Shaik Bikhari Saheb

SHAIK BIKHARI SAHEB

Date of Birth: 1819 and Date of Death: 1858

            Shaik Bikhari Saheb raged against General Dalhousee’s Doctrine of Lapse’ whose sole objective was to expand the British empire.  He stood in support of the freedom loving native rulers and fought against the foreign rulers.  He born in 1819 in a village called Hupte which was in the jurisdiction of Budmu police station in Ranchi district of Bihar.  His father’s name was Shaik Buland.  After completing school education in his native village, Bikhari joined army as a soldier.  Later he went to Oudaghar province on the invitation of its ruler Thakur Viswanadha Shadev and soon he became the Diwan of the province.  He sensed the imminent danger of ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ by the British and that it would be inevitable.  He sent special emissaries like Amanath Ali Ansari, Karamath Ali Ansari and Shaik Hore Ansari to various provinces to unite the rulers who were impatient with the expansionist activities of British.  In a strategic move and with the cooperation of Ram Vijay Singh and Nadir Ali Khan of the East India Company army, he initially attacked the army head quarters of British at Ramghad of Hazaribagh district in 1857 and won the battle.  Buoyed by this victory, he entered Santhal paragana with his forces and defeated the British forces at Bhanuka.  Some British officers were killed in the battle.  Thakur Viswanadh celebrated the victories.  Having been informed of a heavy deployment of company forces at Danapur, Shaik Bikhari and Tikontha Umrao Singh reached Ramghad along with their forces.  A terrible battle ensued.  Though the native soldiers ran short of arms and ammunition to face the heavily armed British forces, they used arrows and stones in the battle.  Eventually, the British officers cast their glance on Bikhari, the strategist who created sleepless nights for the British rulers.  They lured some of the greedy persons from the native forces and found the secret place of Bikhari.  Commander MC Donald went there in person with a huge contingent and captured Bikhari and Umrao Singh on 6^th/8^th January, 1858.  Later they hanged both of them, to a tree without any trial.  In that context, MC Donald said: ‘Among the rebels, Bikhari is the most hazardous and Bikhari Saheb terrified the British officers.