“Brothers and sisters please look carefully on my face when I die on the gallows. If my face turns towards the east, my country will be free from the foreign yoke within 100 years; if it turns towards the west, my country will remain in bondage for good.”
These were the last words U Kiang Nangbah said to the British, at the gallows. For them, Nangbah was a rebellious leader, who needed to be crushed but whose identity they hardly knew other than his name. The day of Nangbah’s execution by the British authorities was 30 December 1862.
Last year, on 30 December, the state of Meghalaya observed the 158th death anniversary of its legendary freedom fighter U Kiang Nangbah, about whom not much archival or biographical material is available, to date. U Kiang Nangbah was a revolutionary, who challenged the British invasion in 1857 when the 1st War of Indian independence was organized. It was said that U Kiang Nangbah had gathered the local people on the bank of the river Syntu Ksiar to inspire the natives to stand up against the mighty Empire. He was arrested on 27 December 1862 and was hanged to death, three days later.
Early life
There is no clarity on the birth date of this freedom fighter from Meghalaya. However, as claimed by historians, U Kiang Nangbah was a child when the British annexed the Jaintia hills in 1835. He lived in a locality now called Tpep-pale.
Since his childhood days, Nangbah was keenly observant of the changes that the British were trying to make to the natives’ territories and it won’t be an exaggeration to say that the resulting cultural differences/clashes must have left a deep impact on the young Nangbah’s mind. It is worth noting here that the annexation of the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia Hills by the British colonial state, and the latter’s political control over these areas, was marked with resistance from the region’s traditional chiefs and local leaders. And so, having closely witnessed the socio-political and economic changes associated with the establishment of foreign rulers, and their discriminatory policies during his formative years, Nangbah would have developed a strong hatred towards the British as a youth.
Valiant fight against the British
When the British government started imposing taxes and interfering with the traditional customs of the locals, the tribes of the Jaintia Hills began harbouring an anti-British sentiment. A police station was also set up by the British near the cremation ground of the Dkhar clan. This was an act of power show–off by the British authorities and it was disliked by the local tribes. Religious intolerance also grew rampant with the establishment of missionary schools, and police were disrupting local festivals.
In 1860, the situation worsened with the imposition of house tax by the British on the tribes inhabiting the Jaintia hills. That’s when the latter joined forces under the leadership of Nangbah. His forces soon attacked a British police station and set fire to all its weapons.
Under Nagbah’s leadership, the tribes built barricades, and stockades, stored grains, and manufactured weapons and firearms. They adopted the strategy of guerilla attacks with bows, arrows, swords, and shields and paralyzed the British administration. After every such attack, the attackers would quickly escape to nearby jungles.
To nab Nangbah, the British conducted full-scale military operations in the Jaintia hills. With the help of a tip-off by a key man of Nangbah, when the latter fell severely ill during the ongoing revolution, the British took Nangbah into custody on 27 December 1862. Since U Kiang was believed to have divine origins by his people and his influence on them was immense, the British authorities wanted to get rid of him in the quickest possible time, sparing no cruel tactics at their disposal. And so, they put up Nangbah for a mock trial in just three days. Till the very last moment of his life, Nangbah remained defiantly courageous.
At the gallows, the legendary Kiang Nangbah prophesied that his country would attain freedom within a country if his head turns eastwards after he was hung, which it did.
Posthumous recognition
A government college (Kiang Nangbah Government College) was also opened at Jowai, Meghalaya, in 1967 in his honour. The Government of India issued a postage stamp to honour him in 2001.
Memorial
‘Kiang Nangbah Monument’ is located on the banks of Myntdu River in Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya. This beautiful hollow tower-like structure of typical Jaintia design was erected by the Jaintia tribe.
Source: IGNCA, Ministry of Culture, Government of India