A teacher and revolutionary

Bhai Balmukund was an anti-colonial revolutionary associated with Punjab and the Delhi–Lahore conspiracy case. The Government of India’s Dictionary of Martyrs identifies him as a schoolteacher from Khariala in Jhelum district, now in Pakistan. It describes his association with revolutionary networks and the distribution of political leaflets. The dictionary is a commemorative reference and gives citations to official records; those underlying records can be consulted to test details and understand the colonial case against him. Different spellings of his name, including Bal Mukund, appear in catalogues and historical accounts.[1]

The conspiracy case

A Journal de Brahmavart study lists Balmukund among people arrested and prosecuted in the Delhi conspiracy case after the attack on Viceroy Lord Hardinge’s procession in December 1912. A prosecution, conviction and individual participation are related but distinct questions: the trial proceedings are needed to examine the evidence and charges against each defendant. The survey offers a broad account of anti-colonial revolutionary activity. Reading it with court records and other histories helps distinguish documented proceedings from later interpretation.[2]

Execution and remembrance

The Delhi government’s account of a memorial states that Balmukund, Amir Chand and Awadh Bihari were executed in Delhi on 8 May 1915. It identifies them with the Hardinge bomb case and records a later public tribute. The site of the former Delhi jail is identified by the memorial as a place for public tribute. A memorial statement tells us how officials chose to remember the event as well as supplying a date; it is not a complete biography. The story crosses present-day national borders because Jhelum, Lahore and Delhi were all within British India at the time. The revolutionary networks, their actions and the colonial response involved many people beyond those named on a memorial.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle, volume I ↗Written source · Source date: 2019 · Locator: Printed p. 30, Balmukand entry and cited references. Accessed 2026-11-03.The named entry was checked in an independent-hosted copy of the Ministry’s volume. The former Ministry URL redirected to volume II when checked; the underlying archival citations have not been independently examined.Return to A teacher and revolutionary, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Balaji Chirade, Journal de Brahmavart. First Phase of Revolutionary Activities in India, 1907 to 1917 ↗Written source · Source date: 2022 · Locator: Delhi revolutionary movement, printed p. 105. Accessed 2026-11-03.Survey text inspected; trial records cited by the survey were not independently examined.Return to The conspiracy case, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. Delhi Directorate of Information and Publicity. Tributes to martyrs of the Hardinge bomb case ↗Written source · Source date: 2016-05-08 · Locator: Execution and memorial. Accessed 2026-11-03.Historical research, institutional record or reporting inspected.Return to Execution and remembrance, paragraph 1 ↑
Help improve this entry. Suggest a correction with a source. · Read recorded changes
Record PH-PEO-0233 · English edition · human review not performed