Road To Freedom

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• For God and Country
• The Empire Builders
• Tribal Uprisings
• Sepoys on the Move
• British Authority Collapses
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Roll of Honour
• The Trial of the Last Emperor
• English Education
• The Blue Mutiny
• Perishing in Peace
• ‘Rani Ka Hookum’
• Barbarous Britannia
• Return to Swadeshi
• The Delhi Durbar
• Hunger Deaths
• The One-Man Army
• Mamool Raj
• The British Raj in Black and White
• Europeans Take To The Street!
• Pressing On !
• The Battle For A Free Press
• The Battle Lines are Drawn
• Women : Crossing the Threshold
• An Old Man's Dream
• Father of Indian Unrest
• The Monk Who Shook The Nation
• The Battle is Taken to the Legislature!
• Partition of Bengal
• The Great Divide
• The New Spirit of India
• Swadeshi Enterprise
• From Swadeshi to Swaraj
• Gandhi in South Africa
• Heroes and Martyrs
• Revolutionaries Outside India
• Carrot and Stick
• Gandhi in Champaran
• The Gentle Satyagrahi
• Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh
• Jallianwala — The Aftermath
• A People Reject Their Rulers
• The Himalayan Blunder
• Gandhiji Withdraws from Political Activities
• Bardoli
• Saga of Indian Revolutionaries
• A Pinch of Salt!
• Gandhi and Ambedkar
• Leave India to God… or to Anarchy
• Quit India
• The Last War of Independence
• Apostle of Peace
• India Wins Freedom
• The Light Has Gone Out
• Under One Flag

Barbarous Britannia

Barbarous Britannia

In the 1840's a Sikh preacher named Bhagat Jawahar Mal launched a drive against meat-eating and consumption of liquor. He came to be known as Sian Saheb and his followers were called Kukas. Three decades later the Kukas had grown into a large community and leadership had passed into the hands of Ram Singh who considered himself an incarnation of the tenth Sikh Teacher, Guru Gobind Singh. The Punjab, meanwhile had been taken over by the British. The British kept a wary eye on the Kukas as they had received information that the Kukas were planning a rebellion. Ram Singh, their leader, had declared that when their numbers grew he would come out openly against the British and drive them out of the country. Also there were rumours that one of the Kuka leaders had gone abroad to procure arms. One of the things the Kukas disapproved of was cow slaughter. The slaughter of the animals had been banned in the Punjab but was resumed when the British took control. The Kukas who had been campaigning against cow slaughter were enraged when a slaughter house came up near one of the gates of the Golden Temple. They went on the rampage. Four butchers were beaten to death in Amritsar. Three were killed and thirteen others injured in Ludhiana. The authorities swung into action. Several Kukas were rounded up and swift and severe punishment was meted out to them, resulting in nine hangings and two deportations. These punishments made the Kukas even more angry. On 13th January 1872 a mob of some hundred or so Kukas armed with lathis and axes came out into the streets. Ram Singh did not approve of this behaviour of his followers and said so, but they were in no mood to listen to him. They marched from the town of Bhaini to Kotla and attacked the nawab's palace there. They were driven away and they made their way to Rurr in Patiala. By this time their number had dwindled to 68 and their anger had subsided. All 68 quietly surrendered to the authorities at Patiala on 15th January 1872.

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The Kuka rebellion, if it could be called that, had lasted less than 3 days. That it had posed no threat to the government was borne out by the fact that no one joined the Kukas in their 3-day march. At no time did their number exceed 150. They killed 10 people and injured 17 and they themselves lost 9 men. It was a localised disturbance not supported by the leader of the Kukas and the government was not unduly alarmed.
On 16th January the prisoners were sent to Mr. Cowan, the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana based at Kotla. That same evening Mr. Cowan sent a letter to his superior, Mr. Forsyth, the Commissioner, at his headquarters in Ludhiana, reporting the surrender of the Kukas. In his letter, Mr. Cowan wrote:
"I propose blowing away from guns or hanging the prisoners tomorrow…"
The following day, the 17th January, Mr. Cowan received a note from Mr. Forsyth directing him to keep the prisoners in custody till arrangements could be made to transport them to Ludhiana. Mr. Cowan decided to ignore the note and to carry out his barbarous plan.
At 4 p.m. the prisoners were led to an open ground where, without delay and without even a semblance of a trial, Mr. Cowan ordered the blowing away by guns of 49 of the unfortunate men.
For the next three hours, the guns boomed, blowing up the bodies tied to the cannon mouths. Pieces of bone and flesh were flung all over the country-side and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. Mr. Cowan sat impassively through it all.
Around 7 p.m. an official letter from Mr. Forsyth arrived. It directed Cowan to send the prisoners to headquarters. Cowan read the letter, shrugged and handed it over to Col. Perkins. Only 6 Kukas remained and they had already been tied to the guns.
"What do we do now?" asked Col. Perkins.
"Fire," replied Cowan.
The guns boomed and the last 6 Kukas were blown to bits.
On the following day, when Mr. Forsyth was informed that the prisoners had already been executed, he did not seem to be disconcerted by his subordinate's disregard for his instructions. On the contrary, he wrote: "My dear Cowan, I fully approve and confirm all you have done. You acted admirably."
But there was a public outcry against the executions and the government hastily distanced itself from Cowan calling his actions illegal and unnecessary and "characterised by incidents which give it a complexion of barbarity."
He was removed from service. Mr. Forsyth got away with censure and was transferred to another province and after his retirement became Sir Douglas Forsyth.
Writing about the barbaric executions of the Kukas, Sir Henry Cotton observed: "I can recall nothing during my service in India more revolting and shocking than these executions…and the final orders of the government of India were lamentably inadequate."