 even this monopoly was taken
away, and the Company was finally divested of its commercial
character. That Act also introduced various reforms into the
constitution of the Indian Government. It added to the
Council a Law-member, who need not be chosen from among
the Company's servants, and was entitled to be present only
at meetings for making Laws and Regulations; the first Law-
member was Macaulay. It accorded the authority of Acts
of Parliament to the Laws and Regulations so made, subject
to the disallowance of the Court of Directors. It appointed
a Law Commission; and it gave the Governor-General-in-
Council a control over the other Presidencies in all points
relating to the civil or military administration. It nominally
opened up administrative offices in India to the natives, irre-
Actofx853. spective of caste, creed, or race. The charter of the Company
was renewed for the last time in i853, not for a definite period
of years, but only for so long as Parliament should see fit.
On this occasion the number of Directors was reduced, and
their patronage as regards appointments to the covenanted
Civil Service was taken away. The Act laid down the
principle that the administration of India was too national
a concern to be left to the chances of benevolent nepotism,
and that British representatives in India must be chosen
by open competition and without favour from the youth of
the United Kingdom.

[KPS Gujjar]

Hello Gujjars,
Here I am with another interesting episode on 1857 revolt.

Title : Rause (Gotra) Trimurti of Bulandshahar

This is a strory from Distt. Bulandshahar, a village named Shakarpur near Bilaspur town. This village is inhabited by Rause (pronounced as Ro-Se) Gujjars. Ch. Solhu Singh Gujjar was Zamindar of village Shakarpur. He owned approx. 800 Bighas of land. Ch. Solhu Singh Gujjar had four sons Ramdayal Singh Gujjar, Hardayal Singh Gujjar, Nirmal Singh Gujjar and Ganga Baksh Gujjar.
The daring trio Ramdayal Singh gujjar, Hardayal Singh Gujjar and Nirmal Singh Gujjar lead an armed rebel against British in Bilaspur. Bilaspur was known as Iskaner Estate of British. Similarly Gujjars attacked Sikendrabad and captured Police Station and Tahsil.
Harpal Singh JAT's (Tahsildar of Bhatane) father was "Mukhbir" and played his part very well in getting the gujjars arrested, who were responsible for the attack. In return the JATs got Jagirs of Ramgarh, Ustara, Aand etc villages.
The trio Ramdayal Singh Gujjar, Hardayal Singh Gujjar and Nirmal Singh Gujjar were hanged on a Big Mango Tree at a chowk in Bulandshahar. That chowk was declared as "Kala-Aam Chowk" because of the hanging of the three brothers and several other gujjars. Now it is known as "Shahid-Chowk".
Properties of the gujjar families were confiscated and auctioned. Family of the Daring-Trio owned 800 bighas but after their role in Freedom-Fight they wre left with only 12 Bisa (Biswa) of land. Only the youngest brother Gangabaksh and his mother were left. In addition to this they were punished with a rule that their family cannot even take land on BATAI from others for next 7 years.
Sir Henery Illiot K. B. C. wrote " Gujjars in Meerut Division and almost in whole North West did lot of harm to the British. They rebelled in almost all north west. Only Gujjars and Rangarhs are the one who actively participate in the attacks."

Regards
KPS Gujjar

[AP Singh]

Hi KPS,
I heard some stories about Chaudhary Bharat Singh of Jhabreda in District Saharan Pur that once he was going to raid British Establishments with 400 of his trusted freedom fighters but he was surrounded from all the sides by East India Company troops. seeing the situation that he can not win at any cost he changed his mind and told the commanders of the Company that he was actually coming to help them. He was given benefit of doubt and today he and his family owns more than 4000 bighas of land in the most fertile Gangetic planes which more than anybody else in this part of western UP.
Is it true?
Regards.
AP Singh

[KPS Gujjar]

Hello A.P. Singh,
Well I know Jhabreda, it is very close to my village. Jhabreda is no more in Distt. Sahaparnpur (I assume) it is now in Distt. Hardwar as now it is a part of Uttranchal.
I know that Chaudharies of Jhabreda are FAT FISH. I didn't hear the story you told but I can get it authenticated by my elders.
I will for sure get back to you on this matter.

