Titumir

Early lifeof the British forces noted his opponent's bravery in
Titu Mir, real name Syed Mir Nisar Ali, was born in 27despatches, and also commented on the strength
January 1782 (14 Magh 1182 according to the Banglaand resilience of bamboo as a material for
calendar), in a small village named Chandpur, in thefortification, since he had had to pound it with artillery
Thana area of the North 24 Parganas districtfor a surprisingly long time before it gave way.
(currently in West Bengal, India). His father was SyedLegacy
Mir Hassan Ali and his mother name was AbidaThe saga of the bravery of Titu Mir and the bamboo
Ruqayya Khatun.castle continue to be a source of inspiration to the
Titu Mir education began in his village school, afterBengali people, and are also believed to have inspired
which he moved to a local Madrassa, a traditionalthe freedom fighters of Bangladesh in the liberation
Muslim school. By the time he was 18 years of age,war of 1971. Mahasweta Devi wrote a novella called
Titu Mir had become a Hafiz of the Qur'an, ie heTitu Mir, and Titumir-er Basher Kella has been a
memorized the Qur'an by heart, and a scholar of thepopular play on TV in Bangladesh as well. It has also
Hadith or Muslim traditions. He was also accomplishedfeatured as a theme for Puja pandals which are
with the Bengali, Arabic, and Persian. During this timeoften done up as historical tableaux.
he came under the influence of several WahhabiTitumir Hall,a major dormitory of Bangladesh
seers, who preached a mixture of militant Islam andUniversity of Engineering and Technology at Dhaka, is
anti-colonial thought and saw both religious andnamed after him.
political reform as in Bengal of that time.Further reading
Independence activistTitumirer Bansher Kella (Bamboo Fort of Titumur,
In 1822, Titu Mir went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the1981) by Rabeya Khatun
Haj enjoined upon all Muslims, and on his return heExternal links
commenced organizing the Muslim peasants of hisTitumir on Banglapediav d e
native village against the landlords or Zamindars andIndian independence movement
the British colonialists. He also affected the 'tahband' aHistory
tube shaped garment worn around the waist, inColonisation East India Company British India French
preference to the dhoti, seen as more overtly Hindu,India Portuguese India Plassey Buxar Anglo-Mysore
and enjoined his followers to do likewise.Wars Anglo-Maratha Wars (First Second Third)
Titu Mir opposed a number of discriminatoryPolygar War Vellore Mutiny First Anglo-Sikh War
measures in force at that time which included taxesSecond Anglo-Sikh War Rebellion of 1857 British Raj
on the wearing of beards and on mosques. The riftmore
between Titu Mir and his followers on one side, andPhilosophiesand ideologies
the local Zamindars supported by the British rulers onIndian nationalism Swaraj Hindu nationalism Gandhism
the other side, continued to widen, and armedSatyagraha Indian Muslim nationalism Swadeshi
conflict broke out at several places. Titu Mir hadSocialism Khilafat Movement
himself belonged to a "peyada" or martial family andEvents andmovements
himself had served under a Zamindar as a 'lathial orPartition of Bengal Revolutionaries Delhi-Lahore
'lethel' (paik), a fighter with the quarterstaff or lathi,Conspiracy The Indian Sociologist The Sedetious
(which in Bengal is made of bamboo, not wood) andconspiracy Champaran and Kheda Rowlatt
he was actively training his men in hand to handCommittee Rowlatt Bills Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
combat and the use of the lathi. This weapon inNon-Cooperation Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre Flag
skilled hands is deadly against anything exceptSatyagraha Bardoli 1928 Protests Nehru Report Purna
projectile weapons. He thus started military trainingSwaraj Salt Satyagraha Round table conferences Act
inside the Mosques and Madrassahs. They startedof 1935 Legion Freies Indien Cripps' mission Quit India
physically attacking the Zamindars and their followersIndian National Army Tiger Legion Bombay Mutiny
and organized several armed dacoities so as toCoup d'tat de Yanaon Provisional Government of
finance their movement. Since his Army was mostlyIndia
made up of poor peasants , they had no horses asOrganisations
cavalry. So they also started to steal horses fromIndian National Congress Anushilan Samiti Jugantar
the stables of the Zamindars and from the BritishArya Samaj Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh India
Police Stations. This provoked the British GovernmentHouse Berlin Committee Ghadar Home Rule Khaksar
to send an Army expedition of 7,000 Sepoys so asTehrik Khudai Khidmatgar Hindustan Republican
to bring them under control.Association Swaraj Party Indian Independence
The followers of Titu Mir, believed to have grown toLeague Azad Hind more
15,000 by that time, readied themselves forSocialreformers
prolonged armed conflict, and they built a fort ofMohandas Karamchand Gandhi Rahul Sankrityayan
bamboo at Narikelbaria, near the town of Barasat.Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Gopal Ganesh Agarkar Shahu
This was surrounded by a high double curtain wall ofMaharaj Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Dhondo Keshav
bamboo stakes filled in with mud cladding andKarve Vitthal Ramji Shinde Mahadev Govind Ranade
sun-baked.Swami Dayananda Saraswati Ramakrishna Swami
Titu Mir declared independence from the British, andVivekananda Vinoba Bhave Baba Amte Ram Mohan
regions comprising the current districts of 24Roy Gopal Hari Deshmukh
Parganas, Nadia and Faridpur came under his control.Indian leadersand activists
The private armies of the Zamindars and the forcesPuli Thevar Yashwantrao Holkar Rahul Sankrityayan
of the British met with a series of defeats at theVeerapandiya Kattabomman Sangolli Rayanna Baba
hands of his men as a result of his strike-and-retreatRam Singh Mangal Pandey Veer Kunwar Singh Rae
guerrilla tactics.Ahmed Nawaz Khan Kharal Rani of Jhansi Bahadur
Finally, the British forces, armed with cannon andShah Zafar Swami Dayanand Saraswati Bal
muskets, mounted a concerted attacks on 14Gangadhar Tilak Gopal Krishna Gokhale Dadabhai
November 1831, on Titu Mir and his followers. ArmedNaoroji Bhikaiji Cama Shyamji Krishna Varma Annie
with nothing more than the bamboo quarterstaffsBesant Har Dayal Subramanya Bharathi Lala Lajpat Rai
and Lathis and a few swords and spears, Titu Mir andBipin Chandra Pal Rash Behari Bose Chittaranjan Das
his forces could not withstand the might of modernKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Maulana Azad
weapons, and were overwhelmed. The bambooChandrasekhar Azad Rajaji Bhagat Singh Sarojini
castle was destroyed, and Titu Mir was killed alongNaidu Purushottam Das Tandon Alluri Sitaramaraju M.
with several of his followers. The commanding officer