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| Maulvi Liyaqat Ali ( D.1892 ) |
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| View of the Fort of Allahabad by William Hodges in 1787 |
A report by Lord Canning, the Governor-General, to the Government
"I shall not be surprised if that strong fortress Allahabad, with all its valuable stores and war munitions, has fallen into the hands of the insurgents. That would indeed be a climax to our misfortunes, more serious than the seizure of Delhi."
Dear All
Today I am writing about a prominent figure of our
historical struggle known as the 1857 uprising or MUTINY of 1857. It is not
easy to write about a person who has almost been forgotten and who memory has
been left for the wayward infrequent historians because we had not only lost
the war, we had lost the sense of record keeping as well. On the contrary no
effort was spared by British writers to besmirch the memory of the martyred
heroes of Indian struggle. Therefore it is not easy to distill from the turgid
accounts the limpid truth of a man who lived 150 years ago.
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali who has secured a safe place in
the history of Indian freedom struggle was a genius organizer who had evoked
waves of enthusiasm, like the full moon stirs the sea, through his words &
actions throughout the Doab, was a native of Allahabad. He is remembered by the
British writers as a man of considerable influence and authority.
Book : A companion to the Indian mutiny of 1857
Authos:
PJO Taylor - Page 5
1858
The word ‘Maulvi’ was synonymous to ’rebel’ in the British eyes. Out of approximately 200,000 people martyred during the revolt, more than 50000 were Ulama. Some claim that in total 5000 of Ulama were hanged to death.
Before going through
the life and times of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali, let us have a look at the conditions
and precursors that prompted the uprising in 1857.
In the annals of
modern Indian history, the year 1757 was a watershed year when Robert Clive
defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey. Exactly 100 years
after this historical event, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, or the first Indian War
of Independence as Marx called it, infact cleared the path for the British
monarchy to take over the reins of India from the East India Company, which had
established its control over large part of the country over the preceding 100
years.
We may call it Sepoy
Mutiny or India’s First War of Independence or the last gasp of Indian heroes there is little doubt
that it was a cataclysmic event that had an everlasting effect on Indian
Polity. After the British annexed the kingdom of Oudh in 1856, many sepoys of
the Bengal Army—who actually hailed from the areas comprising Utter Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh—felt that their traditions were being trampled upon. When the
East India Company issued new rifles along with cartridges greased with the fat
of cows and pigs both Hindus and Muslims were outraged. On May 10, 1857, at
Meerut, 85 soldiers, who had been chained for refusing to use the cartridges,
were freed by their comrades.
Though most history texts describe this
revolt, which originated from Delhi, Meerut and Lucknow, as seeking to
re-establish Mughal rule, there is more to the uprising. It was more than a
mere Sepoy Mutiny or to say some dethroned pensioners struggle. It was actually
an eruption of the social volcano wherein many pent up forces found vent. After
the eruption the whole social topography had changed.
Besides the sepoys
and few princes, millions of common man participated in the rebellion. In the
roll-call of the killed, common man were more frequent than the sepoys. The
Revolt took place everywhere in the name of one sovereign , the emperor Bahadur
Shah and under his flag.
Khalq
Khuda ki
Mulk
Padshah ka
Hukm
company Bahadur ka –
Was changed to
Khalq Khuda ki
Mulk Padshah ka
Hukum Sipah ka
or Hukm Maulvi Sahib ka!
A contemporary
Bengali diary thus specified the proclamation in Allahabad: 'Badshahi Muluk,
and Maulvi Saheb's Hukum, arm yourselves to save the lives (dil) of Hindus and
Musalmans and destroy the forces (dalbal) of the firingi. (The Felt Community:
Commonalty and Mentality by Rajat Kanta Ray)
 |
| Original Photo Graph of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali |
Name
& Origin
Liyaqat Ali was born
in Mahgaon, a village in tehsil & pargana Chail of Allahabad. His was the
only son of Shaikh Mehr Ali of Dakkhin Thok (Southern part) of
Mahgaon. His Grand-Father's name of Shaikh Ali Muhammad. His uncle was Shaikh Daim Ali who was employed in the British
Army stationed with the army of the Raja of Jhansi.
Date of Birth
Liyaqat Ali would
have been born between 1810-1830 AD. This is a conjectured time line as it is
mentioned in some reports that he was around 40-50 years old at the time of
rebellion. Thus we can surmise that he would have been born around 1810-30.
Some writers have
mentioned 17th July 1823 as his date of birth
while others have claimed 5th October, 1817 as his year of birth
but I am sorry that these are all baseless as there is no document to prove
any date or year of birth of Maulvi Sahib. It can only be guessed but
should not be guessed wildly. Any particular given dates are simply wild guess.
Family
Background
I don’t know who has
spread this rumour that the forefathers of Maulvi Liyaqat were big landlords and
owned numerous villages, some have gone further to claim that they owned 46 villages .To me this is the biggest lie regarding
the life of Maulvi Sahib that goes against all the documentary evidences. Even
Dr.Bhatnagar who has authored a book on Maulvi Sahib recently has included this
lie only on the basis of hearsay. I would like to know from Dr.Bhatnagar or the
other claimants the source or the official records where this is mentioned. I
have checked thoroughly and found no such document. It is clear from the
documents after his capture that he was from a very modest background and to
call spade a spade, he was from a very poor family.
This fact has been
ratified even by the British chroniclers that he was from a modest background.
The enquiries made by the British after the tumult clarified that his father was
a peasant, a moderate farmer. His uncle Daim Ali and even the Maulvi Sahib both
had served the British Army. If someone had 46 villages then nobody would go to
serve the alien armed regiment in an alien place.
Even Maulvi Liyaqat Ali in his defense mentioned that he was from a very humble origin. It is also noteworthy that Mahgaon was the only large village of Chail where the inhabitants had no zamindari rights since the time of Asaf-ud-Daula. This can be verified from the revenue records available at Tehsil.
Even Maulvi Liyaqat Ali in his defense mentioned that he was from a very humble origin. It is also noteworthy that Mahgaon was the only large village of Chail where the inhabitants had no zamindari rights since the time of Asaf-ud-Daula. This can be verified from the revenue records available at Tehsil.
His family and
Origins
The British under the
waves of sheer hatred and disgust claimed that he belonged to the weaver Caste
(Julaha) and all the people who supported him were also from the low class.
This is the first but the weakest lie which had been refuted during his life
time. As a matter of fact he belonged a highly respectable Jafri Shaikh family of Mahgaon which had
its origin in MachhiShahr(Jaunpur) via Ghazni till Makkah Al Muazzama. If we go
by the hierarchy of the families, he was from one of the class-I clan of Muslim
Gentry. The ancestor of this Jafari family came from Arabia via Ghazni and
settled in Machhlishar from where one of the off-shoots came to Mahgaon in the
beginning of the 17th Century AD.
The following is the
first statement published in John Kaye’s book claiming that he was a weaver and
actually it was based on the preliminary inquiries made by the Deputy Collector
of Allahabad Mr. Willock and from that day onward till now, nobody took the
pains to clarify and get to the reality. Our very respected Dr. Sen and now Dr. Bhatnagar has also copied the same in his book.( See page 35 of Dr.Bhatnagar.
Here is the infamous excerpt from Kaye’s book that our so called scholars have
been copying like a gospel truth for the past 150 years. (See Eighteen Fifty-seven - Page 155 -by
Surendra Nath Sen - India - 1958 )
A History of the Sepoy War in India 1857 Volume 2
John Kaye
Published 1858
Page 262
Page 199 of the same book
Later on their own
British inquiries revealed that he was from the respected Shaikh Families of
Mahgaon. See the excerpt below.
The charge against him
was that “ Liakut Ali, son of Mehir Ali, by caste a sheik, resident of Mahgaon,
Pargana Chail, aged about forty-five yam, being a person owing allegiance to
the British Government, was a leader in revolt, and rebelled ...
Book : Annual
Register 1856
Author: Edmund Burke
I would like to
clarify one small but very important point that he was not a Syed as claimed by
almost all the post independence authors. Nowhere in the entire pile of records
is he mentioned as Syed. The Original Shajra at Mahgaon also does not mention word
Syed for the entire family and the fact is that nobody in Mahgaon ever used the
word “Syed” ever. Though this family had marital relations with Syed families
of environs but they themselves were not Syed, in the strict sense of this
term.
Another falsehood
that his forefathers came from Khurasan and were appointed Qazi – is wrong. The
fact is that his Forefathers came from Ghazni and settled in Machhli shahar
Jaunpur they had nothing to do with Khurasan at all. As I stated earlier he was
from Jafri Shaikh clan of Mahgaon, Pargana Chail which came from Machhli Shahr
Jaunpur and from there they came from Ghazni.
In
a nutshell:-
- Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was born sometime between 1815-1830. No authentic DOB is available.
- He was a Jafari Shaikh by descent. Jafris are the upper class Muslims. He was not a weaver.
- He was from a respected but modest rather poor financial background. There was no zamindari in his family and his father was a modest Kashtkar while his uncle was a soldier in the British Army stationed at Jhansi.
- His father or any of the grandfathers were not Qazi and none of his immediate ancestor was known or called a Qazi.
- His family originally came from Machhlishahar( Jaunpur ) and there they had come from Ghazni and there they had come from Makkah al Muazzamah. Nobody came from Khurasan.
List
of myths/lies:-
- He was born in 1817 or 1823 – A lie
- He was a weaver – A lie
- His father or forefathers owned 46 villages - A lie
- His father of forefather was a Qazi – A Lie
- His family came from Khurasan. – A lie
- His family is Syed – A Lie, though the family is very high ranking & married Syeds.
- He was captured at the Bombay VT Railway station. - A lie , it was Byculla Station.
- He died at Rangoon. - A lie - He died at Corbyn's Cove , Port Blair.
This way I want to
refute the so called claim of some modern thinkers that all the leaders of the
1857 uprising were fighting for their own benefits, pensions and lost estates.
Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah, Azeemullah Khan, Maulvi Liyaqat Ali are all the torch
bearers of 1857 and they were all from almost obscure origins. I do not agree
with the view of some so called thinkers that if Tantiya Tope, Rani Laxmi bai
were fighting for their lost riyasat, everyone was like them. The facts do not
support the view in its entirety. There is no doubt that the events of 1857
certainly coalesced feudal interests with the rising popular resentment against
the firangi. This eventually metamorphosed into a powerful and focused
nationwide movement. I would quote few authentic voices of our historical
literature who agree that it was a national patriotic movement.
Dr. Tarachand
writes “It is appropriate to call it the National war of Independene in “
History of Freedom Movement “ Vol II . P.42
Dr.Gautam
Sharma says “The mutiny of 1857 has been correctly termed as the first
organized fight for independence, (Indian Army through the Ages, P. 413.)
Nehru writes “
It is more than a military mutiny and it spread rapidly and assumed the
charcter of a popular revolt and a war of independence , ( The Discovery of
India P. 383)
The
British Prime minister Disraeli declared in House of Commons that the mutiny
of 1857 was a national revolt and not a military mutiny. ( July 27 1857 ,
Parliamentary Debates,Vol VII )
There is
no doubt that the objective of the entire exercise was to drive out the British and establish the Desi Raj. This is evident by different proclamations by
Emperor Bahadur Shah Nawab Birjees Qadr, Khan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly, Nana
Sahib and Liyaqat Ali of Allahabad. All of them showed deep enthusiasm,
sincerity and the scale of hardship they went through is enough to substantiate
that it was a patriotic struggle rather than actuated by some self interest.
The events of 1857
certainly coalesced feudal interests with the rising popular resentment against
the firangi. This eventually metamorphosed into a powerful and focused
nationwide movement that gave birth to a united Republic of India in 1947.
(Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India -by Ranajit Guha -
History - 1999 )
Early life
We understand that
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali learnt basic Arabic, Persian at his village while he travelled to Allahabad city for further studies as per the curriculum prevalent
those days. It is reported in some books without any reference that one of his
teacher was a pupil of Shah Abdul Azeez of Delhi. There are reports to suggest
that he was a complete and proficient Aalim (Qualified Islamic Scholar) who
taught firstly at Mahgaon and later on at Allahabad.
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was
attracted towards martial arts since his childhood and as his uncle was
employed in the British army stationed at Jhansi, he was naturally inclined
towards his Uncle and asked him to get him a job in the army. It is reported in various accounts that he
was employed in some of the British regiment where he honed his skill as an
swordsman and rider and learned new techniques of martial arts as an add
on. It is further reported that he was
disappointed by the ways British treated Indian and Indian soldiers and he left
his job after a few years of service. On the contrary the British reports say
that he was dismissed from his service on account of his mischief and disobedience
and inciting seditious activities in the army. Whatever the actual reason might
have been, there is no doubt that he left his job and came back home but before
returning he visited several places like Delhi and Tonk & Bhopal. Tonk was
the place where the relatives and remnants of the Tahreek-i-Jihad by Syed Ahmad
Shaheed of Rai Bareli were living and it is most probable that he learned and
was motivated towards the armed struggle against the British there in Tonk. He
met a lot of holy men, Ulama , teachers on his way back to Allahabad via Rai
Bareli. Upon return at Mahgaon he started leading prayers at the mosque in
Mahgaon and subsequently started a madarsa nearby. His piety, his eminence as a
Aalim and an orator reached far and students from other village/mofussils came
to study at his madarsa. He used to collect the food for the inmates of the
Madarsa himself going from house to house in the village. His pious life and
impressive life-style had earned him great repute and the common man considered
him to be a miraculous faqeer of his time. It is also reported that when he
shifted to Allahabad he would lead prayers & live in the mosque which now
falls inside the Allahabad Cantt.
UP Gazetteers 1959
mentions the following account:
Even if this account
is true, this confirms that he used to take tuition and was a not a hereditary
landlord of 46 villages.
It seems that when he
left job at Allahabad as an Imam of a mosque and a teacher, he took service as
a soldier in the army but he was dismissed from there also after 4-5 years for
“mischief & violence” because he was suspected of harbouring anti-British feelings there. After his removal from army he came back to Mahgaon and
thereafter lead a life of full time teacher, scholar, and preacher. ( Liyaqat
Ali File Mutiny Bast No. 5.)
Though these reports
are different and despite the tremendous efforts by British writers to blemish
the Maulvi they all boil down to a fact that Maulvi Sahib was a teacher in his
early life and indeed a man of high respect and third point that he was strongly
against the British and their occupation of India since very beginning.
Activities
We cannot say with
certainty as to when did he came into the contact with the so called mutineers
but there is absolutely no doubt that he was connected with the entire plan
from the very beginning and he did not jump into the show in between rather was
closely involved and acted in full connivance with Nana Sahib, Azeemullah Khan,
Bakht Khan , Maulvi Ahmad Ullah Shah, Deputy Hikmat Ullah and other key leaders
of the uprising. The later records suggest that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali had several
meetings with the leaders of the uprising and he was entrusted with the task of
conveying the exact time & date of start of struggle at different places
throughout the Doab.Hence it is also reported that he personally covered the
area from Delhi to Mirzapur in such a short time personally meeting the local
leaders that it could be considered impossible these days. He issued and
published pamphlets with his signature mobilizing locals to stand against the
British rule. He sent letters to the chiefs, landlords, Taluqdars for their
support in the struggle. Such a gigantic but silent task was finished in such a
covert way that nobody could believe the tumultuous amount of disruption and
collapse of British Authority it resulted after the uprising broke out. Maulvi
worked so hard that Charles Bill observed "the freedom of country became
so great that very judges and munsifs joined the secret society - History of
the Indian Mutiny vol 1 p.268.
In Allahabad
According to Savarkar
“At
Allahabad the Muslims were more advanced than Hindus, they were most prominent
in management of the machinery of the secret society (
India War of Independence 1857 p.174) .
He writes that the
native Sepoy had already made up their mind , they were waiting for the Sikhs
of the Ferozepore Regiment to ally with them. This revolt against the British took everywhere under the name of the King of Delhi and under his flag. His over-lordship was not just recognized but regular reports were sent to him along with Tributes. The Emperor was the commonly accepted centre of Allegiance.
Although
everything was quiet at Allahabad at this time, the situation was very
confused and the news of the mutiny in the north caused considerable
anxiety and doubt. The 6th Regiment of Bengal Native
infantry (BNI) was stationed at Cantonment, a wing of Sikh detachment (
ferozepore Regiment) and one company of the 6th Native infantry in the Fort.
Colonel Simpson was the commandant of the 6th infantry. Two companies of the 6th
regiment under Lieut Alexander with 150 troopers of the 3rd Awadh
Irregulars were posted in Alopi Bagh, a large encamping ground near the fort.
Role of Muslims in Indian politics
Page 29
KS Sharma
Author CA Bayly ...
Page361
Bayly Changes the name to liaqat Hussain.
On 12th May , the news of the revolt at Meerut & on 17th the progress of revolt at Delhi arrived and tensions rose in the city, European community assembled to work out for any sudden disturbance. However, no precautionary measures were considered necessary until the 5th of June, when all civilians and women and children were ordered into the fort. This was just in time, for, at 10 p.m. on the 6th of June, the 6th Native Infantry, which was stationed in the cantonments two miles from the fort, unexpectedly mutinied. The men attacked their officers in the mess and then plundered the treasury. Incendiary, rapine and murder followed. The mutineers were joined by the entire town rabble, and their savagery was terrible and continued for days.
In the evening of
June 6 , 1857 at 9.20 pm , the real outbreak started at Daraganj. The Indian
soldiers posted at Daraganj to guard the Benares bridge were ordered to take
the guns on the bridge into the fort. The soldiers disobeyed, seized the guns
and started dragging them to Cantonment. Lieutenant Harward tried but in vain,
he went to Lietu Alexandar posted at Alopi Bagh and both then set out to punish
the sepoys. They came and ordered the cavalry to attack the mutinous sepoys, To
their disappointment, the cavalry did not move, signifying that they were with
the sepoys. It was then become clear that an open uprising started. Alexandar
was shot dead, Lieut Harvard ran for life in the fort. the native cavalry deserted
and joined the Anti British crowd. Afterwards
it is believed that wherever an English officer was found he was shot dead.
On the 6th June, a large no of British officers had assembled in the mess room for dinner. The heard the sound of bugle , thinking that it indicated the arrival of Benares insurgents, they hastened towards the lines but as soon as they reached there, they were received with volleys and were killed except three. The sepoys then marched triumphantly towards the cantonment; they burnt the bungalows of British and indulged in murder of Europeans. All through the night of 6th June anarchy prevailed. Early next morning, the jail gates were thrown open and 3000 prisoners were released. These prisoners along with other crown and thousands of Mewatis , the railway works were destroyed, telegraph wires were cut-off, the revenue office was burnt. 6th NI captured the treasury. The leader of the sepoys was Ram Chandra and they broke into the jail releasing the 3000 inmates after raising slogans of Ram Chandra ki Jai.
On the 6th June, a large no of British officers had assembled in the mess room for dinner. The heard the sound of bugle , thinking that it indicated the arrival of Benares insurgents, they hastened towards the lines but as soon as they reached there, they were received with volleys and were killed except three. The sepoys then marched triumphantly towards the cantonment; they burnt the bungalows of British and indulged in murder of Europeans. All through the night of 6th June anarchy prevailed. Early next morning, the jail gates were thrown open and 3000 prisoners were released. These prisoners along with other crown and thousands of Mewatis , the railway works were destroyed, telegraph wires were cut-off, the revenue office was burnt. 6th NI captured the treasury. The leader of the sepoys was Ram Chandra and they broke into the jail releasing the 3000 inmates after raising slogans of Ram Chandra ki Jai.
All the British
outside the fort were put to death. The people gained control over the Kotwali
and the entire British authority at Allahabad was overthrown and a Green
Islamic Flag waved over the Kotwali.
