Thakur Kesari Singh Barhath (Aged 69) was born on 21st November 1872 in his ancestral Devpura jagir of the erstwhile Shahpura State. His father, Thakur Krishna Singh Barhath, was one of the Chief Counsellors to the Maharana of Mewar.
At the age of 8, Kesari Singh joined his father, Krishna Singh, who was the chief counsellor to the ruler of Mewar, in Udaipur. It was there that he completed his education. In 1890, Barhath married Manik Kanwar, the sister of Kaviraja Devidan of Kotdi thikana in Kota. He became a father in 1893, naming his son Kunwar Pratap Singh. He resided in the Kaviraja Shyamaldas Haveli in Udaipur.
After a few years of leaving the service of Maharana, in 1900, Kesari Singh was invited by the Kota ruler Maharao Ummed Singh to continue his service in his court. Two years later, in 1902, Kesari Singh was appointed as the Ethnography Superintendent of the Kota State. He continued at this position till 1907.
In 1903, British Viceroy Lord Curzon held the Delhi Durbar to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII. All Indian Kings were invited and required to attend the ceremony to show their fealty to the British Empire. Kesari Singh composed ‘Chetawani ra Chungatiya’, a collection of 13 couplets and exhorted Fateh Singh, the Maharana of Mewar, not to attend the Delhi Durbar. He found like-minded friends in Arjunlal Sethi of Jaipur and Rao Gopal Singh Kharwa and later came in contact with revolutionaries in other parts of India like Ras Bihari Bose and Sachindra Nath Sanyal. He became a part of the Revolutionary Party.
In 1910, Kesari Singh established Veer Bharat Sabha. He got involved in this work at the beginning of the First World War (1914) to prepare for the armed revolution. He sent a parcel of cartridges to the revolutionaries of Banaras and contacted the soldiers of the princely states and British army. To raise funds for the cause, the revolutionaries headed by Kesari Singh found a rich and corrupt mahant, Payrelal from Jodhpur. He was brought to Kota on the orders of Kesari Singh and was subsequently killed.
Kesari Singh was arrested by the British Government in Shahpura on 21st March 1914 for sedition, conspiracy, and murder in the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy (Mahant Pyarelal) Case. Kesari Singh was sentenced to several years of rigorous imprisonment and sent to Hazaribagh Central Jail, Bihar, away from Rajasthan. After the end of World War I in 1919, many political prisoners were released under general amnesty by the British. Under this, Kesari Singh and other important leaders of Rajasthan like Arjun Lal Sethi and Gopal Singh Kharwa were released. He passed away on 14th August 1941.
Thakur Kesari Singh Barhath
(1872 – 1941) – (Rajasthan)
Thakur Kesari Singh Barhath (Aged 69) was born on 21st November 1872 in his ancestral Devpura jagir of the erstwhile Shahpura State. His father, Thakur Krishna Singh Barhath, was one of the Chief Counsellors to the Maharana of Mewar.
At the age of 8, Kesari Singh joined his father, Krishna Singh, who was the chief counsellor to the ruler of Mewar, in Udaipur. It was there that he completed his education. In 1890, Barhath married Manik Kanwar, the sister of Kaviraja Devidan of Kotdi thikana in Kota. He became a father in 1893, naming his son Kunwar Pratap Singh. He resided in the Kaviraja Shyamaldas Haveli in Udaipur.
After a few years of leaving the service of Maharana, in 1900, Kesari Singh was invited by the Kota ruler Maharao Ummed Singh to continue his service in his court. Two years later, in 1902, Kesari Singh was appointed as the Ethnography Superintendent of the Kota State. He continued at this position till 1907.
In 1903, British Viceroy Lord Curzon held the Delhi Durbar to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII. All Indian Kings were invited and required to attend the ceremony to show their fealty to the British Empire. Kesari Singh composed ‘Chetawani ra Chungatiya’, a collection of 13 couplets and exhorted Fateh Singh, the Maharana of Mewar, not to attend the Delhi Durbar. He found like-minded friends in Arjunlal Sethi of Jaipur and Rao Gopal Singh Kharwa and later came in contact with revolutionaries in other parts of India like Ras Bihari Bose and Sachindra Nath Sanyal. He became a part of the Revolutionary Party.
In 1910, Kesari Singh established Veer Bharat Sabha. He got involved in this work at the beginning of the First World War (1914) to prepare for the armed revolution. He sent a parcel of cartridges to the revolutionaries of Banaras and contacted the soldiers of the princely states and British army. To raise funds for the cause, the revolutionaries headed by Kesari Singh found a rich and corrupt mahant, Payrelal from Jodhpur. He was brought to Kota on the orders of Kesari Singh and was subsequently killed.
Kesari Singh was arrested by the British Government in Shahpura on 21st March 1914 for sedition, conspiracy, and murder in the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy (Mahant Pyarelal) Case. Kesari Singh was sentenced to several years of rigorous imprisonment and sent to Hazaribagh Central Jail, Bihar, away from Rajasthan. After the end of World War I in 1919, many political prisoners were released under general amnesty by the British. Under this, Kesari Singh and other important leaders of Rajasthan like Arjun Lal Sethi and Gopal Singh Kharwa were released. He passed away on 14th August 1941.
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