Atharuddin Mohammed

Atharuddin Mohammed was born as the eldest son of Khwaja Pir Fazal Mohammed, a notable Persian philosopher and mystic of the Ni'matullāhī order who later joined the service of Raja Bhagiratha Mahendra, the RajaofDenkanal. Fazal Mohammed was appointed as the Samanta of Madhi garh presently known as Kamakhyanagar and after his death, his son Atharuddin took over the position. Athar rose to prominence in the eyes of the king by displaying his bravery and wit. He was appointed as the Dewan of the newly crowned king, Raja Dinabandhu Mahendra by the British in 1877.^[2] During his tenure Atharuddin organised the last elephant fair in Odisha.^[3][4]

With the beginning of the Praja Mandal movementinDhenkanal State, the peasants all over the kingdom started revolting against the repressive policies adopted by the new king, Raja Shura Pratap Bahadur. Atharuddin tried to pacify the situation by signing a temporary truce with the revolters. However, it did not last long. Inspired by the nationalists, he sent his son Sayeed MohammedtoCuttack to attain formal education. Later in 1899, Atharuddin moved to Cuttack and joined the Utkal Sabha. He along with Madhusudan Das, Rev Shem Sahu, John Samson Rout, Bhagaban Chandra Das, Ramesh Chandra Mandal, and Gauri Shankar Ray attended the Congress sessions held at different places and took keen interest in the activities of the Congress in its early years. Atharuddin acted as a pioneer in bringing the message of Congress and its liberal ideas to Coastal Odisha in the last two decades against the British authorities. He attended the Congress session of Calcutta held in 1911 under the presidentship of Bishan Narayan Dar.^[5]

He built the Fazal Mohammed Masjid (present-day Choti Masjid)^[6] in the memory of his deceased father near his residence at Dargaah Bazaar. In the early 1930s, nearly half of his estate was confiscated by the British for building jails in Cuttack.^[7]