Shankar Shah was the titular king of

Garha Kingdom The Garha Kingdom, also called Garha Mandla or Garha Katanga was northern part of Gondwana. History The first Gond king of Garha-Mandla was Jadurai. He became king after disposing the Kalchuri Rajputs of Garha-Mandla, where earlier he worked in ...

, which was situated in the Indian region of Gondwana. He led an uprising against the British in

Jubbulpore Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

, and was put to death along with his son. His son's name was Kunwar Raghunath Shah.

Uprising

During the

Revolt 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 ...

, when other revolutionaries were fighting against the British, Shankar Shah, the aged titular king of Garh-Mandla was living on a pension from the British in

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

. He took up arms and according to the English, "hatched a plot to foully murder the English residents of Jubbulpore". In this struggle, his son Raghunath Shah greatly supported his old father. Raja Shankar Shah was the great-grandson of Nizam Shah, the only son of Sumedh Shah. Raja Shankar Shah was very popular among the

zamindars 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 ...

and general public. The 52nd regiment of Bengal Native Infantry was called to put down the rebellion in

, but the injustice of the execution of Shankar Shah and Raghunath Shah convinced them to mutiny instead.

Death

The aged Shankar Shah, his son Raghunath Shah along with thirteen other followers were arrested and jailed in the prison at the cantonment, accused of "hatching a plot to foully murder the English residents of Jubbulpore". Even though no incriminating evidence was found against them, the British blew up Shankar Shah along with his son, Kunwar Raghunath Shah with a cannon mouth on 18 September 1858 in a crime of provoking an uprising through their patriotic poems. The 13 followers were executed the next day. This further enraged the already dissatisfied 52nd regiment of Bengal Native Infantry and they rebelled at

Uprising

Death

References

Further reading