Maniram Dewan | |
---|---|
Native name | মণিৰাম দেৱান |
Born |
Maniram Dutta Barua 17 April 1806 |
Died | 26 February 1858 Jorhat |
(aged 51)
Cause of death | Hanging |
Other names | Maniram Borbhandar Barua, Moniram Dewan |
Occupation | Dewan, Tea cultivator |
Organization | Assam Tea Company |
Known for | Participation in the 1857 uprising |
Notable work | Buranji Bibekratna (1838) |
Criminal charge | Waging war against the British East India Company government in Assam |
Criminal penalty | Death by hanging |
Maniram Dutta Baruah, popularly known as Maniram Dewan (17 April 1806 – 26 February 1858), was an Assamese nobleman in British India. He was one of the first people to establish tea gardens in Assam. A loyal ally of the British East India Company in his early years, he was hanged by the British for conspiring against them during the 1857 uprising. He was popular among the people of Upper Assam as "Kalita Raja" (king of the Kalita caste).
Maniram was born into a Kalita family that had migrated from Kannauj to Assam in the early 16th century. His paternal ancestors held high offices in the Ahom court. The Ahom rule had weakened considerably following the Moamoria rebellion (1769–1806). During the Burmese invasions of Assam (1817-1826), Maniram's family sought asylum in Bengal, which was under the control of the British East India Company. The family returned to Assam under the British protection, during the early days of the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826). The East India Company defeated the Burmese and gained the control of Assam through the Treaty of Yandabo (1826).
Early in his career, Maniram became a loyal associate of the British East India Company administration under David Scott, the Agent of the Governor General in North East India. In 1828, the 22-year-old Maniram was appointed as a tehsildar and a sheristadar of Rangpur under Scott's deputy Captain John Bryan Neufville.