The Fort however
continued under the British. In the night the sepoys decided to carry the
treasure which was reportedly thirty lakhs of rupees , to Delhi to place it
before Emperor Bahadur Shah II but due to the selfish nature of the sepoys ,
the plan could not be materialized and everyone who participated in the plunder
carried off the amount which he could lay his hands on.
There is another
report that the said treasure was carried away and after consultations handed
over to safety to the Raja of Daundia Khera at Unnao which was recently in news
when a sage had marked the place for excavation for the recovery of the same
treasure. However this report is not found in any reliable book.
The next day 7th of
June, the leader and the organizer of the entire uprising , Maulvi Liyaqat Ali
of Pargana Chail arrived and camped at Khusro Bagh. His sincere advisors asked
him to save the city from destruction and plunder. He organized the sepoys,
gave speeches, published pamphlets which harboured the Hindu Muslim Unity with anti-British
feeling among the masses alike and soon he assumed full authority in district
of Allahabad. The Mewatis of Samdabad, Rasulpur and other sepoys gathered
around him and he raised the slogan of Jihad against the British. He invoked in
the name of Mughal Badshah and appointed officers to assume full control of the
city. A march was organized through the city and Green Flags fluttered all
across the city. A green flag was hoisted at Kotwali and the sepoys saluted
them. Thereafter the Maulvi Sahib had the meetings with different leaders of
the city and they discussed the ways to establish the order in the city. It was
decided that in order to declare the end of English rule, they should arouse
the feelings of all to fight for their country & religion. Thereafter He
raised a call for Jihad against the British and to convince discordant, he
appealed to the masses through a proclamation, in which he declared the
Europeans have been guilty of crimes of massacring, plunder and killing human
beings and destroying out country. He added that the real paradise lay beneath
the strokes of the sword. He quoted Quran from Surah Saf and Surah al Tawbah.
Couplets attributed
to Maulvi Sahib
Ai
Biradar ye Hadees-i-Nabwi Tu Sun le
Bagh-i-Firdaus
hai Talwaron ke Saaye tale !!
Waste
Deen ke Ladna na Pa’e Tama’e Bilad
Ahl-i-Islam
Ise Shara’ mein kahte hain Jihad
Barah
Sau baras ke baad aayi hai daulat Aaage
Haif is daulat
Bedar se Momin Bhage !!!
There was a famous
Masnavi-i-Jihadiya by Moulvi Khurram Ali Bilhauri (D.1855) which, was very
popular during the battles of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid against Sikhs Maulvi Sahib
got it published and popularized this versified proclamation of Jihad (famous
Jihadi Poem Masnavi) found in his
Risala-i-Jihadia” (1856). , To many of the scholars, he was inspired by
the philosophy of Shah Wali Ullah Dehlvi , the British rule was Dar-ul-Harb and
armed struggle was a religious duty.
 |
| Proclamation issued at Kanpur 1857, See the Hijri dates |
Maulvi Sahib issued a
proclamation inviting everyone to come out and help the sons of the soil regain
the territory and no doubt, the proclamation had the desired effect and almost
all the prominent landholders of the Doab came out in full support.( Allahabad
Mutiny Basta No.5 , File no. 16, Collectorate Allahabad)
 |
| Proclamation by Maulvi Liyaqat Ali |
The three
proclamations were sent to G.F.Edmonstone, Secretary to Government of India,
from the Allahabad Magistrate on 26 July 1857. He had received them from Mr
Willock at Cawnpore.
Authorization by the
Emperor - The next day he declared that he has been
authorized by the Emperor of Delhi as the Governor or representative of Delhi.
He exhorted people to work tirelessly against the British and added that the
real paradise lay under the strokes of the Sword. His speeches had the desired
effect and leading Zamindars of Pargana Chail and Gangapar joined him. The
reported Farman of Bahadur Shah Zafar in favour of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali
appointment as Subahdar of Allahabad is preserved at the Salar Jung Museum,
Hyderabad.
(A Handbook for
Travellers in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon -by John Murray (Firm), John
Murray, L. F. Rushbrook Williams - South Asia – 1920 )
Eminent Muslims of
Allahabad joined him and were appointed officials by Maulvi
Sahib. Amongst his most trusted one were Sukh Rai ( Tahsildar ) ,Shaikh Nemat
Ashraf ( Kotwal ),Chaudhari Shihabuddin
of Bamhrauli ( Naib),Shaikh Hadi & Shaikh Faizullah ( Both from Behka Sipah
Salars),Shaikh Ghulam Ismail,Shaikh Mohammad Husain,Chaudhari Miran Bakhsh,Maulvi
Syed Ahmad Ali,Maulvi Ghulam Hyder,Maulvi Syed Amjad Ali,Husain Ali Khan,Sher
Khan,Shaikh Lutf Ali,Shaikh Fateh Ali,Shaikh Najaf Ali ( Ex-Naib Kotwal),Shaikh
Najaf Khan( Ex-Naib Thanedar),Shaikh Saifullah ( Tahsildar ),Qasim ALi Khan (
Kotwals),Sheikh Lutf Ali Khan( He was Raja Sindia’s wazeer), Sheikh Fateh Ali(
Darogha), Sheikh Najaf Ali (Asst. Kotwal), Najaf Khan (Naib Thanedar), Masood
Ali r/o Bheekpur, Tahir Ali r/o Ujhihni, Saqib Ali r/o Jalalpur, and Dildar Husain
etc.
The backbone of the
revolt was the Landlords and army. Where they remained loyal to the British,
any resistance was affectless. It was only the Bengal Army that wholeheartedly
took part in the uprising and took one after other stations under his control
in Allahabad that the Mutiny assumed the character of a mass revolt. The
Villagers of the Doab threw off the yoke.
Book
:The History and Culture of the Indian People: British paramountcy and Indian
renaissance, pt. 1
Ramesh
Chandra Majumdar
Page
497
The Muslims Zamindars
of today’s Allahabad City namely from Rasoolpur, Samdabad, Beli, Fatehpur Bichhua,
Baghara, Salori, Shadiabad, Minhajpur,Mehdarui, Bakhtiari, Bakshi and other
villages in the city took the arms agsint the British and joined the sepoys.
They plundered the destroyed the houses and properties of the Europeans. Shaikh
Muhammad Hadi & Shaikh Faizullah of Behka plundered the tahsil at Pura
Mufti and Thana on 7th June. Villagers from Kazipur, Fatehpur and Syed Sarawan
also joined in their activities. Bharwari Railway station was attacked and two
officials were killed. The entire police staff of Chail joined the
revolutionaries. Entire Chail had risen in a war against the British and were
fanatically hostile to them. The Entire Allahabad city of today is actually
carved out of all the villages mentioned above.
Book :Civil rebellion in the Indian mutinies, 1857-1858
Author: Shashi Bhusan Chaudhuri
Page 91
The Sepoy Mutiny, 1857: A Social Study and Analysis
Haraprasad Chattopadhyaya
Bookland, 1957 -
The uprising in the
city soon spread to the different areas of district. The zamindars of Chail who
were predominantly Muslims were most violently anti-British than any other
group in Allahabad.As a result it was the severest one to control. The villages
particularly mentioned in the annals who
were front runners in the struggle were Beli,Baghara, Chhetpur, Mahgaon, Peepal
Gaon, Syed Sarawan, Kazipur, Seonrha Fatehpur, Begum Sarai, Ujhihni , Bheekpur , Chail,
Pawan, Shaikhpur, Bamhrauli ,Chak Rajpur, Inayatpur, Umarpur Niwan, Saidabad.
KathGaon, Bara Gaon, Kashia ,Muhiuddinpur Ghaus, Najiara, Kurai, Lohra, Sarai Meja,
Ghayasuddinpur, Rasulpur Deh, Minhajpur, Rohi, Nimi Bagh, Seondha, Sarai Salem,
Fatehpur.
A telegram
dt.21/7/1857 by MH Court, Collecter of Allahabad to the Commissioner says that
Pargana Chail is the epicenter of the rebellious activities in the district.
Control of City It
took around 2-3 days for the Maulvi Sahib to completely control the city and he
was able to stop the plunder, arson and lootings in the city.
The
Trans-Gangetic Area
The Trans-gangetic
population lead by Old taluqdar families had also risen to overthrow British
authority. Tejbal Singh Taluqdar of
Daiya , Faqeer Bakhsh , ex-taluqdar of Kaurihar , Pargana Jhusi, , Ishwari
Baksh, Babu Chhaterpal Singh of Shumapur were in open rebellion in Pargana
Nawabganj. Raja Gulab Singh in Allahabad was also against British.
The Trans
Jamuna Area
The revolt was less
felt across Jamuna. Some people tried to raise the standard of revolt but owing
to the influence of the Rajas of Manda, Raja of Daiya and Bara , a general
uprising could not take place. The Manda Raja acted stronly on the British
Side. Dhakan Singh , Zamindar of Dhurawal was the chief instigator in that
part. Iswari Bux, Babu Chatttarpal Singh of Shumapur was in open rebellion in
Pargana Nawabganj. Tejbal Singh of Daiya, Faqeer Bakhsh ex taluqdar of
Kaurihar, also tried to establish their authority there.
It is reported that
the majority of the Shia community and a minority of the Sunni community were
not convinced by his call and they did not support him.As per Bhatnagar ‘ Only
five Shia villages are reported to have taken part in the struggle
independently and remained aloof from Maulvi Liyaqat Ali. They were Manuri,
Saidpur, Bisauna, Asrawe & Mustafabad all in Chail.The rest of Shia
population did not support him and their clerics did not consider the struggle
to be a religious one. Maulvi Rahmatullah of Sunni sect also did not support
the view for which he was rewarded enormously. A particular Shia family of
present Kaushambi has tried his best to enlist their village in the freedom
struggle but I am sorry there is no documentary evidence to second their view.
