# Uda Devi

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{{Short description|Indian freedom fighter (1830–1857)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Uda Devi Pasi
| image              = The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J.P. Nadda paying homage to the freedom fighter Uda Devi, at Sikandar Bagh, Lucknow on August 19, 2016.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J.P. Nadda paying homage to the freedom fighter Uda Devi, at Sikandar Bagh, Lucknow on August 19, 2016
| birth_date         = 30 June 1830
| birth_place        = [Gomti Nagar](/source/Gomti_Nagar), [Lucknow](/source/Lucknow), [Uttar Pradesh](/source/Uttar_Pradesh)
| death_date         = 16 November 1857 (Aged 27)
| death_place        = [Sikandar Bagh](/source/Sikandar_Bagh), [Lucknow, India](/source/Lucknow%2C_India)
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = 
| years_active       = 
| known_for          = [Indian Rebellion of 1857](/source/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857)
| notable_works      = 
}}

''' Uda Devi Pasi''' (1830-1857) was an Indian woman [freedom fighter](/source/Indian_freedom_movement) who participated in the war on behalf of Indian soldiers against the [British East India Company](/source/East_India_Company), during the [Indian Rebellion of 1857](/source/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857). She was a member of the women's battalion of [Wajid Ali Shah](/source/Wajid_Ali_Shah), the last [Nawab of Awadh](/source/Nawab_of_Awadh).

While [upper caste](/source/Caste_system_in_India) histories highlight the resistance contributions of upper caste heroines like [Jhansi Ki Rani](/source/Jhansi_Ki_Rani), the reality was also that the battles for independence from [British colonial rule](/source/British_colonial_rule) also featured [Dalit](/source/Dalit) resistance fighters like Uda Devi Pasi.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pIPlDQAAQBAJ&dq=Uda+Devi&pg=PA356|title=Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857: Documents of the Indian Uprising|last1=Bates|first1=Crispin|last2=Carter|first2=Marina|date=2017-01-02|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789385985751|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=pIPlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA356&dq=Uda+Devi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0kYPksqfUAhUIzIMKHTyyBTcQ6AEIMzAC#v=onepage&q=Uda%20Devi&f=false|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Uda Devi Pasi and other female Dalit participants are today remembered as the warriors or "Dalit Veeranganas" of the 1857 Indian Rebellion.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gQgDAAAQBAJ&dq=Uda+Devi&pg=PA109|title=The Gender of Caste: Representing Dalits in Print|last=Gupta|first=Charu|date=2016-04-18|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=9780295806563|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=6gQgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA109&dq=Uda+Devi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZxvf8s6fUAhVI2IMKHRvmBn8Q6AEIQjAG#v=onepage&q=Uda%20Devi&f=false|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> She was married to Makka Pasi who was a soldier in the army of [Hazrat Mahal](/source/Hazrat_Mahal).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Narayan |first1=Badri |title=Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics |date=2006 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-0-7619-3537-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAQrpDW4-_YC&dq=pasi+community+history+book&pg=PA139 |language=en}}</ref>

On seeing the rising anger of the Indian people with the British administration, Uda Devi reached out to the queen of that district, Begum Hazrat Mahal to enlist for the war. In order to prepare for the battle that was headed their way, the Begum helped her form a women’s battalion under her command.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Charu|date=2007|title=Dalit 'Viranganas' and Reinvention of 1857|jstor=4419579|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=42|issue=19|pages=1739–1745}}</ref> When the [Britishers](/source/British_Empire) attacked Awadh, both Uda Devi and her husband were part of the armed resistance. When she heard that her husband had died in the battle, she unleashed her final campaign in full force.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7feHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|title=Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics|last=Narayan|first=Badri|date=2006-11-07|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9788132102809|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201701/https://books.google.com/books?id=7feHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|archive-date=9 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Uda Devi was born on 30 June 1830 in [Ujariya](/source/Ujariyaon) village (nowadays known as [Gomti Nagar](/source/Gomti_Nagar)) of [Lucknow](/source/Lucknow_district) district of [Uttar Pradesh](/source/Uttar_Pradesh) into a [Pasi](/source/Pasi_(caste)) family.  Her husband named Makka was a great [wrestler](/source/Wrestling) of their time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Satnam |title=Swatantrata Sangram Mei Achhut Jatiyon Ka Yogdan |publisher=Samyak Prakashan |year=2013 |isbn=9789391503079 |edition=1st, 2nd |location=[Delhi](/source/Delhi), [India](/source/India) |pages=38 |language=Hi |quote=Veerangna Uda Devi Pasi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dinkar |first=DC |title=Swatantrata Sangram Mei Achhuto Ka Yogdan |publisher=Gautam Book Center |year=2007 |isbn=978-8187733720 |edition=1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th |location=Delhi, India |pages=51 |language=Hi |quote=Uda Devi Revolution}}</ref>

