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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}{{Infobox person
| name = Titumir
| birth_name = Syed Mir Nisar Ali
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = File:Titumir_portrait.jpg
| image_size = 200px
|image_caption = A portrait of Titumir
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1782|01|27}}
| birth_place = [[Chandpur, Basirhat|Chandpur]], [[24 Parganas]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1831|11|19|1782|01|27}}
| death_place =
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement = [[Tariqah-i-Muhammadiya]]<ref name="bpedia">{{cite Banglapedia|article=Tariqah-i-Muhammadiya}}</ref>
| spouse =
| children =
}}{{Islam in Bangladesh}}
'''Syed Mīr Nisār `Alī''' (27 January 1782 – 19 November 1831), better known as '''Titumir''' ({{lang-bn|তিতুমীর}}), was a [[Bengali Muslim|Bengali]] peasant-leader, who developed a strand of Muslim nationalism coupled with agrarian and political consciousness. He is famed for having built a large [[bamboo]] fort to resist the British, which passed onto Bengali folk legend.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Dasgupta|first=Atis|date=1983|title=Titu Meer's Rebellion: A Profile|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517042|journal=Social Scientist|volume=11|issue=10|pages=39–48|doi=10.2307/3517042|issn=0970-0293}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sarkar|first=Sumit|date=1985|title=Social History: Predicaments and Possibilities|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4374537|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=20|issue=25/26|pages=1083|issn=0012-9976|via=}}</ref> Although originating in West Bengal (present-day India), he is a celebrated figure in Bangladesh.<ref name=":2">{{Cite thesis|last=Bose|first=Neilesh|title=Anti-colonialism, regionalism, and cultural autonomy: Bengali Muslim politics, c.1840s–1952|date=2009|publisher=Tufts University|url=https://www.proquest.com/pqdtglobal/docview/305004747|page=58-59}}</ref>

==Early life==
Titumir was born on 27 January 1782 ([[Bengali calendars|14 Magh 1182]]), in the village of [[Chandpur, Basirhat|Chandpur]] (or Haidarpur, per some sources) to Syed Mir Hasan Ali and Abida Ruqayyah Khatun.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The family claimed descent from [[Ali]] and were of an [[Arabs|Arabic]] origin; Titumir's ancestor Saiyid Shahadat Ali had arrived in [[Bengal]] to preach [[Islam]] and his son, Saiyid Abdullah got the title of 'Mir Insaaf' after being appointed as the chief [[qadi]] of [[Jafarpur]] by the [[Mughal Empire|emperor of Delhi]].<ref name=":0" />

He was educated in a local [[madrassa]] and were a ''[[Hafiz (Qur'an)|hafiz]]'' of the [[Qur'an]], beside being accomplished in [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], and [[Persian language|Persian]].<ref name=":0" /> He was also a good wrestler and gymnast, which led to an employment stint as bodyguard of a local Zamindar.<ref name=":1" /> Titumir was jailed on an occasion during his service and upon his release, in 1822, he left his job to embark upon a [[Hajj]].<ref name=":1" />

==Religio-political activism==

=== Islamic resurgence ===
In Mecca, Titumir was influenced by [[Syed Ahmad Barelvi]], a fundamentalist [[Wahhabism|Islamic]] preacher, who advocated for [[Jihad]] to purge all non-Islamic corruptions from sociopolitical life and enforce Sharia.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

Upon his return from Mecca, he began to mobilize the Muslim peasantry by aggressively preaching against deviating from Quran (regional Sufi-folkish practices such as veneration of [[Pir (Sufism)|Pir]] and erection of [[Dargah]], charging interest on loans etc. were looked down upon), and asserting that the Zamindars (who were mostly, Hindu) were in cahoots with the Britishers to oppress their subjects.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> He also asked men to have beards with trimmed mustaches, women to wear burqas, and avoid meddling with those who did not abide by his calls.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

The lowest classes of the Muslim society responded favorably; however his emphasis on Islamic fundamentalism meant that there was negligible support from Hindu peasantry.<ref name=":1" /> However, the Zamindar community, irrespective of religion, objected to his activities in unison.<ref name=":1" />

=== Confrontation with zamindars ===
In June 1830, Krishnadeva Rai, Zamindar of Purha (var. Talukdar of Sarfarajpur) imposed an annual tax on all Muslim subjects having a beard, to isolate Titumir.<ref name=":1" /> On Titu's advice the peasants refused to pay and an enraged Krishnadeva led a bevy of armed men on a spree of arson, after destroying a local mosque.<ref name=":1" /> Reciprocal attacks were engaged in but the melee remained inconclusive; complaints were filed at the Baduria Police station by both sides and eventually, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Barasat dismissed the issue but only after getting a declaration from the peasants about committing to peace in near-future.<ref name=":1" />

