ABSTRACT
Whenever there is a mention of butchers of 1857 who pestered, killed, crucified and hanged people in Haryana, the name of Hodson alone is generally taken. Even historians are not aware that there were huge numbers of such officers, some of whom were far more merciless in perpetrating brutalities on the rebels and innocents. Whenever anybody speaks of the British brutalities and repression in the context of Haryana pertaining to the great uprising, the first war of Independence and its first real theatre, the land between Kalka and Alipur or Ambala and Rai, Hodson is the most prominent villain. His role has been mentioned in various episodes described hitherto. Hodson was the first person to initiate retribution in an arbitrary, inhuman, and merciless manner, unheard in the previous history of Haryana.
