Veer Narayan Singh: The First Freedom Fighter of Chhattisgarh

Modern India has much freedom and peace compared to ancient India. Today’s children learn about Indian independence through books and videos. But, they cannot imagine the real struggle the freedom fighters endured to build this amazing modern India. They had lost many things, like their family, children, properties, etc. It was all for this peaceful nation, and we do not even consider the worth of their struggles. They fought hard to send back the Colonial rulers to gain independence. But they also lost their loved ones in the battle; still, they did not stop fighting. We may know the notable leaders of freedom in India, every part of the Indian people fought and contributed their work to send back the British. Some may failed to be in the battle but either they are a martyr or captured by the British. We are about to see one such fighter, Veer Narayan Singh from Chhattisgarh.

Personal Life:

Veer Narayan Singh was born in 1796 in Sonakhan Village, Central Provinces, British India (present-day Chhattishgarh). His ancestors belonged to the Gond Tribe and lived in Sarangarh. Later they changed their affiliation from the Gond Tribe to the Binjhwar tribe. They moved to the Sonakhan village in Raipur District. He became the youngest landlord of the Sonakhan village. Not much of Veer Narayan’s life was discussed in the history.

Veer Narayan’s contribution to the freedom of India:

Veer Narayan’s father was courageous and had conflicts with the British people. Looking after his father, growing up Narayan Singh also became a brave man and opposed the British rule in the state and country. Narayan Singh was popular among his people in the Sonakhan Village for his bravery. After his father’s death, he became the landlord and wanted to do good deeds for his village people. But this was not only disliked by the British but also by the other feudalists of the region as well.

In 1856, a massive famine came in the Central provinces of British India. It leads to resentment among the regions as well as in the Country. Veer Narayan Singh, already a good leader for his village, wished to help his people during the famine. He never wanted to allow his people to die of hunger. There was a drastic shortage of food grains as well as rice. A big trader in the region had a plentiful of grains in stock. Veer Narayan pleaded with him to share some grains with the people of his village, to gain more profit from the famine for his stocks; so he refused to share the grains with Veer Singh for free. This made Veer Narayan seize the stocks and he distributed them among the hungry people.

The trader immediately complained about the incident to the British officers. The British officer, Smith who was already in thirst to capture Veer Narayan Singh, grabbed the opportunity. He arrested Veer Narayan with the help of other feudals of the region. He was almost 62 years old when he was in jail, but nothing stopped him from helping his people.

Veer Narayan had huge support from the people in the Sonakhan village and the surrounding villages. This helped him in many ways. When he was imprisoned, a few soldiers and the guards helped him to escape from the jail. After the escape, he summoned an army of 500 soldiers in the hilly terrain and fought against the British army. Stories say he fearlessly rode his horse from one place to another though he was in his 60s.

The officers could not get him that easily to put up in jail. If not with the help of other feudals, the officers must not capture him. The officers and the feudals started to torture the people of Sonakhan village to get the whereabouts of Veer Narayan Singh. People say, Veer came because of his people getting tortured by the officers. He could not able to see his people in pain which is why he came and was imprisoned again. He was sentenced to hang to death. He was imprisoned in Raipur and the brave man’s life came to an end with his hanged death. Veer Narayan Singh died on December 1857 in Raipur prison.

Legacies:

Veer Narayan Singh was the First Freedom Fighter of Chhattisgarh. He was also the first Martyr from Chhattisgarh in the Rebellion.

• The Government of Chhattisgarh named a cricket stadium Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur after his life.
• There is a commercial building near Ghadi Chowk which was named after him.
• There are schools and colleges named after him in Chhattisgarh.
• A monument was opened to honour his life, Shahid Veer Narayan Singh Smarak near Rajbhavan inaugurated by Giani Zail Singh (President, Republic of India) on 18th February 1984.