1857 and Gujjars
1857 KI KRANTI KE JANAK THE GUJJARS .....Historically, the Gujjars are effectively ‘1857 forces’, in the same league as Lodhs, Banjaras, Ramoshis, Dhangars, Mewatis, Kols and Gonds who fought in the 1857 Uprising against the British as a community. On May 10, 1857, when the 3rd Cavalry threw off allegiance to the British in Meerut to kick-start what is now recognised as the 19th century’s greatest anti-colonial revolt, the Meerut cantonment had a sizeable 60th Her Majesty Regiment composed of crack British soldiers. The 3rd Cavalry sowars and 11th and 20th Bengal Native Infantry sepoys did not have artillery; but the 60th Foot Regiment was well supplied with cannons. The 60th HMR men could have easily pursued and cut the march of Meerut revolutionaries towards Delhi. But it was the turbulent Gujjars of the Meerut countryside who surrounded the British cantonment in such large numbers that British soldiers found it difficult to advance.
The Imperial Gazetteer of India states that throughout the “Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Gujars and Musalman Rajputs proved the most irreconcilable enemies of the British. A band of rebellious Gujjars ransacked Bulandshahr after a revolt by the 9th Native Infantry on May 21, 1857. The British forces were able to retake the town with the help of Dehra Gurkhas, but the Gujars rose again after the Gurkhas marched off to assist General Wilson’s column in another area. Under the leadership of Walidad Khan of Malagarh, the British garrison was driven out the district. Walidad Khan held Bulandshahr from July to September, until he was expelled after an engagement with Colonel Greathed’s flying column. On October 4, the Bulandshahr District was regularly occupied by the British Colonel Farquhar and measures of repression were adopted against the armed Gujars.”
During the revolt of 1857, the Muslim Gujjars in the villages of Ludhiana district showed dissent towards the British authorities. The British interests in Gangoh city of Saharanpur District were ‘threatened’ by the rebel Gujjars under the leadership of Raja Fathua. The Gujjars of Chundrowli rose against the British, under the leadership of Damar Ram. The Gujjars of Shunkuri village, numbering around 3,000, joined the rebel sepoys. According to further British records, the Gujjars plundered gunpowder and ammunition from the British and their allies. In Delhi, the Metcalfe House was sacked by the Gujjar villagers from whom the land was taken to erect the building.
Gujjar turbulence owed a lot to their nomadic status and the British attempt to settle them as peaceful land revenue paying peasantry. During the Mughal era, Gujjars were known for their entrepreneurial role — they not only exchanged milk and other commodities but also guarded the trade routes of North India. The colonial-British State, keen to turn every rural element into a peasant, did not understand the community’s entrepreneurial role. So after 1857, the British classified the Gujjars (and around 150 other Indian communities) as ‘criminal tribes’ through the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. In this move, communities that had fought for Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1857 were openly targeted. Several other forces like the Pardhis of Vidarbha and the Dhangars and the Ramoshi-Berads of Maharashtra and Karnataka also suffered. Most of them were warrior-nomads or warrior-hunters of the Mughal and Maratha era. During the colonial era, basic human rights were denied to these communities. They were literally given an ‘anti-social’ tag. Their position became worse than that of many Dalit communities in the country
The Imperial Gazetteer of India states that throughout the “Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Gujars and Musalman Rajputs proved the most irreconcilable enemies of the British. A band of rebellious Gujjars ransacked Bulandshahr after a revolt by the 9th Native Infantry on May 21, 1857. The British forces were able to retake the town with the help of Dehra Gurkhas, but the Gujars rose again after the Gurkhas marched off to assist General Wilson’s column in another area. Under the leadership of Walidad Khan of Malagarh, the British garrison was driven out the district. Walidad Khan held Bulandshahr from July to September, until he was expelled after an engagement with Colonel Greathed’s flying column. On October 4, the Bulandshahr District was regularly occupied by the British Colonel Farquhar and measures of repression were adopted against the armed Gujars.”
During the revolt of 1857, the Muslim Gujjars in the villages of Ludhiana district showed dissent towards the British authorities. The British interests in Gangoh city of Saharanpur District were ‘threatened’ by the rebel Gujjars under the leadership of Raja Fathua. The Gujjars of Chundrowli rose against the British, under the leadership of Damar Ram. The Gujjars of Shunkuri village, numbering around 3,000, joined the rebel sepoys. According to further British records, the Gujjars plundered gunpowder and ammunition from the British and their allies. In Delhi, the Metcalfe House was sacked by the Gujjar villagers from whom the land was taken to erect the building.
Gujjar turbulence owed a lot to their nomadic status and the British attempt to settle them as peaceful land revenue paying peasantry. During the Mughal era, Gujjars were known for their entrepreneurial role — they not only exchanged milk and other commodities but also guarded the trade routes of North India. The colonial-British State, keen to turn every rural element into a peasant, did not understand the community’s entrepreneurial role. So after 1857, the British classified the Gujjars (and around 150 other Indian communities) as ‘criminal tribes’ through the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. In this move, communities that had fought for Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1857 were openly targeted. Several other forces like the Pardhis of Vidarbha and the Dhangars and the Ramoshi-Berads of Maharashtra and Karnataka also suffered. Most of them were warrior-nomads or warrior-hunters of the Mughal and Maratha era. During the colonial era, basic human rights were denied to these communities. They were literally given an ‘anti-social’ tag. Their position became worse than that of many Dalit communities in the country
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