This is the same tamarind tree located on the land of Paradan village on Mughal Road while going from Bindki to Khajuha in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh, on which Gautam Kshatriya Thakur Jodha Singh and his 51 freedom fighter companions were hanged by the British government. This tree, famous by the name of Bavni Imli, is still present as a witness. In the history of India, it is also called the second Jallianwala Bagh because this was the second case of such a large scale revolutionaries being killed by the British and this was the first case of so many revolutionaries being hanged together. Bavni Imli has now become a martyr’s memorial and to reach here, you can come to Kanpur by air and then go by road from there. Apart from this, one can also reach here from Kanpur Allahabad railway route and Fatehpur railway station. Those frustrated people who say that Thakurs have only lived a luxurious life and have not fought any wars, they probably do not know about such sacrifices of Thakurs and if they know but still there is frustration then there is no cure for it. We should not have much expectations from others, our effort should be that every child of Thakur should be familiar with the glorious history of his ancestors.
Who was Gautam Thakur Jodha Singh Attaya and what is the Bawni Imli incident?
Gautam Kshatriya Jodha Singh Attiya, a resident of Attiya Rasoolpur village (now Padhara) of Khajua Block Bindki subdivision, located 50 km from Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh, was born in the house of Thakur Bhawani Singh, his father Bhawani Singh was a prominent landlord of that time. When the call for independence was given in the Barrackpore cantonment on May 10, 1857, during the first freedom struggle of 1857 and its flame started spreading across the country, Fatehpur of Uttar Pradesh also did not remain untouched by it.
At the age of just 20, Jodha Singh had made life difficult for the British. Jodha and his two associates Thakur Dariyav Singh and Thakur Shivdayal Singh together started a guerilla war against the British rule and made life difficult for the British. On 10 June 1857, under the leadership of Jodha, the revolutionaries took over the Fatehpur court and treasury. Fatehpur’s deputy collector Hikmat Ullah Khan was also their ally in this work, although later Himmat Ullah Khan was arrested by the British and he too was brutally killed.
Jodha was declared a dacoit by the British because he looted and burnt government offices. Later he came in contact with the revolutionaries of Avadh and Bundelkhand, after which Jodha Singh once killed a British inspector and a constable in Mahmoodpur village. Similarly, on 7 December 1857, he attacked the police post in Ranipur village and freed the British horses and took them with him. It is said that once he came to know that his contemporary and another revolutionary from nearby, Dariyav Singh, was arrested by the British in Khajuha. On receiving this news, he along with his companions headed towards Khajuha and Colonel Crystal’s cavalry, who was already lying in ambush, captured all of them. However, some other people also say that Jodha Singh was returning with his companions after meeting the King of Argal, when he was captured due to someone’s information, and on April 28, 1858, he was hanged along with his 51 companions on a tamarind tree located on the land of the nearby Paradan village.
The British made an announcement everywhere that whoever would bring down their dead bodies from the tree would also be hanged. At that time, there was so much fear of the British that no one cremated the dead bodies of these martyrs and due to this, for some days, the dead bodies of all of them kept hanging from the trees and eagles and vultures kept eating them. Later on 4 June 1858, at night, Bhawani Singh got the mutilated skeletons of all of them removed and cremated all of them at the nearby Shivrajpur Ganga Ghat. Even today, these immortal sons of Mother India are remembered here and since then, this Bavni Imli tree has become a pilgrimage place.
This incident is known in history as the Bawani Imli massacre or scandal. Other prominent companions of Jodha Singh Attaya were Thakur Dariyav Singh, Shivdayal Singh, Maharaj Singh, etc.
We pay our respectful obeisance to such great ancestors.
Another interesting thing related to the revolutionary life of Jodha Singh is that the Muslims of his region also supported him in this journey. The stories of such revolutionaries are often erased from the pages of history.
Today a memorial has been built in Bavni Imli but the Kshatriya community should take personal responsibility for it, develop better facilities there, find out the names of all those revolutionaries who were martyred along with Jodha Singh. The families of Jodha Singh’s descendants should also be helped properly, if nothing else can be done, then at least share as much information as possible among the people of your Kshatriya community so that even if it is only during the birth anniversaries, at least their names are taken. Because if the Kshatriya community reduces or stops taking their names, the history thieves will start staking their claim on them, after this you keep fighting with them, keep doing endless cross-examination, and keep wasting your time!!
