Baji Rout (ବାଜି ରାଉତ, 1926–1938) was a 12-year-old boatman from Nilakanthapur in Dhenkanal district, Odisha, who was shot dead by police in October 1938 after refusing to ferry them across the Brahmani river. Baji Rout's defiance during the Dhenkanal Praja Mandal movement made him a symbol of the freedom struggle, and he is widely remembered as India's youngest martyr.
Early life
Baji Rout was born on 5 October 1926 at Nilakanthapur village in present-day Dhenkanal district. His father, Hari Rout, died when Baji was young, and his mother, Rania Devi, raised him in poverty; OdishaBytes notes that she supported the family by husking rice in the village. Like other children of the riverbank, Baji worked as a ferry boy on the Brahmani.
Dhenkanal and the Praja Mandal movement
In the 1930s Dhenkanal was a princely state under the ruler Shankar Pratap Singhdeo. Villagers faced heavy taxes and forced labour, and a people's movement, the Praja Mandal, grew up to resist the ruler's administration and, through him, British paramountcy. OdishaBytes names Baishnav Charan Pattanayak, later known as Veer Baishnav, as a leader of the movement. Baji Rout was an active member of the Banar Sena, the children's wing of the Praja Mandal, and was given the task of keeping watch at the Nilakanthapur ghat.
Why the Praja Mandal mattered
Under colonial rule, much of present-day Odisha consisted of princely (Garjat) states whose rulers governed under British paramountcy. In the 1930s, Praja Mandal (people's association) movements arose in several of these states, demanding relief from oppressive levies and a voice in government. The Dhenkanal agitation of 1938 became one of the best remembered of these struggles, largely because of the deaths at Nilakanthapur, and it linked the grievances of villagers in the princely states to the wider national movement.
The night of 10–11 October 1938
According to The Quint, police fired on a Praja Mandal protest outside the Bhuban police station. As the police withdrew, they reached Nilakanthapur Ghat and ordered Baji Rout, who was keeping vigil in his boat, to take them across the river. He refused. A policeman struck him and then opened fire, and Baji Rout was killed.
Accounts differ on some details:
- Date: some sources give 10 October 1938 and others 11 October 1938; the shooting took place at night, around the turn of the date.
- Other victims: others were killed the same night. The Quint names boatmen Laxman Mallik and Fagu Sahoo; Janata Weekly lists six people killed with Baji, including Laxman Mallik and Fagu Sahu. The total number is reported differently in different sources.
Janata Weekly records that the bodies were taken to Cuttack and cremated on 13 October 1938 at Khan Nagar, in a ceremony attended by leaders of the national movement, including the poet Sachi Routray.
Legacy and honours
- Sachi Routray's poem: the Odia poet Sachi Routray wrote the poem Baji Rout in 1938. Its English translation by Harindranath Chattopadhyay opens by insisting that the flames are not a funeral pyre but the light of the nation's liberty.
- Youngest martyr: Baji Rout is regularly honoured on his birth and death anniversaries in Odisha as the youngest martyr of India's freedom movement.
- Film: OdishaBytes notes the 2018 Odia film Baji – the Immortal Boat Boy, directed by Chinmoy Das.
- Sport: a national football tournament, the Baji Rout Cup, was held in Odisha in 2022.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 5 October 1926 | Born at Nilakanthapur, Dhenkanal |
| 1930s | Joins the Banar Sena of the Dhenkanal Praja Mandal |
| 10–11 October 1938 | Shot by police at Nilakanthapur Ghat after refusing to ferry them |
| 13 October 1938 | Cremated at Khan Nagar, Cuttack (per Janata Weekly) |
| 1938 | Sachi Routray writes the poem Baji Rout |
| 2018 | Odia film Baji – the Immortal Boat Boy released |
| 2022 | Baji Rout Cup football tournament held |