Malegaon fort in Maharashtra which witnessed not one but two different instances of Indian Muslims’ resistance against British
This is the #Malegaon fort in #Maharashtra. It witnessed not one but two different instances of Indian Muslims’ resistance against the British In 1818, during the third Anglo-Maratha war, Muslim soldiers of the Maratha army defiantly held the fort; even as Chatrapati & Peshwa surrendered 30 soldiers died & many more were injured during the siege of the fort. It took the British 36 guns, 8,000 shells & 35,500 pounds of gunpowder to finally take over the fort.
Almost 100 years later, in 1921, the bugle of revolution was again sounded in Malegaon The people of Malegaon had responded to the Khilafat & Non-Cooperation movement of 1920 with enthusiasm. They’d boycotted British institutions, set up their own courts & picketed liquor shops.
The British provoked violence in order to clamp down on revolutionary activities. In a clash between the revolutionaries and police, a native constable was killed. The revolutionaries took over control of the city, the British flag was downed from Malegaon fort & replaced with an Indian flag. An Indian Government headed by Shah Suleman Miya was formed. The British responded with unprecedented violence against the people of Malegaon. People were indiscriminately taken into custody and were sent to Yerwada jail.
Reportedly ₹1.2 million was forcibly collected as fine. In 1922, Suleman Shah, Israil Allahrakha, Shaban Bhikari, Budhu Faridan & Abdul Gafoor were hanged. 9 people were sentenced to life imprisonment, 2 each for 7 & 5 years. Another 92 were sentenced to 3 years’ jail. Abdullah Khalifa & Mohd Husain were killed by torture in jail.
