Hare Krishna Singh Bhadauria (1826-1858) was the commander-in-chief of

Kunwar Singh Veer Kunwar Singh, also known as Babu Kunwar Singh was a chief organiser of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 from the Bhojpur region of Bihar. He was originally the ruler of Jagdishpur estate. He led a selected band of armed soldiers against th ...

's forces in 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 ...

and also served under his brother Babu Amar Singh.

Early life

Hare Krishna Singh was born in 1827 in the village of Barubhee in

Shahabad district Shahabad district or Arrah district, headquartered at Arrah (now part of Bhojpur) was a Bhojpuri speaking district in western Bihar, India, making the western border of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, the district was split into two distri ...

of Bihar to Shri Aidal Singh who was a landlord. His original occupation was as a

tehsildar In Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, a tehsildar, talukdar, or mamlatdar is a land revenue officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as a ...

for the Jagdishpur estate and was in charge of Piro pargana. British sources describe him as a middle sized man who was 30 years old at the time of the rebellion. He brushed his moustache upwards in the style of an up-country

sowar Sowar (, also sawar or siwar meaning "the one who rides" or "rider", from Persian language, Persian , from the Sasanian Empire, Sasanid Middle Persian, Persian Aswaran, Aswār, from the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Old Persian, Persian Asabār ...

Role in the 1857 rebellion

He played an important role in convincing Kunwar Singh to take up arms against the British and was given the duty to command his forces. He was aged 30 at the time of the rebellion and participated in many battles against the British forces. He is considered by some to have been the "prime mover" of the rebellion against the British in Bihar as he was instrumental in recruiting the mutinous sepoys stationed at

Danapur Danapur Nizamat or Danapur is an Indian satellite town and one of six subdivisions (tehsil) in the Patna district of Bihar state.Jagdispur Jagdishpur is a nagar panchayat town of the district Bhojpur of the state of Bihar in eastern India. It was the capital of the eponymous Jagdishpur Raj ruled by Rajputs of the Ujjainiya clan. One of its rulers, Kunwar Singh, was a major ...

. He marched with the force westwards towards

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

and achieved a major victory in a battle against Major Douglas in Lohara, west of

Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the ...

. After Kunwar Singh's death he continued to serve under his brother Babu Amar Singh. During the period after Kunwar Singh's death, a bounty of Rs 1000 was placed on his head by the British. He was also made the head of the government under the authority of Amar Singh and was considered to have run an efficient military system with different ranks being awarded to soldiers. He was captured in 1858 and executed by hanging.

Assessment

Ranjit Ram, a former commander under Kunwar Singh, later recalled that, on the death of his superior, Hare Krishna had become "the leading man … and had charge of all the treasure, etc."

References

{{reflist Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 People from Bhojpur district, India History of Bihar Indian independence activists from Bihar 1827 births 1858 deaths