Maulvi Liaquat Ali

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Maulvi Liaquat Ali was a Muslim religious leader from Allahabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in present-day India. He was one of the leaders in the revolt against the British in 1857, in what is now known as the Indian Mutiny, or the Sepoy Mutiny. This war was also known as the First War of Independence.

^[3] As one of the most prominent leaders, Maulvi Liaqat Ali belonged to Village Mahgaon in Pargana Chail of District Allahabad. He was a religious teacher, an upright pious Muslim, and a man of great courage and valour. His family traced their descent from the Zainabi Jafri branch of Hashmis which had their offshoots at Jaunpur and other places. He was a humble and simple man but when he took the reins of the freedom struggle, he became a dreadful enemy of the British.

The Zamindars of Chail were his relatives and followers, and they supported Maulvi with their men and ammunition. Consequently, it was with great difficulty that the British regained control of the city of Allahabad after the Maulvi captured the ^[4]Khusro Bagh and declared the independence of India Khusro Bagh became the headquarters of the sepoys under Maulvi Liaquat Ali who took charge as the Governor of liberated Allahabad. however, the Mutiny was swiftly put down and Khusro Bagh was retaken by the British in two weeks.

He escaped from Allahabad after the British recaptured the city, but was caught after 14 years in September 1871 at Byculla railway station in Surat.^[5] He was tried and sentenced to death, but died in captivity in Rangoon on 17 May 1892. He had married and had a daughter. Her descedents and further generations are still found in and around Pargana Chail and some migrated to Pakistan after independence.

^[6]The famous Amelia Horne (also known as Amy Horne and Amelia Bennett) was a 17-year-old survivor of the alleged Siege of Cawnpore. She was a witness for the 1872 trial of Liaquat Ali, She was presented in Liaquat Ali's defense as he saved her life. Liaqat Ali was sentenced to life in prison at Port Blair, in one of the Cellular Jail in Andaman Islands.

References

1. The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond By Acyuta Yājñika, Suchitra Sheth, Page 96
2. Freedom Struggle in Uttar Pradesh by S.A.A Rizvi, Vol iv.
3. Maulvi Liaquat Ali icon of 1857 uprising at Allahbad by Prof. A.P Bhatangar
4. "Elegant tombs, unkempt greens". The Hindu. 22 September 2012.
5. New York Times published 31 October 1871
6. Subaltern Lives: Biographies of Colonialism in the Indian Ocean World, 1790-1920 By Clare Anderson, Chapter " Liaquat ali and Amelia Bennett"