AJNALA MASSACRE
Well of Martyrs
SARASIJ MAJUMDER
Introduction
We are
familiar with Jallianwala Bug. The British monarch, who, visited Jallianwala
Bagh in 1997 to pay homage to those killed in the firing ordered by a British
Army officer, FELL SHORT OF TENDERING APOLOGY, AND EXPRESSED “GRIEF”. An
equally tragic mass killing was ordered, executed, and buried under earth by East India Company, in
1857, in the name of suppressing the uprising.
We will sum up below the CRUEL, and INHUMAN act of the then those Britishers in India.
THE
AJNALA MASSACRE occurred during India’s first War of Independence, 1857.
Post event led to significant migration of families of
victims from Northern India to the Southern regions.
Victims were from the 26TH NATIVE BENGAL INFANTRY REGIMENT.
Analysis of Remains from Ajnala
In 2014, amateur historian Surinder
Kochhar discovered skeletal remains of 282 soldiers in
a well beneath a gurdwara in Ajnala, near Amritsar, Punjab.
Remains were accompanied by artifacts like bullets,
epaulets, and coins of the East India Company.
Scientific analysis of certain markers in the
remains indicated their origin from the Gangetic plains.
Current DNA data includes mitochondrial DNA from 50
martyrs.
Plan is to enhance information through nuclear DNA
analysis, offering more comprehensive insights.
Forced Migration of Descendant
After the massacre, British forces harassed families of
soldiers, leading to their displacement.
Families migrated from places like Dum Tahar, Rae
Bareli in northern India to Tamil Nadu in the south.
Historical Context: Ajnala Massacre of 1857
Location: Ajnala, Amritsar district, Punjab.
Sipahis of the 26th Native Infantry stationed in Mian Mir,
Lahore, were butchered.
May 13, 1857:Guards were disarmed due to army-wide
outbreaks.
July 30, Rebellion breakout after killing officers, and
Sipahis then camped at banks of Ravi river.
British troops led by Tahsildar Pram Nath attacked them,
killing 150 Sipahis. Around 500 Indian soldiers of Regiment 26 of Bengal Native
Infantry had fled the Mia Meer Cantonment of Lahore. While 150 soldiers were
gunned down, some were swept away in the swollen river..
Remaining Sipahis escaped, and surrendered to Deputy
Commissioner Frederic Cooper.
The British army was able to capture 282 sepoys, who were
tied with a rope and were brought to Ajnala, and imprisoned.
August 1: 237 Sipahis hands were tied and shot to death
by firing squad Without
Trial.
45 of the detained
sipahis died in the unventilated prison from suffocation and heat stroke.
According to Cooper, 282 captured soldiers were thrown into
the well alive or murdered.
A GURUDWARA was built by BRITISHERS to cover the site, and
manipulate the faith of Indians.
Rediscovery and Memorial
February 28, 2014: Local amateur archaeologists found the
well.
"The digging of the well continued for two days and
officials found mortal remains of around 100 soldiers, including 50 skulls and
40 jaws, teeth, 47 one rupee coins of the East Indian Company, besides golden
jewelry and other goods.
The well used as a mass grave has been covered by a 10- feet layer of soil. Hundreds of people gathered at the site when the excavation work was started. There were tears in hundreds of eyes when the committee members recovered some bones.
The crowd gathered around the site got emotional on seeing
the mortal remains of the martyrs after 157 years.
Infamous Well is named as Shaheedan da Khu (Well of
Martyrs).
A Memorial was constructed to honour the martyrs’ memory.
I visited the place during 2016. A museum shall be planned to be installed by the Government there.
Reference:-
1.0 Cooper, The Crisis in the Punjab, 167. The book may
be out of print.
2.0 “After 1857, 22 Bodies Extricated from Shaheedan da
Khu,” The Times of India, 28 February 2014, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/After-157-years-22-bodies-extricated-from-Shaheedan-da-Khu/articleshow/31183298.cms
3.0 Asit Jolly, “The Remains of 1857: Remnants of 282 Indian
Soldiers Executed in 1857 Reveal the Brutality of the British Raj,” India
Today, 7 April 2014,
4.0 FOR DETAILED READING-- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2021.2022271.
The above site contains many references.
Images:- FROM Reference-4
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