[1] British officers like George Bruce Malleson and Thomas Seaton made mentions about the courage, valour, personal and organizational capabilities of Ahmadullah.
[2][3] Thomas Seaton describes Ahmadullah Shah as:A man of great abilities, of undaunted courage, of stern determination, and by far the best soldier among the rebels.Being a practicing Muslim, he was also an epitome of religious unity and Ganga-Jamuna culture of Faizabad.
His father Ghulam Hussain Khan was a military general in Sultan Hyder Ali's Mysore army.
In person, he was tall, lean and muscular, with large deep eyes, beetle brows, a high aquiline nose, and lantern jaws.The Maulvi was a Sunni Muslim and belonged to an affluent family.
He travelled to England, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Mecca and Medina, and also performed Hajj.
[1] Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah believed that for the success of an armed rebellion, the co-operation of the people was very important.
He also authored a pamphlet called Fateh Islam, a planned manner for the need of jihad against the Britisher, even before the eruption of the revolt in 1857.
After the eruption of the revolt on 10 May 1857, rebel sepoys from Azamgarh, Banaras and Jaunpur arrived in Patna on 7 June.
The British army was led by Henry Montgomery Lawrence who eventually died at the Residency building.
Maulavi fought with great courage and chivalry in real sense, and for that he succeeded in pushing the British to Beligarad.
And then a big house of "Machchhi Bhavan" was also blown up.After Lucknow was captured by the rebels, Birjis Qadr, the ten-year-old son of Wajid Ali Shah and Begum Hazrat Mahal was declared the king.
The last rebels, 1,200 men under Ahmadullah Shah were driven from a fortified house in the centre of the city on 21 March.
George Bruce Malleson writes that: Maulavi was the only one who could have dared to defeat Sir Colin Campbell twice.The fierce battle took place on 15 May 1858 between a platoon of the rebels and the regiment of General Brigadier Jones.
When the Maulvi reached gates of his palace on his war elephant, the king attacked him by firing a cannon shot.
[7] The to-be-constructed mosque in Ayodhya as per the verdict of the Supreme Court of India in the Babri Masjid demolition case, will be named after Ahmadullah Shah.