Buoyed up by the evident bias in the resolution of Krishnadeva's case, Ramnarayan Nag Chaudhuri (Zamindar of Taragonia) and Guru Prasad Chowdhury (Talukdar of Nagarpur) began implementing an oppressive tax-regime on their subjects, failing to pay which, led to imprisonment.<ref name=":1" /> The peasants organised themselves and sued the Zamindars but to little avail.<ref name=":1" />

These failures led Titu to convert his socio-religious agitation into an aggressive political-economic class-struggle,<ref name=":1" /> wherein it was argued that the time was ripe for an all-out armed resistance against the nexus of Zamindars and British Authority.<ref name=":1" />

=== Confrontations with the British ===
Titu Mir shifted his base from Chandpur to Narkelberia, and began organising an armed militia.<ref name=":1" /> In October 1830, one of his declarations proclaimed him (and his followers) to be the natural sovereign of the country, who (rather than the British Authority) had an unilateral right of remittance on local revenues collected by Zamindars; a Muslim landholder was raided in the same month, upon disobeyal.<ref name=":1" /> On October 31, Titu Mir set to avenge Krishnadeva along with 300 armed followers; his residence was ransacked, establishments of money-lenders in the local market were set on fire, and a cow was sacrificed in front of a temple.<ref name=":1" />

An alliance was soon formed between Zamindars and British Indigo planters to render mutual assistance in case of assaults by Titumir's militia; Kaliprasanna Mukherjee (Zamindar of Habra-Gobardanga) played a key role in the alliance and was soon targeted by Titumir for his illegal tax-regime.<ref name=":1" /> Despite being aided by about 200 men of Davies, manager of an Indigo plantation at Mollahati, Kaliprasanna's forces were defeated.<ref name=":1" /> Davies escaped narrowly and were sheltered by Debnath Roy (Zamindar of Gobra-Gobindapur); this led to a confrontation between Titumir's militia and Debnath's forces at Laughati in Nadia, where the latter was killed.<ref name=":1" /> Several Indigo plantations were subsequently set on fire.<ref name=":1" />

The months of October and November were replete with such cases and the local police proved to be of little use in the face of increasing peasant resistance; many of the Zamindars fled to [[Kolkata]].<ref name=":1" /> The Commissioner of Presidency Division was solicited to tackle the situation and accordingly, Alexander, the Joint Magistrate of Barasat (along with Ramram Chakraborti, Officer-In-Charge of Baduria Thana) set out with a force of 120 policemen on November 15, 1830.<ref name=":1" /> Outnumbered by a 500-strong militia, they were defeated; Alexander barely escaped to an adjacent village while Ramram (along with 14 others) were battle-casualties.<ref name=":1" />

=== Self-rule ===
Titumir capitalized on the political vacuum and styled him as the ''[[Padishah|Badshah]]'' of a large area around Narkelberia, commanding a following of thousands-strong Hindu and Muslim peasants.<ref name=":1" /> People loyal to him were installed in official positions (his nephew Golam Masum as the ''[[Senapati]]'', a lower-class Muslim Mainduddin as the ''[[Vizier|Wazir]]'' etc.), and the local Zamindars were compelled to either submit to his rule or vacate the land-holdings.<ref name=":1" />

However, with passage of time, the prospects of an impending conflict with [[Company rule in India|Company]] forces were inevitable, and he constructed a bamboo-fort (''Banser Kella'') at Narkelberia.<ref name=":1" /> On 17 November 1831, upon receiving instructions from [[Lord William Bentinck]], the-then Governor General of India, Smith, the District Magistrate of Nadia moved towards Narkelberia with four other Magistrates accompanied by a 300 strong armed police force and armed private guards of Zamindars.<ref name=":1" /> Golam Masum was aware of this attack and outflanked Smith with a 500-strong militia at Baraghar, north-east of Narkelberia; Smith's forces fled to a planter-residence crossing the [[Ichamati River|Icchamati]] and urged Lord Bentick to dispatch a military column.<ref name=":1" />

==== Final battle ====
On the evening of 18 November 1831, a military unit consisting of a cavalry unit and infantry unit (300 armed personnel + two cannons) led by Major Scott, Lieutenant Shakespeare, and Major Sutherland laid a siege on Titumir's fort.<ref name=":1" /> Nothing of significance transpired until the morning of 19 November 1831, when a concerted ammunition charge was mounted.<ref name=":1" /> The resistance was breached in about three hours, when the fort gave way to cannons.<ref name=":1" />

