“Shauryaam tejo dhritirdakshyam yudhe chaapyapalayanam. Daanmishvarbhavasch kshaatram karma svabhavajam.
Amar Shaheed Shiromani Revolutionary Thakur Dariyav Singh Ji was a famous freedom fighter of the First War of Independence of 1857.
Thakur Dariyav Singh ji was born in 1795 in a prestigious Singraur Kshatriya-Rajput clan of Khaga in Fatehpur district (Uttar Pradesh) .
Thakur Dariyav Singh Wiki Profile
Amar Shaheed ‘ Thakur Dariyav Singh was born in Singraur branch in Khaga tehsil of district Fatehpur. He was born in 1800 AD. His father’s name was Thakur Mardan Singh. He was the talukdar of Khaga. Thakur Dariyav Singh was about 57 years old at the time of the revolution of 1857. The medical college built in Fatehpur is named after Amar Shaheed Jodha Singh Attaya and Thakur Dariyav Singh. His full name is Thakur Dariyav Singh. On 6 March 1858, the tyrannical British rule hanged him. He was a great revolutionary.
Thakur Dariyav Singh Biography
Veer Shiromani Amar Shaheed Thakur Dariyav Singh was born in 1795 AD as the son of Talukdar Thakur Mardan Singh in Khaga town situated in the middle of the holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna. In ancient times, his descendant, the mighty Suryavansh Vatsa gotra Kshatriya Khadga Singh Chauhan defeated the king of this land and took over his kingdom and built a new town, which later became famous as Khaga after his name. At present, it is a tehsil of Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
His descendants were Chauhan Kshatriyas from the Ror group of Kshatriyas who came from Rajasthan and in their society, it was mandatory to follow strict rules of customs and rituals. Sati Pratha was in practice till the middle of the 18th century. The temple of Sati Mata still exists in village Sarasai. To maintain the purity of blood, people of his society used to have marital relations only with the Kshatriyas of Ror group who came from Rajasthan. Till the end of 18th century, the girls of his family were married only to Rawat, Rawal, Parmar, Sengar Kshatriyas of Ror group and brides were brought only from Gauma, Parihar, Chandel and Bisen Kshatriyas of Ror group. Mahar Thakur Dariyav Singh’s maternal home was in village Budwan, Khaga, district Fatehpur at Gautam Kshatriya Thakur Shri Pal Singh’s place and his in-laws’ home was in village Simri, district Raebareli at Gautam Kshatriya’s place. His wife’s name was Sugandha. He had two brave sons and two daughters. The name of the eldest son was Thakur Sujan Singh and the name of the younger son was Thakur Devi Singh. His elder daughter was married to Rawat (Gotra Bharadwaj) Kshatriyas in village Kishanpur, district Fatehpur. The younger daughter was married to Rawal (Gotra Kashyap) Kshatriyas in village Kishanpur itself who were residents of village Ikdala. After knowing the history, it seems that perhaps Thakur Sujan Singh and Thakur Devi Singh’s in-laws were Parihar Kshatriyas in Raebareli district. On 6 March 1858, all the members of the family, except Thakur Devi Singh, were hanged and after that Thakur Devi Singh went into exile in those difficult times and the wives of Thakur Sujan Singh and Thakur Devi Singh had to take refuge at their father’s place.
They had their own independent state on this land till 1808 AD, after that this land came under the control of the British. Thakur Dariyav Singh was a religious, courageous, self-respecting person, adept in warfare and had efficient organization skills. In 1857 AD, under the leadership of this valiant warrior, the people of this place took part in the freedom struggle against the British rule and on 8 June 1857, they defeated the British and took this part of the district under their control, and raised the flag of independence. On this occasion, every year on 8 June, the people of this place celebrate this day with great pomp as Vijay Diwas. But after a few months this area once again came under the control of the British and due to a few treacheries this brave man was captured along with his family and friends and was sentenced to death by hanging on 6 March 1858. This brave man attained martyrdom along with his family for the independence of his motherland and his property was given as a reward to the traitors by the British. Even today the ruined remains of his magnificent fort preserve the history of his sacrifice, valour, struggle and martyrdom.
Revolt against British rule
Thakur Dariyav Singh of Khaga, Nana Saheb of Bithoor, Kesari Rana Beni Madhav Singh of Awadh held secret meetings and started rebellion against British rule in many districts. Kanpur was declared independent on 4 June and Prayagraj on 7 June. After this, 200 rebels camped in Fatehpur. On 8 June, Thakur Dariyav Singh’s commander and his son Sujan Singh captured the treasury of Khaga and hoisted the flag of independence. On 9 June, all the soldiers attacked to capture the Fatehpur court and treasury, in which Jodha Singh Attaya of Rasulpur, Thakur Shivdayal Singh of Jamrawa, Baba Gayadeen Dubey of Korai also joined with the army.
When the pressure of the revolutionaries increased, the British collector Mr. Takkar committed suicide in his bungalow and wrote on the wall that he had given up his life because of the breach of promise by Gayadeen Dubey of Korai. On 10 June, the rebels reached the jail and freed the prisoners. As soon as Nana Saheb in Bithoor got the news of Fatehpur becoming independent, he appointed Deputy Collector Hikmat Ullah Khan as the Chakledaar (Administrator) of the independent government.
In celebration of getting full control over Fatehpur and Kanpur, cannons were fired in Bithoor and the revolutionaries ordered all the police officers of the district to announce by beating drums in the towns and villages that now they have their own government. For a month, an independent government ran in the district. Meanwhile, the British government was preparing a complete strategy to crush the rebels. On 11 June, Major Renard was sent from Allahabad to establish control over Fatehpur. With a contingent of the army, he camped in Katoghan village on GT Road. As soon as Thakur Dariyav Singh got the information, he informed Nana Saheb and then the front started from both sides. On 11 July, Major Renard attacked Khaga. Dariyav Singh’s palace was destroyed with cannons but no one could be arrested. When the pressure of the British forces increased, the revolutionaries of the district crossed the Yamuna and made Banda a safe place. The victory day of freedom fighter Amar Shaheed Thakur Dariyav Singh is celebrated on 8 June.
