Man Singh (dacoit)

Man Singh (died 1955) known as Daku Maan Singh was a notorious dacoit born in Agra.

Biography

Man Singh belonged to the Rathore clan of Rajputs and was a dairy farmer.[1] Daaku Man Singh lived in the village of Khera Rathore in the Chambal region of India, where a maze of deep ravines and scrub forests had hidden generations of outlaws since the 13th century.[2]

Between 1939 and 1955, Singh is credited with 1, 112 robberies and 185 murders, including the killing of 32 police officers. Man Singh headed a crew of 17, most of them his sons, brother Nabab Singh, and nephews, who were unchallenged in the Chambal Valley. The police registered over a hundred cases against him, ranging from kidnapping to murder, until he and his son, Subedar Singh, were shot dead by Gurkha troops in 1955 while sitting under a Banyan tree in Kakekapura,[3] Bhind, Madhya Pradesh.[4] This operation was headed by inspector Vinod Chand Chaturvedi

S. N. Subba Rao heard Singh speak on stage in 1953 at a public function in Chambal: "I was surprised to hear him speak. He was totally unlike what I had read about him in the papers. Though at the peak of his popularity or notoriety, he was respectful and humble. I was impressed with the contradiction he presented. The government wanted him dead with a big inaam (reward) on his head and here he was, standing before the adoring public."[5] A Robin Hood figure who once performed essential social services in hard times and adjudicated local issues, today Singh has a pagoda dedicated to him Khera Rathore. According to Dipankar, a Chambal resident who said that he regularly came to worship at the Man Singh Mandir, "they were men who fought for the family izzat (honour). They are baaghiyaan (rebels). There is no difference between a baaghi and a sadhu".[4]

Actor Amitabh Bachchan also quotes "In my younger days, we were in awe of Daaku Man Singh, whose escapades and adventures were common conversation in and around every possible gathering".[6]

Successors

Successors of Singh are living at Khera Rathore near the river Chambal. His son Tehsildar Singh, who used to be a famous dacoit of Chambal along with contemporaries such as Daaku Madho Singh, Mohar Singh, Chhidda Makhan, is living with his family at Sheopur, near the Morena Commissionary.

Lion of the Chambal

There are many Rajput folk songs and Noutanki plays based on the stories of his life. Songs about Singh include "Rasta Chalta Koi Nahin Loota, Na Bahino Se Chheene Haar" "Jo Bhi Mila So Baant Diya, Bahino Ko Pahinaye Bhaat" [in English: "(He) did not rob anyone who was walking on the road neither snatched the necklace of a girl; whatever we got distributed it to the poor."]

Portrayals in media

Daku Man Singh was a 1971 movie directed by Babubhai Mistry. The cast included Dara Singh, Nishi, Shaikh Mukhtar, Jeevan, Shyam Kumar, and Guddi Maruti; the music was by Sardul Kwatra. It was produced by Time Life Films.[7] However, the film, which showed the rural dacoits defying established power and serving the poor, was not strictly factual.[8] Man Singh also featured in the 2019 film, Sonchiriya.[9]

References
  1. Hansen, Kathryn (13 December 1991). Grounds for Play: The Nautanki Theatre of North India. University of California Press. p. 140-141. ISBN 978-0-520-91088-1.
  2. "As modern world closes in, India's fabled bandits are disappearing". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 4 November 2006.
  3. "Dead Man". Time. 5 September 1955.
  4. Sanjay Austa (24 August 2003). "Daku Raja becomes devta". The Tribune.
  5. Chitleen K. Sethi (10 November 2004). "The man who transformed Dacoits". Chandigarh Tribune Online.
  6. "The young Amitabh Bachchan was "in awe" of dacoit Man Singh". NDTV. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  7. "Hindi Movie: Daku Man Singh"
  8. "Dacoit Heroes: Serving the Poor", from Kathryn Hansen, Grounds for Play: The Nautanki Theatre of North India, Berkeley, University of California Press (c1992)
  9. 'Sonchiriya': Abhishek Chaubey's film showcases the most dangerous dacoits, Phoolan Devi and Man Singh
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