Khan Bahadur Khan: The Self-Declared Nawab of Rohilkhand

In May 1857 the soldiers at Bareilly rose against their officers. A rebel government took over the city within days.

Its leader was Khan Bahadur Khan, grandson of the old Rohilla ruler Hafiz Rahmat Khan. He claimed power in the Mughal emperor’s name.

1Who was Khan Bahadur Khan?

Our story begins in Rohilkhand. This is a region of today’s western Uttar Pradesh. Bareilly was one of its leading cities.

The Rohillas had ruled much of this land in the eighteenth century. Their best-known leader was Hafiz Rahmat Khan. Khan Bahadur Khan was his grandson.

That family link gave him standing among local people. His own birth year is uncertain. Wikipedia gives 1823, but the official sources used here do not state it.

People often call him a Nawab. The Ministry of Culture is more careful. It calls him Rohilkhand’s proclaimed ruler, acting for the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. This was rebel authority during a war. It was not a restored princely state.

• Grandson of Hafiz Rahmat Khan of the Rohillas.
• Rohilkhand is in western Uttar Pradesh; Bareilly was its centre of rebel rule.
• Official sources call him a proclaimed ruler acting for Bahadur Shah Zafar.
• His exact birth year is not firmly established.

2What happened at Bareilly in 1857?

Now the revolt reaches Bareilly. The great uprising had begun at Meerut on 10 May 1857. News travelled fast across northern India.

On 31 May 1857 Company troops at Bareilly rose against their officers. The town slipped out of Company control. Khan Bahadur Khan then took charge of a rebel government.

Officials and soldiers backed the new rule. Their aims were not all the same. Some wanted revenge, some wanted pay, and some wanted the old order back.

The fighting also hurt British people and their property. Claims about particular killings need separate evidence. Leading a government does not prove he ordered every act.

• Meerut revolt: 10 May 1857.
• Bareilly troops rose on 31 May 1857.
• Khan Bahadur Khan became the political head of the rebel government.
• Aims within the rebel camp were mixed.

3How did his government work?

A title is not enough to run a city. A government must raise money, give orders and organise defence. Khan Bahadur Khan tried to do all three.

The Ministry of Culture records an eight-person committee for administration. Its members were both Hindus and Muslims. That mix matters. It shows an effort to keep one coalition together.

He levied taxes to pay for the war. The Bareilly district handbook also records silver coins issued under his rule. Coins were a bold claim of authority.

The Ministry says he prohibited cow slaughter. This answered Hindu concerns. Some accounts name Shobha Ram as a senior figure. Calling him a modern “Prime Minister” gives a false picture of the office.

• An eight-person committee of Hindus and Muslims helped administer Bareilly.
• War taxes were levied and silver coins were issued.
• Cow slaughter was prohibited to reassure Hindus.
• Shobha Ram appears in some accounts; do not call him “Prime Minister”.

4How did Bareilly fall?

Bareilly was close to Delhi, so its men mattered to the wider revolt. Bakht Khan, a military leader linked to Bareilly, marched to Delhi in June 1857. There Bahadur Shah Zafar made him commander of the rebel forces.

Khan Bahadur Khan stayed behind as the political leader at Bareilly. The two men must not be treated as one person. One fought for Delhi. The other held Rohilkhand.

The Company then struck back. Forces under Colin Campbell retook Bareilly in May 1858. Khan Bahadur Khan lost the battle and withdrew.

His rule in the city was over. Resistance in northern India did not end at once. Other rebel leaders were still fighting.

• Bakht Khan went to Delhi in June 1857 and became rebel commander there.
• Khan Bahadur Khan stayed as the political leader at Bareilly.
• Colin Campbell’s forces retook Bareilly in May 1858.
• Defeat ended his rule, not the wider revolt.

5How did his story end?

After Bareilly fell, Khan Bahadur Khan moved towards the Nepal border. He did not escape for good. He was captured and handed over to the British.

He was tried for leading a rebellion and waging war against the Company. The court sentenced him to death. He was hanged at Bareilly’s old Kotwali in 1860.

The month is disputed. The Census of India handbook gives 24 February 1860. The Ministry of Culture’s Dictionary of Martyrs says March 1860. Wikipedia also gives 24 February. This article states only that it was 1860.

Many old retellings add the hour, the vehicle and the trial wording. No source used here confirms them, so they are left out.

• He fled towards Nepal and was captured and handed over.
• Tried for rebellion and sentenced to death.
• Hanged at the old Kotwali, Bareilly, in 1860.
• Month disputed: 24 February (Census) or March (Ministry).

6What are the exam traps?

Some names and dates are easy to confuse. Here is how to keep them straight.

• Khan Bahadur Khan led the rebels at Bareilly. Bakht Khan led them at Delhi.
• He acted in the name of Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was not a recognised British-era Nawab.
• Bareilly rose on 31 May 1857. Meerut rose on 10 May 1857.
• Do not state an exact execution month as settled fact.
• Do not give an exact birth year as settled fact.
• Read about Bakht Khan.
• Read about Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah.
• Read about the Revolt of 1857.