Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo

Vishwanath Shahdeo (12 August 1817 – 16 April 1858) was the king of the Barkagarh estate and a rebel in the Indian rebellion of 1857. In 1855, he declared himself independent and defeated British forces in Hatia. He led rebels of Ramgarh Battalion in 1857. But defeated by Company forces with the help of king of Pithoria Jagatpal Singh. He was eventually caught and was hung from a tree along with his accomplices in 1858.

Life Early life He was born on 12 August 1817 in Satranji, the capital of Barkagah estate in then Lohardaga present Ranchi district. 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. He married Baneswari Kunwar, the sister of King of Rajgangpur. He succeeded his father as king of Barkagarh in 1840.

Independent from Company rule 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 the zamindar of Barkagarh. Later German missionaries also established a church, thus the sanctity of the Jagannath temple was believed to be violated and the zamindar of Barkagarh was virtually surrounded by outsiders. He disliked the authoritarian way of functioning of the officials. The Christian Kol tribals had forcibly taken possession of his lands, encouraged by the Christian missionaries. When he complained to British officials, they paid no heed and simply ignored him.

King of Pithoria, Jagatpal Singh helped British forces. Viswanath Shahdeo attacked Jagatpal Singh in Pithoria. A fierce battle ensured in Pithoria for several days which resulted in defeat of rebels. He was caught and hanged in Ranchi on 16 April 1858. Pandey Ganpat Rai was hanged on 21 April 1858.