Consider the following statements with reference to Shah Mal during the revolt of 1857:

1. He was killed in an 1857 revolt against Britishers and alleged that his body was cut into pieces to terrify people.

2. He was the big zamindar of Jagdishpur.

3. He organized the heads and also peasants of 84 villages.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Solution

● Statement 1 is correct: Shah Mal was killed in battle in July 1857, by an English officer, Dunlap. It was alleged that Shah Mal’s body was cut into pieces and his head displayed to terrify the public. ● Statement 2 is incorrect: Shah Mal lived in a large village in Pargana Baraut (Baghpat) in Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to a clan of Jat cultivators whose kinship ties extended over chaurasee desh (eighty-four villages). Many of the villagers were prosperous and saw the British land revenue system as oppressive: the revenue demand was high and its collection inflexible. Consequently, cultivators were losing land to outsiders, to traders and moneylenders who were coming into the area. ● Statement 3 is correct: Shah Malmobilized the headmen and cultivators of chaurasi desh. Shah Mal’s men attacked government buildings, destroyed the bridge over the river, and dug up metalled roads, partly to prevent government forces from coming into the area, and partly because bridges and roads were seen as symbols of British rule.