Tirot Sing: The Khasi Hills’ Guerrilla War

He first welcomed the British in, agreeing to let them build a road through his hills. Within three years, he was leading a guerrilla war to force them back out.

Must Know

• Tirot Sing (c. 1802 – 17 July 1835) was the Syiem, or hereditary chief, of Nongkhlaw, a Khasi hill state in present-day Meghalaya.
• He initially agreed to British plans for a road through the Khasi Hills, negotiated with British agent David Scott, connecting Assam and Sylhet.
• Relations broke down after a land dispute and a British refusal to withdraw troops from Nongkhlaw, despite his demand.
• On 4 April 1829, Khasi forces attacked the British garrison, killing two officers and beginning the Anglo-Khasi War.
• Lacking firearms, his forces fought with swords, shields, bows, and arrows, sustaining a guerrilla resistance for about four years.
• He was captured in January 1833, exiled to Dhaka, and died there on 17 July 1835.

Good to Know

• Tirot Sing’s authority wasn’t absolute. As Syiem, he shared “corporate authority” with a council representing the region’s leading Khasi clans.
• The road he originally agreed to was meant to save weeks of travel through difficult, disease-prone terrain between Assam and Sylhet.
• His resistance relied heavily on the Khasi Hills’ own terrain, using guerrilla tactics rather than open battle against a better-armed British force.
• His death anniversary is commemorated annually in Meghalaya as U Tirot Sing Day.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. Tirot Sing was the Syiem (chief) of which Khasi hill state, in present-day Meghalaya?

Nongkhlaw

Sohra

Jaintiapur

Cherrapunji

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Great to Know

• His story complicates a simple “resistance from the start” narrative of anti-colonial struggle. Cooperation and resistance both appear in the same leader’s life, shaped by whether agreements were honoured.
• The Anglo-Khasi War is one of many regional resistance movements against British expansion in India’s northeast. It predates the more widely taught 1857 Revolt, and is distinct from it.
• He fought four years of guerrilla resistance without firearms, against a technologically superior force. This mirrors other regional uprisings of the era, where terrain and local knowledge substituted for weaponry.