Pandey Ganpat Rai
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Pandey Ganpat Rai (1809-1858) was a revolutionary and rebel leader in the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...
and a chieftain in
Lohardaga district Lohardaga district is one of the twenty-four districts of the Indian state of Jharkhand. The district is named after the town of Lohardaga, the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was created from a portion of Ranchi distr ...
of
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
(now a part of
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...
).


Early life

He was born on January 17, 1809 in Bhounro village of
Lohardaga district Lohardaga district is one of the twenty-four districts of the Indian state of Jharkhand. The district is named after the town of Lohardaga, the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was created from a portion of Ranchi distr ...
. He was born in a
Kayastha Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the C ...
zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
family. His family name was
Pandey Pandey, Pande, or Panday (Hindi: पाण्डेय/पाण्डे/पाँडे/पाण्डेय) ( Nepali: पाण्डे/पाँडे/पाण्डेय) is a surname found among the communities of Brahmins in India an ...
of
Srivastava Srivastava (; ), also spelled variously as Shrivastava, Shrivastav or Srivastav, is a common surname found amongst the Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha community of upper caste Hindus particularly in the Hindi-speaking regions of India. Origin Srivast ...
subcaste. His father was Ramkishun Rai Srivastava and Mother Sumitra Devi. His uncle Sadashiv Rai Srivastava was Dewan of
Nagvanshi Nagavanshi (IAST: Nāgavaṃśī) refers to any of the several Indian Kshatriya dynasties or ruling groups claiming descent from the mythical Nāgas. Along with Suryavanshi, Chandravanshi and Agnivanshi, the Nagavanshi clans form a part of the Ks ...
Maharaja
Jagannath Shah Deo Jagannath Shah Deo was a Nagvanshi king in the 19th century. He succeeded Govind Nath Shah and ruled from 1822 to 1869 CE. During his reign, Kol uprising and Sepoy mutiny of 1857 happened. He was ally of British East India company. During h ...
. After the death of his uncle Maharaja appointed him as Dewan after seeing his capability.


Pre-rebellion

Pandey Ganpat Rai was
zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
of Bhunra and served as the diwan to the
Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
of Chota Nagpur who belonged to the
Nagvanshi dynasty The Nagvanshis of Chotanagpur (also known as the Khokhra chieftaincy), was an ancient Indian dynasty which ruled the parts of Chota Nagpur plateau region (modern-day Jharkhand) during much of ancient, medieval and modern period. Phani Mukut Rai ...
. He was initially sceptical of the British presence in the region and believed them to be interfering in his work. Ganpat Rai eventually became opposed to British colonial rule and tried to convince Maharaja Jagannath Shahdeo to united with him against the British but not succeed. His refusal to work with British officials led to him being dismissed from his role and in response he started to organise like-minded people to help him gain revenge. He formed an alliance with fellow chieftains including
Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo Vishwanath Shahdeo (12 August 1817 – 16 April 1858) was the king of the Barkagarh estate and a rebel in the Indian rebellion of 1857. In 1955, he declared himself independent and defeated British forces in Hatia. He led rebels of Ramgarh Batt ...
and Nadir Ali Khan before being subsequently hanged by the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
authorities.


1857 rebellion

As the rebellion spread throughout the various regions of
North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
, both Ganpat Rai and Vishwanath Shahdeo decided to assume leadership with Ganpat Rai being named as the commander-in-chief. They assembled a force of around 1,100 men. They managed to recruit mutinying
sepoys ''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...
from
Ramgarh Ramgarh may refer to: Bangladesh * Ramgarh Upazila, a sub-district of Khagrachari District India * Ramgarh, Bihar, a village near Munger, Bihar * Ramgarh, Kaimur, a town in Kaimur district, Bihar * Ramgarh, Uttarakhand, a hill station in Nainital ...
and proceeded to throw the region into a state of anarchy causing many British officials to flee the area. Their end goal was to proceed through
Palamu district Palamu district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India. It was formed in 1892. The administrative headquarter of the district is Medininagar (formerly DaltonGanj), situated on the Koel River. History The Palamu district ha ...
and reach
Arrah Arrah (also transliterated as Ara) is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur district (formerly known as Shahabad district) in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, located near ...
were they would join their forces with
Kunwar Singh Kunwar Singh (born: 13 November 1777 – died: 26 April 1858), also known as Babu Kunwar Singh, was a leader and military commander during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He led a selected band of armed soldiers against the troops under the comm ...
who was the leader of the rebel forces in North Bihar. Much of their initial success was due to the terrain of the region which was mainly forested and hilly allowing the rebels to escape easily. One of these conflicts later became known as the
Battle of Chatra The Battle of Chatra was a conflict that took place during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 between the East India Company and the mutinying sepoys who were allied certain local zamindars. The rebels had amassed a force of 3000 men and had taken the ...
, in which British troops, assisted by
Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
sepoys, besieged rebels in the village of Chatra with each side suffering heavy losses before the British eventually stormed and captured the village. During this period, he declared that the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
had supposedly come to an end. In the meantime, the British forces led by Colonel
Edward Tuite Dalton Edward Tuite Dalton CSI (1815 - 1880) was a British soldier and anthropologist. He was posted in Assam, then became commissioner of Chota Nagpur Division. He was posted in Chotanagpur for two decades. Later he became major general of Bengal Lancer ...
were assisted by loyal zamindars including those of
Ramgarh Raj Ramgarh Raj was the major ''Zamindari'' estate in the era of the British Raj in the former Indian province of Bihar. Territories which comprised the Ramgarh Raj presently constitute districts of Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Chatra, Giridih, Koderma, ...
. However, as they attempted to march towards Kunwar Singh's position, they were intercepted by a battalion led by Major English on the 2nd of October. In the ensuing battle both rebel leaders were defeated and retreated. Eventually after numerous skirmishes and battles with both local zamindars and the British, the authorities had managed to create a robust intelligence network and they were captured in March 1858 and then hanged on the 21st of April that same year.


Legacy

The governments of Jharkhand and Bihar have made many efforts to preserve the memory of Pandey Ganpat Rai. In 2012, the Jharkhand government organised the redevelopment of Pandey Ganpat Rai's village in Lohardaga district including the creation of new roads, a cultural centre and improved electric supplies. In 2017, members of the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
also paid tribute to the rebel leader and referred to him by the title of ''
Shaheed ''Shaheed'' ( ,  ,   ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...
'' which means martyr. There is also a memorial badminton championship named after Ganpat Rai called the Pandey Ganpat Ray Memorial Badminton Championship which was inaugurated in 2018.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Pandey Ganpat 1809 births 1858 deaths Indian independence activists Indian rebels Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Nagpuria people