https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kunwar_SinghKunwar Singh - Revision history2026-07-31T11:54:10ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Kunwar_Singh&diff=456239&oldid=prevFrankieren at 22:37, 17 March 20262026-03-17T22:37:14Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Leader of the Indian rebellion of 1857}}<br />
{{Other people}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2014}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}<br />
{{Infobox royalty<br />
| name = Kunwar Singh<br />
| reign = 1857–1858<br />
| image = Kunvar singh.jpg<br />
| caption = An imaginary illustration of Kunwar Singh in ''The History of the Indian Empire'', {{circa|1858}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Robert Montgomery|last2=Roberts|first2=Emma|title=The Indian empire : its history, topography, government, finance, commerce, and staple products : with a full account of the mutiny of the native troops ...| volume = 1 | date=1858|publisher=London; New York : London Print. and Pub. Co.| url=https://archive.org/stream/indianempireitsh08mart#page/n21/mode/2up}}</ref><br />
| succession = [[Raja]] of [[Jagdishpur estate|Jagdishpur]]<br />
| successor = [[Babu Amar Singh]]<br />
| predecessor = Sahabzada Singh<br />
| house = <br />
| dynasty = [[Ujjainiya]]<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1777|11|13}}<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1858|04|26|1777|11|13}}<br />
| birth_name = <br />
| birth_place = [[Jagdishpur]], [[Jagdishpur estate]]<br />
| death_place = [[Jagdishpur]], [[Shahabad district]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[Company rule in India|Company India]]<br />
| father = Raja Sahabzada Singh<br />
| mother = Panchratan Kunwar Devi<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Veer Kunwar Singh''', also known as '''Babu Kunwar Singh''' was a chief organiser of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] from the [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]] region of Bihar. He was originally the ruler of [[Jagdishpur estate]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartwell |first1=Nicole |title=Framing colonial war loot: The 'captured' spolia opima of Kunwar Singh |journal=Journal of the History of Collections |date=2021 |doi=10.1093/jhc/fhab042 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dole |first=Manoj |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVukEAAAQBAJ&dq=veer+kunwar+singh&pg=PA146 |title=Great Indian Freedom Fighter |publisher=Manoj Dole |language=en}}</ref> He led a selected band of armed soldiers against the troops under the command of the British [[East India Company]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Purushottam |title=Kunwar Singh's failure in 1857 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1983 |volume=44 |pages=360–369 |jstor=44139859 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44139859}}</ref><br />
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Modern [[India]] commemorates Kunwar Singh as a symbol of early [[Indian nationalism]].<br />
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==Early life==<br />
Kunwar Singh was born on 13 November 1777 in [[Rajput]] family to Raja Sahabzada Singh and Panchratan Devi, in Jagdishpur in the Indian state of Bihar. He belonged to a cadet branch of the [[Ujjainiya]] dynasty which ruled the [[Jagdishpur]] principality.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC&q=Kunwar+Singh | title=Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850| publisher=Cambridge University Press | author=Dirk H.A. Kolff |author-link=Dirk H. A. Kolff | year=2002 | pages=168| isbn=9780521523059}}</ref> A British judicial officer offered a description of Kunwar Singh and described him as "a tall man, about seven feet in height".<ref name="Paul2011">{{cite book|author=E. Jaiwant Paul|title=The Greased Cartridge: The Heroes and Villains of 1857-58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65vrBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT90|date=1 August 2011|publisher=Roli Books Private Limited|isbn=978-93-5194-010-4|pages=90–91}}</ref> He went on to describe him as having a broad face with an [[aquiline nose]]. In terms of his hobbies, British officials describe him as being a keen huntsman who also enjoyed horse-riding.<ref name="Paul2011" /><br />