On 14 June, Liyaqat
Ali sent the Emperor a report in which he informed him that the
whole district had joined the revolt,
and 'Hindus and Musalman are fighting jointly against the British.
 | ||
Allahabad Fort and the Mosque - A painting by Thomas Daniel 1814
|
Fort of
Allahabad
Everything was being
done but the fort of Allahabad was out of their control. There was a huge
quantity of Arms & ammunition in the fort. If the revolutionaries could
gain possession over it, the British authority would have completely
disappeared from north India. The companions of Maulvi Saheb were large in
number but were not trained soldiers.The next day he ordered to attack the fort
but the Sikh soldiers foiled the bid. Savarkar says , had the Sikhs used their
brains, the history would have been different. The native sepoys did not have
heavy guns while they had to face cannon shelling from the Fort. On 15th
June the British Army came out from the fort and a fierce fighting took place
where a lot of senior soldiers of native army fell.
William Groom , an
office in the 1st Madras Royal Fusiliers wrote to his wife ( 14 June
1857) about the condition
“We are surrounded by
the whole way, but the wretches never came within shot and were merely looking
out for plunder. We are surrounded here by sepoys, Musalman villagers and in
fact all mankind. Food is very short and our men are dying in as lawful way
from overwork and exposure. The enemies are in a very strong position in a
place called “The Kings Garden” three miles off nearly. The whole country is in arms and the few
native servants left in the fort seem to be going off rapidly “
The 400 Sikh soldiers
who held the fort eventually did not cooperate with the natives and exhibited
loyalty to the British Government. On the 7th June, 1857, a small
party of 50 Madras Fusiliers under Lieut. Arnold arrived at Jhusi. As the
Benares Bridge was under the control of revolutionaries, they could reach the
Fort in the night with great pain & precaution. On the 9th June
another small detachment of 37 men of the same regiment arrived and dropped
down at the fort in boats. ( Campbell G. Narrative of the Indian Revolt p.
64)
A report by Lord Canning, the Governor-General, to the Government
"I shall not be surprised if that strong fortress Allahabad, with all its valuable stores and war munitions, has fallen into the hands of the insurgents. That would indeed be a climax to our misfortunes, more serious than the seizure of Delhi."
Had the fort of
Allahabad been captured , the entire history of this country would have been
different. Even the British feared and prayed for Garrison at Allahabad because
it was one of the strongest and most heavily stuffed garrison of the British
Army.
The short
lived Authority
However it was Liyaqat
Ali who was increasingly feeling crunch of weapons and logistic supports due to
sustained confrontation with the British army, found it very hard to continue
the struggle. The British army constantly was getting re-enforcement from
Benares and Mirzapore.
Col Neil, the most
trusted man of the Governor General was summoned by Lord Canning from Madras to
Calcutta, who left Calcutta with his wing and provisions pushing forward the
re-enforcement by river and by Road to Benares. After dispatching his men &
provisions, he made his way by train and horse-dark to Benares and remained in
Benares from June 3rd to Jun 9th and left Benares with a
small party of his regiment and pressed on by the Horse Dak to Allahabad in the
scorching heat of June. Neill reached Allahabad on 11th June with 40
mean and immediately assumed the command. The Sikhs had become overbearing and
unruly. They indulged in excessive drinking and alongwith them European too
went out of fort at pleasure. (
Thompson F. Official Narrative on Allahabad District ) No. 376, P. 6)
It is reported that
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali mounted his cannons on the roof of the Original Jama Masjid near
the Jamuna westwards to the fort, to break open a way into the fort. The Keys
of the fort were held by a prominent Khatri Banker of Allahabad who promised
initially to give him the keys but when Maulvi Sahib’s men asked him for the
keys, he put them before the British Armed men betraying the Native sepoys. The
next day neil Arrived and the beautiful Jama Masjid was razed to the ground ,
its rubble and bricks were used to construct the first Jamuna Bridge at
Allahabad.
 |
| Amaresh Mishra - Lucknow Fire of Grace Page 18 |
The native sepoys
tried so many times but could not surmount the fort while on 11th
June Neil arrived on the other banks of Ganges. He stopped the drinking inside
the fort and free access to the commissariat liquor supplies. Neil asked to
pound the densely populated civilian areas of Kydgunj & Daraganj with their
cannons. The heavy shelling resulted in heavy casualties. Some pro-british
citizens in the city deliberately spread the rumours that the British Army is
going to pound the city with Gunpowder and the entire city is scheduled to be
burnt. This created a panic Panic spread and people ran with their belongings
to the safer places. Maulvi Sahib & his army were busy making strategies
while they had no parallel to the guns, cannons of the British Army and soon
they found it difficult to sustain. Neil's army with Sikh regiment invaded the
city and opened fire indiscriminately. Khusro Bagh, the head quarters , was
attacked from the Railway station side and fierce fighting went on 16th June.
Book :Annals of the Indian Rebellion
Year :1859
Letter of Colonel Neill
On 14th June 1857
British army along with Sikhs attacked Liyaqat Ali’s army but the brave men of Liyaqat
Ali made them kiss the dust and take refuge in the fort.
The Happenings at
Allahabad were regularly reported to Delhi till he remained in Charge. He wrote
a day before 16th Jun to Bahadur Shah Zafar that the Sikhs have held
the fort vigorously and we have almost no ammunition left with us yet we have
not lost hope. The British forces are rushing towards Allahabad via Benares but
I assure you that no British would get a Dana or a drop of water from Benares
to Fatehpur. Nobody would provide him that. I am sending you 500 soldiers with
5 Canons for your help. In this letter
he has given details of the places & people he got support from. It is
evident that irrespective of Cast Creed & religion , Hindu Muslims,
Zamindars, Taluqdars, Govt Employees, Common man, even some Sikh solders of Ferozepore Regiment stationed in the Fort had also supported him but alas the
providence has something else destined.
On the 16th
June, Colonel Neil came from Benares and the Indian soldiers could not sustain
the canons in Alopi Bagh. Liyaqat Ali had to take retreat along with his 3000
companions to Khusru Bagh.Colonel Neil tried to capture Khusru Bagh but could
not succeed hence he spread news that he will undertake the massacre of the
city of Allahabad. Liyaqat Ali had heard the news of the beastly act of British
in Samdabad, Rasoolpur and other areas, so he decided to leave Allahabad with
the hope that with his departure from Allahabad the innocent people of
Allahabad may escape the massacre by British army.
The Maulvi Sahib was also
worried about the huge amount of Cash in the possession of his followers and it
was finally decided for a small group of his followers to leave with that booty
and this movement was kept highly secret. As soon as Maulvi Sahib left in the
night of 17th, Khusro Bagh fell to the British Army.
Liyaqat Ali left
Allahabad on 17th June 1857 to save the common man of Allahabad thereafter
started the atrocities and the brutal activities rarely witnessed by the heaven.
On the 18th of June the rebels were
defeated and driven out of the city and the British administration was
reestablished. The situation at Cawnpore was now serious and it was essential
to send a force to relieve the British garrison as soon as possible. On 30th
of June General Havelock arrived in Allahabad with the 64th and 84th Foot and
the 78th Highlanders, and he set off for Cawnpore a few days later, taking with
him his British troops and a detachment of the Ferozepore Sikhs
On 18th
June, The British army along with the Sikhs marched out to Jail and destroyed
completely Samdabad and burned the villages till the cantonment. A new Kotwal
Paswan Singh was appointed. Security was established in different muhallas.
Trading activities resumed in Chowk & Sarai Meer Khan by 20th
June.
 |
| British Take of Allahabad - 11 Jun 1857 , Illustrated News London |
The hell broke
loose on the inhabitants of Allahabad…….
It is another bloody chapter
that after the British recaptured Allahabad, they started the worst and most
brutal game of indiscriminate killing of humanity that the sky would have ever
witnessed throughout history. . It started with the burning of the villages and
crazy hangings irrespective of man women and children. Colonel Neil and his
associate Sikh soldiers presented the worst example of atrocities on the
helpless. After this victory Colonel Neil wrote to the secretary, Government
that he would completely destroy the city and the sub-villages around as the
rebels would get help from there. Neill went berserk. He hanged natives in
hundreds, and the highway was decorated with corpses hanging from trees. News
of Neill's actions spread far and wide -- greeted as proper justice by the
shocked British and with awe and revulsion by the natives. Neill's bloodletting
may have, in fact, given rise to the events at Kanpur.
Neil ordered the
cruel task of mass killing and hanging of the people and burning the villages
around Allahabad, Small children if found carrying green flags, were hanged
without any question. Muhalla Chowk had seven Neem trees which were used to
hang the people indiscriminately and were always full of dead bodies hanging. The
Pathan population of Sadiabad and the Mewati Muslims of Rasoolpur became
victims of worst type of massacre. The British demolished the Jama Masjid of
Allahabad erected by Akbar situated on the Western side of the fort and converted
it into an army barrack. Several entire villages near the fort were put to
flames. Almost entire population was killed or ran for life in the city.
Neil’s fusiliers
killed every native whom they could catch and knew no mercy. They slaughtered
nearly 6000 persons in Allah.abad alone. The entire district looked like a vast
dreary wasteland dotted with charred houses and ravaged villages.
 |
| "The judge's court-house and gallows at Allahabad," from the Illustrated Times, 1857 |
 |
| Ferry Crossing at Allahabad |
A British business man of Allahabad
was authorized to collect information about the revolutionaries of Allahabad. This
British Business man was heavily indebted to various local Businessmen. First
thing he did he got all the creditors hanged for fake charges of revolt so that
he may not be required to pay his debts.
The Zamindars of Chail who were the
front runners and the most violent group during the uprising had to face the
worst. The hand of repression fell heavily on them. The British counter-terror
was out of proportion and exceeded all bounds. Insane and indiscriminate
killing became the rage. Little boys who were guilty of nothing were summarily
executed. Hundreds of men in Chail were hanged on trees because their faces
were turned the wrong way when they were met on march by British Soldiers.
Almost
entire Taluqdari estates in the Pargana of Chail were confiscated. After the
rebellion no Muslim landlord could regain one’s erstwhile estate and glory in
the entire Pargana of Chail. Many of the leading men were hanged and they were
reduced to being moderate to big landowners. Scores of villages were reduced to
ashes and rendered desolate, deserted and waste.
