Sardhana Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Sardhana Town
Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in Meerut District, United Provinces, situated in 29 9' N. and 77 38' E., on a metalled road 12 miles north-west of Meerut city and 6 miles from Sardhana station on the North- Western Railway. The population rose from 12,059 in 1891 to 12,467 in 1901.
The place is now of small importance, but it was once famous as the residence of the Begam Sumru. According to tradition, the town was founded by a Raja Sarkat, whose family ruled till their expulsion by the Musalmans. The place became the property of Dhusars and Bishnois, who were driven out by Tagas in the eighth century. Walter Reinhardt, better known by the sobriquet of Sombre or Sumru, was a butcher by profession, and a native of Luxemburg. He came to India as a soldier in the French army, and deserting that service, took employment with the British, where he attained the rank of sergeant. Deserting again, he rejoined the French service at Chander- nagore, and on the surrender of that settlement accompanied M, Law in his wanderings throughout India from 1757 to 1760. In the latter year Law's party joined the army of Shah Alam in Bengal, and remained with the emperor until his final defeat -near Gaya by Colonel Carnac. Sumru next entered the service of Mir Kasim, by whom he was employed to murder the English prisoners at Patna (PATNA DISTRICT) in October, 1763. He succeeded in escaping into Oudh, and afterwards served several native chiefs, until in 1777 he entered the service of Mirza Najaf Khan, the general and minister of Shah Alam II, and received the pargana of Sardhana in fief, as an assignment for the support of his battalions. He died here in the following year, and was succeeded by his widow, the Begam Sumru, who continued to maintain the military force. This remarkable woman, the illegitimate daughter of a Musalman of Arab descent, and the mistress of Reinhardt before becoming his wife, assumed the entire management of the estate, and the personal command of the troops, which numbered five battalions of sepoys, about 300 European officers and gunners, with 50 pieces of cannon, and a body of irregular horse.
In 1781 the Begam was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, under the name of Johanna. Her troops rendered excellent service to the Delhi emperor in the battle of Gokulgarh in 1788, where a charge of Sardhana troops, personally led by the Begam and the celebrated adventurer George Thomas, saved the fortunes of the day at a critical moment. In 1792 the Begam married Levassoult, a French- man in command of her artillery. In 1795 ner European officers became disaffected, and an illegitimate son of Reinhardt, known as Zafaryab Khan, put himself at their head. The Begam and her husband were forced to fly. In the flight the Begam's palanquin was overtaken by the rebels, and she stabbed herself to prevent falling alive into their hands ; whereupon Levassoult shot himself, in pursuance of a vow that if one of them was killed the other would commit suicide.
The Begam's wound, however, was but a slight one, and she was brought back to Sardhana. Another account is that the Begam had become tired of her husband, and that her self-inflicted wound was only a device to get rid of him. However, all her power passed tem- porarily into the hands of Zafaryab Khan, and she was treated with great personal indignity, till she was restoied to power some months later by George Thomas. Henceforth the Begam remained in undis- turbed possession of her estates till her death in 1836.
After the battle of Delhi, and the British conquest of the Upper Doab in 1803, the Begam submitted to the new rulers, and ever after remained distinguished for her loyalty. Her possessions were nume- rous, and included several considerable towns, such as Sardhana, Baraut, Barnawa, and Dankaur, lying in the immediate neighbourhood of great marts like Meerut, Delhi, Khurja, and Baghpat. Her in- come from her estates in Meerut District alone amounted to 56,721. She kept up a considerable army, and had places of residence at Khirwa-Jalalpur, Meerut, and Delhi, besides her palace at Sardhana. She endowed with large sums the Catholic Churches at Madras, Cal- cutta, Agra, and Bombay, the Sardhana Cathedral, the Sardhana poor- house, St. John's Roman Catholic College, where natives are trained for the priesthood, and the Meerut Catholic Chapel. She also made over a lakh of rupees to the Bishop of Calcutta for charitable purposes, and subscribed liberally to Hindu and Musalman institutions.
Zafaryab Khan, the son of Sumru, died in 1802, leaving one daughter, whom the Begam married to Mr. Dyce, an officer in her service. David Ouchterlony Dyce Sombre, the issue of this marriage, died in Pans, July, 1851, and the Sardhana estates passed to his widow, the Hon. Mary Ann Forester, daughter of Viscount St. Vincent. The palace and adjoining property have since been purchased by the Roman Catholic Mission, and the former is used as an orphanage.
The town itself lies low, and has a poor and decayed appearance. Immediately to the north is a wide parade-ground, beyond which is the quarter called Lashkarganj, founded by the Begam as a cantonment for her troops, and the old fort now in ruins. East of the town lies the Begam's palace, a fine house with a magnificent flight of steps at the entrance and extensive grounds, It formerly contained a valuable collection of paintings, but these have been sold ; some of them are now in the Indian Museum, and others in Government House, Allah- abad. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is an imposing building. The public offices include the tahsill, post office, and police station. In addition to the Roman Catholic Mission, the American Methodists have a branch here.
Sardhana was constituted a municipality in 1883. The income and expenditure during the ten years ending 1901 averaged Rs. rr,ooo. In 1903-4 the income was Rb. 15,000, chiefly from octroi (Rs, 10,500) ; and the expenditure was Rs. 13,000. The trade is entirely local, except for the export of grain. The town contains a middle school with 183 pupils, and six primary schools with 280 pupils.
[H. G. Keene, Calcutta Review, January and April, i88o.J
