Tilka Majhi

Tilka Majhi (11 February 1750 – 13 January 1785), according to popular accounts, was an Indian tribal leader who led a rebellion against British colonial rule from 1771 until his capture and execution in 1785. In these narratives, he is described as one of the earliest freedom fighters who organised local residents against the administration of the East India Company and is said to have assassinated Augustus Cleveland with a poison arrow, although contemporary records suggest otherwise.

According to historian Dinesh Narayan Verma, government records up to 1965 and early post-independence writings on tribal history, make no mention of a tribal leader named 'Tilka Manjhi' or of his role in the death of Augustus Cleveland. He further noted that the first appearance of the figure 'Tilka Manjhi' came in 1970, in a book by Ramlakhan Prasad Gond, an engineer by profession, and concluded that Tilka Manjhi emerged as a historical personality without single historical evidence.

Since the 1970s, Tilka Manjhi has been featured in various literary works such as Mahasweta Devi's book Shaalgirah Ki Pukar Par. Several streets, institutions have been named after him.