Sheikh Bhikhari, the greatest martyr, is among the chivalrous personalities who gladly accepted martyrdom for the sake of his country. Sheikh Bhikhari along with Tikait Singh of Jharkhand, who set the British teeth on edge in the 1857 revolution were crucified by the British. Countrymen have forgotten this great martyr who gladly sacrificed his life for the country.
Sheikh Bhikhari was born in a well-to-do weaver family in Makka Hupte, Budhmu in Chota Nagpur, Jharkhand, on 2nd October, 1811. He was named as Sheikh Bhukhari but later known as Sheikh Bhikhari. Since childhood, he was a man of revolutionary mind, fearless and brave. Good upbringing and education as well as the act of plunder by the British through East India Company made him a rebel. Just at the age of 17 or 18 years, he was appointed soldier in the army of the emperor of Chota Nagpur and in a very short duration of time, he earned a distinct position for himself in the court of the king. Soon, Thakur Vishwanath Sahdev, the king of Badkagaon Jagannaathpur, offered him the office of ministership where he prepared a grand army consisting of Adivasis and native Ansari youngsters and immediately improved the arrangements. Sheikh Bhikhari was aware of the consequences of the rebellion put forward by the Adivasis of Chota Nagpur and Santhal Pargana, Gond, and Bheel since 1795. He built a secret organisation along with the Adivasi leaders, people working in the British army – Nadir Ali Khan, Sergeant Ram Vijay, two military horsemen from Deoghar – Salamat Ali and Amanat Ali, etc. and set for the mission of freedom of the country.
Apart from this, he unified the freedom revolutionaries from Chaibasa, Dumka and Hazaribagh, organised them and also established contacts with people of other states having similar views and provided them with modern weaponry training of the time. For forest and hilly areas, he gave Gorilla combative training. Around 1857, when the echo of rebellion was spreading all around in North India, Sheikh Bhikhari also accelerated the pace of his campaign and helped the two pioneers of freedom struggle, Sidhu and Kanhu, whom the British had held captive in Hazaribagh prison to abscond. After that, he established contacts with Raja Kunwar Singh, Hazrat Mahal Peer Ali and others.
Sheikh Bhikhari was a victim of internecine conflict among the Mughal leaders, the Marathas and the Afghans, yet he continued his revolutionary activities and proceeded with his struggle for freedom.
When the bugle of the 1857 revolution rang, Sheikh Bhikhari organised the revolutionary pioneers of the Chota Nagpur region. Freedom fighters from Chaibasa, Dumka, Santhal Pragana, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh also raised the flag of revolt against the British, which resulted in the killing of 25 British soldiers in Ranchi. En route to Bhagodar, Sheikh Bhikhari passed through Chota Nagpur, Daltonganj and Pithoria but the king of Chatra betrayed him and gave the British shelter in his territory. Likewise, after defeating Lieutenant Graham of Palamu district, the district was captured by them, as a result of which the British lost control over the entire area. Amid these in 1857, Thakur Vishwanath Sahdev was coronated as king in Doranda, Ranchi.
Due to these freed areas of Chota Nagpur, the British realised that this way the path to Bengal and Orissa would be difficult for them and this really happened. The Grand Trunk Road was snatched from their hand which was alarming for the British. Therefore, the East India Company provided General MacDonald and Dalton with the maximum amount of logistics from Kolkata, while on the other side, the traitors and betrayers also extended their support to the British. Sheikh Bhikhari had already built a secret hiding place in the caves of Kuso mountain where he used to live with few of his friends, and practised Gorilla attack on the British. The spot where he had built his secret hiding place was revealed to the British by a friendly-enemy, Paragnayat. Sheikh Bhikhari along with one of his brave friends, Tikait Umrao Singh, was arrested here, and both of them were hanged to death on 8 January, 1858. In order to spread panic in the area, his friends were hanged on the trees by the road and were left hanging till their corpses fell down after decaying!
Brave martyr, Tikait Umrao Singh was cremated in his ancestral village, Khatanga in Jharkhand whereas, martyr, Sheikh Bhikhari was cremated in his ancestral village, Makka Hupte. The Banyan tree on which he was hanged is still remembered as the site of martyrdom and narrates the story of his freedom struggle.
In the words of General MacDonald: “Among the rebels, Sheikh Bhikhari is the most notorious and dangerous mutineer.”
Millions of people are born all around the world and are confined to their own homes, families and areas. They are not at all concerned about the predicament and susceptibility of the society. But Sheikh Bhikhari was among the rare freedom fighters who reignited the flame of freedom struggle, and sacrificed his all for his beloved country.
We salute the martyrdom and passion of the patriots like Sheikh Bhikhari and Tikait Umrao Singh. But, it is sad to know that despite the passage of so many years of their martyrdom, the Government of Jharkhand has failed rather miserably to grant them the recognition they deserve.
[Translated from Urdu by Fakeha Anjum; Email: [email protected]]