Uda Devi Pasi was an Indian women freedom fighter who participated in the war on behalf of Indian soldiers against the British East India Company, during 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 ...

. She was a member of the women's squad of

Wajid Ali Shah Mirza Wajid Ali Shah ( ur, ) (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better k ...

, the sixth Nawab of Awadh. While upper caste histories highlight the resistance contributions of upper caste heroines like Jhansi Ki Rani, the reality was also that the battles for independence from British colonial rule also featured

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

resistance fighters like Uda Devi Pasi. Uda Devi Pasi and other female Dalit participants are today remembered as the warriors or “Dalit Veeranganas” of the 1857 Indian Rebellion. She was married to Makka Pasi who was a soldier in the army of Hazrat Mahal. On seeing the rising anger of the Indian people with the British administration, Uda Devi reached out to the queen of that district,

Begum Hazrat Mahal Begum Hazrat Mahal (c. 18207 April 1879), also known as the Begum of Awadh, was the second wife of Nawab of Awadh Wajid Ali Shah, and the regent of Awadh in 1857–1858. She is known for the leading role she had in the rebellion against the Br ...

to enlist for the war. In order to prepare for the battle that was headed their way, the Begum helped her form a women’s battalion under her command. When the British attacked Awadh, both Uda Devi and her husband were part of the armed resistance. When she heard that her husband had died in the battle, she unleashed her final campaign in full force.

Battle of Sikandar Bagh

Uda Devi took part in the Battle in

Sikandar Bagh Sikandar Bagh ( hi, सिकन्दर बाग़, ur, سِکندر باغ), formerly known by the British as Sikunder/Sikandra/Secundra Bagh, is a villa and garden enclosed by a fortified wall, with loopholes, gateway and corner bastions, ...

in November 1857. After issuing instructions to her battalion, she climbed up a pipal tree and began shooting at advancing British soldiers. A British officer noted that many of the casualties had bullet wounds indicating steep, downward trajectory. Suspecting a hidden sniper, he ordered his officers to fire at the trees and dislodged a rebel who fell to the ground dead. Upon investigation, the sniper was revealed as Uda Devi Pasi. William Forbes-Mitchell, in ''Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny,'' writes of Uda Devi: "She was armed with a pair of heavy old-pattern cavalry pistols, one of which was in her belt still loaded, and her pouch was still about half full of ammunition, while from her perch in the tree, which had been carefully prepared before the attack, she had killed more than half-a-dozen men." The Pasis of Pilibhit, in particular, come together on November 16 every year to commemorate the anniversary of Uda Devi Pasi's martyrdom.

References

{{reflist Indian women in war Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh History of Awadh Dalit history 1857 deaths Women from Uttar Pradesh Military personnel from Uttar Pradesh People from Lucknow district Women Indian independence activists

Battle of Sikandar Bagh

See also

References