Matadin Valmiki was an Indian

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

who played a key part in the events immediately preceding the outbreak 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 ...

. He sowed seeds of the 1857 revolt.

History

He was a

Valmiki Valmiki (; , ) was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic ''Ramayana'', based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poe ...

worker in a cartridge manufacturing unit of

British 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 ...

. Working with leather and animal hide was considered as the occupation of low castes. One day Matadin asked

Mangal Pandey Mangal Pandey (died 8 April 1857) was an Indian soldier who played a key role in the events that led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which resulted in the dissolution of the East India Company and the beginning of the British Raj through the ...

, serving as a soldier, for water, but due to the caste difference, Pandey refused. Matadin made him realise that it was paradoxical to be proud of a high

Caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family, but still use cartridges made with the fat of cows and pigs. This propelled both

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

soldiers of the company to raise the banner of revolt. According to subaltern historians and

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

activists, he should be recognised as the instigator of the revolt of 1857, because he made Pandey aware that their religious sentiments were not respected by the British.

Legacy

In 2015,

Meerut Municipal Corporation The Meerut Nagar Nigam (MNN) also known as Meerut Municipal Corporation (MMC) is the civic body that governs Meerut city. Established under the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act-1959, it is responsible for the civic infrastructure and adm ...

named Hapur Adda crossing at

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 ...

as ''Shaheed Matadin Chowk'' as a tribute to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valmiki, Matadin 1857 deaths Barrackpore Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Prisoners and detainees of British India

History

Legacy

See also

References