Barkat Ahmad

Barkat Ahmad (1787 – 5 June 1858) was a sepoy mutineer and leading figure of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Barkat Ahmad led the army of Indian rebels in the Battle of Chinhat, in Awadh 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 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