Leaders of the Indian Revolt

KUNWAR SINGH (1777-1858) 

Illiterate,infirm and old,he was a natural leader of men and a popular landlord;rose in revolt in 1857 when the British threatened to confiscate his lands assumed the leadership of the rebellious sepoys;stormed Arrah a small town of India but had to fall back upon his ancestral castle,which the British eventually destroyed;died of a wound sustained in the fight.

  

RANI LAXMI BAI (1835-1858) 

 

The second wife of the ruler of Jhansi,Gangadhar Rao;not permitted by the British authorities to adopt a successor;her territory later annexed;drawn into the thick of the 1857 struggle and became the authority of her region;heroically defended Jhansi against Sir Hugh Rose's protracted siege,although ultimately she had to escape;joined Tantya Tope and surprised the British by their capture of Gwalior;died fighting valiantly.

TANTYA TOPE (1819-1858)

 

 

Named Ramchandra Panduranga,able leader on the rebel side during the Revolt of 1857;personal adherent of Nana Saheb;after the British reoccupation of kanpur progresssed with the Gwalior contingent and forced General Windham to retreat from Kanpur;defeated by Sir Colin Campbell;came to the rescue of Rani Laxmi Bai;sieged the fort of Gwalior;later escaped to Central India and defeated by General Napier's troops;tried;convicted and executed at Shiypuri on 18th April,1859.

NANA SAHEB (1820-1859)

Dhondpat,popularly known as Nana Saheb,adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II;the heir to the dispossessed late Peshwa's title and estate;made their leader administration and proclaimed himself the Peshwa;fought Havelock's forces but lost the battle;at the end of 1858 forced by the British army to take refuge in Nepalese terrain where he died.

AZIMULLAH KHAN (?-1859)

Nana Saheb Peshwa's agent;played a prominent role in organising the revolt of 1857 at Kanpur;toured the important stations in Northern India and advocated Hindu-Muslim unity;a controversy over his role in thr Kanpur massacre;after the failure of the Revolt accompanied Nana Saheb to Nepal;died following illness.

MANGAL PANDEY (?-1857)

 

 A young sepoy of the 34th Infantry stationed at Barrackpore;on 29th March 1857,created a commotion by appealing to his comrades to oppose the use  of greased cartridges;on the point of arrest attacked the sergeant-major and wounded him and one Lieutenant Baugh in a fight;tried to commit suicide by shooting himself;sent to hospital;court-martialled and hanged;the first martyr of the Revolt of 1857.