Freedom Movement in Uttarakhand: Kuli Begar, Peshawar Incident & Satyagrahas

1. The Early Sparks: Kalu Mahara and the 1857 Uprising

Uttarakhand’s participation in the Indian freedom struggle was fierce, continuous, and distinctly organized around mountain social issues. The earliest revolutionary resistance occurred during the First War of Independence in 1857, led by Kalu Mahara (a resident of Thosa village near Lohaghat in Champawat). Responding to secret messages from Wajid Ali Shah and Nawab Khan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly, Kalu Mahara mobilized a secret guerrilla resistance force called Krantiveer.

The Krantiveer fighters attacked British posts and military barracks in Champawat and Lohaghat before the uprising was suppressed by Commissioner Henry Ramsay. Kalu Mahara is officially recognized as the First Freedom Fighter of Uttarakhand.

2. The Historic 1921 Kuli Begar Movement at Bageshwar

The British administration enforced a degrading, unpaid forced-labor system in the hills known as Kuli Begar (compulsory unpaid baggage transport), Kuli Bardayish (free food supplies to touring British officers), and Kuli Utar (forced physical labor). Villagers were subjected to harsh corporal punishments if they resisted.

On the auspicious day of Uttarayani (14 January 1921), over 40,000 peasants gathered at the sacred confluence of the Saryu and Gomati rivers in Bageshwar. Under the inspiring leadership of Badri Datt Pandey, Hargovind Pant, and Chiranjilal, the villagers took a solemn oath by holding sacred Saryu river water, dumped the official police registers recording the names of forced laborers into the rushing river, and declared an absolute end to the Begar system. Mahatma Gandhi hailed this nonviolent triumph as the "Bloodless Revolution".

3. The Peshawar Incident (1930) & Sult Satyagraha

Uttarakhand's military courage took a legendary anti-colonial turn during the Civil Disobedience Movement:

• The Peshawar Incident (23 April 1930): When unarmed Khudai Khidmatgar Pathan freedom fighters protested in Peshawar, the 2/18 Royal Garhwal Rifles were ordered to open machine-gun fire. Their commander, Havildar Chandra Singh Garhwali, famously shouted the historic command: "Garhwalis, Cease Fire!" Refusing to shoot fellow Indians, the Garhwali soldiers laid down their arms, choosing court-martial and decades of rigorous imprisonment. Chandra Singh Garhwali was hailed across India as a supreme national hero.
• Sult Satyagraha (1942): During the Quit India Movement, the remote Sult region of Almora declared complete freedom. On 5 September 1942, British police opened fire at Khumar, martyring several patriots including Gangaram and Khimadev. Mahatma Gandhi bestowed upon Sult the revered title of "Kumaon's Bardoli".
• Indian National Army (INA): Over 2,500 brave soldiers from Uttarakhand joined Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj, with Captain Shashi Bhushan and Major Dev Singh Danu playing pivotal roles in the Burma and Imphal campaigns.

Historical Factsheet & Key Parameters