Dudu Miyan | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | Muhsin ad-Din Ahmad 1819 |
| Died | 1862 (aged 42–43) |
| Known for | Faraizi Movement,Indian Rebellion of 1857 |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Tariqa | Qadiri |
| Movement | Faraizi |
Muḥsin ad-Dīn Aḥmad (1819–1862), better known by his nicknameDudu Miyān, was a leader of theFaraizi Movement inBengal. He played an active role in theIndian Rebellion of 1857.
Ahmad was born in 1819, to aBengali Muslim family ofTaluqdars inMulfatganj,Madaripur. His father,Haji Shariatullah, was the founder of theFaraizi Movement. After initial paternal education, Ahmad was sent toMecca in Arabia 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 thepeasant movements against colonial indigo planters and wealthy landlords.[1]
After the death of Shariatullah, Miyan led the movement to a more radical, agrarian character and was able to create an effective organizational structure.[citation needed] In his view land belonged to those who worked it. He established his own administrative system, and appointed akhalifa (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.[2] In 1838, Miyan called upon his followers not to pay revenue tozamindars. Indigo Kuthis, were frequently attacked and ransacked by raiyats.[3] 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.[4]
At the time of theIndian Rebellion of 1857, the British government arrested him as precaution and kept him in theAlipore Jail,Kolkata. He was released in 1859 and rearrested and finally freed in 1860. In 1862, Miyan died inDacca aged 42–43 years.[1]
In Dudu Miyan's view, land belong to those who exploited it ... His administrative reforms entailed the division of Faraidi settlement areas into small units ... In each of the village units Dudu Miyan appointed a unit khalifah ... Dudu Miyan developed what amounted to a virtual parallel government to that of the British ... [The Faraidi movement's] primary political goal was to protect the helpless Muslim masses from the miserable conditions created by despotic and capriciouszamindars of rural Bengal.