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The First War of India's Independence (1857) took place just 150 years ago. Despite British suppressions and policies of later regimes, Marthas have not forgotten their heroes (Nana Sahab, Rani Jhansi, Tope etc.), Biharis have glorified the sacrifices of Thakur Kunwar Singh. Forget about Punjab, whose kings and Maharajas at that time proved to be traitors, who helped Britishers in 1857. Historically, Rajputs have also been able to preserve the tales of their heroes like Rana Pratap.
But what happened to Jats who have failed to preserve their glorious history? Jats have been masters of sword but their pen has been rather weak. It is a pity that people of Haryana, Delhi etc. have forgotten the historical events which took place on its soils just 150 years ago in which the contribution of their forefathers was the largest compared to rest of India put together. We have heard about Mangal Pandey, Bahadurshah Zafar and Rani Jhansi, but are totally ignorant how the villages and towns of Haryana gave a tough fight to the whites. Today, the names of Raja Nahar Singh and Rao Tularam are missing from school textbooks. After the 1857 war, Britishers severely punished Jats and Ahirs of Haryana – their homes were looted, lands and properties confiscated and allocated to traitors. Haryana’s name was abolished and its eastern territories of Saharanpur, Meerut and Agra divisions were merged with Audh province, the northern parts (west of Jamuna) mingled into Punjab, areas close to Rewari transferred to Maharajas of Jaipur and Alwar, and Delhi was given a separate entity. Britishers destroyed temples, forcibly closed Sanskrit schools in villages, Urdu was introduced in courts and tehsils, panchayats de-recognised and thousands of villagers were hanged and sentenced to death in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
I have been reiterating that the word ‘Haryana’ should not be interpreted as territory of today’s Haryana state, but it means a wider area which we often call ‘Jatland’.
Jats did produce a few good writers and historians but do we remember them and read their books? I am an admirer of Swami Omanand, the great Jat leader, historian, archaeologist and Vedic scholar who was bestowed the honour of “Rashtriya Pandit” by President V.V. Giri. Swamiji established an archaelogical museum at Jhajjar and wrote a voluminous history of 1857 War of Independence with specific reference to Jats and without prejudice to other communities. It is sad that the books and articles of Swamiji (and other Jat scholars) were neither allowed to be read in classrooms of Haryana, nor are available in university libraries anywhere in India. Why? This is the sole reason that our young generation remains to be ignorant of even our recent past. Who bothers about ancient or medieval history?
German scholar Max Müeller has written – “A nation (or community) that forgets the glory of its past, loses the mainstay of its national character”.
In this thread, in a phased manner, I would present a series of articles (in Hindi) written and published by Swami Omanand in the 1960s and afterwards, about role of Haryana in the 1857 War of Independence. Those who have time and patience and interest in Jat history, may please go through the posts in this thread. Others may wish to skip.
.... to continue
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