User:Mahendra Kadwa/Baba Shahmal Tomar

Baba Shahmal Tomar
Baba Shah Mal was a Tomar Jat resident of village Bijraul in the pargana of Barout in Uttar Pradesh. His role in the freedom movement of 1857 is unparallel. The farmers of the area had suffered from over-taxation by the British in the years prior to the outbreak of the first freedom movement in 1857. Shah Mal put together a combined force of Jat and Gujjar farmers of the area. His army attacked and plundered the tahsil of Barout and the bazaar at Baghpat. [1] Within a short period he took hold of 84 villages of Tomar Desh Khap. During the revolution of 1857, he made his headquarters at bungalow of Irrigation Department on Yanuna River and supervised and controlled his operations from there. The British army could not face the army of Shahmal. Graves of British Soldiers and Officers killed on 30th and 31st may, 1857 can be seen today at the Meerut Road Crossing near Hindon River.The British officer Dunlap could escape very marginally in a war with army of Shahmal in July 1857. Unfortunately the turban of Shahmal got entangled with legs of his horse. An English officer named Parkar who new Shahmal took advantage of this situation. He not only killed Shahmal but also cut his body to pieces and chopped his head off. The British army hanged the head of Shahmal on a jawline to terrify the public on 21 July 1857.