R. R. Patel

Tantya was a valiant and revolutionary fighter of Nimar region. During the freedom struggle, he fought against the British rulers, moneylenders and Zamindars who fleeced and tortured the poor, till he became a martyr. He is remembered with great respect and honour in the country like that of any other freedom fighter. In Nimar region he is worshipped like a god. Even now, people decide who is wrong and right in disputes by taking oath on the name of Tantya.

According to the available information his colour was not very fair. His stature was long but not fat. His body strength was like that of iron. Tantya was born in an ordinary tribal family of a small village Birda in Khandwa district. His exact date of birth is not known. But it is considered that he was born some time between the years 1824-1827. His father's name was Bhau Singh and mother's name was Jivani. Bhau Singh was a servant in the house of village Patel. Patel was very cruel and atrocious. He used to beat up and commit other crimes on the tribals of the village. He also used to attach their land and force them to lead life of slavery. But the villagers had no courage to oppose him. Patel and his men killed Tantya's mother Jivani. After a few years of this, Bhau Singh was also killed by the Patel and him men. When Tantya, who was an adolescent at that time opposed, Patel burnt the hutments of all Bhil adivasis in the village.

Fed up with terror and atrocities, Tantya vowed to fight back and protect innocent, helpless, women and children and take revenge of Patel and people like him who used to commit atrocities against the poor and helpless with muscle and money power.

Tantya's childhood name was "Tundra". Perhaps, due to his revolt against the system, his name was slowly changed from "Tanya" to "Tantya". Since childhood Tantya was fearless and had self pride. Several of his stories have become subject of folk songs and folklores. It is said that he had strength like a panther. His body was strong like iron. Not only this, there was none like him in horse riding, archery, etc. Going up and down the hills, crossing flooded river were so simple for him. He was also mentally strong. If he decided something, he would definitely do that.

To fight against atrocities, first of all, Tantya selected some youth who were strong, daring, and agree to his ideals for a revolution. This revolution and revolt was not only of Tantya but also of scores of others who were tired of and fed up with the atrocities, social injustices, and high handedness of the rich and living a life of slavery. Tantya's team used to loot Zamindars, moneylenders and other rich men and distribute the looted goods among the poor.

Now Tantya has become a name of valiant person who fought against the British rule, social system, and society. His fame spread to far and wide. Affected by his heroic actions, hero of 1857 revolution Shri Tatya Tope trained him in "Guerilla Fight". Tantya now wanted to get rid of British slavery from the country. After the training Tantya became expert in guerilla fight. The British rulers could do nothing against him because of his clever moves and support he received from the people. Tantya used to move around in disguise. He also prepared several persons with his face cut as his doubles. His team used to loot the British, their police stations, treasuries, goods transport, and punish them. Of course, the looted goods were distributed among the poor and helpless persons. Perhaps Tantya was the first person against whom the British had to make a special "Tantya Police Brigade". Even the Holkar Maharaja had to sign an agreement of peace with him. After the agreement Tantya did not bother the Holkar King with his looting activities. After the agreement, whenever Tantya wanted to go underground, he used to hide in Holkr State. Because of his clever moves and daring activities, proposal was sent to the government to send him to fight Burma War. His activities were spread far and wide, including Hoshangabad, Dhar, Nimar, Betul, Malwa, Holkar State, Dungarpur, Khandesh, and Banswada and Bhilwada of Rajasthan and surrounding areas.

When all efforts to corner Tantya failed, the police in collaboration with the traders, was involved in several bogus theft cases. Tantya could not tolerate this and he fought against the police. But the police at last arrested him and sent him to Khandwa jail. But the jail could not hold him for long and Tantya escaped from the jail and came back to his playground, forest. He started to take revenge against the conspirators one after another. Now his attention turned towards the villages and started uniting them to fight against slavery. He became godfather to hundreds of freedom fights who had fled to the forests after the first but failed freedom struggle of the year 1857. On November 21, 1858 the freedom fighters took over Khargone Fort with his team's efforts and support. Tantya played special role in the fight of Khandesh along with Tatya Tope and rescued freedom fighters from Jabalpur Jail along with Raghunath Mandloi.

Because of the connivance and conspiracy of his trusted lieutenant Ganpat Rajpoot, Tantya and his team was trapped and caught. On September 26, 1889 Tantya was produced before the deputy commissioner, Jabalpur. Cases were charged and run in the court against him. At last, on December 4, 1889, Tantya was secretly hanged to death. But it is not certain whether it was Tantya or his double.

Anyway, because of his dare-devil attitude, his role in freedom struggle, efforts to wipe out atrocities from the society, the first organised tribal revolt, and for living in the heart of crores of people, "Tantya Mama" is still living in our heart and memories.

Even after all these years of independence, martyr Tantya was never given the respect and honour which was due to him. With the untiring efforts of Tribal Welfare Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, martyr Tantya was honoured at last. The state government has started awards and Utsav on his name. When the Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan perform bhumipuran for constructing memorial for Tantya, it would definitely like giving golden colour to the history of India's freedom struggle.