In the fall of 1857, a general revolt erupted in the cities of Delhi, Jhansi, and Kanpur against the growing hegemony of the British East India Company. In Lucknow, a small British garrison of 2200 clung to life on the banks of the Gomti River surrounded by rebels and lacking adequate supplies. A relief column of British soldiers broke through in September but lacked the firepower to leave again.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Uda Devi: Dalit Verrangna |url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?5346 |website=amritmahotsav.nic.in |quote=Bit about early life |last1=Mahotsav |first1=Amrit }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Death anniversary of Uda Devi: Who was this Dalit freedom fighter |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/death-anniversary-of-uda-devi-who-was-this-dalit-freedom-fighter-8274604/ |website=indianexpress.com |date=17 November 2022 |quote=Her revolution}}</ref>

== Battle of Sikandar Bagh ==
thumb|Exterior of the Sikandar Bagh
Uda Devi took part in the Battle of [Sikandar Bagh](/source/Sikandar_Bagh) in November 1857. After issuing instructions to her battalion, she climbed up a pipal tree and began shooting at advancing British soldiers. A British officer noted that many of the casualties had bullet wounds indicating steep, downward trajectory.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Virangana Uda Devi|last=Verma|first=R.D|publisher=Mahindra Printing Press|year=1996}}</ref> Suspecting a hidden sniper, he ordered his officers to fire at the trees and dislodged a rebel who fell to the ground dead. Upon investigation, the sniper was revealed as Uda Devi Pasi. William Forbes-Mitchell, in ''Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny,'' writes of Uda Devi: "She was armed with a pair of heavy old-pattern cavalry pistols, one of which was in her belt still loaded, and her pouch was still about half full of ammunition, while from her perch in the tree, which had been carefully prepared before the attack, she had killed more than half-a-dozen men."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thewire.in/27390/the-forgotten-women-of-1857/|title=The Forgotten Women of 1857|last=Safvi|first=Rana|date=2016-04-07|website=The Wire-GB|access-date=2016-06-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811090222/http://thewire.in/27390/the-forgotten-women-of-1857/|archive-date=11 August 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Pasis of Pilibhit, in particular, come together on November 16 every year to commemorate the anniversary of Uda Devi Pasi's martyrdom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Dalit-group-recalls-its-1857-martyr-Uda-Devi/articleshow/49807760.cms|title=Dalit group recalls its 1857 martyr Uda Devi|date=2015-11-16|website=The Times of India-GB|access-date=2017-04-15|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524195715/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Dalit-group-recalls-its-1857-martyr-Uda-Devi/articleshow/49807760.cms|archive-date=24 May 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sikandar Bagh Exterio |date=30 October 2021 |url=https://www.kafaltree.com/uda-devi-pasi-a-warrior-indian-rebellion-of-1857/}}</ref>

== Battalion named after Uda Devi ==
The [Uttar Pradesh government](/source/Government_of_Uttar_Pradesh) announced on 20 March 2021 the establishment of the [Provincial Armed Constabulary](/source/State_Armed_Police_Forces) (PAC) women's battalion named after Uda Devi, a female Dait freedom fighter. Three PAC women battalions to be established after three women warriors who sacrificed themselves in India's freedom struggle - [Rani Avantibai](/source/Avantibai), Uda Devi and [Jhalkaribai](/source/Jhalkaribai), for which all formalities have already been completed," Adityanath said while addressing a gathering at an event organised on the death anniversary of Rani Avantibai Lodhi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battalion named after Uda Devi |work=Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India |url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?5346 |last1=Mahotsav |first1=Amrit }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Battalion named after Uda Devi |website=[The Times of India](/source/The_Times_of_India) |date=19 October 2022 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/in-a-first-up-to-set-up-3all-woman-pac-battalions/articleshow/94955064.cms}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The battalion will be called Veerangnas Battalion |date=18 November 2023 |url=https://thedailyguardian.com/uda-devi-the-dalit-freedom-fighter/ |access-date=10 December 2023 |archive-date=22 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322004009/https://thedailyguardian.com/uda-devi-the-dalit-freedom-fighter/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
*[Banke Chamar](/source/Banke_Chamar)
*[Chetram Jatav](/source/Chetram_Jatav)
*[Pasi (caste)](/source/Pasi_(caste))
*[Bijli Pasi](/source/Bijli_Pasi)
*[Madari Pasi](/source/Madari_Pasi)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

Category:Indian women in war
Category:Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Category:Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh
Category:People from Oudh State
Category:Dalit history
Category:1857 deaths
Category:Women from Uttar Pradesh
Category:Military personnel from Uttar Pradesh
Category:People from Lucknow district
Category:Women Indian independence activists
Category:1830 births

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Uda Devi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uda_Devi) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uda_Devi?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.