Muḥsin ad-Dīn Aḥmad (1819–1862), better known by his nickname Dudu Miyān, was a leader of the Faraizi Movement in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. He played an active role in the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

Early life

Ahmad was born in 1819, to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family of

Taluqdar Taluqdars or Talukdar (, Hindustani: /; '' taluq'' "estate" + '' dar '' "owner"), were aristocrats who formed the ruling class during the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate, Mughal Empire and British Raj. They were owners of a vast amount of l ...

s in Mulfatganj, Madaripur. His father,

Haji Shariatullah Haji Shariatullah (; 17811840) was a prominent religious leader and Islamic scholar from Bengal in the eastern the subcontinent, subcontinent, who is best known as the founder of the Faraizi movement. In 1884, the Shariatpur District was formed a ...

, was the founder of the Faraizi Movement. After initial paternal education, Ahmad was sent to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

at the age of twelve for further studies. Although he never achieved the levels of scholarship attained by his father, he quickly proved himself to be a powerful leader of the

peasant movement A peasant movement is a social movement involved with the agricultural policy, which claims peasants rights. Peasant movements have a long history that can be traced to the numerous peasant uprisings that occurred in various regions of the wor ...

s against colonial indigo planters and wealthy landlords.

Movement

After the death of Shariatullah, Miyan led the movement to a more radical, agrarian character and was able to create an effective organizational structure. In his view land belonged to those who worked it. He established his own administrative system, and appointed a

khalifa ''Khalifa'' or ''Khalifah'' (; commonly "caliph" in English) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups ...

(leader) for each village. His policy was to create a state within the British-ruled state. He organised the oppressed peasantry against the oppressive landlords. In 1838, Miyan called upon his followers not to pay revenue to

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

s. Indigo Kuthis, were frequently attacked and ransacked by raiyats. In retaliation, the landlords and indigo planters tried to contain Miyan by instituting cases against him. In 1838, 1844, 1847 he was arrested several times but released because he became so popular irrespective of religion with the peasantry that in those cases, courts seldom found a witness against him.

Death

At the time of the

, the British government arrested him as precaution and kept him in the Alipore Jail,

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He was released in 1859 and rearrested and finally freed in 1860. In 1862, Miyan died in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

aged 42–43 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miyan, Dudu 1819 births 1862 deaths 19th-century Indian Muslims Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Indian revolutionaries Rebellions in India People from Madaripur District Bengal Presidency Prisoners and detainees of British India 19th-century Bengalis Sunni Muslims Haji Shariatullah family