Charkhari is a part of Mahoba in Bundelkhand region which is the
home of many great Indian freedom fighters.The father of the freedom movemrnt
in entire Bundelkhand ,Deewan Shatrughan Singh and his wife Rani Rajendra
Kumari were two great Indian freedom fighters of Bundelkhand
His father's name was Dewan Sudarshan Singh and his mother's name was Rao Eani Dulaiya who died while Shatrughan Singh was still in her womb. Deewan Saheb had got married in 1914 in his childhood to Rani Kaushlya Devi who was called Rani Rajendra Kumari after marriage. His wife Rani Rejendra Kumari was older than him.According to wikipedia He was born on the 25th of December 1900, four months after the death of his father.But there is a question about his accurate birth date.Their is no mention about it but they were young during 1916 and had a good personality. He met Gandhi in the 1920's and then became his follower.
He has desided the manner of freedom struggle in Bundelkhand after accepting the fact of 'Rathaur Veer Durgadaas' written by Bankim Babu. For the better performance he constructed the group of youths. The assemblies of their group parties were held in forest near the bank of betwa for taking disission against British. He also constructed palaestras in jarakhar for the training of groups.Soon the sentences of palaestras was spread all over the Bundelkhand. He advertise it too.He did many efforts for the Hindu Muslim Unity.The muharram of Rath in 1920 can be a good example in which many Hindu persons including Deewaan Shatrughan Singh had provided assistance to the Muslims Physically and economically.
Deewan
Shatrughan Singh and Sripati sahay Rawat bith joined with kongrass in 1919 and
became the follower of Mahatma gandhi.That time Dewan Sahib was 20years
old.Dewan Shatrughan Singh,moved with his workers in every village and markets
of Rath for resisting the forced labor practices and to promote khadi. He
encouraged Landlords not to take of Harijans.Dewan Shatrughan Singh established
a village named Harijan near Charkhari with the assistance of Shyam Bihari
Chaubey.
After the first world war the financial condition of Britishes became bad than the local Zamindars had been invited at the Tehsil headquarters at Rath for donations towards helping their troops.All the Zamindars started offering the money to the Magistrate But Shatrughan Singh refused to give a penny to the British who had enslaved his country.He said his loyalties were with his people and not the imperial power and walked out of the meeting and received a hero's welcome by the crowds who had gathered outside.
He invented a revolutionary secret language for the help of his parties and used it for the distribution of information about freedom movement.He also advocated the Sati case of tola khangaran.Both the couple are credited for inspiring people for the three most difficult Sacrifices called Graam Daan , Bhoo Daan and Shram Daan. The road connecting Charkhari to Supa in Hamirpur district is a result of Shram Daan.Diwan Saheb offered the entire village of Mangrauth to Vonoba Bhave when he visited the district in early 50's
The Rani defeated the sitting UP Chief Minister C.B. Gupta in 1958 by-election
from Maudaha as an indipendant candidate.Rani Sahiba was the first lady in
Hamirpur who avoided the curtain tradition.In the stormy days of
non-cooperation Deewan Sahib got sentence for 18 months for breaking rule 144
then Rani Sahiba directed the revolutionaries in Hamirpur District and also
break the rule 144 herself.She also inspires bunselkhand's women about Curtain practice (Parda
Pratha).Thus they were the main heros of bundelkhand and called
bundelkhand gandhi.During the freedom struggle the couple went to jail several
times.they were in british jail for the freedom struggle for over 9 years.Dewan
Saheb was also well versed in Ayurveda.
Numerous scholers have done phd on the life of this freat indian patriot.There is an annual fair on the birth memory of him held in mangrauth in disember and it is attended by over 50000 people .thus this couple sacrifice everything for the nation and donated their lands to the poors.
Despite being from one of the most affluent families in Central India this couple sacrificed everything for the nation. From December 1975 they are not with us.
They are still remembered as the true leaders who worked selflessly for the nation and for the poor. They continued public service even after independence.He set up several schools and colleges in the district after imparting his own land and money and encouraging others in the process.But it was their our bad luck that neither institutions were named after him or his family members except only the district hospital of Hamirpur is named after Dewan Sahib after his death.They are now the subject of folk tales and songs that recall their bravery . The Alhaa singers particularly have some beautiful compositions narrating stories from their lives.
Source:Book 'Samae Gatha' by Dr.bhawani Deen Basant Publication Mahoba 1995.
