How many of you know that the founders of Darul Uloom faught the British in battle,
before establishing the institution in 1886 ?
Well this thread isn't the story of the incident but also the ideology that inspired it.

The political ideals of Darul Uloom Deoband were founded up to ten years prior to its opening.

In 1857 (1274 AH), Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (a spiritual leader) and his followers, Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi, Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi and others gathered

at Thana Bhawan to protest against British rule and continue their call for the independence of India.

Noted scholar Farhat Tabassum referred to their contribution in the book Deoband Ulema’s Movement for the Freedom of India (Manak),
See image.

A detailed account is in 'Muzaffarnagar's contribution to the Indian freedom struggle' written by freedom fighter Raghunandan Verma and retired Public Information Director Arun Gupta.

It is recorded in the book that after the destruction of the tehsil, the English army marched

towards Thanabhavan

They reached at six in the morning on 19 September 1857.

There they put the artillery in front of the sandbar door.

On the other hand, all the Hindu-Muslims of Thanabhavan were posted on the boundary wall of the town with two cannons.

The bombardier of the British army was a Mureed of Haji Imdadullah, so he wasn't directly targeting.

Whereas the cannons of Thanabhavan shot directly.

The British were thinking that Thanabhavan would be destroyed by night, but it was the opposite.

The English army was defeated and had to go towards Muzaffarnagar.

Many people of Thanabhavan were killed in this battle.

The British understood that it wasn't easy to win without making all the preparations.

In late September, the British army attacked again with full force.

This time the ammunition of the people exhausted and the cannonballs of the British kept falling in the town and burst.

Seeing no hope, women and children were sent to other places in the dark of night and then

people went to hiding in places like Rampur, Gangoh, Kandhla etc.

When no one was there to resist , the English army entered and all the four doors of the city were demolished.

The houses were set on fire.
After this around 132 people in the town were

arrested and hanged in the garden of the Mahajans.

Warrant of Haji Imdadullah , Maulana Qasim Maulana Rashid Ahmed Gangohi were issued.

They were accused of being responsible for the destruction of Shamli tehsil and the fasad in Thanabhavan.

Gangohi was captured, put on trial and later freed. Nanautavi went into hiding. He came back a few years later to spearhead the movement for the foundation of Darul Uloom Deoband, an institution that would prepare scholars to guide the community.

It came about at a time when any surviving madrasa could no longer hope for imperial grants, as was the case during the time of the Mughals. With the community living in a state of fear and rising economic challenges, the odds were stacked up against madrasas.

They had to find ways to sustain themselves, or rely on a handful of community members who might still have disposable resources. At this time, Maulana Nanautavi led the movement for the revival of pristine Islam.

The idea was to make every Muslim well versed with the Quran and Hadith, thereby empowering him.
He wanted the younger generation to know Islam well before going on to learn secular subjects.
With this aim in mind, he reduced the period of study at a madrasa from 10 to 6 yrs.

Thus, a boy who joined before the age of 9-10, could hope to be an alim by the age of 15, and then proceed for secular learning. This, however, was the first step towards bifurcation of education in modern India.

Though technically a madrasa, Deoband was supposed to give the community its identity back, and help in the restoration of its lost pride. In fact, Maulana Mahmood Hasan, the first student here,
never ever considered it just a madrasa.

Once, he is reported to have said, ‘Did Maulana (Nanautavi) build this madrasa just to learn and teach? The madrasa was established before my eyes.
As I know the institution was established after the defeat of 1857 to prepare some people to recover the loss of 1857.’

-: The End :-
Pls rt to make this reach the maximum number of people.

Thanks for reading this far.
Links :
https://www.firstpost.com/living/madrasas-in-india-how-1857-british-crackdown-on-muslims-led-to-founding-of-pioneering-darul-uloom-deoband-7769651.html

https://www.amarujala.com/uttar-pradesh/shamli/the-british-had-lost-dust-in-thana-bhawan-shamli-news-mrt4962924140