Rae Ahmed Nawaz Khan Kharal
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Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal was one of the greatest freedom fighters in the Indian rebellion of 1857.
He was a resident of Sandal Bar's famous town Jhamra in Jhang District, currently in Faisalabad, Punjab. He started his rebellion in a wide area of Punjab, Pakistan covering Ganji Bar, Neeli Bar and Sandal Bar area (an area between rivers Sutlej, Ravi River and Chenab covered with thick forests in past). The center of his movement was the town of Gogera which lies in the Neeli Bar area. A Punjabi Muslim Jatt, Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal was basically a landlord, owner of a reasonable/worth mentioning territory, he was leader of Kharal Tribe due to the prevailing injustice at that time, love for his motherland resulting differences with the rulers, he was a peace loving, landlord, with respectable status but created injustice made him the leader of the freedom fighters who carried out the famous Gogera insurrection. They also attacked the Gogera Central Jail and ensured the freedom of hundreds of freedom fighters who were kept there for actively taking part in the War of Independence 1857. These freedom fighters under the command of Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal were able to make vast part of their land totally free of the British Raj for at least three months.
Their headquarters was at Kot Kamalia. Along with his companions Murad Fatiana, Shuja Bhadroo, and Mokha Wehniwal he killed Lord Burkley the Commissioner for Gogera. He united most of the Bari tribes against the British rule and was finally killed in a battle with British forces defending his beloved motherland. After his death his head was taken by the British soldiers, but snatched back by one of his loyal friend. Some accounts have claimed that the neck continued to bleed fresh blood after several months. His efforts for the freedom of the homeland from British rule were also acknowledged by the last Moghul king, Bahadur Shah Zafar.