Regards
KPS Gujjar

[AP Singh]

Hi Gujjars,

See how the Britishers distorted the history against the fighters of the First war of Independence and and in favour of their friends ( The traitors for India but the protectors of the law for the Britrish).

www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1925/stories/20021220001407800.htm

The other factors that led the British rulers to be tough with these communities include the participation of some tribal chiefs in the 1857 war of independence against British rule, for which they were called ``traitors and renegades''. And, the protest by the hill tribes against ``the Britishers' attempts to appropriate their traditional land for establishing plantations and to use these people as plantation labour'' earned for them the rulers' displeasure, which eventually turned into prejudice. "A number of tribal communities... consistently fought back, though whole habitations were burnt down in retaliation by the frustrated British officers deputed to co-opt them," says Meena Radhakrishna. According to her, this marked the beginning of the branding of certain communities as "criminal".

[AP Singh]

Hi Gujjars,
Misinformation campaign about the most feared Enemy was the one thing which Indians were not good at but Britishers were very good at it.

See the example of one such Misinformation campaign about Gujjars, the number one enemy of them and how the Gujjars are described as thief. These fighters of freedom were the heros for India but criminals for the britishers.


dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/text.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V11_232.gif
Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 11, p. 226.


The Jats are the chief landowning tribe, numbering 114,000, and
are almost entirely Hindus. Those of the south of the District centre
about Ballabgarh, and their traditions are connected with the Jat
Rajas of that place. Those of the north are divided into two factions
the Dahiyas, who trace their descent from a grandson of Prithwl Raj,
Dhanij by name, and a Jat woman; and the Ahulanas, who say that
their ancestors came from Rajputana. The Gujars (28,ooo) are nearly
all Hindus ; they have a bad reputation as thieves, and levy a kind
of blackmail on the residents of the civil station by ensuring that the
rash householder who does not employ a Gujar watchman shall in-
fallibly have his house robbed. The Tagas (9,ooo) say that they were
once Brahmans, and derive their name from the fact of their having
abandoned (Odga) the practice of mendicancy. They are of the Gaur
family, and their tradition is that they were invited from Bengal for the
purpose of exterminating snakes. Sir H. Elliot finds in this story an
allusion to wars against `Takshaka Scythians' of a Buddhist creed.
The Ahfrs (14,ooo) are all Hindus and claim a Rajput origin. They
are excellent cultivators. The Rajputs (24,ooo) are mostly Hindus,
but 4,ooo are Muhammadans.

[AP Singh]

HI KPS,

There is mis-information campaign going on against Gujjars. How can you leave the forum at this stage when you are needed most.

I am sure these thread of hate messages are started by some Non Gujjars and Non Jats by giving non factual information. We should request these people to leave the forum instead or request them not to disturb the harmony among various tribes which as per the Mazhar Gujjar are the beauty of the world.

Regards.

AP Singh

[KPS Gujjar]

Hello A.P. Singh ji and all Gujjars
I owe you a reply. This is my last post.
I asked my father about Choudharies of Jhabrera. He is not very sure. But he did tell me one thing. In our area almost all the gujjars faught against Britishers, so almost all lost their lands. They had to start a life again after the fierce repression by Britishers. No one owns so much of land and property as the Choudharies of Jhabrera do except Kunwar Pranav Singh's family (They were Rajas of Landhora Riyasat). May be what you told is correct. Waise bhi Jhabrera ke choudhary, dheri par rahate hain.
Today I read what Ram Gopal Gujjar wrote. I cannot withstand a single word against my family, had it been real life than NET I would have taught a few a lesson for their life. Mr. Muneeb Rao wrote out of fury but he was a Rajput. Mahay Da Jat wrote because because he is not even a man of principles and morals he is not like Vijay JAT. Vijay speaks for himself.
I read whatever Vijay wrote, but I am happy at least he was as gentleman in discussion as I was. This shows he is not BAD, life is a lesson in itself. He will lern from life, than hyperlinks.
Ram Gopal is not even a MAN. A man fight his own battle.
If any of you wish to get in touch I am always available at [e-mail]

