Ghulam Masum Khan

Ghulam Masum Khan (c. 1800–1831) was the sword arm of Titu Mir's peasant army — the general who built the Bamboo Fort, commanded its defenders, and died before its smoldering ruins rather than abandon his uncle's revolution. Nephew and commander-in-chief to the legendary Titu Mir, Masum Khan was the military genius who transformed thousands of desperate cultivators into a disciplined fighting force that dared to challenge the British East India Company.

Masum Khan oversaw every aspect of the rebel war effort. He organized the peasants of 24 Parganas, Nadia, and Faridpur into a structured defensive network, directed the construction of the famous Basher Kella — the Bamboo Fort at Narkelberia — and served as Senapati (general) of the rebel administration. Under his command, hundreds of armed peasant volunteers repelled attacks from British-backed zamindars and Company police contingents, proving that the poorest cultivators could stand against the wealthiest empire on earth.

On 19 November 1831, British artillery under Major Scott bombarded the Bamboo Fort. Masum Khan fought from the ramparts until the bamboo walls collapsed around him. Captured alive, he was tried by a military tribunal that offered him no mercy. On 20 November 1831, he was hanged in front of the ruined fortress he had built and defended — a general who chose the gallows over surrender, and whose name deserves to be remembered alongside the uncle he served.