When Hisar was free of British rule for 83 days

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, May 28

On May 29, 165 years ago, Hisar became free of British rule for 83 days.

The year was 1857. The First War of Indian Independence had begun with sepoy Mangal Pandey firing the first shot at Barrackpore on March 29. It restarted at Ambala and Meerut on May 10.

796 killed in single day

• 438 revolutionaries were killed in direct battle at Nagori Gate in one hour on the morning of August 19.
• 235 bodies were found scattered at different places.
• They caught 123 revolutionaries who were crushed under a road roller by the evening near the Talaki gate.
• By evening, the British had taken full control of the town

On May 29, the revolutionaries killed 35 Britishers including Hisar Deputy Collector (DC) John Wedderburn, his family members and many British officers and took possession of the DC office and the Army Cantonment.

The revolutionaries unfurled the flag of independence at the Nagori Gate at the entrance of the historical Hisar fort in the town.

Among the prominent revolutionaries were Mohammad Azim and Maulvi Rukmudeen. On May 30, the revolutionaries took out a march in the town and a feast was organised at the residence of Maulvi Rukmudeen.

Historian Dr Mahender Singh informed that the British authorities dispatched Ferozepur DC Wood Cortland to control the situation in Hisar on July 9. “Soon after his arrival, he repossessed control of Hisar. But the revolutionaries shifted to Hansi. A see-saw battle continued between Cortland and the revolutionaries because when the British forces went to Hansi, Hisar went into the control of revolutionaries and vice versa.”

The situation started turning in the favour of the British with them calling in reinforcements from Bikaner. The British forces encircled entire Hisar on August 19 and unleashed the worst kind of brutality on revolutionaries when a total of 796 revolutionaries were killed in a single day in Hisar town.

Dr Mahender Singh said 438 revolutionaries were killed in direct battle at Nagori Gate in one hour on the morning of August 19 and 235 bodies were found scattered at different places the same day. “By the evening, the Britishers had taken full control of the town. They caught 123 revolutionaries who were crushed under a road roller by the evening near the Talaki gate (near bus stand),” he stated quoting historical data.

He added that 40 British soldiers also died in the same battle on August 19.

Later, at several villages including Rohnat, Mangali, Jamalpur, Puthi Mangal Khan and Hazampur, able-bodied youths were caught and crushed under road rollers and properties at several villages were attached.

Nearly 200 persons were crushed under road roller at 42 different occasions near Hansi town on a road which is now known as ‘Lal Sadak’ (red road) as the road became soaked in blood, he added.

St Thomas’ Church in Hisar has the tomb of the DC who was assassinated by the revolutionaries. The priest at the church, Pastor IP Mann, said that the graves of John Wedderburn and his family members who were killed in 1857 are located at the graveyard in the church which was constructed in 1864.

The adjoining park — Krantiman Park — has a memorial in the memory of the Britishers who were killed in the uprising. This park, which was earlier part of the church, was renamed from Lat Bagh to Krantiman Park in 1984 when the district administration installed a bust of Indian freedom fighter Chander Shekhar Azad at the park.