LONDON – British historian wants the skull of an Indian soldier who wasamong those executed after the revolt of 1857 against the East IndiaCompany to be repatriated and buried where he participated in his lastbattle.

Dr Kim Wagner, Senior Lecturer in British Imperial History at Queen MaryCollege in London, believes the time is right for Havildar Alum Bheg — aprinciple leader of the revolt, which the British characterise as a sepoymutiny — to be buried in his country of birth.

His skull had been brought to England by Captain AR Costello, who was onduty when Alum Bheg was executed after the revolt in India. It wasdiscovered years later in a pub in the eastern English coastal town ofWalmer in Kent.

“His regiment was originally raised at Kanpur, but my suggestion would befor his skull to be buried near the Ravi River, at the border between Indiaand Pakistan, where we know Alum Bheg participated in the Battle of TrimmuGhat,” said Wagner, the author of ‘The Skull of Alum Bheg: The Life andDeath of a Rebel of 1857’, which was released recently.

“I don’t perceive of the repatriation of Alum Bheg’s skull as a politicalPR exercise. My focus is simply on returning the remains of Alum Bheg towhat was once his homeland so that he can be put to rest — 160 years afterhe died,” he adds.

The historian has triggered “tentative discussions” on the issue withdiplomats in India and the UK, but acknowledges that these things take timeand does not expect a resolution in the immediate future.

His journey to researching and writing the book on the 1857 revolt aroundthe story of Bheg’s tragic killing began in 2014 when he was contacted bythe family who had come into possession of the skull.