The revolt of 1857-58 is largely considered and is widely seen as a ‘Popular Uprising’. The uprising had centers spread across North India as well as Central and Western India. The uprising in different centers had its own leaders. The most important names associated with the uprising that comes in one’s mind are those of the Indian soldier Mangal Pandey at Barrackpore, Rani Laxmibai at Jhansi, Veer Kunwar Singh at Arrah, Maulvi Ahmad Shah at Faizabad, Tantia Tope at Kanpur, Begum Hazrat Mahal at Lucknow.
At the same time, there are many heroes who are largely unheard of or are often forgotten. One such name is that of Peer Ali Khan, a bookseller who led the uprising in Patna. Peer Ali Khan has been described as the “Chief Rebel of the city” by William Tayler who was the Commissioner of Patna between 1855 and 1859.
Peer Ali secretly distributed important leaflets, pamphlets and coded messages and even sent coded messages to other revolutionaries. In the course of all the communication between the revolutionaries to plan and organize anti-colonial protests, it is said that two letters fell into the hands of the authorities. Peer Ali Khan’s role in the revolutionary movement was firmly established by this finding. However, Peer Ali Khan refused to back down in his resolve to fight the British.
He regularly organized campaigns against the British, and became the leader of the July 1857 upsurge in Patna. Peer Ali Khan led the uprising in Patna on 03 July 1857. They first attacked the house of a Catholic priest in the heart of the city, but the priest escaped. They then killed Dr. Lyell, the principal assistant to an opium agent. In the aftermath of the attack, Peer Ali’s house was searched by the British, where they found and seized arms and a number of letters.
Thereafter, Peer Ali Khan and 33 other rebels were arrested and tried. Most of the rebels were hanged within hours of sentencing. Peer Ali who was believed to be the murderer of Dr. Lyell was also handed death sentence for his overall role as the leader in the uprising of 3rd July 1857. After being sentenced to death, Peer Ali was offered amnesty in lieu of providing more evidence and information regarding the nature of the uprising, but nothing could break him. History therefore stands witness to the fact that this ordinary bookseller did not concede to the demands of the British and refused the amnesty. He accepted the gallows rather than a life of disgrace.
On 7th July 1857, Peer Ali was hanged in full public view in Patna. In present day Patna a children’s park opposite the DM’s office near Gandhi Maidan has been named the Shaheed Peer Ali Khan Park by the Govt. of Bihar to commemorate the sacrifice of this ordinary bookseller whose deeds made him extraordinary and memorable. The park is considered to be the place where Peer Ali was hanged in 1857. Naming a park after a forgotten hero of the 1857 uprising goes a long way in making him and his contribution known to the people.