Batak Mian, was a cook who saved the life of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

from a

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

attempt by

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...

in 1917. He was an employee of an indigo plant at

Motihari Motihari is a city and headquarters of East Champaran district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is located 80 kilometres west of Muzaffarpur and 152 kilometres northwest of the state capital Patna. In early days the land of Motihari was ruled b ...

Bihar 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, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. Afterwards, he was ousted from his job, tortured, and compelled to leave the village.

Incident

was invited to dinner by the manager of an

indigo plant ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description ''Indigofera'' is a varied genu ...

, Erwin. Erwin insisted to his cook, Batak Mian, to add

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

to a glass of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

, and to serve to Gandhi. He went to serve, but revealed the plot to

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...

. After escaping from the attempt,

continued his protest at

Champaran Champaran is a region in Bihar, India. It is now divided into two districts: East Champaran and West Champaran. History Champaran is identified with the ''Champāraṇya'' mentioned in the Bheraghat inscription as a place "devastated" b ...

. The estate manager tortured Batak Mian, lost his house and properties, and was driven out of his village.

After Independence of India

visited Motihari in 1950, as President of India. A crowd formed around him and he recognized Batak Mian from the crowd, and described to the public how the incident happened in 1917. He ordered to grant Batak Mian 24 acres of land as an appreciation from the nation. He died in 1957.

References

{{reflist People from Bihar People from Motihari Gandhians Year of death missing