Barkat Ahmad (1787 – 5 June 1858) was a
sepoy
''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...
mutineer and leading figure of the
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
. Barkat Ahmad led the army of Indian rebels in the
Battle of Chinhat, in
Awadh
Awadh (), known in British Raj historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India and southern Nepal, now constituting the North-central portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala Regio ...
region. Barkat Ahmad was a highly trained British sepoy. He led the rebels against the British officer
Sir Henry Lawrence who was then located at
the Residency.
Battle of Chinhat
On 30 June 1857, Sir Henry received information of the movement of rebels and plan of attacking Lucknow. Sir Henry was so confident to ambush the rebel, he led the army and came out of the Residency on a buggy. The British army was composed of 300 British soldiers, 200 Indian soldiers, 200 cavalry and 13 cannons. Barkat Ahmad had anticipated this move of Britishers, hence planned for the attack near the village of Chinhat, twelve miles from Lucknow.
Barkat Ahmad led the rebel army of 5000 soldiers. He also had
Ahmadullah Shah
Ahmadullah Shah (1787 – 5 June 1858) famous as ''the Maulvi of Faizabad'', was a famous freedom fighter and leader of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Maulavi Ahmadullah Shah was known as the lighthouse of the rebellion in the Awadh region. ...
as a commander under him. A fierce battle took place at Chinhat in which Britishers retreated and were pushed backed to the Residency. Lawrence was wounded by an exploding shell on 2 July and died two days later. Barkat Ahmad is a forgotten hero in the Indian history
See also
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Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
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Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi
Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1796/1797 – 19 August 1861) was a Hanafi mufti, Kalam scholar, Maturidi theologian, and poet. He was an activist of the Indian independence movement and campaigned against British colonialism. He issued an early religi ...
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Bakht Khan
General Bakht Khan (1797–1859) was the commander-in-chief of the Indian rebel forces in the city of Delhi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the East India Company.
Khan was born in 1797 and died in 1859. He was born in the region ...
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Begum Hazrat Mahal
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Siege of Lucknow
The siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British The Residency, Lucknow, Residency within the city of Lucknow from rebel sepoys (Indian soldiers in the British East India Company's Army) during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After ...
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Capture of Lucknow
The Capture of Lucknow (Hindi: लखनऊ का क़ब्ज़ा, ) was a battle of Indian rebellion of 1857. The British recaptured the city of Lucknow which they had abandoned in the previous winter after the relief of a besieged gar ...
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Barkat
1787 births
1858 deaths
19th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
Indian Sufi religious leaders
Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
People executed by decapitation
Indian people of the Indian Rebellion of 1857