Buried sepoys await historical justice

About 168 years ago, on August 1, 1857, 282 Indian soldiers of the 26th Bengal Native Infantry Regiment were buried in a large well in Ajnala Tehsil on the orders of Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Frederick Henry Cooper. The well was then covered with soil.

After 157 years, historian and researcher Surinder Kochhar, who played a critical role in discovering the well and retrieving the skeletons of the 282 soldiers buried there, today submitted a demand letter to SDM Ajnala, Ravinder Singh Arora, requesting that the relics excavated from the well be recovered by the local administration and displayed in a museum.

The site was originally part of the main cantonment. Later, in 1972, a dargah was established there, followed by the construction of a gurdwara over the site. Kochhar said he first learned about the incident and the burial of the soldiers in the well in 2006 through historical books and documents. “However, it was on February 28, 2014, with the cooperation of the local people of Ajnala and the Gurdwara Committee, that the skeletons of the Indian soldiers and other relics were recovered. The excavation took place in the presence of administrative officials and thousands of locals. Later, these remains were placed under state government custody and handed over to Banaras Hindu University for DNA analysis,” he said.

A decade later, Kochhar claims they have identified four families who are descendants of one of the soldiers buried in 1857. “The DNA analysis of teeth found at the time helped identify their families. We hope to identify at least 50 families,” said Kochhar, who served as tourism advisor during former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal’s tenure and led the rediscovery.

According to historians who have written on the subject, these soldiers were buried, some alive, between July 31 and August 1, 1857. As many as 282 sepoys, who had rebelled against the colonial rule, were captured by British forces while on their way to Lahore and massacred. The incident is mentioned in the works of Giani Hira Singh Dard, an eminent Punjabi writer, historian and editor of the Amritsar-based Punjabi magazine Phulwari.

The relics found in the well included two lion-faced bracelets, three Victoria medals, a silver buckle, seven stone tablets, coins (including a one-rupee coin dated 1835), copper coins and other items. Kochhar said these relics are currently in the possession of the former president of the Gurdwara Committee. He added that these should be immediately recovered and preserved for exhibition in a museum.

“The biggest lacunae is that while the mortal remains of the soldiers attracted attention at the time, the other recovered items were neglected. Many of these relics have either been sold or entered the black market due to a lack of action by the local and state authorities,” he added.