Bahadur (meaning The Brave Man) is a comic book superhero published by

Indrajal Comics Indrajal Comics was a comic book series in India launched by the publisher of ''The Times of India'', Bennet, Coleman & Co in March 1964. The first 32 issues contained Lee Falk's ''The Phantom'' stories, but thereafter, the title alternated betwe ...

and created by

Aabid Surti Abid Surti or Aabid Surti (born 5 May 1935) is a painter, author, cartoonist, journalist, environmentalist, playwright and screenwriter from India. He was given a National Award by the government of India in 1993 for writing a series of short s ...

in 1976. Although it had been initially created by Aabid Surti a few years earlier, it was finally offered to Indrajal Comics. Aabid Surti was at that time freelancing for Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. After he moved on, Jagjit Uppal took over the task. The artwork was illustrated by Govind Brahmania and later by his son, B Pramod. The comics were published in various languages including

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

. Besides regular comics, the series was also featured in dailies and weeklies along with other comic heroes. Apart from India, there's a huge fan club of Bahadur, abroad. Reportedly, there are Bahadur fan clubs in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Characters

Bahadur

Bahadur comics was created in December, 1976.

Dacoity Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquial ...

was at its worst in India in the 1970s and the Bahadur series focussed a lot on dacoits. Bahadur himself was the son of a dacoit Bhairav Singh who died in combat with Police. Bahadur, then a teenager, was adopted by Vishal, the police officer who shot Bhairav Singh. Bahadur initially wants to avenge the death of his father, but eventually switches sides with the police to fight evil for the rest of his life.

Citizen's Security Force (CSF)

Upon growing up, Bahadur set up the Citizen's Security Force or the Hindi translation Naagrik Suraksha Dal (NASUD) that aids the police in combating dacoits. Though Bahadur dealt with many kinds of villains, he displayed a much softer corner towards dacoits trying to rehabilitate them. One of his assistants Lakhan was also a reformed dacoit. After surrendering to the police, he started helping Bahadur in curbing crime.

Bela

Bela is Bahadur's love interest in the comic series and very skilled in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

. She assists Bahadur in his missions against the villains. Whenever, Bahadur would ask Bela to go out with him Bela's favorite reply was "Neki, aur puchh, puchh".

Others

The other prominent characters featuring regularly in the series were Sukhiya, Mukhiya and Lakhan. While Sukhiya was a policeman, Mukhiya (meaning head of the village in

) was the village leader. Bahadur also got a dog Chammiya in some of the later stories.

Evolution

The stories evolved with time and portrayed the changing face of India. While beginning with dacoits in deep

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

. The town itself moved from being a small sleepy town to a modern city. Aabid Surti conceived of Bahadur and started the comic strip in 1976. "Bennett, Coleman & Co wanted me to create an Indian character that could take on the popularity of the four foreign comics that ruled the market in India then—The Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon and Tarzan," he says. "During that time, the Chambal Valley was becoming increasingly notorious, and there were exhortations to people to group together to fight crime. So I developed the character of Bahadur as someone who helps create a citizens' police force to fight the dacoits." About Bahadur's saffron

kurta A ''kurta'' is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia, (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women." Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South ...

and

jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...

, the author Aabid Surti says, "A kurta and saffron were symbols of Indianness. And jeans were a Western import and indicated progress. Hence, the combination,". Aabid Surti showed Bahadur and his girlfriend, Bela, in a

live-in relationship Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

in his Bahadur comics, something unheard of in those times. But it was very well accepted by the audience." Though Bahadur's portrayal also changed with time as the artists drawing the series changed, Bahadur's appearance remained the same until 1986, when his trade mark long-hair chopped to shorter & a neat look, which gave him a necessary urban look, and his outfit was changed from an orange

to a tight-fitting pink long-sleeved T-shirt. Bahadur comics series stopped in the year 1990 when Bennett, Coleman & Co stopped publishing Indrajal Comics.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Wiktionary, Appendix:Bahadur Indian comic strips 1976 comics debuts Indian comics characters Comics characters introduced in 1976 Adventure comics Crime comics Fictional Indian people Fictional portrayals of police departments in India Fictional Indian police officers Comics superheroes