Thakur Dariao Singh Full Biography in Detail
His father Thakur Mardan Singh was the talukdar of Khaga and his mother belonged to Gautam clan from Budwan village of this district. Thakur Dariyav Singh belonged to Vatsa Gotra (Gotra-Vatsa). His wife’s name was Sugandha, who belonged to Gautam clan of Sareni village of Raebareli (UP) district. They had two daughters and two sons Thakur Sujan Singh and Thakur Dev Singh who were also married in Gautam clan of Raebareli (UP) district.
Thakur Dariyav Singh Singraur (Kshatriya) was the talukdar of Khaga. Thakur Dariyav Singh ji, who was extremely attractive and endowed with valuable talents, had sparkling eyes with big red strings, a vigorous face, a broad chest, tall stature, locks tied to the head, a Rudraksha garland around the neck and a heavy sword hanging on the right side, which added to the charm of his personality. Apart from being a very brave, powerful and valiant man, he was also very self-respecting. He had unparalleled political acumen, scholarship and cleverness as well as organisational capacity. He was also a great worshipper of the Goddess. He also got many temples constructed. He used to worship Maa Durga and Mahavir Hanuman ji daily. Local elders tell that while worshipping, his sword would automatically rise one hand above the ground. He was a very just ruler and took great care of his subjects.
According to local belief, “ Khaga was settled by Thakur Kharg Singh, the ancestor of Thakur Dariyav Singh Ji. ” His ancestors came to Sarasai village in district Fatehpur from Singraur (Shringaverpur of Tretayuga) situated on the banks of Ganga, 37 km north-west of Allahabad . Their original place was Rajasthan, i.e. their ancestors first came to Singraur from Rajasthan and then from there they came to Sarasai village in district Fatehpur.
Thakur Dariyav Singh Singraur (Kshatriya) had a small fort called Garhi, which was very strong and secure. The thick walls of the Garhi were filled with sand and a special type of mortar, around which there was a deep ditch of water. There were seven cemented wells and a very big well in that Garhi which was called Indara. A big round cemented platform was also built inside the Garhi for the wrestlers to wrestle. Later this invaluable heritage was destroyed by the British, but its ruins and remains are still present. Presently, a grand memorial of Thakur Dariyav Singh ji has been built there by installing his statue.
In 1857, when the freedom struggle against the British rule broke out in Avadh, Thakur Dariyav Singh also planned a rebellion against the British. The revolution led by Thakur Dariyav Singh is known as the Fatehpur Revolution. In his family, there used to be open discussions against the British rule since a long time.
When the revolution broke out in Allahabad and Kanpur, he was not present in Khaga. In his absence, on Monday, 8 June 1857, his army, led by his eldest son Thakur Sujan Singh Singrour, attacked the building and treasury of Tehsil Khaga and captured it and hoisted the flag of independence. On receiving the invitation, Thakur Shivdayal Singh Singrour of Jamrawa and Thakur Jodha Singh Singrour of Ataiya Rasulpur also came with their soldiers and companions. All united and marched towards the treasury. Thakur Dariyav Singh Ji, along with his son and relatives, kept fighting the British. This news spread throughout the district and people openly revolted against the British.
The British fought with them for nine months but could neither stop them nor subdue them. Instead, they gave them a tough fight throughout the district. The British army crossed the Yamuna and fled to Banda and those who were left hid in fear. The entire district of Fatehpur was freed from slavery and Thakur Dariyav Singh ran an independent government in Fatehpur for 32 days.
The famous English writer William Crookes has described Thakur Dariyav Singh Ji as a “Singarour Kshatriya” and has written that “During the revolution, the Singraur Kshatriyas under the leadership of Dariyav Singh caused a lot of trouble (to the British) in Fatehpur district”. The number of Singraur Kshatriyas in Thakur Dariyav Singh Ji’s army was high. Apart from the Singraur Kshatriyas, Muslims also supported his army.
On the night of 4 February 1858, based on information provided by a traitor informer, the British deceitfully arrested Thakur Dariyav Singh along with his 40-year-old eldest son Thakur Sujan Singh Singrour, 56-year-old younger brother Nirmal Singh Singrour, Raghunath Singh, Turang Singh and Bakhtawar Singh. All these revolutionaries were subjected to severe torture in prison.
Finally, the cruel British government sentenced him and all the above revolutionaries to death in the district jail on 6 March 1858, after completing the trial in just 32 days on the charge of looting and burning the government treasury of Khaga and Fatehpur on 8 and 9 June 1857. But the great immortal martyr Thakur Dariyav Singh ji transformed the soil of the district into the land of revolution and became the burning embers of the freedom struggle by martyring along with his family and got his name inscribed in golden letters on his motherland.
Khaga’s poet Shri Brijmohan Pandey ‘Vineet’ ji rightly wrote about him that,
“The tale of sacrifice that was written by the rivers of Khaga. Whenever I remember him, my head involuntarily bows down.”
Reference books:-
•District Gazetteer Fatehpur 1980, page no. 250
• Dr. Basudev Singh, History of Baiswara (1997 AD), page 306
• William Crookes, The Tribes and Castes of North-Western Provinces and Oudh (1896 AD), Part Two
• Rajput Clans of Uttar Pradesh
• Book “ Burning Embers of 1857 ” written by Thakur Sarnam Singh Suryavanshi Ji
