Maulvi Liaquat Ali to mass killings, hanging of cops : 1857 revolt in Allahabad
On June 5, 1857, the then Allahabad (now Prayagraj) witnessed a key event in the revolt against the British–the First War of Indian Independence–with around 400 soldiers of the 6th Bengal Native Infantry, stationed in Allahabad, launching a massive uprising, also known as the 'June Kranti' under the leadership of freedom fighter Maulvi Liaquat Ali.
The soldiers, accompanied by residents from Chail, Khuldabad, Phaphamau, Dariyabad and Rasulpur localities of the city, attacked the mess of the 6th Infantry Cantonment, killed British officers and seized the government treasury.
Over 168-year-old original records of the uprising, stored at the Office of the Regional Archives, Prayagraj, bear mute testimony to the British excesses that followed the revolt.
Records reveal that Colonel Neil, who arrived on June 11—five days later—with three battalions of the British Army from Varanasi, unleashed a full-fledged armed offensive against suspects to regain control of Allahabad.
Records also indicate countless killings carried out through gunfire, along with the hanging of hundreds of suspects, including police constables who participated in the revolt across the localities of Chail, Khuldabad, Phaphamau, Dariyabad and Rasulpur.
A letter written by the secretary of the North-Western Provinces (NWP) to the commissioner of the Allahabad division, dated April 26, 1862, instructs the latter to arrest Nana Dhundhu Pant—also known as Nana Sahib—and others involved in the revolt.
According to Rakesh Verma, technical assistant at the Regional Archives, over a hundred police constables posted at Allahabad Kotwali in 1857 who had participated in the revolt were hanged.
'Administrative records written in Urdu titled Naksha Bagiyan Kotwali Allahabad, listing police constables who forcibly took their salaries for May and June 1857 and participated in the revolt—including Hanuman Prasad, Imdad Ali, Ashraf Ali, etc.—were hung by Major Henry Court on July 14, 1857,' he added.
According to Verma, original records pertaining to the revolt that began in Meerut in May 1857 and later spread to various parts of the state including Allahabad, Lucknow, Kanpur and Jhansi—preserved in the regional archives—testify to the ordeal Indians underwent during the freedom struggle.
Records preserved at the Regional Archives also include documents showing the seizure of property belonging to the Queen of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai, after her death while fighting British forces. Among these is the original copy of a telegram sent by Major R. Hamilton from Gwalior to Lord Canning in Calcutta on June 18, 1858, informing him about the death of Rani Lakshmibai in battle and the seizure of four cannons used by her army.
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