Tilka Manjhi
Tilka Manjhi was
born on 11th February, 1750 in Sultanganj, Bihar.
He was born in a
small village called Tilakpur and he belonged to Santhal family. Since
childhood, Tilka lived in the shadow of forest civilization and hunted wild
animals.
Workout-wrestling,
climbing on the big trees, walking in the valleys, playing with wild animals,
roaming in wild forests, rivers, etc. were his daily routine of life. Wildlife
had made him fearless and brave.
Since childhood, he
had seen the tyranny of English people on his family and on the tribal people.
English rulers had
their rights on the poor tribe's cultivated land and wild trees. Tribal people,
children, women, old men were brutally tortured by the British. The mountains
were inhabited by the landlords and they used to keep the British people happy
in return for money.
Finally, the day
came when Tilka started a rebellion against the British.
Determined to
defend his people and land, Tilka organized the Adivasis into an army trained
in the use of bows and arrows.
In 1770, there was
a severe famine in the Santhal region.
People were dying
of hunger.
Tilka looted the
treasury of the Company and distributed it among the poor and needy.
Inspired by this
noble act of Tilka, many other tribals also joined the rebellion. With this
began his “𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐥” (the revolt of the Santhals).
He continued to
attack the British and their sycophantic allies.
From 1771 to 1784,
Tilka never surrendered.
The year 1784 is
considered as the first armed rebellion against the British and was the
beginning of the Santhal’s being historically recorded.
Tilka Manjhi
attacked Augustus Cleveland, an East India Company administrator and fatally
wounded him.
The British
surrounded the Tilapore forest from which he operated but he and his men held
them at bay for several weeks.
When he was finally
caught in 1784, he was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged all the way to
the collector's residence at Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. There, his lacerated body
was hung from a banyan tree.
A statue of him was
erected at the spot where he was hanged after Indian independence, which is the
nearby residence of S.P. Bhagalpur and named after him.
Also, the Bhagalpur
University was renamed after him - Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University.
Another statue was established in Dumka,
Jharkhand.
