Meghalaya commemorates 162 death anniversary of freedom fighter U Kiang Nangbah

Meghalaya is commemorating the 162nd death anniversary of the revolutionary freedom fighter U Kiang Nangbah. The entire state pays tribute to the martyrdom of U kiang Nangbah, who led a rebellion against the British army and fought for the rights of the people. 

U kiang Nangbah was a child when British annexed the Jaintia Hills in 1835. He lived in a locality now called Tpep-Pale. He challenged the British in 1857 when the 1st war of Indian Independence was organized. However Nangbah was arrested on 27th December 1862 and three days later he was finally executed by the British on 30th December 1862. Nangbah was keenly observant of the changes the British were trying to make to the natives’ territories since his childhood days and which have left a deep impact on the young Nangbah’s mind. 

Having to witness the socio-political and economic changes associated with the establishment of foreign rulers and their discriminatory policies during his formative years, Nangbah developed a strong hatred towards the British as youth.


It is said that 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. 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 statement.  In 1860, the situation worsened with the imposition of housing tax by the British on the tribes. That’s when the locals decided to join forces under the leadership of Nangbah. Hid forces soon attacked a British police station and set fire to all its weapons. Under his 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 quickly paralyzed the British administration.  

As this attacks continued the British conducted a full scale military operations in Jaintia Hills to nab Nangbah. When the revolutionary felt severely ill during a revolution, the British were able to catch him with the help of a tip-off by a key man of Nangbah. 

Till the very last moment of his life Nangbah remained defiantly courageous. “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 and if it turns towards the west, my country will remain bondage for good”, these were the last words of the revolutionary to the British at the gallows. And after he was hung, his head did turn towards east. And till today his legacy endures, inspiring generations to resist oppression.