Menahati - Ramrup Ghosh - The Great General of Bhushana

🐘 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐢 - Ramrup Ghosh, the Chief General of Maharaja Sitaram Ray was honoured with the name 'Mēnāhāti' (মেনাহাতি/मेनाहाथी) for killing an elephant single handedly. He killed Mughal General Turab Khan in Battle of Kalikapur. 

🎨 Priyam Dey

One day Ramrup Ghosh was eating in the dining hall of the Bhushana Royal Palace during Dol yatra, when a mad elephant of Maharaja Sitaram Ray came running and spoiled his food. The elephant's name was Mena. Ramrup got very angry with the elephant for spoiling his food and beat it to death with an iron rod. Ramrup's 7 ft tall giant like broad dark complexion body was smeared with fresh red blood of the big elephant. 

The news reached the Rajasabha of Maharaja Sitaram. Ramrup was brought before Raja Sitaram by his armies. Impressed by Ramrup's might and valour, Raja Sitaram named him "Menahati" after the elephant for his bravery and strength and appointed him as the head of the Bhushana Rajasena. 

Just as Menahati was a skilled warrior, the soldiers and  feudal lords were his absolute servant. Thus, it was not easy to capture the fort protected by cannons from him. That is why the tales of his strength and bravery reached the Mughal durbar of Delhi.

In the historic Battle of Faridpur (1702), Menahati aka Ramrup Ghosh, leading the Bhushana army of Maharaja Sitaram Ray, decisively defeated Aurangzeb's Mughal generals Bakhs Ali Khan & Sangram Singh on the banks of the Padma. This defeat of Aurangzeb motivated Hindus to rebel.