Abdullah Nahalband belonged to Tupral village in Gujranwala district of Punjab (now in Pakistan). His father’s name was Allah Din. He joined the 23rd Cavalry (Frontier Force) as a sowar. This force belonged to the personal escort of Punjab’s Governor Michael O’Dwyer. In the last days of 1914, he came into contact with a Ghadar Party member Prem Singh of Sur Singh village, and agreed to participate in the struggle for Indian freedom. The concept of the Ghadar Party came to the minds of Indian immigrants who had gone to the Pacific Coast of North America to make a living. The Ghadar Movement arose from the British government’s racist-cultural attitudes, discriminatory immigration policies, and distorted legal procedures that were used to restrict the entry of Indian citizens into America and Canada. One of the major aims of the Ghadar Party’s program was to persuade the Indian troops to join the movement. The British were recruiting youngsters on a large scale from India for WWI. The Ghadar Party wanted to use the soldiers of India to overthrow British rule. The sowars of the 23rd Cavalry were won over and they promised to march out and join the armed rebellion at the appointed hour. As a token of their assurance, Abdullah and his colleagues sent a sword to the leaders of the movement. Ghadar Party sent emissaries to all cantonments in Northern India. Prem Singh of Sur Singh village met Abdullah and Dafedar Lachhman Singh and took them into his confidence. The date for the general uprising was fixed for November 30, 1914. Later on, the date was postponed. At this time, British officers were completely unaware of the involvement of the 23rd Cavalrymen in the planned uprising of the Ghadar Party. The British also snuffed out the 19 February 1915 uprising by the Ghadar Party. Meanwhile, the 23rd Cavalry was transferred to the United Province (UP). On May 13, 1915, the Sikh soldiers of the 23rd Cavalry were being shipped from Nowgong Cantonment in UP (now MP) to the war front. On the way, at Harpalpur Station (MP), bombs exploded in a wooden box belonging to one of the soldiers. This explosion gave the officials a clue about the plan of the sowars to join the Ghadar revolution. Later on, others were also arrested and their links to the Ghadar Party were discovered. This led to the detention of eighteen men. A court-martial was held in Dagshai, near Shimla. Twelve were sentenced to death and executed at Ambala Jail. Abdullah Nahalband was one among them. On 3 September 1915, he was hanged in Ambala Jail. None of the family members was informed about his hanging. During this time, Michael O’Dwyer was the Governor of Punjab and he personally monitored the trail of 23rd Cavalry persons.
List of Army persons court-martialed at Dagshai and sentenced to death at Ambala. Abdullah’s name is first on the list. (Courtesy Malwinderjit Singh Waraich)