Dhan Singh Gurjar , also known as Dhunna Singh, was the Indian kotwal (police chief) of

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

, who participated in the 1857 rebellion.

Early life

Gurjar was born in the Panchli or Panchali village in Meerut district. many of whom joined the rebellion against British rule in 1857.

Role in the 1857 rebellion

On 10 May 1857, a rebellion against the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

rule broke out in

during the 1857 uprising. As the kotwal of the city, Dhan Singh's job was to protect the city. However, many of his officers deserted his force on that day, either to join the rebellion or to escape the rebels' fury. The city saw large-scale rioting, plunder and murder. When two of his chowkidars (guards) apprehended two men for stealing horses, he asked them not to make arrests, fearing reprisals from the rebels. Around midnight, he was called to the house of a Bengali man, which was being plundered by a huge group of armed. Dhan Singh's chowkidars arrested two of the plunderers, but Singh restrained them from using force against. He then released the two men with the loot, after the group agreed to go away. Dhan Singh and several other policemen later deserted the police force (''kotwali''). He is believed to have led thousands of villagers from all across the Meerut district to the city's jail. According to the official records, the rebels released 839 prisoners from the jail. These prisoners were among the rebels who participated in the siege of Delhi. Singh was later hanged by the British authorities for his role in the uprising.

Commemoration

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Director General of Police O P Singh unveiled the statue of Kotwal Dhan Singh on the premises of the Sadar police station in

. He announced that a chapter of Dhan Singh Kotwal would be included in police training, and a documentary would be made to "take his inspiring story of bravery and martyrdom to the public." He also proposed a separate section for Dhan Singh Kotwal in the proposed National Police Museum in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

* "Dhan Singh Kotwal Community Centre", the campus community centre of Meerut University, is named after him. * The Dhan Singh Mahavidyalaya in Loni, Ghaziabad is also named after him. * Samajwadi Party's (SP) National President and the former Chief Minister

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh Yadav (; born 1 July 1973) is an Indian politician and national president of the Samajwadi Party who served as the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Having assumed the chief minister's office on 15 March 2012 at the age of 38, he ...

addressed a gathering and unveiled the statue of Kotwal Dhan Singh, at Mawana, 20 kilometres from district headquarter Meerut. * An arterial road running through the Sarita Vihar area of New Delhi is named after Kotwal Dhan Singh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Dhan Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 19th-century Indian people Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh People from Meerut district History of Meerut 1820 births 1857 deaths People executed by British India by hanging