Causes of the Meos Uprising

The Revolt of 1857 was the result of the socio-political and economic
policies of the British government and grievances of the Indian
populace. Most of the northern India was involved in this revolt with full
vigor and strength. ver!"od! involved in this upheaval due to its own
grievances. The ruling class had the sufferings of their own# the! had lost
their $ingdoms# pensions and even titles etc. The! created an atmosphere
of revolt and acted as torch "earer for the pu"lic. But here in Mewat
what forces compelled the agriculturist population to fight against
British where there was no an! ruling famil! involved in this revolt%
&irstl! it is re'uired to throw light on their historical "ac$ground which was
definitel! might "e a cause of their involvement. &rom the ver!
"eginning Meos were alwa!s $ept in fighting with their opponents "!
gurilla warfare although the! were not having an! permanent force of
their own. ither it was the (elhi )ultanate or the "eginning period of
the Mughals# the Meos fought a lot of wars with them. The (elhi rulers
emplo!ed the "rave *fghans soldiers and attac$ed Mewat areas.
Thousands of Meos $illed in these fighting "ut the! never "owed "efore
the government.
+,
mperor *$"ar was wise enough in emplo!ing the
Meos on various posts and the! "ecame first time lo!al to an! (elhi
government. *"ul &a-al in his Ain-e-Akbari has appreciated to the Meos
on their lo!alt! and o"edience.
+1
But at the time )hah .ahan and .ahangir
the Meos again "ecame re"ellious to the (elhi government and once
again their gurilla fighting resumed.
+/
*urang-e" *lamgir "ecame
successful in "ringing them into fold of lo!alt! "! emplo!ing them into
his arm!. It was the good time for this marshal communit! to prove their
"raver! in the organi-ed wa!. * couplet of Mewat poetr! regarding this
period is as follows0
++
Dilli Shahar Suhana Kanchan Bares Neer,
Sabke Kanth Bator Ke Le Gayo Alamgir,
Suno Sakhi Saheliyan Mile Bandhao Dheer,
Kitni Suhagan ongi !a Din Bigde Alamgir"
But in last da!s of *urang-e" Meos and Mughals again rose against each
other. *fter the death of the *urang-e"# Meos fought with )awai .ai
)ingh in 17+, for a long time.
1ere the nota"le point is that all the rulers of (elhi )ultanate and Mughal
d!nast! were Indians and undou"tedl! Muslims. 2hen Meos could not
tolerate the t!rann! of such rulers then how the! could accept the t!rant
foreigner traders li$e nglishmen. 3o dou"t the Meos were against the
Britishers from the time of esta"lishment of their rule over Mewat "ut
the! could not find suita"le time "efore 1857. In this revolt the Meos
defeated British forces man! times and set the Mewat free from foreign
!o$e and added a new chapter of their "raver!# patriotism and
nationalism in histor!.
The second important cause of their participation in the revolt is
economic and geographical. Mewat is a hill! region and its soil is
al$aline mostl! lands are "arren and water is salt!. (ue to all the a"ove
reasons the crops !ielded are not sufficient for the livelihood of the
population of Mewat. 4erhaps this is one of the reasons that the Mewatis
are most hard wor$ing# "rave and courageous. 2hen the (elhi
government imposed land revenue# the Meos found it una"le to pa! in
an! circumstances. )o the differences and s$irmishes started from the
(elhi )ultanate till the end of the Mughal su-eraint!.
In 18,+ Britishers who were famous for suc$ing the territories occupied
Mewat and started their e5tracting 6o" ver! efficientl! "! land revenue
settlements. The! fi5ed the revenue "e!ond the pa!ing capacit! and
value of land. Most of the areas of Mewat such as 3uh# )ohna# 4alwal#
Taoru# Rewari# &ero-pur etc affected "adl! and the farmers# mostl!
Meos# conditions "ecame misera"le.
+7
British government reali-ed the
foll! and in 18+7-+8 Regular )ettlement started in Mewat area. B! this
settlement the land revenue were reduced in some aeas.
+5
But this was
the hard time for the Meos "ecause on the one hand the! were suffering
from the heav! ta5ation of the government and a severe famine at the
same time on the other. The famine continued its starvation and suffering
till 1871. British government reduced the revenue "! /59 and /,9 in
the most affected areas li$e 4alwal and &ero-pur. In 3uh also the
revenue was reduced to some e5tent "ut in less affected areas li$e
:urgaon and Rewari there was no reduction in the revenue. The rate of
land revenue in Mewat was different in accordance with the t!pe of land#
fertilit! and means of irrigation. The rate of revenue on the land irrigated
"! well was from Rs. +.5, to Rs. 7.,, per acre. But where there was no
means of irrigation e5cept rain! water# the rate of revenue was Rs. /.5,
per acre.
+;
These revenue rates were much high which generall! "e!ond
the pa!ing capacit! of the farmers. In order to pa! these revenues the!
generall! fell in the clutches of the Maha#ans and other mone!lenders.
