The history of the Great Uprising of 1857, as chronicled by the English, is a familiar tale of sepoy mutiny and princely revolt. In Bihar, the lionised figure is, rightly so, the old Jagdispur chief, Babu Veer Kunwar Singh. Yet, behind the legend of the octogenarian warrior lay a younger, sharper military mind whose tireless energy and strategic genius transformed a localised feudal grievance into a province-wide war of liberation. His name, tragically overshadowed by his commander’s final sacrifice, was Hare Krishna Singh.
The Tehsildar Who Lit the Fuse
Hare Krishna Singh, born in 1827 in the village of Barubhee, Shahabad district, was no ordinary aristocrat. His initial position was that of a Tehsildar, a revenue official, for the Jagdispur estate, in charge of the Piro pargana. He was a loyal servant of the Jagdispur zamindar family, but unlike many of the landed gentry, he harboured a fiery, personal antipathy towards the Company Raj that went beyond mere revenue disputes.
The historical records, even the hostile British ones, point to a crucial fact: Hare Krishna Singh was the “prime mover” of the rebellion in Bihar. Kunwar Singh, burdened by debt and in his advanced age, was initially hesitant. It was Hare Krishna Singh, a middle-sized man known for brushing his moustache upwards in the aggressive style of an up-country sowar (cavalryman), who provided the necessary spark, the military plan, and the manpower to turn sentiment into revolution.
The decisive moment came in late July 1857. After the revolt of the three Danapur regiments on the 25th, the rebellious sepoys needed a leader, a cause, and a base. It was Hare Krishna Singh who, through a superb feat of recruitment and diplomacy, shepherded the thousands of mutinous soldiers across the River Sone and into the service of the Jagdispur chief. This action alone provided Kunw ar Singh with a formidable, trained, and armed core that gave the Shahabad rebellion its initial, terrifying impetus. Without Hare Krishna Singh 1857, the rebellion in Bihar might never have coalesced.
The Commander’s Masterstroke
Once the Danapur regiments were secured, Hare Krishna Singh was formally appointed the Commander-in-Chief of Kunwar Singh’s army. The impact was immediate. The combined force marched swiftly, and two days after the mutiny, they occupied Arrah, the district headquarters.
While the subsequent siege of the small British garrison at Arrah was ultimately unsuccessful after the arrival of Major Vincent Eyre’s relief column, the early engagement in which the Company forces under Captain Dunbar were brutally ambushed and decimated on July 29th was a powerful demonstration of the rebel force’s discipline and tactical strength. Though Kunwar Singh was the public face of the revolt, the successful mobilisation and immediate challenge to a key British hub were the work of his general. The sheer military logistics achieved by Hare Krishna Singh were astounding.
For nearly a year, as Kunwar Singh led the rebellion across North-Western Provinces and Central India, from Mirzapur to Rewa, Banda, and eventually to the pivotal campaigns at Kanpur and Azamgarh, Hare Krishna Singh remained the backbone of the army. He was the logistical genius, the recruitment master, and the field commander who ensured that the eighty-year-old Raja’s brilliant strategy of guerrilla warfare was effectively executed. His commitment to the cause of 1857 Revolt was unwavering.
One particularly notable victory that bears the General’s stamp occurred in the ensuing campaign: the battle against Major Douglas in Lohara, a major triumph where the rebels outmanoeuvred the pursuing British forces. This victory proved the tactical competence of Hare Krishna Singh.
The Last Lion of Jagdispur
The great lion of Jagdispur, Veer Kunwar Singh, finally returned to his ancestral lands in April 1858, securing a brilliant final victory over Captain Le Grand near Jagdispur before succumbing to his wounds on April 26th. The passing of the chief could have meant the immediate collapse of the rebellion in Bihar, but it did not.
This enduring flame was due almost entirely to the remaining strength of the Commander-in-Chief. The mantle of political leadership fell to Kunwar Singh’s brother, Babu Amar Singh, but the responsibility of maintaining the war machine fell squarely to Hare Krishna Singh. As one former rebel havildar, Ranjit Ram, later confessed, Hare Krishna Singh became “the leading man… and had charge of all the treasure, etc.”
He was made the head of the rebel government’s military council, establishing what was effectively an efficient parallel military system in the beleaguered Shahabad region. Under his command, the rebels held out fiercely, maintaining the war of attrition that frustrated the British for the remainder of the year. The enemy knew his value; a significant bounty of Rs. 1,000 was placed upon his head. The British recognized the threat posed by Hare Krishna Singh long after Kunwar Singh was gone.
The Unsung Martyrdom
The final curtain fell for the general in late 1858. Unlike the heroic, battle-field death of his commander, Hare Krishna Singh was captured by the British forces in December.
We have no dramatic last words recorded by a sympathetic chronicler, only the grim finality documented in the Company’s records. The man who had been the tireless mind and the steady hand of the uprising, who had marched thousands of miles and fought countless battles, was summarily tried and condemned. Hare Krishna Singh was executed by hanging in late 1858. His story is a poignant reminder of the countless unsung heroes who participated in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
His death marked the effective end of the military phase of the 1857 Rebellion in Bihar. The memory of Hare Krishna Singh should not be consigned to the role of a mere lieutenant. He was a revolutionary strategist, a diplomatic recruiter, and the operational genius who turned the venerable Kunwar Singh’s personal grievances into a formidable national struggle. In the annals of our freedom, he was not merely the Commander-in-Chief, he was, in every meaningful sense, the Veer Kunwar Singh’s Shadow, whose courage and sacrifice deserve to stand in the full light of history.