How many persons even
of Allahabad or even those living in Civil Lines of Allahabad know the
historical facts that the area of Allahabad City which is called Civil Lines
consisted of eight villages mostly inhabited by Muslims who were surrounded by
British army and were burnt. Those tried to escape were shot dead by the army.
After all the eight villages and its inhabitants were burnt alive the entire
area was utilized for allotment to the British loyal Indians and for
construction of Government offices including the Allahabad High Court
Queen Victoria’s Procalamation
The
revolt of 1857 opened a new phase in the history of India. The reigns of Indian
Government were passed into the Hands of Queen Victoria, the then ruler of
England. A minister of British Cabinet called Secretary of state for India was
made responsible for administration in India. The Governor-General of India was
hereafter called the Viceroy. Queen Victoria issued a proclamation and it was
read at a Durbar held at Allahabad on 1st November 1858.
 |
| Proclamation of 1858, at Allahabad. |
It
is reported this Proclamation of Queen Victoria was initially announced from
the grounds of that destroyed Jama Masjid. (Lucknow Fire of Grace By Amaresh
Misra)
Actually this all
forced the British Govt to make Allahabad the centre of the province. In 1834,
Allahabad became the seat of the Government of Agra Province and a High Court
was established. A year later both were relocated to Agra. After the mutiny in
Allahabad, the British truncated the Delhi region of the state, merging it with
Punjab, and transferred the capital of the North-Western Provinces to
Allahabad, where it remained for the next twenty years.
The impact was so strong that in in Jan 1858,
Lord Canning once again declared Allahabad as the Capital city, In 1868, High
Court was also transferred back to Allahabad from Agra.
Maulvi Sahib in
Kanpur
1857 the uprising By Gautam Gupta,
India Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Publications Division
page 135
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali left for Kanpur
with 3000 followers & confidantes crossed the Ganges and reached Sangrur
Camp and from there reached Kanpur and met Nana Sahib. Maulvi Sahib’s tactical
escape from Allahabad was a rude shock for the Britishers hence they announced
a reward for his arrest. It is reported that he stayed in Bakshi Sahib’s house
at Mori Tola at Kanpur and roamed in Kanpur along with his followers freely. He
got news about the atrocities of Neill in Allahabad which he regularly reported
to Nana Sahib which enraged Nana Sahib who were determined to take revenge of
Allahabad. Nana Sahib defeated General Wheeler at Kanpur and the British were
allowed to leave Kanpur by boats on Ganges. It is where that the Sati Chaura
Ghat tragedy took place when the hidden guns started fire on English Men &
Women. It is that same place where Maulvi Sahib saved the life an English Girl
,the detail of which is presented in the following passages.
Maulvi Sahib
at Soraon
When Maulvi sahib saw
the defeat of Birjees Qadr and the fall of lucknow, concentrated his army and
moved his base to the Gangapaar region of Allahabad. His operated from Soraon
and adjoining villages successfully for quite a considerable time. His respect
influence and aura was such that almost all the zamidnars of trans-gangetic
plain supported him whole heartedly and it was quite difficult for the British
to quell the uprising completely even after the capture of Allahabad.
Book :Saga of 1857
Moti Lal Bhargava
Page 190
Till January 1858 ,
the army of Liyaqat Ali was in control of trans-gangetic area. A very strong
force was present at Nusratpur Indigo Factory in a plan to attack the city of
Allahabad. Brigadier Franks went ahead and led the assault on the Indian
fighters there and defeated Liyaqat Ali’s men on 23 Jan 1858 which actually
brought the end of his struggle in Allahabad.
However his men were active till the end of 1858 in the partabgarh , Rai
bareli area.
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali
was reported to have met with Raja Hanuwant Singh of Kala Kankar and Raja Gulab
Singh of Tiraul with Taluqdars of Oudh who were jointly planning to punish the
chiefs and headmen village who were loyal of the British East India COmpnay.
In July 1858, Anapur
in Allahabad was attacked and the chief taken as a prisoner. The next day they
punished the landlords of Nasirpur, Nawabganj , Tikri and other villages in
Soraon. Phaphamau , Kaurihar area was again in their control till the end of
1858. The last major Battle when Major Berkely after crossing the river
attacked the fort of Dahiyawan ( Raja Shivdatt Singh Bisen ) on one morning in
July 1858 and surprised the entire army of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali . Dahiyawan fort
served as the headquarters of Liyaqat Ali then. Colonel Berkeley left no stone
unturned in the battle that left around 600 persons dead in which Raja Sangram
Singh of Singraur alongwith his son Bisheshwar Singh died. However Maulvi Sahib
managed to save his force and reached the Nazim’s camp at Ahladganj, Berkely
tried his best to capture the Maulvi alive but it was not destined for him.
Maulvi
Sahib in Lucknow
For
some time Liyaqat Ali kept fighting British shoulder to shoulder with Nana
Saheb. But afdter Nana Saheb’s escape with his Chief Associate Azimullah Khan, it
became difficult for Liyaqat Ali to stay on in Kanpur , therefore from Kanpur he
went to Farrukhabad and from Farrukhabad he went to Lucknow and joined Maulvi Ahmadullah
Shah and commanded the army against the British. He was present in the famous
Chinhat Battle against the British and from there he followed the Maulvi
Ahmadullah in Muhammadi (Khiri) where he was part of the interim government
they had formed. After the martyrdom of Ahmadullah Shah he went ahead and
fought bravely to get his friend Nana Rao freed from the men of Nawab of
Rampur. From there he consorted Nana rao to Nepal and from there he directly
went to Delhi.It is reported that he had met and joined with Begum Hazrat Mahal
and went upto Nepal but did not like to remain in hiding.
At Delhi he had reportedly met Bahadur
Shah Zafar and went to Jama Masjid where he gave a fiery speech against the
British. However Before the fall of Delhi, discerning the imminent danger he
got himself underground. He managed to hide at different places. He was
reportedly in North West Frontier in 1866.An officer Parson posted at
Allahabad had written a letter on 24.2.1872 to the collector of Peshawar with a
photo to identify Maulvi Liyaqat Ali. The Original letter & photograph is
still preserved in the Archives at Peshawar. This is the original and only photograph
present as of today.
Before getting into
the detail about the further activities of Maulvi Sahib we can have a look at
his character and the reason he did not succeed in Allahabad.
After Effect
After Effect
As some of you would know that in 1834, Allahabad had been
declared the seat of the Government of Agra Province and a High Court was
established. A year later both were relocated to Agra but the immediate after
effect of the happenings of 1857 was
that the British truncated the Delhi region of the state, merging it with
Punjab, and created the North Western Provinces in 1858 and made Allahabad the
capital of the new province, where it remained for the next twenty years.
His Character
All the writers are
unanimous that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was a pious, God-fearing man of a very strong
moral character. He was held in high esteem in all the sections of society.
From the lower ranks till the Taluqdars , everyone heard him with respect and
carried out his orders with love. The British who have not left a single stone
unturned failed to find a single hole in his unblemished life and had to agree
that the Faqeer Maulvi of Allahabad was a man of sanctity and was highly
respected by all.
“He is a man of
extra-ordinary respect and decoration by his coreligionists of Allahabad is
evident from the vast crowd of sympathizing Mohemmadans who assembled round
this court house and on the 18th instantly when the case was first
called up for trial.
After assuming the
leadership of the masses Maulvi Sahib faced many problems, the most urgent of
them being the unity and consensus among rebels. After the outbreak when he
reached Allahabad he tried to control the mob that had gone out of his control by
that time. The looters had gone berserk but due to his efforts within hours the
order was established in Allahabad.
One section held that
no scholar of Islam has any right to give call for Jihad and the other took the
arm against the British as a political war and not the religious war. He had to
try hard convincing from masses to classes to join the struggle.
He took oath from all
that no innocent would be touched. No animal, grain, grocery, provision would
be looted or taken free of cost. No child or women would be touched. The war
would also be against the British only and no personal accounts would be settled.
The Anarchy, the confusion and the trouble that came in the wake of rebellion
were controlled by him in a highly diplomatic manner by Maulvi Sahib.
His character can be gauged
from the episode of Amelia Horne which is given later in this article. See below.
Ultimately this girl became instrumental in finding way to avoid hanging of
Maulvi Sahib.
1) Lack of Capable
military genius and Commanders. We know that almost all of his men were untrained
soldiers who had no parallel to the disciplined and strained regular British
Army.
2) Lack of resources
as required. He had no arms & ammunition as compared to the British
Garrison.
3) Most of the
powerful local chiefs & feudal lords
with a few exceptions, kept aloof & did not support the movement with a
hope to get huge rewards. A lot of powerful Trans Jamuna and Ganga Talluqdars
& Zamindars used their clout aganst his cause which was a severe blow to
his plans.
4) Lack of sound
character by the sepoys and locals, Some of the sepoys slipped away to their
homes after the initial stage, some of them harassed the common man , even plundered
and lost the sympathy of the civil population. Most of the area in Allahabad
had already come under the sway of the rebels yet it was felt as if there was
no coordination among various leaders despite the best efforts of Liyaqat Ali.
Hindu Muslim Unity
– The most outstanding feature of uprising at Allahabad was the unity and unison
of Hindu & Muslim masses. It is noteworthy that both Hindus and Muslims
came out in his support whole heartedly; especially the Pragwal Brahmins were
the leaders from the city side. The Pandas and Brahmans exhorted the visitors
and common man to dismantle every remaining British authority. The pragwal brahmans of Allahabad were most notable in the conflagration and influenced the hindu population to support them.
Keene
writes that the Pragwal Brahmans spread over the villages, abusing their
supposed sanctity and their personal influence to mislead the simple credulous villagers;
and the Maulvi flaunted his green banner. When authority recovered the upper
hand these tracts were entirely deserted, and great difficulty and delay were
experienced before the operations of peace could be renewed there.
