Indian Rulers who fought against the British:
King Puli Thevar resisted the British rule as did the Queen of Jhansi, Maharaja Kumar Singh and Mahadji Shinde and Nana Phadnavis who defeated British in the 1st Anglo Maratha War as well as the heroes of 1857 War of Indian Independence.
Maharaja Kumar Singh: In around 1857 he was 80 year old King of Jagdishpur and in ailing condition. The British sent him a letter on his 80th Birthday that as he had no heir the British would take control of Jagdishpur and as he is already old they will take care of him for the rest of his life in return. He flatly refused saying that he won't give up Jagdishpur. Soon the British entered his palace and threw him out. For the next 6 months Kumar Singh lived in the forests, relearned guerilla warfare and raised his army and marched on Jagdishpur to reclaim his territory. After a day long battle and losing his arm to bullet wounds he sent the British packing out of Jagdishpur, reentered his palace and finally took possession of his throne. He was able to rule for the next few days in style from his kingdom however his bullet wounds turned fatal as gangrene developed, and Maharaja Kumar Singh breathed his last but died satisfied as he could leave his mortal body and get cremated with honours in his own kingdom after tasting sweet victory in war against the British.
Mahadji Shinde: if someone says that Tipu was the first freedom fighter of India share this fact that Mahadji Shinde fought the British and defeated them in the First Anglo Maratha War with the able support of Nana Phadnavis 18 years before Tipu fought his battle with the British (Tipu died in his battle but the Marathas were victorious in the First Anglo Maratha War).
Puli Thevar: King Puli Thevar who reigned between 1715 to 1767 could very well be the first freedom fighter against the British. He fought the British in 3 wars only to defeat them every single time. He even once battled a combined force between Yusuf Khan and the British making both bite the dust.
Queen Kittur Chenamma: Defeated the British in a fight to retain her kingdom. Won the first battle however was captured in the second and was martyred as prisoner of war. Her deputy S Rayanna also died a martyr after a fierce battle with the British.
Rani Laxmibai: Martyr in the War of 1857 and the most known female freedom fighter in history.
Begum Hazrat Mahal: Led rebellion in the War of 1857 teaming up with Nanasaheb Peshwa, Raosaheb Peshwa, Tatya Tope, Azimullah Khan, Bahadurshah Zafar and Ahmedshah Moulvi
Bahadurshah Zafar: The last Mughal Emperor (crowned by Hindus) was Bahadur Shah Zafar. The Mughal Empire was decimated by the Marathas in 1737 Battle of Delhi and after that no Mughals ever sat on the Delhi throne without prior approval from the Marathas. The Marathas preferred to rule from the Deccan and appoint a Mughal well versed with local politics to sit on the Delhi throne.
The last and greatest Mughal Emperor was Bahadur Shah Zafar the hero of 1857 War of Independence,
1857 War of Indian Independence remains most successful fight against the British ever, for the simple reason that Indian revolutionaries conquered territories from Delhi to Cooch Behar to Gwalior which were under British occupation in year 1857. The British feringhees were never more than 75000 at any stage in their rule and pitting them against crores of Indians is actually a no-brainer on who will win if 75000 British people go to battle against say 100 crore Indians.
Tatya Tope, Nanasaheb Peshwa (younger), Raosaheb Peshwa, Rani Laxmibai, Azimulla Khan, Ahmed Shah Moulvi, Begum Hazrat Mahal and other allies conquered Delhi and nominated Bahadur Shah Zafar as the King and made him sit on the throne of Delhi in 1857 as they would go on to free territories from Delhi to Bengal to Gwalior for about a year between 1857 to 1858.
This remains the most successful fight against the British ever in the history of Indian freedom struggle though it was unsuccessful in the end. Bahadurshah Zafar was captured by the British and exiled to Burma where he died.
The famously patriotic lines of Bahadurshah Zafar are: Jab Tak Bazuon Mein Hai Dum Apne Iman Ki London Tak Chalegi Tegh Hindustan Ki.
PS: When Bahadurshah Zafar was crowned as King of Delhi by Indian revolutionaries Nanasaheb Peshwa and Tatya Tope, a few Muslim courtiers sensing some chance approached Bahadurshah Zafar and advised him not to let go of this opportunity and wage a Jihad against the Hindus. An angry Bahadurshah Zafar refused to launch a Jihad against the Hindus and also thundered that he will cut off the hands of whosoever brings such a vile advice in front of him.
Bahadurshah Zafar is still not blemish free. Though Veer Savarkar described him as a hero and a patriot who would put country above religion and also described 1857 as not just a mutiny but a full fledged War of Independence, in contrast Dr Ambedkar dismissed 1857 as just a Jihad of the Muslims against the British and Zafar as someone who fought for Islam taking support from the Hindus who were also against the British.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh: During his reign the British could not even dream of getting 1 inch of land in the Sikh Empire.
Picture depicting the Treaty of Salbai in which the Marathas defeated the British in 1st Anglo Maratha War in 1782 showing the British commander paying respects to Mahadji Shinde and Nana Phadnavis
