Shankar Shah was the titular king of Garha Kingdom, which was situated in the Indian region of Gondwana. He led an uprising against the British in

Jubbulpore Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

, and was put to death along with his son. His son's name was Kunwar Raghunath Shah.

Uprising

During the

Revolt of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

, when other revolutionaries were fighting against the British, Shankar Shah, the aged titular king of Garh-Mandla was living on a pension from the British in

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

. He took up arms and according to the English, "hatched a plot to foully murder the English residents of Jubbulpore". In this struggle, his son Raghunath Shah greatly supported his old father. Raja Shankar Shah was the great-grandson of Nizam Shah, the only son of Sumedh Shah. Raja Shankar Shah was very popular among the

zamindars A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is th ...

and general public. The 52nd regiment of Bengal Native Infantry was called to put down the rebellion in

, but the injustice of the execution of Shankar Shah and Raghunath Shah convinced them to mutiny instead.

Death

The aged Shankar Shah, his son Raghunath Shah along with thirteen other followers were arrested and jailed in the prison at the cantonment, accused of "hatching a plot to foully murder the English residents of Jubbulpore". Even though no incriminating evidence was found against them, the British blew up Shankar Shah along with his son, Kunwar Raghunath Shah with a cannon mouth on 18 September 1857 in a crime of provoking an uprising through their patriotic poems. The 13 followers were executed the next day. This further enraged the already dissatisfied 52nd regiment of Bengal Native Infantry and they rebelled at

Uprising

Death

References

Further reading