Kalu Singh Mahara

In 1857 a secret letter reached the hills of Kumaon. It came from Awadh and asked local leaders to rise against the British.

One Thakur from Lohaghat said yes. His name was Kalu Singh Mahara.

1Who was Kalu Singh Mahara?

Kalu Singh Mahara was a Thakur from Bisung Patti, near Lohaghat. This area is in Champawat district of present-day Uttarakhand. In 1857 it was part of the United Provinces.

Few records of his early life survive. We have no firm birth or death dates. Most of what we know comes from local Kumaoni memory and later writing. So the story needs care.

Historians still call him the first major freedom fighter from Uttarakhand. The tag is widely used. It rests on his role in 1857.

His home district has an old history of its own. Champawat was the capital of Kali Kumaon, the tract along the Kali river. The Chand rulers once held court there. This may help explain why the area rose.

• Home: Bisung Patti, near Lohaghat.
• District: Champawat, Uttarakhand.
• Caste group: Thakur.
• Title: first major freedom fighter of Uttarakhand.
• Exact life dates are not documented.

2What did the letter from Awadh say?

The Revolt of 1857 began in May at Meerut. Within months it had spread across much of north India. Awadh was one of its main centres.

A confidential letter went from Awadh to leaders in Kumaon. It asked them to join the fight. It also made a promise. After the British were driven out, the hill areas would go to the local Pahadi people.

The plains at the foot of the hills, called the Tarai, would be governed by Awadh. This was the offer. It gave hill leaders a reason to rise.

Mahara accepted. He began a campaign of local youth and called it Krantiveer. The word means revolutionary hero. The campaign won wide support in Kumaon.

• The letter came from Awadh, in 1857.
• Promise: the hills to the Pahadi people.
• The Tarai would stay under Awadh.
• Mahara’s campaign: Krantiveer.

3How did the Kumaon fight go?

The fighting spread across Kali, Sui, Gumdesh and nearby areas. His militia was mostly riflemen, called Bandukchi. They ambushed the British and harassed them. Then they melted away.

The best known act came at Lohaghat. Mahara led a group of young fighters and set fire to the British barracks. The British army retreated.

Commissioner Ramsay struck back. He sent troops from Tanakpur and Lohaghat to ambush the rebels. Sir Henry Ramsay held the post of Commissioner of Kumaon from 1856 to 1884. Colonial writers called him the King of Kumaon.

Mahara and his men fought hard at Bastia. But they were forced to retreat. The hit-and-run phase was over.

• Theatre: Kali, Sui, Gumdesh.
• Riflemen: Bandukchi.
• Success: Lohaghat barracks set on fire.
• British officer: Commissioner Ramsay.
• Defeat: Bastia.

4What happened after Bastia?

Mahara was held in several jails during this time. Two other revolutionaries, Anand Singh Fartyal and Bishan Singh Karayat, were shot by the British.

What happened to Mahara afterwards is not clear. Records do not survive. Some accounts say he was imprisoned. Do not state a date of death.

Most of Kumaon and Garhwal stayed quiet in 1857. Ramsay kept the region under firm control. Champawat was the main exception.

The wider revolt was put down across north India. But it led to a big change. In 1858 Queen Victoria took over from the Company. India became part of British India.

• Others shot: Anand Singh Fartyal and Bishan Singh Karayat.
• Mahara’s later fate: unclear.
• Main exception to calm: Champawat.
• After 1857: rule passed from the Company to the Crown in 1858.

5How is he remembered?

In 2007 a Pawan Maati programme was held at his ancestral house. In 2009 a statue of him was installed in Dehradun, the state capital. In 2010 the Lohaghat intersection was named after him. The local District Magistrate was present.

The Uttarakhand postal department has also released a first day cover for him. Kumaoni writers keep his story alive in essays and folk retellings.

National history books rarely cover his revolt in detail. That is a common pattern. Regional leaders of 1857 are often left out of the main story. This is why a short, careful account helps students.

• 2007: Pawan Maati programme at his home.
• 2009: statue in Dehradun.
• 2010: Lohaghat intersection named after him.
• A first day cover honours him.
• Read about Uttarakhand.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep him apart from the better-known names of 1857.

• Mangal Pandey: the spark at Barrackpore, 1857.
• Kalu Singh Mahara: a regional revolt in Kumaon.
• The letter came from Awadh, not from Delhi.
• The militia was Krantiveer; its riflemen were Bandukchi.
• He lost at Bastia, not at Lohaghat.
• Do not give a death date; the record is silent.
• Read about Mangal Pandey.
• Read about Begum Hazrat Mahal, a leader of the revolt in Awadh.