Series: History of Una, Himachal Pradesh, India

Phase 4: British Period — Part 20 of 30

This article is part of a wider series tracing the transformation of the western Himalayas under colonial influence. As British authority extended into the hills, existing political systems were restructured through treaties, administration, and new forms of governance. This phase considers how colonial rule reshaped society, economy, and space while leaving lasting imprints on local identity.

Midnight Whispers in the Borderland

It is a humid July evening in 1942, and the quiet town of Una, nestled at the base of the Shivalik hills, seems almost untouched by the turbulence sweeping the Indian subcontinent. Yet, behind shuttered windows, a handful of villagers gather around a flickering oil lamp, listening with bated breath as a schoolteacher reads out Mahatma Gandhi’s call for the British to quit India. The words, carried over the hills from distant cities, ripple through Una’s fields and bazaars—words that will forever change the fate of this borderland region.

Colonial Shadows: Una Under the Raj

Following the annexation of Punjab by the British in 1849, Una found itself at a crossroads—geographically, culturally, and politically. It became an administrative outpost, a borderland between princely states and the directly ruled Punjab province. While towns like Lahore or Delhi made headlines, Una’s strategic location on the Sutlej river meant it witnessed a constant flow of soldiers, officials, and ideas. The British established police outposts and revenue offices, introducing new forms of governance—and with them, new tensions.

In the late 19th century, British educational reforms brought government schools to Una. These institutions became unlikely incubators for nationalist sentiment. Inspired by teachers who had studied in Lahore and Shimla, a generation of young men began to question the colonial order. Some, like Ram Nath Sharma—a name still quietly revered in local circles—smuggled revolutionary pamphlets from the plains to the hills, risking arrest and exile.

Early Sparks: The Swadeshi Movement Reaches Una

The first great tremors of anti-colonial resistance in Una arrived with the Swadeshi movement of 1905. News of the partition of Bengal ignited passions across northern India, and Una’s traders and farmers were no exception. At bustling weekly haats, villagers debated the ethics of buying British cloth. Local women, inspired by stories of protests in Calcutta, began spinning khadi on handlooms, their simple act of defiance echoing through the valley.

By 1910, secret meetings were being held in the shadow of Una’s temples and gurdwaras, where community leaders resolved to boycott British goods. The British authorities responded with suspicion, increasing surveillance and summoning elders for questioning. But the seeds of resistance had been sown.

War and Sacrifice: Una’s Sons in the World Wars

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought new complexities to Una. The British began recruiting heavily in Himachal’s hills, promising land grants and pensions to those who enlisted. Hundreds of young men from Una and neighboring villages marched off to distant battlefields in Europe and Mesopotamia—a sacrifice recorded in faded family photographs and the war memorials that still stand in Una’s town square.

Yet, these experiences abroad often fanned the fires of nationalist sentiment at home. Veterans returned with stories of injustice and exploitation, and some joined underground groups seeking to liberate India from colonial rule. The Ghadar Party, born among the Punjabi diaspora in North America, found sympathizers in Una, and its revolutionary literature circulated widely despite British efforts to suppress it.

The Gandhian Era: Mass Mobilization in Una

The 1920s and 1930s saw the Gandhian movement sweep across India, and Una was no exception. Inspired by Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance, teachers, students, and farmers from Una organized processions and picketed liquor shops selling British goods. The Salt March of 1930, though physically distant, was a symbolic rallying cry—locals collected salt from riverbeds and distributed it in open defiance of colonial taxes.

One of the most poignant stories from this period is that of Smt. Shanti Devi, a schoolteacher who led a group of women in protest marches across Una’s villages. Defying social norms and colonial edicts alike, Shanti Devi inspired a generation of women to step out of their homes and into the struggle. British police records from the time mention her by name, noting the “unusual agitation among the female population.”

Another name that echoes through Una’s history is that of Dr. Mohan Singh, a physician who used his clinic as a front for distributing underground newspapers and providing medical aid to injured protesters. His home became a sanctuary for freedom fighters on the run, a quiet testament to the courage that flourished in the shadows.

1942: Una and the Quit India Movement

The Quit India Movement of 1942 marked the most intense phase of anti-British agitation in Una. As news of Gandhi’s arrest reached the hills, spontaneous strikes erupted in schools and bazaars. British authorities responded with arrests, but the spirit of resistance only grew stronger. Railway tracks were sabotaged, telegraph wires cut, and colonial officials found themselves increasingly isolated.

Local accounts speak of a dramatic confrontation outside the Una railway station, where a group of students attempted to prevent a train carrying British troops from passing through. Though the effort was ultimately unsuccessful, it symbolized the rising tide of defiance that even colonial reports could not ignore.

In these years, Una’s villages became safe havens for leaders from other parts of Punjab and Himachal who were evading arrest. Oral histories collected by the Himachal Pradesh State Archives recall how villagers provided food, shelter, and information to the underground movement, often at great personal risk.

Paths to Partition: Una at Independence

The final years before independence were bittersweet for Una. As the British prepared to leave, the town’s strategic position near the Punjab border made it a focal point for refugees fleeing the violence of Partition. Una’s schools and temples were transformed into makeshift camps, where terrified families from across the border found sanctuary. The scars of those days linger in family stories and the communal memory of the town.

Yet, amidst heartbreak, there was celebration. On 15 August 1947, the Indian tricolor was hoisted above Una’s district headquarters for the first time. Veterans of the freedom struggle—some gaunt from imprisonment, others bearing wounds from skirmishes—gathered in the square. The dream that had flickered in secret meetings and whispered conversations was, at last, a reality.

The Legacy of Courage: Una in Post-Independence India

Today, the story of Una’s contribution to India’s freedom movement is woven into the fabric of its identity. Streets and schools bear the names of local heroes, and annual Independence Day celebrations recall the sacrifices of those who came before. In classrooms, students learn not only of Gandhi and Nehru, but also of Shanti Devi, Dr. Mohan Singh, and the countless unnamed villagers who risked everything for the promise of freedom.

As Una continues to grow and change, echoes of its past remain—reminding its people that the fight for justice and dignity is never truly over. The courage shown in the days of the Raj has become a guiding light, shaping Una’s sense of community and purpose in the modern era.

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