Uda Devi: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Indian freedom fighter}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name          = Uda Devi
| name          = Uda Devi Pasi
| image        = The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J.P. Nadda paying homage to the freedom fighter Uda Devi, at Sikandar Bagh, Lucknow on August 19, 2016.jpg
| image        = The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J.P. Nadda paying homage to the freedom fighter Uda Devi, at Sikandar Bagh, Lucknow on August 19, 2016.jpg
| alt          =  
| alt          =  
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'''Uda Devi''' was a warrior in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], who fought against the British [[East India Company]].
''' Uda Devi Pasi ''' was an Indian women freedom fighter who participated in the war on behalf of Indian soldiers against the British East India Company, during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. She was a member of the women's squad of [[Wajid Ali Shah]], the sixth Nawab of Awadh.


While [[Caste system in India|upper caste]] histories highlight the resistance contributions of upper caste heroines like Jhansi Rani, the reality was also that the battles for independence from British colonial rule also featured [[Dalit]] resistance fighters like Devi.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pIPlDQAAQBAJ&dq=Uda+Devi&pg=PA356|title=Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857: Documents of the Indian Uprising|last1=Bates|first1=Crispin|last2=Carter|first2=Marina|date=2017-01-02|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789385985751|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=pIPlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA356&dq=Uda+Devi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0kYPksqfUAhUIzIMKHTyyBTcQ6AEIMzAC#v=onepage&q=Uda%20Devi&f=false|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Devi and other female Dalit participants are today remembered as the warriors or “Dalit Veeranganas” of the 1857 Indian Rebellion.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gQgDAAAQBAJ&dq=Uda+Devi&pg=PA109|title=The Gender of Caste: Representing Dalits in Print|last=Gupta|first=Charu|date=2016-04-18|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=9780295806563|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=6gQgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA109&dq=Uda+Devi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZxvf8s6fUAhVI2IMKHRvmBn8Q6AEIQjAG#v=onepage&q=Uda%20Devi&f=false|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> She was married to Makka Pasi who was a soldier in the army of Hazrat Mahal. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Narayan |first1=Badri |title=Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics |date=2006 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-0-7619-3537-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAQrpDW4-_YC&dq=pasi+community+history+book&pg=PA139 |language=en}}</ref>
While [[Caste system in India|upper caste]] histories highlight the resistance contributions of upper caste heroines like Jhansi Ki Rani, the reality was also that the battles for independence from British colonial rule also featured [[Dalit]] resistance fighters like Uda Devi Pasi.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pIPlDQAAQBAJ&dq=Uda+Devi&pg=PA356|title=Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857: Documents of the Indian Uprising|last1=Bates|first1=Crispin|last2=Carter|first2=Marina|date=2017-01-02|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789385985751|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=pIPlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA356&dq=Uda+Devi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0kYPksqfUAhUIzIMKHTyyBTcQ6AEIMzAC#v=onepage&q=Uda%20Devi&f=false|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Uda Devi Pasi and other female Dalit participants are today remembered as the warriors or “Dalit Veeranganas” of the 1857 Indian Rebellion.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gQgDAAAQBAJ&dq=Uda+Devi&pg=PA109|title=The Gender of Caste: Representing Dalits in Print|last=Gupta|first=Charu|date=2016-04-18|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=9780295806563|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=6gQgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA109&dq=Uda+Devi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZxvf8s6fUAhVI2IMKHRvmBn8Q6AEIQjAG#v=onepage&q=Uda%20Devi&f=false|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> She was married to Makka Pasi who was a soldier in the army of Hazrat Mahal. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Narayan |first1=Badri |title=Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics |date=2006 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-0-7619-3537-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAQrpDW4-_YC&dq=pasi+community+history+book&pg=PA139 |language=en}}</ref>


On seeing the rising anger of the Indian people with the British administration, Uda Devi reached out to the queen of that district, [[Begum Hazrat Mahal]] to enlist for the war. In order to prepare for the battle that was headed their way, the Begum helped her form a women’s battalion under her command.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Charu|date=2007|title=Dalit 'Viranganas' and Reinvention of 1857|jstor=4419579|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=42|issue=19|pages=1739–1745}}</ref> When the British attacked Awadh, both Uda Devi and her husband were part of the armed resistance. When she heard that her husband had died in the battle, she unleashed her final campaign in full force.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7feHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|title=Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics|last=Narayan|first=Badri|date=2006-11-07|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9788132102809|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=7feHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
On seeing the rising anger of the Indian people with the British administration, Uda Devi reached out to the queen of that district, [[Begum Hazrat Mahal]] to enlist for the war. In order to prepare for the battle that was headed their way, the Begum helped her form a women’s battalion under her command.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Charu|date=2007|title=Dalit 'Viranganas' and Reinvention of 1857|jstor=4419579|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=42|issue=19|pages=1739–1745}}</ref> When the British attacked Awadh, both Uda Devi and her husband were part of the armed resistance. When she heard that her husband had died in the battle, she unleashed her final campaign in full force.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7feHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|title=Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics|last=Narayan|first=Badri|date=2006-11-07|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9788132102809|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=7feHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


