Atharuddin Mohammed also known as Athar Mohammed was an Odia military officer, feudatory chief ''( Samanta)'' of Madhi (present day : Kamakhyanagar) and the '' Dewan'' of the princely state of

Dhenkanal Dhenkanal is a town and a municipality in Dhenkanal district in the state of Odisha, India. Geography Dhenkanal is at . It has an average elevation of 80 metres (262 feet). Demographics As per the 2011 India census, Dhenkanal had a p ...

during ''Raja Dinabandhu Mahendra Bahadur'' (1877 - 1885) and ''Raja Shura Pratap Mahendra Bahadur's'' rule. He was one among the first princely officials to join the Odia unification movement and the Utkal Sabha.

Early life

Atharuddin Mohammed was born as the eldest son of

Khwaja Pir Fazal Mohammed Khwaja Fazal Mohammed (1805 1868) ufi name : Gawahi Shahwas a Sufi Pīr and philosopher of the Ni'matullāhī order. He served as the Samanta of Madhi (presently known as Kamkhyangar) from 1834 to 1868. Khwaja Fazal Mohammed played an instr ...

, a notable Persian philosopher and mystic of the

Ni'matullāhī The Ni'matullāhī or Ne'matollāhī ( fa, نعمت‌اللهی) (also spelled as "Nimatollahi", "Nematollahi" or "Ni'matallahi) is a Sufi order (or ''tariqa'') originating in Iran. The order originates within Sunni Islam, but would later be a ...

order who later joined the service of Raja Bhagiratha Mahendra, the ''Raja'' of Denkanal. Fazal Mohammed was appointed as the Samanta of Madhi garh presently known as Kamakhyanagar and after his death, his son Atharuddin took over the position. Athar rose to prominence in the eyes of the king by displaying his bravery and wit. He was appointed as the '' Dewan'' of the newly crowned king, ''Raja Dinabandhu Mahendra'' by the British in 1877. During his tenure Atharuddin organised the last elephant fair in Odisha.

Prajamandal movement

With the beginning of the

Praja Mandal movement The All India States Peoples' Conference (AISPC) was a conglomeration of political movements in the princely states of the British Raj, which were variously called ''Praja Mandals'' or ''Lok Parishads''.; The first session of the organisation wa ...

in Dhenkanal State, the peasants all over the kingdom started revolting against the repressive policies adopted by the new king, Raja Shura Pratap Bahadur. Atharuddin tried to pacify the situation by signing a temporary truce with the revolters. However, it did not last long. Inspired by the nationalists, he sent his son Sayeed Mohammed to Cuttack to attain formal education. Later in 1899, Atharuddin moved to Cuttack and joined the Utkal Sabha. He along with

Madhusudan Das Madhusudan Das (28 April 1848 – 4 February 1934) was an Indian lawyer and social reformer, who founded Utkal Sammilani in 1903 to campaign for the unification of Odisha along with its social and industrial development. He was one of the mai ...

, Rev Shem Sahu, John Samson Rout, Bhagaban Chandra Das, Ramesh Chandra Mandal, and Gauri Shankar Ray attended the Congress sessions held at different places and took keen interest in the activities of the Congress in its early years. Atharuddin acted as a pioneer in bringing the message of Congress and its liberal ideas to Coastal Odisha in the last two decades against the British authorities. He attended the Congress session of Calcutta held in 1911 under the presidentship of Bishan Narayan Dar. He built the Fazal Mohammed Masjid (present-day Choti Masjid) in the memory of his deceased father near his residence at Dargaah Bazaar. In the early 1930s, nearly half of his estate was confiscated by the British for building jails in Cuttack.

References

{{reflist 1849 births 1931 deaths Amin family