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After his father's death in 1826, Kunwar Singh became the ruler of Jagdishpur. His brothers also got some share and inherited some territory however a dispute arose as to their exact allocation. This dispute was eventually settled and the brothers seemingly returned to having cordial relations.<ref name="Paul2011" /><br />
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He married the daughter of Raja Fateh Narayan Singh of the [[Deo Raj|Deo Raj estate]] who belonged to the [[Sisodia dynasty|Sisodia clan]] of [[Rajputs]].<ref>Kalikinkar Datta, Biography of Kunwar Singh and Amar Singh, K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute, 1984, p.20</ref><br />
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==Role in the 1857 rebellion==<br />
{{See also|Siege of Arrah}}<br />
[[File:Koer Singh, watercolour on ivory, c. 1857.png|thumb|A miniature portrait of Kunwar Singh, watercolour on ivory, {{circa|1857}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nana Sahib, Rani of Jhansi, Koer Singh and Baji Bai of Gwalior, 1857, National Army Museum, London|url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1959-11-372-1|website=collection.nam.ac.uk|access-date=17 October 2017|language=en}}</ref>]]<br />
[[File:Koor Sing, 'The Rebel of Arrah,' and his attendants.jpg|thumb|Kunwar Singh and his attendants]]<br />
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Singh led the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] in [[Bihar]]. He was nearly eighty and in failing health when he was called upon to take up arms. He was assisted by both his brother, [[Babu Amar Singh]] and his commander-in-chief, [[Hare Krishna Singh]]. Some argue that the latter was the real reason behind Kunwar Singh's initial military success.<ref>{{cite journal | author=P. Kumar | title=Hare Krishna Singh-The Prime-Mover of 1857 in Bihar | journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress | year=1982 | volume= 43 | pages= 610–617|jstor = 44141296}}</ref> He was a tough opponent and harried British forces for nearly a year. He was an expert in the art of guerilla warfare. His tactics sometimes left the British puzzled.<ref name=Book1 /><br />
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Singh assumed command of the soldiers who had revolted at Danapur on 25 July. Two days later he occupied [[Siege of Arrah|Arrah]], the [[List of districts of Bihar|district headquarters]]. Major [[Vincent Eyre]] relieved the town on 3 August, defeated Singh's force and destroyed Jagdishpur. During the rebellion, his army had to cross the [[Ganges]] river. The army of [[John Douglas (British Army officer)|Brigadier Douglas]] began to shoot at their boat. One of the bullets shattered Singh's left wrist. Singh felt that his hand had become useless and that there was the additional risk of infection due to the bullet-shot. He drew his sword and cut off his left hand near the elbow and offered it to the Ganges.<ref name=Book1>{{cite book|last=Sarala|first=Śrīkr̥shṇa|title=Indian Revolutionaries: A Comprehensive Study, 1957-1961, Volume 1|year=1999|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan|location=Bihar|isbn=978-81-87100-16-4 |page=73|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UggIjEuBaAC&q=kunwar+singh+douglas+shot+in+hand+ganga&pg=PT112}}</ref><ref name="bhojpur.bih.nic.in">[http://bhojpur.bih.nic.in/d_history.htm History of Bhojpur] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614200657/http://bhojpur.bih.nic.in/d_history.htm |date=14 June 2012 }}. Bhojpur.bih.nic.in. Retrieved on 2011-10-12.</ref><br />
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Singh left his ancestral village and reached Lucknow in December 1857 where he met with other rebel leaders. In March 1858, he occupied [[Azamgarh]] in [[North-Western Provinces]] ([[Uttar Pradesh]]) and managed to repel the initial British attempts to take the area.<ref name="Datta1957">{{cite book|author1=K. Datta|title=Unrest Against British Rule In Bihar(1831-1859)|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.206784|year=1957|publisher=Superintendent Secretariat Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.206784/page/n56 51]–55}}</ref> However, he had to leave the place soon. Pursued by Douglas, he retreated towards his home at [[Arrah]]. On 23 April, Singh had a victory near Jagdishpur over the force led by Captain Le Grande (pronounced as ''Le Garde'' in [[Hindi]]). On 26 April 1858 he died in his village. The mantle of the old chief now fell on his brother Amar Singh II, who continued the struggle for a considerable time, running a parallel government in the district of [[Shahabad district|Shahabad]]. In October 1859, Amar Singh II joined the rebel leaders in the [[Terai|Terai plains]] of [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]].<ref name="bhojpur.bih.nic.in"/><br />
