The conflicts in 1855

As per various British era records, the existence of a mosque on Ram Janmabhoomi, built by Babar’s army, was a constant cause of bitterness between Hindus and Muslims in Ayodhya, and violent conflicts would erupt often.

Here is what the Faizabad District Gazetteer (HR Nevill, 1905, page 173) says about it:

“…It is locally affirmed that at the time of the Musalman conquest there were three important Hindu shrines at Ajodhya and little else. These were the Janamasthan temple, the Swargaddwar, and the Treta-kaThakur, and each was successively made the object of attention of different Musalman rulers. The Janamasthan was in Ramkot and marked the birthplace of Rama. In 1528 A.D. Babar came to Ajodhya and halted here for a week. He destroyed the ancient temple and on its site built a mosque, still known as Babar’s mosque. The materials of the old structure were largely employed, and many of the columns are in good preservation; they are of close-grained black stone, called by the natives kasauti and carved with various devices…This desecration of the most sacred spot in the city caused great bitterness between Hindus and Musalmans.”

The Gazetteer records a violent episode in 1855, where a Muslim army occupied the Janmabhoomi and tried to destroy Hanuman Garhi, but was met with fierce counter-assault. It is said that 75 people from the Muslim army were killed by Bairagis. The account says (page 175):

“...On many occasions the feeling led to bloodshed, and in 1855 an open fight occurred, the Musalmans occupying the Janamasthan in force and thence making a desperate assault on the Hanuman Garhi. They charged up the steps of the temple, but were driven back with considerable loss. The Hindus then made a counter-attack and stormed the Janamasthan, at the gate of which seventy-five Musalmans were buried, the spot being known as the Ganj Shahidan or the martyrs’ resting-place.”

In the months leading up to the August 2020 bhoomi pujan of the Ram temple, MR Shamshad, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, urged the temple's trust to safeguard a five-acre tract adjoining the upcoming Ram temple, identifying it as Ganj-e-Shahidan.

However, this narrative was challenged by Ayodhya's then District Magistrate, Anuj Jha, who dismissed the existence of any graveyard within the 67-acre Ram Janmabhoomi area.

The Gazetteer records that after this clash, Hindus no longer had free access to inner precincts of the mosque.

British official Patrick Carnegy, in his 1870 account ‘A Historical Sketch of Tahsil Fyzabad, Zillah Fyzabad’, also noted that access inside the mosque was denied to Hindus after this. He wrote (page 21):

“The Janmasthan is within a few hundred paces of the Hanuman Garhi. In 1855 when a great rupture took place between the Hindus and Mahomedans, the former occupied the Hanuman Garhi in force, while the Musalmans took possession of the Janmasthan. The Mahomedans on that occasion actually charged up the steps of the Hanuman Garhi, but were driven back with considerable loss. The Hindus then followed up this success, and at the third attempt, took the Janmasthan, at the gate of which 75 Mahomedans are buried in the “Martyrs’ grave” (Ganj-shahid.)

"Several of the King’s Regiments were looking on all the time, but their orders were not to interfere. It is said that up to that time the Hindus and Mahomedans alike used to worship in the mosque-temple. Since British rule a railing has been put up to prevent disputes, within which in the mosque the Mahomedans pray, while outside the fence the Hindus have raised a platform on which they make their offerings.”

A slightly varied account is presented by author Aijaz Ahmad, who claims the number of Muslims who were killed was 269.

This account also speaks of involvement in the conflict of an Islamic scholar named Maulvi Fazle Haq Khairabadi (1797-1861), incidentally the great-great-grandfather of noted Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar. It says:

“During his services in Lucknow, Maulvi Khairabadi saw the crucial moments of 1855, when about 269 Muslims were brutally massacred while offering prayer in the Hanuman Garhi of Ayodhya. It is said that the famous temple Hanuman Garhi was built on the site of a mosque built by Emperor Babar. In the resistance, the Muslims including Ulema decided to offer prayer on that place, but they were all massacred by Hindus of that area. This massacre led to a movement and some of the Ulema issued a fatwa for Jihad against this massacre. Maulvi Ameer Ali was the main leader of this movement. Over the advance of the Muslim Mujahideen at Ayodhya, the force of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah commanded by European officers killed the Maulvi and dispersed his followers. Eventually a four member coordination committee was formed and Maulvi Khairabadi was one of them.”

The story about the Hanuman Garhi being built over a mosque, as mentioned in the above account, was circulated by Maulvi Ameer Ali, but was found to be baseless after an investigation.

In this regard, Lucknow & Oude in the Mutiny: A Narrative and a Study (McLeod Innes, 1895, page 58-59), says:

“The city of Fyzabad it has been already shown, was notorious as a centre of religious fanaticism and strife. And now Moulvie, named Ameer Ali, had started a story that the Hannooman Gurhee, the great Hindoo temple, had been built on the site of a Mahomedan mosque; having then collected a band of followers, he had attacked the temple, but had been repulsed by the Hindoos who had flocked in to its defence. The story was groundless, and was proved to be so by reference to the archives at Delhi; still the Nuwab by his attitude encouraged the Moulvie; and a religious war would have ensued had not General Outram stepped in and insisted on the maintenance of law and order. The Moulvie, however, continued his threatening attitude towards the temple, and eventually, trusting the secret support of the Nuwab, advanced to its attack; but was met by troops commanded by English officers, with the result that he was himself killed and his followers dispersed.”

When asked about these incidents, Mahant Premdas, aged around 70, said these are subjects of historical research and he lacked detailed knowledge.

Similarly, the resident sadhus, local shopkeepers, and temple visitors, all seemed to have little awareness or information to offer regarding these events.

Changing landscape of Hanuman Garhi and Ramkot

Locals say the land around the Hanuman temple was previously a tamarind orchard.

Patrick Carnegy’s book notes that until the reign of Safdar Jang, “offerings to Hanuman, of flowers, red-lead etc., were made at the foot of a glorious old tamarind tree, known by the name of Ram Chaura.”

The current landscape, crowded with visitors, shops and scattered footwear, bears no trace of its past. When asked, locals drew a blank at the mention of Ram Chaura.

Kishen Kumar, aged 61, whose family has been running a laddoo prasad shop outside the temple for more than a hundred years, said a large old tamarind tree at the foot of the temple was cut down two decades ago due to safety concerns.

Currently, only one or two tamarind trees remain near the temple, located on the back side amidst several akharas.

The area, indeed the entire Ramkot, looks like a large construction zone.

Road widening projects have led to the demolition or reduction of shops near key temples. Several shopkeepers lament inadequate compensation. Some, like Bajrang Prasad Gupta, who owns a century-old sweets shop near Hanuman Garhi, express mixed feelings, citing potential benefits from increased pilgrim numbers.

A Historical Sketch of Tahsil Fyzabad, Zillah Fyzabad

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