The British torture was surplus on the Meos.
:overnment did not care the Meos sufferings and no relief operations
were noted during whole period of famine in Mewat. More ridiculousl!
government "lamed the Mewati population for their suffering from the
natural curse famine. *ccording to &.<. <hanning# the =and )ettlement
>fficer# the miser!# suffering and economic wea$nesses of the Meos
were due to their la-! and spendthrift attitude. 1e has appreciated the
other communities of Mewat on that occasion.
+7
3o attempts were made
to improve the conditions of the people and their related land. This
added more filth in the ongoing miseries in Mewat. This disgusting
situation was in man! parts of India. *ngels# the friend of ?arl Mar5
writes in a letter to him that British government in India has completel!
avoided the agriculture that@s wh! it is damaging and destro!ing.
+8

*ll the a"ove reasons made the British the "iggest enem! of the Meos
and the! found the opportunit! when Indian )epo!s inflamed the torch
revolt. Meos 6oined them in :urgaon near (elhi and fought shoulder to
shoulder against the British. The! not onl! "rutall! $illed the
nglishmen in :urgaon "ut also "urnt the land revenue related papers
and documents. The! also "urnt all mone! lending and mortgage related
documents of Maha#ans and other mone!lenders.
+8
The Meos of Mewat
not onl! "oosted the courage of the )epo!s "ut the! too$ the
responsi"ilit! of the freedom of Mewat in their own hand.
7,
The!
defeated the British forces in man! s$irmishes and hoisted the flag of
independence in Mewat.
71
In the series of causes of the Meos participation in the revolt the third
important cause was related to the Meo )epo!s who were either in the
service of British government or in the force of 3ative ruling
principalities. Anfortunatel! there is no definite record which shows the
num"er of such forces and the! were active in this war of independence.
But the list of the mart!rs of Mewat according to the government
documents throws much light a"out them.
* lot of !ouths of Mewat were serving in the forces of ast India
<ompan!# Mahara6a :walior# and cavalries of ?ota and 4un6a" such as
/
nd
# +
rd
# and 5
th
regiment# 15
th
:walior contingent# 4un6a" <avalr!# 7
th
<avalr!# light Infantr!# ?ota <ontingent etc.
7/
These people wor$ing in
such forces were full! attached of their families# villages and relatives
and were aware of their sufferings "! the t!rann! of the British
government. 2ithout an! dou"t the! were also awaiting the chance to
chastise the government li$e the other )epo!s of India. Revolt of 1857
provided them the opportunit! to fulfill the long awaited dream and the!
6umped into the war along with the common people without wasting a
single moment. *ll the people of Mewat "oth civil and militar! fought
shoulder to shoulder and freed the whole of Mewat from nglish rule.
$haudharies and village headmen controlled the administration of their
related areas and ruled under the mperor Bahadur )hah Bafar.
7+
This was the shame on the might! British mpire that the! could not
control Mewat even after the fall of (elhi. The! threw all the forces for
con'uering the Mewat area and at last the! "ecame successful and
reoccupied Mewat till 3ovem"er 1857. The! terrori-ed the whole area
and hanged the revolutionaries and even innocent citi-ens. +5
revolutionar! )epo!s were also hanged as listed "elow0
77
1asanpur-/,# )ohna-7# :udrasan-/# Ma6inas-/# 4alwal-1# &arhanwa-1#
&arru$hnagar-1# Bilwari-1# )ultanpur-1# ?a6ar$a-1# :ha6ar-1.
References:
+,. Minha6 )ira6# %aba&at-e-Nasiri# 4art-II# *fghanistan# 18;8# pp.85,-
51 and Biauddin Barani# %arikh-e-'iro( Shahi# d. )hai$h
Badruddin# *ligarh# 1857# pp. 5;-58
+1. *"ul &a-al# Ain-e-Akbari# Tra. Bloc$man# <alcutta# 1877# p. /;/
+/. )amsamuddola# Maasir-ul-)mra# <alcutta# 18,8# 4art-+C1# pp.15;-
57
++. %arikh-e-Meo Kshatriya# p. +58
+7. Land *e+enue Settlement o, Gurgaon District# 188/# d. &.<.
<hanning# p. 5
+5. -bid.
+;. -bid# pp. ;-7
+7. -bid# pp. +-7
+8. ?arl Mar5 and *ngels# $ollected .orks# 4art-+8# Moscow# 188;#
p.++8
+8. Gurgaon District Ga(etteer# <handigarh# 188+# p.7,
7,. ?ashmiri =al Ba$ir# %ahrik-e-A(adi aur Me/at# d.# 1ar!ana Ardu
*cadem!# /,,8# p.81
71. Ne/ Meo %imes# 1
st
3ovem"er# 1887
7/. 'ile No0 *-123# (eput! <ommissioners >ffice# :urgaon
7+. Gurgaon District Ga(etteer# <handigarh# 188+# p.7,
77. 'ile No0 *-123# (eput! <ommissioners >ffice# :urgaon