Ramji Gond

Ramji Gond was a leader of the Gonds of the Nirmal country, in Adilabad district.¹ In 1860 the Gonds under his lead joined bands of Rohillas (armed men of Afghan descent) who were raiding in the Nizam’s territory.¹ He escaped when the Collector of Nirmal attacked their camp, but he was later caught and hanged.²

His story is told in The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, compiled by a Hyderabad State committee in 1956.¹ The committee writes that the rising of the Gonds under Ramji Gond had been unknown until its volume brought it to light.³

The Rohilla risings, 1857–1860

After 1857, Rohillas disbanded from military service in northern India came into the Deccan.⁴ The committee writes that they were joined by discontented people there.⁴ Bands of Rohillas gathered at several places, Nirmal among them.⁴ It took the troops of the Hyderabad Contingent about two years to put these risings down.⁴

At Nirmal the Rohillas were joined by the Gonds under Ramji Gond.¹ The Taluqdar of Nirmal reported that the rebels were about a thousand strong and were said to be receiving help from Nagpur.²

The fight near Nirmal, April 1860

In April 1860 the Collector learnt that Ramji and the other rebels were camped near a hill some distance from Nirmal.⁵ The place was hard to reach, and the path was too narrow for two men to walk side by side.⁵ The Collector’s force reached the camp at midday and attacked.⁵ There was firing at first, and then fighting with swords.⁵

According to the Collector’s report, the rebels were about 200 Rohillas and 300 Gonds and Deccanis.⁵ Thirty bodies of rebels were found after the fight.⁵ Among them was Mian Saheb Khurd, a Rohilla chief from Narayankhed, and a Gond headman whose name was not known.⁵ On the government side, a Sikh and an Arab soldier and a horseman were killed, and several others were wounded.⁵

The tired and hungry troops did not chase the rebels, who escaped.⁵² The Taluqdar reported that the rebel chieftain Ramji had escaped.² The Resident praised the Taluqdar and urged him to arrest Ramji.²

Capture and death

The committee notes that the file it used says nothing about Ramji’s arrest.² It states, however, that he was later arrested, tried and hanged at Nirmal.² It counts his execution among the losses of life in Hyderabad in this period.³

The Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh (1980) has an entry for Mian Saheb Khurd.⁶ It says he helped Ramji Gond in a rebellion against the British in 1860.⁶ It dates his death in the fight near Nirmal to 9 April 1860.⁶

Where the sources disagree

The two books describe the enemy differently:

• The Hyderabad committee’s book prints reports of a fight between the Nizam’s officers and the rebels, and calls the risings insurrections of the Rohillas.¹²
• The Who’s Who describes the same events as a rebellion “against the British”.⁶

Footnotes

1. Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. II (1956), p. 155 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. II (1956), p. 157 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. II (1956), pp. xv–xvi (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

4. Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. II (1956), p. 118 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. II (1956), p. 156, the Collector’s report of April 1860 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

6. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 420 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