282 skeletons found in well in 2014 were likely of Native Bengal Infantry soldiers killed in 1857
Scientists claim they have unravelled the mystery behind the 282 human skeletons found in an old well in Ajnala town of Punjab in 2014 — they were likely soldiers of the 26th Native Bengal Infantry Battalion, and massacred for revolting against the British during the first war of Indian Independence in 1857.
A team of scientists from Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), Lucknow, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, Punjab University, and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) arrived at this conclusion on the basis of a DNA analysis that showed that the skeletons were of people from Uttar Pradesh (East), Bihar and West Bengal, and not Punjab. Historically, this fits in with the profile of soldiers of the 26th Native Bengal Infantry Battalion, the researchers added.
The scientists say the study, which was published in the research journal Frontiers in Genetics on Thursday, could also help highlight some unknown aspects of the 1857 war. According to historical records, the soldiers were posted at Mian Mir (now in Pakistan) and killed their British officers during the uprising. They were later captured by the British army near Ajnala and executed.
The scientific evidence matched historical evidence on the posting of 26th Native Bengal Infantry Battalion in Punjab and on the composition of the battalion, people from the eastern part of UP, West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar. “Our findings, an outcome of DNA and isotope analysis technique, suggest that these 165-year-old human skeletons belong to the residents of the Gangetic plain region. Of the total skeletons recovered, 95% were of the people from East UP, Bihar and West Bengal,” said Dr Niraj Rai, an expert on ancient DNA and lead researcher.
The investigation into the skeletons began six years ago when a forensic anthropologist from the department of anthropology, Punjab University, approached Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, seeking
help in establishing the identity of the human skeletons exhumed in 2014 from a well in Ajnala. Remnants of the uniforms some of the skeletons were sporting, suggested they were soldiers but little was known about their identity.
“Both the research methods supported that the human skeletons found in the well were not of people living in Punjab or what is now Pakistan. Rather, DNA sequences matched with the people from UP, Bihar, and West Bengal,” said Dr K. Thangaraj, chief scientist and director, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, and a senior member of the team that conducted the study.
“We began with obtaining genetic history from the old bone samples excavated from an old well. We then tried to establish the roots of these human skeletons using DNA and isotope analysis. Of these, 50 samples were sent for DNA analysis and 85 samples for isotope analysis. Both the research methods supported that the human skeletons found in the well were not of people living in Punjab or Pakistan. Rather, DNA sequences got matched with the people from UP, Bihar, and West Bengal,” Rai added. Gyaneshwer Chaubey, department of zoology, BHU, one of the researchers, stressed that the findings would add a significant chapter to the history of the “unsung heroes” of India’s freedom struggle.