VEER 
KUNWAR SINGH

                                                  
Dr K Prabhakar Rao

              Babu Veer Kunwar Singh (1777 –
1858), one of the leaders of the Indian rising of 1857 belonged to a royal
PARMAR Kshatriya
(Rajput)
house of Jagdishpur,
currently a part of Bhojpur district, Bihar state, India. His ancestors claim
lineage from  the great Vikramaditya of
yore.  

                 His exploits are not much highlighted in the
history except a stroke  of sentence.  He actively led a select band of armed
soldiers against the troops    of East
India Company at an age of 80 years and also recorded victories in many
battles.  He assumed command of the soldiers who had
revolted at Danapur on 5th July. Two days later he occupied Arrah, the district
headquarters. Major Vincent Eyre relieved the town on 3rd August, defeated
Kunwar Singh's force and destroyed Jagdishpur. Kunwar Singh left his ancestral
village and reached Lucknow
in December 1857. In March 1858 he occupied Azamgarh. However, he had to leave
the place soon. Pursued by Brigadier Douglas, he retreated towards his home in Bihar.    In his last battle, fought on April 23,
1858, near Jagdishpur,
the troops under the control of the East India Company were completely routed.
While crossing the Ganga
on way to his ancestral seat at Jagadishpur,   Kunwar Singh was wounded in the arm.
Undaunted, Babu Kunwar Singh severed the injured limb and flung it into the river Ganga as is was his
last offering to Ganga.
Soon after, he completely routed the British forces in the battle on 23 April 1858
and died   on 24/26 April 1858. To honor his memory and
his contribution to India’s
freedom movement, the Republic
of India issued a commemorative stamp on 23rd April, 1966.
 A university has also been set up at
Arrah named after him.

         Compare him to the present leaders of Bihar. How crude and corrupt are they! Some one like  Lalu from them have not even left animal
fodder meant for dumb animals and fowls. Such guys are still enjoying the
corners of power instead of counting iron bars of a jail window. That is India today.