Babu Pragwal of
Kydganj, Sheo Bakhsh, Sita Ram, Shiv Ratan, Bihari Lal , Raghunath Singh,
Bishunath Singh, Salamat Ali, Agha Jan, Debi Bux, Qazi Mohsin Ali Khan, Beni
Prasad, Brij Mohan, Gauhar Singh,Mata Din, Sheopal, Lallu Kat, Ranjeet Singh,
GurBaksh Patwari, Ghulam Ali & Nabi
Bux of Fatehpur Bichhua, Imam Bux of Village Shadiabad all rose in rebellion
and supported the cause.( Mutiny Basta No.4)
The Peasants took a
leading part in the revolutionary ware of 1857 in Allahabad as perhaps they
never had done in any political agitation before. ( Damodar Savarkar , Indian
War of Independence, P.179)
The rapidity with
which the revolt progressed, the vast area which it spread proves that it
enjoyed strong mass support. Those who
sided with the British had to face obloquy and often social ostracism for the
time being.
The decisive evidence
of the national character of the uprising is the presence of communal harmony
it struck. The British tired their best to tide over the crisis with the well used
policy of divide et impera. Sir Henry Lawrence wrote to Lord Canning (May 1,
1857) I shall watch for the differences of the feelings between the two
communities “.
The Emperor of Delhi
and Nawabs of Bareli announced that no more cows should be killed in the land.
On the other hand Nana Sahib and others declared his complete allegiance to the
Emperor. The flag he unfurled at Kanpur was the crescent flat (as also his
ancestral one). In all his correspondence including his letters to Maharaja
Jung Bahadur of Nepal, Nan Sahib used the Islamic Hijri Era. His principal
advisor was Azimullah Khan. Hindus & Muslims fought together. Out of the 272 Taluqdars of Oudh ( Awadh )
only 7 stood with the British during the Uprising.
Safety of Christians
He strictly forbade
killings of native Christians and indiscriminate killing of anyone in the city.
He personally went to the dwellings of Christians and made sure that they were
not attacked. The christians of the city never forgot him and always had good to say about Maulvi Sahib.
Outstanding
Organizer
Maulvi Sahib was an
outstanding organizer. He was an effective speaker and an able commander. It
was his impassioned preaching that enabled Allahabad and environs set file at
the first spark of the Mutiny.Alike in peace and war, the Maulvi showed himself
dauntless and daring leader of men.
Maulvi worked so hard
that Charles Bill observed "the freedom of country became so great that
very judges and munsifs joined the secret society - History of the Indian
Mutiny vol 1 p.268.
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali’s area of operation
was spread over up to Kanpur, Rohelkhand and Oudh. Maulana Liyaqat Ali was
arrested and transported to Andaman & NIkobar Islands not for crime but for
espousing patriotism. Thousands of his followers sacrificed their lives
properties not for any personal gain but for the Nation India. The present generation
hardly knows about their great deeds for the nation.
In history there is
no complete reversal and no exact devolution. A mass movement has never a
simple trajectory. Its course is changed with its momentum. So huge, so
cataclysmic a movement could not escape the impressions and impulses of the
common man but alas ………
Rewards for
Traitors & British Agents
The traitors who
helped British find out and kill the Indian Revolutionaries were rewarded
enormously and today they are the richest people in Allahabad but nobody knows
where is the family of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali and what happened to them after that
?
Rajas of Manda, Bara
& Daiya were loyal throughout the movement and had been so till today.
Pyare Mohan Munsif,
Tahsildar Sirajuddin, Syed Ali Khan Deputy Collector, Sadat Ali Tahsildar
Khairagarh, were rewarded with rupees and villages.
Ali Suza who was
Tahsildar of Chail and Maulvi Ali Sarwar got a reward of Five hundred rupees
who acted as British Spies.
Negupal Tahsildar of
Kada , Gopinath Tahsildar of Phulpur were rewarded by Governal General.
Rao Panch Bal Singh
Tehsildar Khairagah was given the title of Raja and Rupees 3000.
Lal Singh Taluqdar of
Bara was made Raja and rupees 5000 as reward.
Nanak Chand was given
land in Phulpur and 10000 as reward.
Ram Prasad Mahajan of
Daraganj supplied Rasad to the British in fort, was awreded 4000 and a village.
Maulvi Hafiz
Rahmatullah who gave a fatwa against the uprising got a village in Kara and
rupees 2000.
Sri Narain thanedar
of Muratganj got a reward of 3000 rupees, one house and a sword.
Ganga Ram Thanedar of
Soraon got 6 gardens one house and a sword. ( Allahabad Mutiny Basta no. 40
File no. 6)
Maulvi Sahib in
Gujarat
He went underground and went towards
Gujarat, first at Baroda and thereafter arrived at Navsari near Surat and
eventually he chose for his abode a mound at Lajpur and settled there introducing
himself as Maulvi Hakim Abdul Kareem and started practicing medicine and soon
acquired reputation as a famous Hakeem Abdul Karim . Hundreds of
people became his followers there and in the disguise of Hakeem he exhorted and
encouraged his followers against the British hegemony. Lajpur is a town in the
district of Surat, located approximately 12 miles south of the city of Surat.
The town has a large Muslim population and had always been the home of Ulama.
A scholar from Gujarat confirms and
gives a more authentic report about his settlement.
Maulvi
Liyaqat Ali Alahabadi escaped and moving at different places in disguise
arrived at Navasari in south Gujarat in about the year 1861-62. Then he stayed
at Lajpur near Sacnin for some time and finally settled at Sachin. The nawab of
Sachin respected him, treated him well and helped him build a house there.
The Shaping of Modern Gujarat Plurality, Hindutva and Beyond
page 96
By Acyuta Yājñika Suchitra Sheth
Book :Gujarat in 1857
Ramanlal Kakalbhai Dharaiya
Gujarat University, 1970 - Gujarat
(India)
Page 138
Therefore he actually
lived in Sachin , which was a princely state belonging to the Surat Agency,
former Khandesh Agency, of the Bombay Presidency during the era of the British
Raj. Its capital was in Sachin, the southernmost town of present-day Surat
district of Gujarat State. Nawab Abdul
Karim Mohammad Yakut Khan II (b. 1802 - d. 1868) was the reigning Nawab who was
very impressed with the personality of Hakeem Abdul Karim aka Maulvi Liyaqat
Ali and he was the one who became his actual support by keeping him under his
patronage. However after his death , the estate was succeeded by his son
Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan II (b. 1833 - d. 1873) , he seemed to have
supported him initially but he was alarmed at the increasing influence of
Maulvi Sahib and advised by some “Faithful” servant of the British that if he
did not report the matter , then the Intelligence would eventually sniff and
would endanger his entire estate as well. Therefore he was the one who actually
started creating problems for Maulvi Liyaqat Ali.
The
Capture of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali
The Maulvi Sahib got
wind of the plan and he skipped away from Lajpur and reached Baroda and stayed
there for some time. Thereafter he shifted to Bombay where he stayed with
Mr.Baqir Ali, a well known businessman of Bombay. He lived in Bombay conducting
lectures on religious issues regularly when oneday two amongst the audiences
recognized him who he originally was, went straight to Poona and send messages
to the the Governor who immediately telegraphed to Sir Frank Henry Souter,
commissioner of Police Bombay to apprehend the suspected preacher in Bombay.Mr
Souter was absent in Bombay when the telegraph arrived. Mr. Edginton managed to
get orders from government to arrest Maulvi Abdul Kareem which were received
moments before he was about to board a train from Byculla railway station. Even
after capture then there was no proof to show that he was indeed the same
Liyaqat Ali, the ally of Nana Sahib. The task of proving this was given to Mir
Abdul Ali. He got two native gentlemen sent down from Allahabad to Surat to
speak to the prisoner and verify his identity and the moment they saw him ,
they recognized him as Maulvi Liyaqat Ali of Allahabad, the governor of
Allahabad in the rebellion .This was 7th July 1871. The Inspector Mir Abdul Ali
who actually caught him was rewarded enormously and was promoted, made a Khan
Bahadur alongwith other rewards. Some other reports suggest that he was leaving
for Bombay from where he intended to go for Hajj when he was apprehended.
NEWS OF HIS CAPTURE IN NEW YORK TIMES
 |
| New York Times , 1872 , News abouat Liyaqat Ali |
Another Book detailing his capture at Byculla Railway station.
The Mutiny of 1857 By Saul David - Page 374
In his recent book Mr.AP Bhatnagar has wrongly stated that Maulvi Liyaqat was apprehended from Bombay VT Station.
His capture resulted
in a near riot. His capture was such a big news that it was reported in the
times London, and the New York Times and the Sydney Morning Herald. The Maulvi
Sahib was brought to Allahabad for the trial via Jabalpore.
Writer Adam claimed
the Liyaqat Ali escaped and managed to elude capture for more than 14 years, he
suggests that he did not sit back , he was working towards the goal of Indian
cause. it is alleged that he travelled to Baghdad and Muscat outwitting British
detection by changing his name and appearance, When he was arrested in 1871 the
police found concealed documents written in script code. There were plans to overthrow
the British government alongside 2000 Rupees in a gold ingot hidden in the
crystal tip of a bamboo stick in his possession.
Charles Hopes, the
then collector of Surat stated that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was travelling around
sine 1857 using alias Maulvi Abdul Kareem protected by Nawabs of Sachin and
others. He had a great reputation throughout the surrounding country as a holyman
and Hakeem and evidently possesses great authority. He added that sine
rebellion he had been living a life of respectable Muslim while secretly
preaching about seditious activities.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Author :BR Tamta
Page 18
Arrest & Sentence
Liyaqat Ali spend a
year in Jail awaiting Trial and on 18 July 1872 , he was brought before the
Allahabad sessions court. The courts described him as a man of 45 years of age,
a man proud of his looks and was happy when he was photographed.
After the charge was
read of him he pleaded guilty. He pleaded that he had played an important role
in the restoration of order and protection of govt properties, telegraph wires
and livestock as well as the lives of Europeans and Indian Christians all of
which under rebel attack. He went on to claim that he had fled only because he
had been greatly distressed at his motives being misunderstood by the govt.
Finally he added that he was a man of humble origin and he had not used the
revolt to reclaim past privileges and he
had -not acted out of a desire for personal gain. The govt pleader Mr.
