Vishwanath Shahdeo


Vishwanath Shahdeo was the king of Barkagarh estate and a rebel in the Indian rebellion of 1857. He and his followers attacked a force of the British East India Company in Ranchi and caused the British to flee. He was eventually caught, found guilty of treason and was hung from a tree along with his accomplices.

Early life

He was born on 12 August 1817 in Satrangi, the capital of Barkagah estate in Lohardaga in Bengal Presidency. His father was Raghunath Shahdeo and Mother Chaneshwari Kunwar. He was a member of the Nagvanshi family. Barkagarh state was granted to Nathan Shah who was grand father of Vishwanath Shahdeo for maintenance by the Nagvanshi maharaja of Chhotanagpur.

Role in 1857

Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo was anti-British and anti-missionaries.
The British had established civil headquarters in Ranchi, and military headquarters of the Ramgarh Battalion at Doronda, without the consent or approval of Barkagarh zamindar. Later German missionaries established a church also, thus the sanctity of the Jagannath temple was believed to be violated and zamindar of Barkagarh were virtually surrounded by outsiders. He disliked the authoritarian way of functioning of the officials. The Christian Kol tribals had taken forcible possession of his lands. They were encouraged in this by the Christian missionaries. When he complained to British officials, they paid no heed and simply ignored him. The rebels in South Bihar asked him to lead them and he readily accepted this offer. He organised a Mukti Vahini with the assistance of nearby zamindars including Pandey Ganpat Rai, Tikait Umrao Singh, Sheikh Bhikhari, Jaimangal Singh, Nadir Ali Khan, Brij Bhusan Singh, Chama Singh, Shiva Singh, Ram Lal Singh and Bijai Ram Singh.