Shah Mal
Topic: The Revolt of 1857 · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"
Meaning
Shah Mal was a Jat cultivator from pargana Barout in Uttar Pradesh who led the revolt there in 1857. A pargana was a small revenue district. He turned against the British because their revenue demands were too heavy for farmers. He shows that ordinary peasants, not only princes, led the rising.
Example
Shah Mal rallied the chaurasee des, a network of 84 villages linked by Jat kinship. His men destroyed a bridge and metalled roads, which they saw as symbols of British rule. They also sent supplies to the rebels in Delhi. He took over a British officer's bungalow and used it as his "hall of justice", where he settled disputes. For a while, people there felt that firangi raj (rule by foreigners) was over. He was killed in July 1857.
Related concepts
- Sepoy panchayat
- Charles Ball
- Nana Sahib
- Azimullah Khan
- Rani Lakshmibai
- Tantia Tope
- Kunwar Singh
- Birjis Qadr
- Begum Hazrat Mahal
- Bakht Khan