Wish you all and your family a sound life ahead.
Best Regards
KPS Gujjar

[AP Singh]

Hi KPS,
The History is being repeated here. It was not the invaders or the Rajputs of Non Gujjar clans who defeated or got got the Gujjars defeated but it was the infighting among various clans proving supremacy over others like Gujjar Pratihars, Gujjars Chauhans, Gujjar Solankis, Gujjar Parmars, Gujjar Guhilots, Gujjar Tanwars etc.

Now a days also if you attend a marriage in a village, you will invariably see the Gujjars fighting and commenting on each others on their respective gotras. This is also one of the reason that the Indian history written in the name of gujjars Gotra rather than the Gujjar tribe as whole.

My personal opinion is that dont take these small things seriously. Moreover the abuses on internet does not reach the person to whom these are directed like your hand also can not reach the abuser on internet.

Regards.

AP Singh

[AP Singh]

Hi Gujjars,

It was not Gujjars only who have been de famed by Britishers but the clan of Shere Punjab Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Sansi as well.


www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020921/windows/main2.htm


WHILE tracing the history of the freedom movement of India, little importance has been attached to the efforts made both by Maharaja Duleep Singh, exiled in Britain, and his cousin Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia in India to free their motherland from the British.

Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia prepared the exiled Prince not only to re-embrace Sikhism, his original religion, but also imbued him with zeal to return to India to wrest back his lost empire after abrogating the Treaty of Bhairowal (1846) and Terms Granted (1849) by which he had lost not only his kingdom and the Kohinoor but also the right to reside in the Punjab.

Hailing from Raja Sansi village (now known for the international airport in Amritsar district), Thakar Singh was born in 1837 and was only 12 years old when Maharaja Duleep Singh lost his empire to the British. He was a witness to the goings on of the First War of Independence in 1857, in which his father-in-law Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabhgarh was hanged to death. The turning point in his life came when he learnt about the conversion of four Sikh students of Amritsar Mission High School into Christianity in 1873. He immediately summoned a meeting of prominent Sikhs like Baba Khem Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak, Kanwar Bikram Singh of Kapurthala and Sikh scholar Giani Gian Singh of Amritsar and laid the foundation of the reformist Singh Sabha Society on October 1, 1873, of which he became the founder President.

[AP Singh]

Hi KPS,

Now I am sure that you are true Gujjar.

I heard one joke about Gujjars by a Gujjar himself:-

Once one of my friend, who also happened to be Gujjar, came to my home. We were dining together and as usual I was serving him and after sometime he refused to take more rotis. I told him yaar! Ek or lele, Garam garam. He said, Bhai Sahib Gujjar ek bar roti lene se mana kar de, to bhukha raha jayega, par Khayega nahin.
Dont prove that joke right.
We need your contribution .
Regards.
AP Singh

[AP Singh]

Hi Gujjars,
You have seen in many of the postings in this thread that it was Gujjars and Gujjars only in and around Delhi fighting for the first war of independence. This war would have been more successful as far as freedom of India is concerned had these traitors who acted as Mukhbirs (Police informers) and also who later provided their active active support to East India Company troops to burn the Gujjar villages and thus ditching their own motherland.

Here is some more information on the Uprising In 1857.


voice.indiasite.com/1857.html


The Delhi did appear centrestage at least once in the road to the British rise to power: in the controversial Indian Uprising of 1857. Debate has continued and will always go on about whether 1857 was actually the first Indian War of Independence or simply a mutiny.

There is enough evidence to support the fact that the Uprising had been planned for months before the actual outbreak. What did the revolutionaries in, apart from the fact that they failed to spread the word beyond Central India and Delhi, was that the Uprising did not go according to plan. It broke out before the appointed date! If D-day had gone as per schedule, the uprising would have broken out in many areas simultaneously and would have been very difficult for the British to control. However as things turned out, trouble broke out sporadically in various places in May 1857 and there was little, if any, coordination happening. So, the British were able to curb it with relative ease.