Dillon surmised, He was simply chosen for his religious influence, he was told
if he did not do so he would incur the displeasure of King.
Dillon went on to
speak as to how a young man Liyaqat ali had joined the East India Company army.
Though religiously inclined as a youth, he applied for and was issued with , a
discharge , returned home, gave up his property and live the pure life of a
mendicant. His fame for sanctity spread far & wide not only among his own
co-religionists but also among Hindus. As a result, he was asked to lead the
rebellion in Allahabad, but had prevented widespread plunder and protected
Europeans and native Christians. Had he not done so, not a single soul who fell
his hands in 1957 could ever possible have escaped alive from the murderous
intentions of the populace of Allahabad.(The Pioneer 22 July
1872, Nehru memorial , New Delhi )
He further claimed to
have saved the lives of several ladies and gentleman at Allahabad. He had
dressed even one of them in native clothes and passed her off as his sister.
These were the
sisters, Sabina White, Bridget Bonde, Amelia Bennett, played a pivotal role in
his trial. This chapter of his life was
purposely omitted by the historians of England and what to say about our Indian
copycats, the mere idea of a rebel having acted as a protector of Europeans is
somewhat incompatible with they wanted to spread about him. Liyaqat Ali sated
that after fleeing Allahabad he went to Cawnpore via Fatehpur. His testimony is
as under
“My people brought me
a European woman, I do not know her name, I do not recollect how she was
dressed, When she was first brought to me , I told my people to dress her in
Hindustani Clothes, I took care of her in a garden. I kept her with me till the
nana was vanquished, then I took her with me towards, Fatehgarh, I managed to
save the woman whom I had been passing off as my wife and ran off with her. I
saw there was danger for me so i sent her to Allahabad with a follower of mine
when I reached Lucknow I heard she had reached the house of her relative Mr.
Florest. I never saw the man again whom I sent with her, then I became a Faqeer
and went to the Nawab of Sachin”.
Amelia Bennett Horne
 |
| Amelia with her mother as a child |
 |
| Amelia pictured in 1870 |
The woman who
actually turned the entire course of the proceedings and which he referred to
was Amelia Bennett, who in a dramatic twist appeared in Liyaqat Ali's defense.
Amelia described that she was 33 years
of age , daughter of Captain Horne , how she had got into a boat in Kanpur when
the a group of Europeans left the entrenchment in the belief that they were to
be shipped upriver, but were fired upon as they boarded boats in Sati Chaura
Ghat. As shots began a sawar named Ismail Khan had plucked her out of the water
and taken her to Liyaqat Ali’s house. She went on to say, The Maulvi asked me
if I would like to be a Muslim or forfeit my life, I said I was willing to die.
I don’t think he was serious in taking my life, they treated me kindly. Then he took me to Bithoor and then to
Fatehgarh and from there to Lucknow at a relative’s house. He categorically
stated that no insult was ever offered to me throughout her journey.
Now let me tell you
something about this lady.
Amelia Anne
Horne was born in Calcutta on 9 January 1839. Her
father Frederick Horne was a mariner who died when she was young and her mother
Emma remarried a few years later. In 1856 the family left Calcutta for Lucknow
moving to Cawnpore. The family was of past rich, having first language French
but she also knew English and Hindustani.
Initially they
British did not reveal her story but later on some pulp fiction guys tried to
titillate those readers and coloured her story as if she was mistreated and
blemished with a stigma that lasted with the poor lady for the rest of her life.
According to Judge A
R Pollock, large crowds of sympathetic Muslims, would gather at the court to
get a glimpse of the Maulvi. Around 5000 persons gathered daily with
unprecedented scenes of anxiety to see and hear how the things were going with him.
One day someone rumoured that maulvi Sahib has been freed and the entire city
ran towards the courts to get a glimpse of him that created a near riot in the
city.
Nawab Abdul Samad
in his personal diary wrote that he would not forget the day in his life, the
frenzy and madness of the raging mob when he saw them running towards the Court
at Allahabad to see & meet Maulvi Sahib as it was rumoured that he had been
freed. See the excerpts below
English Rule and Native Opinion in India
James Routledge Page 70- 80
“ The court allows that the prisoner is not
shown to have taken any active part in the perpetration of the gross cruelties
of murders of Europeans but at the same time whilst the rebellion lasted at
Allahabad and Cawnpore, devoted to the rebel cause and he has now been brought
to trial not by any act of submission or his own but he is being captured by
the Police of Bombay whilst living under another name.
“ The Prisoner Liyaqat
Ali having confessed to the charge that he being a person owing allegiance to
the British Government was a leader in revolt and rebelled and waged war
against the Queen and the government of the East India Company in the Month of
June or there about in the year 1857 at Allahabad. The Court finds that he is a
guilty of an offence punishable under section 1 Act XI of 1857 and directs the
said Liyaqat Ali shall be transported for life.
After the evidence
and statements of Ms.Sabina White, Mrs. Bridget Bonde and Amelia Bennett, on 24
July 1872, Liyaqat Ali was sentenced to be transported to the penal colony in
the Andaman islands. At the time there were about 8000 convicts there including
the survivors of 1857-8. If we go by the typical Urdu penal code , the sentence
was HABS-I-DAWAAM BA UBOOR DARYA-i-SHOR in the common
parlance, Saza-i-Kala Pani
(Judgement in the
court, Govt Vs Liakat Ali signed by AR Pollock , sessions Judge, 24 July 1872,
in FSUP vol IV, pp.643 , Some papers related to this were found in Badaun
Collectorate Mutiny Basta )
After he was sentenced,
he asked the judge to let him visit his village. He was allowed and he came to
Mahgaon, went inside the mosque prayed two Rakahs of Nafl and met the relatives
present there and sat in the closed Horse Wagon, bid a final farewell and went
away. Maulvi Abdul Subhan Sahib of Malak Mahgaon was one of the persons
who saw him at that point and narrated this at the beginning of this century to
the old timers at Mahgaon.
It is important to
note that since 1857 till 1871, he spend 14 years out of Allahabad and mostly
in Lajpur, Surat. It is reported from the old timers that he even came to visit
his mother at Mahgaon in 1869 and went to visit his cousin at Asrawe and that
tells about his valour, courage and unprecedented managing capabilities.
Liyaqat Ali died was
finally transported in October 1872 and he lived there for 20 years. He died on
17 May 1892 and was buried in South Point, Off the coast at Corbyn’s Cove on
the outskirts of Port Blair
Two of his daughter’s
sons Abu Ahmad and Kabeer Ahmed were sent to meet him at Maulvi Sahib’s request
where they lived with him till 1892.
I am sure Maulvi Sahib would not complain as in the following urdu couplet.
Pa’e-faatiha
koyi aaye kyun
koyi chaar
phool chadaye kyun
Koyi aake shama
kalaye kyun
main woh
be-kasi ka mazaar hoon !!
However the fact is that the grave is in good condition and taken care of by the locals very well.
 |
| Grave of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali, South Point, Off Coast, Port Blair. |
One of his co-inmates
was Sher Ali Khan who killed Lord Mayo in Andaman when the latter visited the
place after which no British General visited the place. Lord Mayo is the one
who gave thename to the famous Mayo Hall in Allahabad.
Capt. W.B. Birch a
British Officer who was stationed at Port Blair in 1872 in an informal
interview with Colonel Cadell had revealed a lot of first hand information
about Maulvi Liyaqat Ali when he was an inmate there.
“Sir, Liakat and I
came to Port Blair at about the same time, in 1872, shortly after the
assassination of Lord Mayo”, “He was one of the last of the mutineers to be
caught, and one of the wiliest and most dangerous. But there’s an element of
romance in his story, which makes it different from that of the others.“There
was not a shred of evidence to arrest him as no one came forward to identify
him as the same Maulvi against who a warrant was pending since 1858. Meanwhile
intelligence was received that he was in Bombay and about to leave the city for
an unknown destination. Assistant Commissioner of Bombay Police MrEdgington
managed to get orders from government to arrest Kareem which were received
moments before he was about to board a train for Central India from Byculla
railway station.
“At the time of arrest
Liakat had with him a strange looking bamboo stick, with a crystal knob. When
the knob was unscrewed it revealed a hollow space which contained gold ingots.
The documents in his possession were in code. Mir Abdul Ali deciphered them,
revealing a secret plan to overthrow the British.
Another Myth
Some writers have
mentioned that he is lying near the famous Aalim Scholar, Poet and linguist
Maulana Fazal-i-Haq Khairabadi with whom Maulvi Liyaqat Ali had a beautiful
time but the historical fact is that Maulana Fazl-i-Haq had died 11 years
before Maulvi Liyaqat Ali reached the place.
Family &
Descendents
I undertook a
thorough research on this subject and spent a good amount of time with a lot of
old records to find out the details of his descendants and what I found is as
follows.
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali married twice but he had no son. Thus there is
no one from his direct lineal descendant however he had two daughters from two wives and the descendants of those two daughters are present. One family is in India and the other one in Pakistan.
His first marriage
took place amongst the relatives with Meeran Bibi ,a girl from Village Basedhi.
(a village in the proximity of Mahgaon on the river Ganges)
 |
| Hafiz Nazir Ahmad with Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1954 |
 |
| Old Well told to be the place of Maulvi Sahib's Madarsa |
 |
| Qazi Zameer Ahmad and Qazi Haseen Ahmad few years back. |
He had a daughter
from this first marriage named Hajira Bibi. This Hajirah Bibi was married to
One Qazi Abdul Azeez of Seondha (or Sewndha a village in Pargana Chail
on the banks of river Yamuna). Now this Qazi
Abdul Azeez had four sons namely, Qazi Ayub Ahmad, Abu Ahmad,
Wali Ahmad and Kabir Ahmad Sahiban. Actually it was Qazi Abdul Azeez, the
son-in-law of Maulvi Sahib who shifted from Seondha to Mahgaon to succeed him in
the last century and his grandsons are living in Mahgaon and Allahabad today.
