Tilka Majhi was an Indian freedom fighter the first

Adivasi The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...

leader from

Santal The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...

Community. He took up arms against the British in the 1784, around 70 years before

Mangal Pandey Mangal Pandey was an Indian soldier who played a key part in the events immediately preceding the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857. He was a sepoy (infantryman) in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment of the British East In ...

. He organized the Adivasis to form an armed group to fight against the resource grabbing and exploitation of British.

History

In 1784, the first armed rebellion occurred against the British, and was the beginning of Santal. It was due to great famine in 1770 and the consequences of

Court of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an Committee#Executive committee, executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such a ...

order influenced by

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

—Court of Director issued ten year of the settlement of Zamindari and later in 1800 - this resulted in minimum chance to negotiate between local Zamdindars and Santhal villagers. Baba Tilka Majhi attacked

Augustus Cleveland Augustus Clevland (1754–1784) was an East India Company administrator in the Province of Bengal, a Collector of the Revenues and a Judge of the Sudder Dewanny Adawlut, Dewanny Adawlut of the Districts of Bhagalpur and various others. He was v ...

, British commissioner ieutenant and Rajmahal with a Gulel (a weapon similar to slingshot) who died later. 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 Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk ...

Bihar, India Bihar (; ) is a states and union territories of India, state in eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, 2nd largest state by population in 2019, list of states and union territories of India by are ...

. There, his lacerated body was hung from a Banyan tree. A statue to 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 Tilka Majhi Bhagalpur University, formerly Bhagalpur University, is a public university in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. It was established on 12 July 1960, having local colleges initially associated with Patna University. Its campus is around in a ...

References

1784 deaths 18th-century Indian people People from Bihar Indian rebels 1750 births {{India-activist-stub