Raja Syed Irfan Ali Choudhury

Raja Syed Ekram Ali was the 11th hereditary ruler of the quasi-princely state of Tarakote in Odisha. He is known for the wide social reforms that he had brought in his state. He was a staunch advocate of female education and took concrete steps to promote formal learning for girls. In 1886, he established the very first girls’ school in Jajpur, which at the time was part of the undivided Cuttack district.

Early life

Miyanzada Syed Ekram Ali was born on 21 January 1869 into the ruling family of Tarakote State to Raja Miyan Syed Nurrudin Ali. At the age of 8 he contracted small pox which took away his vision. Following his father’s death, he ascended the throne at the age of twenty-seven, becoming the 11th ruler of Tarakote State.

Reign

Raja Miyan Ekram Ali suffered considerable territorial losses during his reign, as a majority of the villages under Tarakote State were transferred to British control under the provisions of the Land Revenue Settlement Act. Several of these villages were subsequently auctioned and sold to outsiders by the colonial administration. Earlier, during the reign of his great-grandfather, Raja Zulfiqar, a substantial portion of Shergarh-Tarakote had been annexed by the Marathas including the fort of Pacchikote, resulting in the formation of a separate Maratha polity in the region known as Pacchikote Raj. The newly established Raja of Pacchikote, a contemporary of Raja Ekram Ali, is recorded in local tradition to have engaged in an armed conflict with Tarakote near the Purbakot Haat in Kantore. Raja Ekram Ali is said to have personally led his forces in this confrontation and emerged victorious.