2nd
Marriage
The Maulvi Sahib
married secondly in Surat and again he had a daughter from this marriage whose
name was Ummat’Ullah Bibi. This Ummatullah Bibi was married to Jb. Ameer Hasan
of Mahgaon. Now Ummatullah Bibi had two sons named Hafiz Nazir Ahmad
& Ahmad Husain and two daughters namely Khatoon Bibi &
Zaitoon Bibi. Now this Ahmad Husain died without an issue, whereas the sons of Hafiz
Nazir Ahmad migrated to Pakistan in the 1960s and never came back and
hence putting an end to their association with Mahgaon. It was Hafiz Nazir
Ahmad who handed over the torn Kurta Pyjama of Maulvi Sahib to Pt. Jawahar Lal
Nehru for the Allahabad Archives.It carries a round
metal token bearing no G439 on one face and GOFC on the reverse.
 |
| Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad Marhoom |
Hafiz Nazir Ahmed had
no issue from his first wife from Kath Gaon. He married again with a Burmese
woman from whom he had 2 sons and 3 daughters. Zameer Ahmed Jafri (died last
year) and Zaheer Ahmed Jafri was younger
with three sisters Jameela ,Maimoona and Hafsa.
 |
| Zameer Ahmad Marhoom s/o Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad |
Zameer Ahmed Jafri
has three sons 1. Ahmed Jamal Jafri 2. Ahmed Kamal Jafri 3. Ahmed Nihal
Jafri.Zaheer Ahmed Jafri has Aamir Zaheer Jafri ,Aasim Zaheer Jafri ,Aatif
Zaheer Jafri and Ahmed Hassan. This family is in Pakistan. ( Courtesy Aatif Zahir , Karachi , Pakistan)
 |
| Zaheer Jafri |
Recognition
from Govt of India
After the
independence of India, The govt of India tried to locate his descendents in
Mahgaon. Since Maulvi Sahib had no son,his daughter’s children were recognized
as his descendents and were issued pensions for Freedom Fighters. The eldest
one was Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad who actually had handed over the Kurta , uniform and
sword to Jawahar Lal Nehru which was enshrined in the Museum at Allahabad.
Later on Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad’s two sons migrated to Pakistan while Qazi Abdul
Azeez’s children became the only reminiscent and descendents in India. The
following were issued pensions for the descendents of freedom fighters.
- Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad – Grandson ( Daughter’s Son)
- Qazi Abu Ahmad - Grandson (Daughter’s Son)
- Shri Ayub Ahmad - Grandson ( Daughter’s Son)
- Smt.Zaitoon Bibi - Grand daughter
- Smt.Jannatun-Nisa Bibi - Widown of a Grandson
- Ms.Jamila Bibi - Daughter of a Grandson
- Smt.Umme Habiba - Widow of a Grandson
- Ms.Rashida Khatoon - Daughter of a Grandson
- Ms.Zahida Khatoon - Daughter of a Grandson
- Mr.Maida Khatoon. -Daughter of a Grandson
- Shri Syed Ahmad. - Son of a Grandson (Government of India Records )
Chanchal Bibi
 |
| Chanchal Bibi ki Masjid ( Now under reconstruction) |
As mentioned earlier
Maulvi Liyaqat Ali had an uncle named Shaikh Daim Ali who was employed in
British Army posted at Jhansi.It is reported that he married a lady who was a
close relative of Raja of Jhansi named Chanchal Bibi. After marriage this
Chanchal Bibi came and settled in Mahgaon. She actually extended and built the
mosque along the GT Road that was later known as Chanchal Bibi ki Masjid. Daim
Ali & Chanchal Bibi had a daughter. The daughter Asaan Bibi d/o Daim Ali
was married to Jb. Zainuddin of Manjh Khurd of the same village. Chanchal Bibi was buried in the precincts of
the same mosque. This mosque is being resonctructed these days and her grave
has also come under the extension getting overlaid and out of sight.
At last
At first sight it
appears that men like Liyaqat Ali were flung up like constellation from the
abyss of a dark night but such a view is mistaken. The revolt was a result of
long preparation and careful organization. It is difficult to discover the
parts and plans, to disentangle the contributions of different leaders, persons
and communities today. How the struggle started and how discordant groups were
brought together and enemies were harmonized, we have no means to know these
things but there is reason to believe that Nana Sahib, Azimullah Khan, Bakht
Khan, Maulvi Ahmadullah , Maulvi Liyaqat Ali played the leading part. Their
tour just before the outbreak of the important stations of Northern Indian
undoubtedly gave a fillip to the already enraged sections. It is a confirmed
fact that the main network was quietly laid out by Nana Sahib & Azimullah
Khan and they were the main architects. They actually started making secret
preparations to liquidate the british power in the country. Azimullah Khan has
recorded this fact in his diary which was in the possession of One Mr. Suraj
Pratap Singh of Partabgarh who claimed to be one of the grand-sons of Nana
Sahib. This diary was unpublished and its authenticity was accepted by Dr.
Ishwari Prasad as well. ( See Nana Saheb
Peshwa by CF Misra-P.146)
I don’t know why the name
of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was buried in the history books only and he was
overshadowed with the other heroes as well.
The apathy of the scholars &
historians is evident from the fact that they slept over the original records
for the last 150 years. Dr. R. K. Misra Director of Allahabad Museum in his
interview published in Times of India issue dated 27.4.2006, claimed to have
dug out the said basta No: 43 file No: 37 but expressed his helplessness on the
ground that the details are in Persian Language and in-spite of his best
efforts he failed to get the same deciphered. In-spite of the above interview,
no one from Allahabad took up the cause to research in detail on the subject.
Thousands of scholars came studied,
researched and went away but how many of them took pain of travelling to
Mahgaon and do a sincere effort to collect and revive the memory of the great
son of the soil ?? We wrote about Delhi, Calcutta and even UK and USA but not
about our own man ?
In the past decade, a local group of committed gentlemen from Chail formed a society and established a Degree College in the memory of the great man that is known today as "Maulvi Liyaqat Ali Degree College at Mahgaon. It has been recognised by Kanpur University and is catering to the needs of the students in that particular area. Chail Welfare society as it is known has a library in Kareli in the name of Maulvi Sahib for the aspiring students.
 |
| Maulvi Liyaqat Ali Degree College at Mahgaon, |
.
The first sincere
attempt to know the great man was done by one from his own village. Maulvi
Abdul Bari Aasi” of Mahgaon firstly wrote the clear cut details of his early
life and origin in an Urdu Magazine “Al Jamiat” in 1958.
The 1857 revolt,
which had forged an unshakable unity amongst Hindus and Muslims alike, was an
important milestone in our freedom struggle - providing hope and inspiration
for future generations of freedom lovers. However, the aftermath of the 1857
revolt also brought about dramatic changes in colonial rule. After the defeat
of the 1857 national revolt - the British embarked on a furious policy of
"Divide and Rule", fomenting religious hatred as never before.
Resorting to rumors and falsehoods, they deliberately recast Indian history in
highly communal colors and practised pernicious communal politics to divide the
Indian masses. That legacy continues to plague the sub-continent till today.
However, if more people become aware of the colonial roots of this divisive
communal gulf - it is possible that some of the damage done to Hindu-Muslim
unity could be reversed. If Hindus and Muslims could rejoin and collaborate in
the spirit of 1857, the sub-continent may yet be able to unshackle itself from
it's colonial past.
But alas! In our
history textbooks, particularly the ones by which our children are given their
doses of history of India, we seldom come across the name of this great freedom
fighter who won accolades from friends and foes alike, and even from the likes
of V.D. Savarkar. Just a passing reference here, and an odd mention there is our
entire textbooks offer on Maulvi Liyaqat Ali or Maulvi Ahmedullah Shah of
Faizabad, while the contributions of a few others are blown out of proportion.
Indeed, Maulvi Liyaqat is one of the unsung heroes of our first War of
Independence that was fought 150 years from now.¨
I would conclude with this urdu couplet for Maulvi Sahib. ( Rahmatullahi Alaihi)
"Duniya mein bala se agar aaram na paya
Hum ne yahi paya ke bura nam na paya" !!
Was'salaam
Khalid Bin Umar
WRITE TO ME @
khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com
OR
khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com
************************************************************************
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Well done Khalid Bhai , its quite interesting and very well explained .
ReplyDeleteGreat Job !
ReplyDeleteJiyo Khalid
Haq ada kar diya. Molvi sab ki yad jinda ho gayi.
Khuda ki kasam kamaal ka kaam karte ho yar.
Shukar hai ki apne Alahabad ke hi ek aisa insan utha hai jo aane wali naslon ke liye itna kaam kar diya hai
likha ya ki jinda kar diya hai molvi sahib ko .
Ab haqaeeqat do sau sal bad samne ayi hai
thanks bohat bada kam kiya hai
bohat bada
Chailis should publish this book on Maulawi Sahib and the Society should take initiative for that.....
ReplyDeleteA-O-A,
ReplyDeleteUmar bhai, most comprehensive , accurate, honest and complete research work till date conducted on maulvi sb. on behalf of my entire family I thank you for your your very hard and selfless work which will benefit not only us as clearing many confusions and know our virasat but also benefit coming generations .
Highest regards .
Aatif Zahir.
I have still not completed your well researched treatise. I viewed Moughal lost their throne in the defeat of War of Baxter. The mutiny or war of independence of 1857 was last struggle of decadent privileged few.However I would comment after finishing the book(?).
ReplyDeletevery painstaking research work
ReplyDeleteVenita Banerjee ...It has been an excellent comprehensive article on lost history ,ever so grateful for the hard work of unravelling details that will benefit generations to come .All Indians must read this & comprehend the seeds sown & sacrifices made for the freedom of our country in unity as one so as to remove the British policy of divide & rule that shows its horns till this day.
ReplyDelete.
This is a great job. These unsung heroes make people's history and promote "connectedness" that has kept humanity alive so far.
ReplyDeleteAssalamwalekum warahmatul lahi wabarakatho
ReplyDeleteAssalamualaikum,
ReplyDeleteReally you did great job for all of us.