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Due to financial difficulties arising from family litigation and his active participation in the 1857 revolt against the British, the management of Kunwar Singh's estate was taken over by the British authorities.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Mia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13pyxO8o4moC&dq=jagdishpur+estate&pg=PA401 |title=Archives of Empire: Volume I. From The East India Company to the Suez Canal |last2=Harlow |first2=Barbara |date=2003-12-31 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-3164-3 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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==Contemporary British accounts==<br />
[[Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet|Sir George Trevelyan]], a British statesman and author noted about Kunwar Singh and the battle of Arrah in his book, ''The Competition Wallah'', that:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trevelyan |first1=George Otto |title=The Competition Wallah |date=1864 |publisher=Macmillan |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNYMAAAAIAAJ&q=uncommonly}}</ref><br />
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{{blockquote|''Two facts may be deduced from the story of these operations - first that the besiegers of the house at Arrah were neither cowards nor bunglers; and the next that it was uncommonly lucky for us that Coer Singh was not forty years younger.''|author=|title=|source=}}<br />
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[[George Bruce Malleson]], a 19th-century English officer stationed in India during the rebellion of 1857 stated about Kunwar Singh:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malleson |first1=George |title=History of the Indian Mutiny, 1857-1858: Commencing from the Close of the Second Volume of Sir John Kaye's History of the Sepoy War, Volume 2 |date=1896 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company |pages=453–454 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcZPAQAAIAAJ&dq=one+of+the+three+natives+of+India+thrown+up+to+the+surface+by+the+Mutiny+%2C+who+showed+any+pretensions+to+the+character&pg=PA453}}</ref><br />
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{{blockquote|''One of the three natives of India thrown up to the surface by the mutiny, who showed any pretensions to the character of a strategist — the others being [[Tatya Tope|Tántia Topi]] and the [[Ahmadullah Shah|Oudh Moulvi]]— Kúnwar Singh had carefully for borne to risk the fortunes of his diminished party which, however favorable might be its commencement, must certainly end in its complete defeat.''|author=|title=|source=}}<br />
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==Legacy==<br />
[[File:Stamp of India - 1966 - Colnect 238990 - Commemoration Kunwar Singh - Patriot.jpeg|thumb|right|1966 commemorative stamp of Singh]]<br />
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To honour his contributions to Indian independence, the [[Government of India]] issued a commemorative stamp on 23 April 1966.<ref>[http://indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Mineral%20Red/KUNWAR%20SINGH Stamp at Indiapost] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223500/http://indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Mineral%20Red/KUNWAR%20SINGH |date=23 January 2019 }}. Indianpost.com (1966-04-23). Retrieved on 2011-10-12.</ref> The [[Government of Bihar]] established the [[Veer Kunwar Singh University]], Arrah, in 1992.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110629140846/http://vksu-ara.org/ Veer Kunwar Singh University]}}. Vksu-ara.org (1992-10-22). Retrieved on 2011-10-12.</ref><br />
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In 2017, the Veer Kunwar Singh Setu, also known as the [[Arrah–Chhapra Bridge]], was inaugurated to connect north and south Bihar.<ref>{{cite web |title=Veer Kunwar Singh Setu |url=https://www.mcelhanney.com/project/veer-kunwar-singh-setu/ |website=McElhanney |access-date=3 March 2019}}</ref> In 2018, to celebrate 160th anniversary of Kunwar Singh's death, the government of Bihar relocated a statue of him to [[Hardinge Park]]. The park was also officially renamed as 'Veer Kunwar Singh Azadi Park'.<ref>{{cite news |last1=PTI |title=Kunwar Singh statue relocated to Hardinge Park, CM to inaugurate tomorrow |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/pti-feed/story/kunwar-singh-statue-relocated-to-hardinge-park-cm-to-inaugurate-tomorrow-1217702-2018-04-22 |access-date=3 March 2019 |publisher=IndiaToday |date=22 April 2018}}</ref><br />
