This decisive battle was fought on 2 October 1857 near Phansi Talab. It lasted for an hour in which the mutineers were completely defeated. 56 Europeon soldiers and officers were killed whereas 150 revolutionaries were killed and 77 were buried in a pit. Subedar Jai Mangal Pandey and Nadir Ali Khan were sentenced and hanged to death on the 4 October 1857 on this very spot. The European and sikh soldiers were buried in a well along with their arms and ammunitions. An inscriptive plaque which is still extant states:
"56 men of Her Majesty's 53rd Regiment of foot and a party of Sikhs were killed at Chatra on October 2nd 1857 in action against mutineers of the Ramgarh Battalion. Lieutenant J. C. C. Daunt of the 70th Bengal Native Infantry and sergeant D. Dynon of the 53rd regiment were awarded Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry in the battle, in which the mutineers were completely defeated and lost all their four guns and ammunitions.
At the same time, another inscription on the bank of the Phansi Talab immortalises the two revolutionary subedars, namely, Mangal Pandey and Nadir Ali Khan.
Independence movement
The independence movement in this district gathered momentum in 1921. One of the most significant events of the Quit India Movement in 1942, was the escape of Jai Prakash Narayan along with six other from The Hazaribagh Central Jail on 9 November 1942 (the night of festival of Diwali). Jai Prakash Narayan came to Tatra (a village in this district), and then proceeded towards Sherghati en route to Varanasi. The notable participants in the independence movement from this district include Chotanagpur Kesri, Babu Ram Narayan Singh, and Babu Shaligram Singh.
Post-independence
The district is currently a part of the Red Corridor
