'Dacoit God Man Singh' who is still worshipped today

About 70 kilometers from Agra, in the Tehsil Bah, there is a small village called "Kheda Rathore," which is also known as Dacoit Man Singh's village. This is the same Dacoit Man Singh who was given the name "Indian Robin Hood" by the people in the 19th century, and many stories of dacoits made in the Indian film industry were inspired by the true events of his life. At the beginning of the 19th century, Man Singh was the uncrowned king of the Chambal ravines, whose name made a certain class of people tremble with fear, while another filled with excitement. The fearful class consisted of wealthy landlords, and those filled with excitement were the people who were oppressed by these landlords and the rich, or the needy poor. Because Man Singh always used to rob such wealthy landlords and distribute the loot among the poor and needy, for this needy class, he was no less than a god descended from the sky at that time. Even today, people remember his good deeds and principles and worship him as a god. The temple of Dacoit Man Singh in Kheda Rathore and the morning and evening worship, prayers, and aarti performed there like for a god are a symbol of this.

Thakur Dacoit Man Singh was born in 1890 in a Kshatriya family in this village near Agra. Before independence, it was a common practice for strongmen and landlords to forcibly seize the land and property of the weak, so fights and bloodshed over these issues in villages were not new. However, to save 'honor' and 'prestige,' battles with guns and swords were often fought. Man Singh also got into a bloody conflict over the issue of family honor when a Brahmin family in his village insulted his elder brother, and he jumped into the Chambal with his elder brother and son. In Chambal, he formed a gang with his own family members and took up a gun to avenge the injustice done to his family. The current descendants of Man Singh proudly say, "History is a witness that since Man Singh's fight began against the injustice done to his family, his gun was only fired to end injustice and wrongdoing; he never oppressed the helpless and the weak." If one examines the records of over a thousand loots, 150 murders, and 90 encounters with the police, this statement seems to have a lot of merit.

The stories of Man Singh's loots, dacoities, and kidnappings are so interesting that the elders and youth of the village still love to hear and tell them. A 90-year-old elder from the village says that if a person had the capacity of one rupee, Man Singh would have looted only 10 paise from him, and even in that 10 paise, his principle was "half for himself and half for the needy poor." Man Singh had his own way of informing people before a loot by sending a letter or a message, which was never challenged by the police or the villagers because the person whose house was to be robbed knew very well that Man Singh would never touch the women of their house and would only take jewelry and money according to their capacity. It is said that once Man Singh sent a message before robbing a merchant's house, and when Man Singh arrived, the merchant silently handed over his money and jewelry. But in the meantime, a man from his gang misbehaved with a woman of the house. When Man Singh found out, he not only shot the man from his gang on the spot but also left all the looted goods there and went back. That is why the villagers not only gave shelter to Man Singh and his gang but also helped them because he was firm in his rules and principles and used to distribute the looted money and jewelry among the needy and also to help in the marriage of poor sisters and daughters. This character of Man Singh is still praised today by singing songs in Rajput folk songs and nautankis. "No one on the road was looted..., nor were necklaces snatched from sisters...., whatever was received was distributed....sisters were adorned with wedding gifts."

The youth of the village even object to him being addressed as a dacoit. They believe that the word "rebel" should be used for someone who revolts against injustice and serves society with kindness, not "dacoit," because there is no difference between a rebel and a saint. After Man Singh, the rebel Rupa who took his place also did not break Man Singh's principles in dacoity for a long time, so he is also respected and worshipped equally in this village. But after all of them, by the time of Phoolan Devi, everyone started looting, killing for selfishness and greed, and also committed heinous acts like rape and kidnapping of sisters and daughters. Therefore, only such people are worthy of being called dacoits, not people like Man Singh. For us, there is no difference between them and a saint.

Although a long time has passed since the era of Man Singh, today, coming to this unique temple of Kheda Rathore and seeing people bowing their heads in reverence before the idol of Man Singh in the morning and evening is surprising. But it also makes one realize that to fulfill one's life's purpose of kindness and goodness without compromising on the precious principles of life, no matter how non-violent one may be, the simple and straightforward people of India, remembering his good deeds, enthrone him not only in their hearts but also in their temples.