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Singh is mentioned in several [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]] folk songs, one of which states:<ref>{{cite journal | title=Popular Culture and 1857: A Memory against Forgetting | author=Badri Narayan | journal=Social Scientist | volume=26 |issue = 1/4| year=1998 | pages= 86–94|jstor = 3517583| doi=10.2307/3517583 }}</ref><br />
{{verse translation|lang1=hi|head1=Verses|lang2=en|head2=English translation<br />
|Ab chhod re firangiya! <br />
Hamar Deswa! <br />
Lutpat kaile tuhun, majwa udaile kailas, des par julum jor. <br />
Sahar gaon luti, phunki, dihiat firangiya, <br />
suni suni Kunwar ke hridaya me lagal agiya! <br />
Ab Chhod re firangiya! <br />
Hamar Deswa!<br />
|O foreigners!<br />
Leave our country! <br />
For you have plundered us, enjoyed the luxuries of our country and oppressed our countrymen. <br />
You have plundered, destroyed and burnt our cities and villages. <br />
Kunwar's heart burns to know all this. <br />
O foreigners! <br />
Leave our country!}}<br />
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In the 1970s, a private landlord militia known as the '[[Kuer Sena|Kuer Sena/Kunwar Sena]]' (Kunwar's Army) was formed by Rajput youth in Bihar to combat [[naxalite]] insurgents. It was named after Kunwar Singh.<ref name="Kumar2008">{{cite book|author=Ashwani Kumar|title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA118|year=2008|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-1-84331-709-8|pages=118–}}</ref><br />
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A play by [[Jagdish Chandra Mathur]] titled ''Vijay Ki Vela'' (Moment of Victory) is based on the later part of Kunwar Singh's life. He is also mentioned in the poem "[[Jhansi Ki Rani (poem)|Jhansi Ki Rani]]" by [[Subhadra Kumari Chauhan]].{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}<br />
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In April 2022, Indian Home minister [[Amit Shah]] announced the installation of a statue commemorating Kunwar Singh at [[Arrah|Ara, Bhojpur]]. About 78,000 national flags were waved by the public as a matter of world record during this announcement.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/patna/on-bihar-visit-amit-shah-honours-1857-rebellion-hero-kunwar-singh-7884328/ | title=On Bihar visit, Amit Shah honours 1857 Rebellion hero Kunwar Singh | date=24 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.biography.com.in/2023/03/28/veer-kunwar-singh-biography-in-english/ | title=Veer Kunwar Singh Biography in English | work=Biography | date=22 March 2023 }}</ref><br />
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The [[Indian Air Force]] conducted an air show using fighter jets on the occasion of Vijay Divas of Kunwar Singh on 23 April 2025. It was attended by several dignitaries including the Governor of Bihar and Chief Minister of Bihar.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.prabhatkhabar.com/state/bihar/patna/historical-air-show-was-organized-for-first-time-in-bihar-on-birth-anniversary-of-veer-kunwar-singh |title=पटना के आसमान में गरजे Fighter Jet, वीर कुंवर सिंह की जयंती पर पहली बार हुआ ऐतिहासिक एयर शो |date=23 April 2025 |work=Prabhat Khabar }}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[History of Bihar]]<br />
* [[Veer Kunwar Singh Museum]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* {{Commons category-inline}}<br />
{{Indian independence movement}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Kunwar}}<br />
[[Category:Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]<br />
[[Category:1858 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:1777 births]]<br />
[[Category:People from Bhojpur district, India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Bihar]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]<br />
[[Category:1857 in India]]<br />
[[Category:1858 in India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian independence activists]]<br />
[[Category:Resistance to the British Empire]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century rebellions]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Rebellion of 1857| ]]</div>Frankieren