Titumir was [[bayonet]]ed to death, as were fifty fellow soldiers.<ref name=":1" /> About 800 others were arrested and trialed at [[Alipore|Alipur]] Court; Golam Masum was hanged in front of the fort-ruins to set an example, and about 140 had to serve prison terms of varying lengths.<ref name=":1" /> The commanding officer of the British forces noted his opponent's bravery in dispatches, and also commented on the strength and resilience of bamboo as a material for fortification, since he had had to pound it with artillery for a surprisingly long time before it gave way.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Khan|first1=Muazzam Hussain|title=Titu Mir|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Titu_Mir|website=Banglapedia|publisher=Bangladesh Asiatic Society|accessdate=4 March 2014}}</ref>

== Contemporary Reception ==
The newspapers and journals run by Englishmen and Christian Missionaries took the Government-line.<ref name=":1" /> ''[[Samachar Chandrika]]'', Reformer, ''Jnananveshan'' etc. sided with the Zamindars and denounced Titumir as a law-and-order nuisance.<ref name=":1" />

==Legacy==
In 2004, Titumir was ranked number 11 in BBC's poll of the [[Greatest Bengali of all time]].<ref name="ISB1">—{{Cite news|date=14 April 2004|title=Listeners name 'greatest Bengali'|work=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3623345.stm|access-date=16 April 2018}}<br />—{{Cite news|last1=Habib|first1=Haroon|date=17 April 2004|title=International : Mujib, Tagore, Bose among 'greatest Bengalis of all time'|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/04/17/stories/2004041703001700.htm|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]}}<br />—{{Cite web|date=16 April 2004|title=Bangabandhu judged greatest Bangali of all time|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/2004/04/16/d4041601066.htm|work=The Daily Star}}</ref>

;Bangladesh
A play-drama ''Titumir-er Basher Kella'', directed by [[Sheikh Kamal]] was broadcast in 1967 on [[Bangladesh Television]] (then PTV); a graphic novel of the same name was also popular in East Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-15|title=OP-ED: The legacy of Sheikh Kamal|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/08/15/op-ed-the-legacy-of-sheikh-kamal|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Dhaka Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-02-23|title=Let’s go graphic!|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/lifestyle/special-feature/lets-go-graphic-576181|access-date=2021-02-08|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}</ref> In Dhaka, ''Jinnah College'' was renamed to [[Government Titumir College]] in 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jagannath College - Banglapedia|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Jagannath_College|access-date=2021-02-08|website=en.banglapedia.org|language=en}}</ref> On 19 November 1992, the 161st anniversary of his death, the Government of Bangladesh issued a commemorative stamp in his honor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meer Nisar Ali Titumeer|url=http://www.bdstamps.com/Commemorative/1992/1992_Titumir.htm|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120719211449/http://www.bdstamps.com/Commemorative/1992/1992_Titumir.htm|archive-date=19 July 2012|work=Bangladesh Stamps}}</ref> The principal base of Bangladesh Navy is named as 'BNS Titumir'.<ref>{{cite web|title=BNS TITUMIR|url=http://www.bangladeshnavy.org/titumir.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214160237/http://www.bangladeshnavy.org/titumir.html|archive-date=14 February 2012|website=Bangladesh Navy}}</ref>

;India (West Bengal)
[[Mahasweta Devi]] wrote a [[novella]] ''Titumir'' that sought to recover subaltern history.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-07-28|title=Mahasweta Devi lived like she wrote: Fearlessly and without restraint|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/mahasweta-devi-lived-like-she-wrote-fearlessly-and-without-restraint/story-ypNPCoE1gX1D0VDKjjaueO.html|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dewan|first=Preeti Gupta|date=2013|editor-last=Jain|editor-first=Jasbir|title=Resistance in Culture and Literature|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43856378|journal=Indian Literature|volume=57|issue=3 (275)|pages=235|issn=0019-5804|via=}}</ref> In 1978, [[Utpal Dutt]] directed an [[agitprop]] drama ''Titumir'' which critiqued the crude representation of Titumir in colonial historiography; it received critical acclaim and was commercially successful.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Full of energy: Reviving 'Titumir'|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/arts/theatre-review-howrah-based-theatre-formation-paribartak-revives-titumir/cid/1780448|access-date=2021-02-08|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikiquote}}
* ''Titumirer Bansher Kella'' (Bamboo Fort of Titumir, 1981) by Rabeya Khatun

{{Islamism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Rebellions in India]]
[[Category:History of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:18th-century Bengalis]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengalis]]
[[Category:Bengali Muslims]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:History of Bengal]]
[[Category:People from North 24 Parganas district]]
[[Category:1782 births]]
[[Category:1831 deaths]]

Titumir - Revision history

imported>SdkbBot: /* top */General fixes, removed erroneous space