== Battle of Sikandar Bagh ==
== Battle of Sikandar Bagh ==
Uda Devi took part in the Battle in [[Sikandar Bagh]] in November 1857. After issuing instructions to her battalion, she climbed up a pipal tree and began shooting at advancing British soldiers. A British officer noted that many of the casualties had bullet wounds indicating steep, downward trajectory.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Virangana Uda Devi|last=Verma|first=R.D|publisher=Mahindra Printing Press|year=1996}}</ref> Suspecting a hidden sniper, he ordered his officers to fire at the trees and dislodged a rebel who fell to the ground dead. Upon investigation, the sniper was revealed as Uda Devi. William Forbes-Mitchell, in ''Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny,'' writes of Uda Devi: "She was armed with a pair of heavy old-pattern cavalry pistols, one of which was in her belt still loaded, and her pouch was still about half full of ammunition, while from her perch in the tree, which had been carefully prepared before the attack, she had killed more than half-a-dozen men."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thewire.in/27390/the-forgotten-women-of-1857/|title=The Forgotten Women of 1857|last=Safvi|first=Rana|date=2016-04-07|website=The Wire-GB|access-date=2016-06-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811090222/http://thewire.in/27390/the-forgotten-women-of-1857/|archive-date=11 August 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Uda Devi took part in the Battle in [[Sikandar Bagh]] in November 1857. After issuing instructions to her battalion, she climbed up a pipal tree and began shooting at advancing British soldiers. A British officer noted that many of the casualties had bullet wounds indicating steep, downward trajectory.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Virangana Uda Devi|last=Verma|first=R.D|publisher=Mahindra Printing Press|year=1996}}</ref> Suspecting a hidden sniper, he ordered his officers to fire at the trees and dislodged a rebel who fell to the ground dead. Upon investigation, the sniper was revealed as Uda Devi Pasi. William Forbes-Mitchell, in ''Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny,'' writes of Uda Devi: "She was armed with a pair of heavy old-pattern cavalry pistols, one of which was in her belt still loaded, and her pouch was still about half full of ammunition, while from her perch in the tree, which had been carefully prepared before the attack, she had killed more than half-a-dozen men."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thewire.in/27390/the-forgotten-women-of-1857/|title=The Forgotten Women of 1857|last=Safvi|first=Rana|date=2016-04-07|website=The Wire-GB|access-date=2016-06-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811090222/http://thewire.in/27390/the-forgotten-women-of-1857/|archive-date=11 August 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


The Pasis of Pilibhit, in particular, come together on November 16 every year to commemorate the anniversary of Uda Devi's martyrdom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Dalit-group-recalls-its-1857-martyr-Uda-Devi/articleshow/49807760.cms|title=Dalit group recalls its 1857 martyr Uda Devi|date=2015-11-16|website=The Times of India-GB|access-date=2017-04-15|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524195715/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Dalit-group-recalls-its-1857-martyr-Uda-Devi/articleshow/49807760.cms|archive-date=24 May 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The Pasis of Pilibhit, in particular, come together on November 16 every year to commemorate the anniversary of Uda Devi Pasi's martyrdom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Dalit-group-recalls-its-1857-martyr-Uda-Devi/articleshow/49807760.cms|title=Dalit group recalls its 1857 martyr Uda Devi|date=2015-11-16|website=The Times of India-GB|access-date=2017-04-15|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524195715/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Dalit-group-recalls-its-1857-martyr-Uda-Devi/articleshow/49807760.cms|archive-date=24 May 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Pasi (caste)|Pasi caste]]
*[[Pasi (caste)]]
*[[Bijli Pasi|Maharaja Bijli Pasi]]
*[[Bijli Pasi]]
*[[Madari Pasi]]
*[[Madari Pasi]]
*[[Suheldev]]


== References ==
== References ==