Weapons possibly used during 1857 rebellion found in field in UP's Shahjahanpur

A host of weapons, possibly used during the rebellion of 1857, was found by a farmer while he was working in his field, an official said on Friday.

District Magistrate Dharmendra Pratap Singh said Baburam was ploughing his field a few days ago when he stumbled upon an item resembling an iron sword. As he continued digging, the farmer uncovered a large number of weapons buried in the ground. In total, he found 23 swords, the remains of 12 rifles, a spear and a dagger, Singh said.

The barrels and iron parts of the rifles were all that remained with its wooden components likely consumed by termites, he said. In terms of design, the rifles appear to be matchlock guns, he said. The weapons had been safely kept in the storeroom of the Nigohi police station and a letter had been sent to the Archaeological Survey of India about the discovery, Singh said.

Vikas Khurana, the history department head at Swami Shukdevanand College in Shahjahanpur, said the weapons likely belonged to the Rohilla culture of the Mughal period. The Rohillas were Afghan settlers who entered India in the 18th century during the decline of the Mughal Empire and gained control of the upper Gangetic plains.

Khurana said the weapons might have been used by revolutionaries during the 1857 uprising and they might have moved through this region to the forests of Pilibhit after fighting the British Army.

He said a victorious army never hid its arms and there was a possibility that the revolutionaries might have hidden their weapons by burying them here in the ground. He also noted that one of the matchlock rifles found was still loaded with gunpowder and had been fired. This type of rifle, known as the ‘Gajahi’ gun in the region, was in use during the British rule, he said.