Martyr Majnu Shah Malang’s tomb present in Makanpur, Kanpur. (File Photo)
When the bugle sounded for the first war against the British rule, sages, pirs and fakirs also jumped into the fray. Then in 1776 Fakir movement started. Among those who played an important role in this movement was ‘Malang’, who broke the wall of religion and fought shoulder to shoulder with all and became a martyr for freedom. It was Malango who first introduced the British to the Ganga-Jamuni culture. Martyr Majnu Shah Malang was one of these malangs, who was forgotten by the country but is still revered in neighboring Bangladesh.
Majnu Shah Malang defeated the British through guerilla warfare. It became a terror to the East India Company in the eighteenth century. The British feared them and claimed their mysterious powers. Majnu Shah joined the Malang Fakiri movement to fight the British. This movement became a headache for the British government.
Who was Majnu Shah Malang?
Born in Mewat, Haryana region, Majnu Shah Malang was a ‘Malang’ (wandering fakir). He was a follower of Hazrat Badiuddin Zinda Shah Madar, a major Sufi saint of the Madaria order based in Makanpur village of Kanpur district. He took over the leadership of Madaria Fakirs or Malangos in Bengal from Shah Sultan Hasan Suraiya Burhana at Hemtabad in Dinajpur District. When Majnu Shah Malang declared war against the British, his followers also started a movement against the British and named it ‘Pagalpanthi’.
A headache for the British
These revolutionaries became a headache for the British. The reason for this was that these malangos had quick contact with each other and their lack of whereabouts made it difficult to locate them. Majnu Shah Malang used to go among the people and oppose the oppressive policies of the East India Company. He started a revolution against the British government from Bengal to Uttar Pradesh. He remained a villain for the British for three decades.
Sajjada Maulana Syed Faizul Anwar Jafri Madari.
Used to conduct guerilla warfare
Syed Faizul Anwar Jafri Madari of Sajjada Maulana of Dargah Zinda Shah Madar present in Kanpur district states that Majnu Shah Malang used to wage guerilla warfare against the British. To crush their resistance, the East India Company appointed Lieutenant Brennan. He was shot and wounded by East India Company soldiers on 8 December 1786. Injured, Majnu Shah Malang escaped the British and reached Makanpur in Kanpur, UP, where he was sheltered by the ancestors of the local zamindar Mir Syed Hasan. He died on 26 January 1787 due to severe injuries.
Dargah Zinda Shah Madar.
Buried in two graves
Majnu Shah Malang was buried in Makanpur itself. Two graves were dug to bury him. Maulana Syed Faizul Anwar Jafri Madari states that Zinda Shah Madar’s followers who belong to the ‘Divanga’ sect have long been feared. After death, the locks of these malangos are cut off and they are buried in a separate grave. He says that Majnu Shah Malang was also related to Diwangah, so two of his tombs are in Makanpur. The first tomb is in the fair area and the second in the large residential complex of Mir Syed Hasan.
A bridge named after Majnu Shah Malang in Bangladesh. (Photo Credit: Social Media)
Majnu Shah Hero in Malang Bangladesh
Majnu Shah Malang was born in the state of Haryana and died in Uttar Pradesh. Yet he was forgotten here. But even today he is known as a revolutionary hero in Bangladesh. His tireless fight against the British is well preserved in Bangladeshi literature and folklore. Famous Bangladeshi actor-director Darashika made a film titled Fakir Majnu Shah. The biggest tribute to him was paid by the Government of Bangladesh, a few years ago, by the then Prime Minister himself, who named a bridge Majnu Shah Malang and dedicated it to the nation.
Martyrdom of leading freedom fighter Khan Alam Mian
Maulana Syed Faizul Anwar Jafari Madari says that after the martyrdom of Majnu Shah Malang, the war between Madari’s followers with the British continued. He says that the sacrifice of Sajjada of Khanqah and Syedjadgan is also included in the soil of this country, on the basis of which the flag of Yama is hoisted. Among them was prominent freedom fighter Khan Alam Mian, a resident of Makanpur, a close friend of freedom fighter Nanarao Peshwa. Disturbed by their movements, the British army attacked Makanpur Syed Khan Alam Mian and his allies.
Malang was hanging on a tamarind tree
Hundreds of people were martyred and 105 people were arrested in the sudden attack. The arrested revolutionaries were hanged on an elephant tamarind tree which was earlier planted at the present Mela Tehsil site. Syed Khan, wounded, along with many of his companions, managed to break the British siege and escape. He went to Alwar in Gurgaon, Haryana and breathed his last there. His tomb is still there today.
Took part in the war of 1857
Malango participated in the Battle of Meerut on 10 May 1857 and fought for independence against the British. Among them, Ahmed Khaw Pathan Madari of Bareilly was on the post of Sadr of Sadr in this war. On May 11, 1857, Ahmed Khan Madari and Bahadur Khan Pathan under the leadership of Madari fought in the village of Kharka, they defeated the British. He drove the British from Bareilly, Pilibhit, Badaun, Shahjahanpur. The revolutionary Madari battalion did not allow the British to establish themselves in the area again until February 1858.