The Tales of 1857 Revolt

There are stories and stories about the British and Indian confrontation in Delhi in 1857. There are tales of valour and bravery from both sides; and also accounts of unimaginable horror and barbarity.

While books are full of vivid reports of the horror and humiliation that the British had to face and the courage they displayed, very little has been written about what innocent Indians were put through by vindictive British on the teach-the-natives-a-lesson path. What made the Indians rebel in the first place hasn’t been written about much either.

It is true that the old poet-king in Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar and his cohorts, Tatia Tope of Gwalior (Gwalior itself did not rebel, Tope was merely a general), the Rani of Jhansi and so on had very narrow and selfish aims to achieve – their petty kingdoms, money and power.
None of them would have rebelled if the British had not snapped their purse-strings, the ‘compensation’ they were paid by the British in return for a share in government. The common people - of Delhi, Lucknow, Gwalior and so on - however had nothing to gain. Except independence. A place to call their own. Their war was not for a small kingdom, they were fighting for freedom. Which is why, while admitting that 1857 was limited in its scope, one cannot just dismiss it as a mutiny. Far too many emotions and resentments were involved which the British had long ignored.

1857 convinced the British that they could no longer just sponge off India, getting rich at its expense without giving anything back. That was what led the Crown to formally relieve the East India Company of its charge and take over itself.

[AP Singh]

Hi Gujjars,
You have seen in many of the postings in this thread that it was Gujjars and Gujjars only in and around Delhi fighting for the first war of independence. This war would have been more successful as far as freedom of India is concerned had these traitors who acted as Mukhbirs (Police informers) and also who later provided their active active support to East India Company troops to burn the Gujjar villages and thus ditching their own motherland.

Here is some more information on the Uprising In 1857.


voice.indiasite.com/1857.html


The Delhi did appear centrestage at least once in the road to the British rise to power: in the controversial Indian Uprising of 1857. Debate has continued and will always go on about whether 1857 was actually the first Indian War of Independence or simply a mutiny.

There is enough evidence to support the fact that the Uprising had been planned for months before the actual outbreak. What did the revolutionaries in, apart from the fact that they failed to spread the word beyond Central India and Delhi, was that the Uprising did not go according to plan. It broke out before the appointed date! If D-day had gone as per schedule, the uprising would have broken out in many areas simultaneously and would have been very difficult for the British to control. However as things turned out, trouble broke out sporadically in various places in May 1857 and there was little, if any, coordination happening. So, the British were able to curb it with relative ease.

The Tales of 1857 Revolt

There are stories and stories about the British and Indian confrontation in Delhi in 1857. There are tales of valour and bravery from both sides; and also accounts of unimaginable horror and barbarity.

While books are full of vivid reports of the horror and humiliation that the British had to face and the courage they displayed, very little has been written about what innocent Indians were put through by vindictive British on the teach-the-natives-a-lesson path. What made the Indians rebel in the first place hasn’t been written about much either.

It is true that the old poet-king in Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar and his cohorts, Tatia Tope of Gwalior (Gwalior itself did not rebel, Tope was merely a general), the Rani of Jhansi and so on had very narrow and selfish aims to achieve – their petty kingdoms, money and power.
None of them would have rebelled if the British had not snapped their purse-strings, the ‘compensation’ they were paid by the British in return for a share in government. The common people - of Delhi, Lucknow, Gwalior and so on - however had nothing to gain. Except independence. A place to call their own. Their war was not for a small kingdom, they were fighting for freedom. Which is why, while admitting that 1857 was limited in its scope, one cannot just dismiss it as a mutiny. Far too many emotions and resentments were involved which the British had long ignored.

1857 convinced the British that they could no longer just sponge off India, getting rich at its expense without giving anything back. That was what led the Crown to formally relieve the East India Company of its charge and take over itself.