The Man Whose Nonchalant Bravery Saved King George

Colonisation taught many people to serve the British for various reasons. But there were factions of people who served the crown with emotional indifference. Duty was life for them. The tale of Sama Veladi and how he saved the British monarch during his royal visit is an interesting legacy that needs to be retold.

Veladi was a trained hunter and gamekeeper who showed exceptional courage to save the life of King George | Source: Pinterest

The pre-independence era of India is filled with tales of valour and undeniable courage of freedom fighters and those who indirectly fought for the cause of independence from the British. Reading such tales fills a modern Indian with pride and intrigue, history painting beautiful and true images of people who gave up everything to serve the country.

However, there were also Indians who unintentionally served the British crown because their lives were dependent on their service. Independence was an alien concept for some communities who faced hostility from different stakeholders now and then, and hence they came to learn a life of compromise with those who held power.

In 1924, a year of great unrest and uprisings, India was pulling its reins to come stronger at the British, saving its strength. On the outside, the story was completely different. The new British Monarch, King George, was on a royal visit to India, and the colony was all decked up like a bride to honour his presence. Well, this story is not wholly about the festivities and extravaganza that took place in honour of King George. This story is about an Indian who was awarded by the crown for serving the crown blessedly, at the cost of his own life.

Sama Veladi was a Madia-Gond tribal man from the Chanda forests of Nagpur. He was an expert keeper of the forest, dense with animal population and excess game for the British monarch, who enjoyed hunting. Unlike present times, hunting wasn’t a crime but was considered a favourite hobby of a person with luxurious taste. While King George was in India, he had to take time to kill some animals in his most productive and naturally rich colony.

Sama Veladi was appointed as his gamekeeper and escort. That’s how this story starts when Sama and King George trotted around the thick foliage of the Chanda forests and came across a man-eating tiger. The facts from here on are quite sketchy, but it was clear that the ferocious beast lunged at the British monarch, who, frightened as any human would be, froze in his spot. The due diligence of Veladi as an expert gamekeeper and a man who knew about the forests of Chanda better than he knew even his breath worked in favour of the monarch.

Veladi struck the tiger upon its head, making the beast stagger and lose control of its senses. Veladi covered the shivering monarch as he dared the tiger to make another move. The tiger, knowing that the skinny man before him was as much an inhabitant of the forest as he was, retreated but chose to follow the party closely, but from a modest distance. That’s how it has been accounted for by Amit Bhagat, the researcher who uncovered the forgotten tale of Sama after decades. When the party reached the royal camp, King George announced that Sama Veladi would be honoured with the Albert Award, as a mark of his composed temperament and exceptional gallantry, in saving the life of his monarch.

Sama Veladi was given the Albert Award, an award comprising a badge, given to those who saved the life of the Monarch by showing the brilliant presence of mind. In 1925, a year after the gruesome event and his courageous act of bravery, Sama Veladi vanished from history. He was a simple man with a humble background He lived his life in simple austerity through India’s freedom with the vehemence of a perplexed citizen and took pride in his acknowledgement by the monarch. The legacy of Sama Veladi has been unravelled today, being the second of the only two Indians who ever received the Albert Award.