न कालमतिवर्तन्ते महान्त: स्वेषु कर्मसु ॥ Great people never delay their duties.
Veer Kunwar Singh was the leader of Bihar region during the first war of Independence. He was born in April 1777 at Jagdishpur (Bihar). His father i.e. Raja Shahabzada Singh was the direct descendant of the great Rajput king Raja Bhoja whose anecdotes are still alive in stories and folks songs. His mother’s name was Rani Panchratan
But there were some freedom fighters of 1857 whose stories are yet to be told. One of them was the famous Courtesan (prostitute) of Kanpur who worked as a spy for Nana Saheb and even took up arms to fight against the White masters.
Her name was Azizan Bai
With only 28-30 men under their leader, Dhan Singh Thapa was given the task to guard the post of Srijap. The area was about 48 sq km long. Furthermore, these posts had no connectivity with the base of the Indian army and the only way to supply anything to them was through the lake.
While the name of the Great Rajput King Maharana Pratap and his incessant struggle against the Mughals is well known but prior to him, there was another Rajput Kshatrani who became a symbol of freedom, fighting for her kingdom against the big & mighty armies of Mughals. She was Rani Duragavati of the Gond Kingdom.
The Sadhus & sanyasis of India have always been an important part of our Cultural heritage and picked up weapons to protect their countrymen whenever need arises, be it saving our temples from Mughals or rising against the British.
