Gopen Roy

Gopen Roy belonged to Assam. He was one of the main activists in the First War of Independence in Assam who, along with Maniram Dewan, had participated in the 1857 revolt against the British. Gopen Roy was an associate of Maniram Dewan Baruah and Piyali Baruah. Dewan was a confidante and counselor to the Ahom King Purundar Singha. He was the first Indian to set up a tea garden at Chenimore in Jorhat. The Britishers deposed Purandar Singha and took control of the administration. When the uprising of 1857 broke out, Maniram viewed it as an excellent opportunity to restore Ahom rule in Assam. He and a few other freedom fighters together planned an anti-colonial agitation. He mobilized the Ahom rulers and the Assam Light Infantry sepoys for this uprising. The plot was discovered by the British before it could begin. Dewan along with Piyoli Baruah was arrested and they were publicly executed by hanging at Jorhat jail on 26 February 1858. Gopen Roy was put on trial for his anti-British revolt and was sentenced to life imprisonment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Gopen Roy along with his associates Farmud Ali, Binoy Laskar, and Dutiram were among the same batch of rebels who were deported to the penal settlement of the Andaman Islands in a ship.