Bismil - Brief History

Brief History

Historians have established that, in order to settle the influx of migrants from Konya in 1936, the sixth district of Diyarbakir was established and named Bismil after a fierce freedom fighter and a patriotic poet of India Ram Prasad Bismil by the Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha alias Kemal Ataturk who is popularly known as founder of the Republic of Turkey. Ram Prasad Bismil had written an article in the Hindi magazine Prabha about him under the title Vijayee Kemal Pasha (en. Victorious Kemal Pasha) and later on an appraisal in his autobiography originally in Hindi:

"गाजी मुस्तफा कमालपाशा जिस समय तुर्की से भागे थे उस समय केवल इक्कीस युवक उनके साथ थे । कोई साजो-सामान न था, मौत का वारण्ट पीछे-पीछे घूम रहा था । पर समय ने ऐसा पलटा खाया कि उसी कमाल ने अपने कमाल से संसार को आश्चर्यान्वित कर दिया । वही कातिल कमालपाशा टर्की का भाग्य निर्माता बन गया"

— Ram Prasad Bismil (1927)

Kemal Pasha was very much impressed by the Mukhammas of Bismil - "Jazva-E-Shaheed" in which he had written:

"सर फ़िदा करते हैं कुरबान जिगर करते हैं, पास जो कुछ है वो माता की नजर करते हैं, खाना वीरान कहाँ देखिये घर करते हैं! खुश रहो अहले-वतन! हम तो सफ़र करते हैं, जा के आबाद करेंगे किसी वीराने को !" "We dedicate head and sacrifice heart, To our motherland we offer every sort. We know not where to dwell & dine, Be merry friends! we march align, To inhabit any solitude somewhere."

— Ram Prasad Bismil (1927)

The province Diyarbakir, where this district is situated, means in English the rebellion's region (Hindi:vidrohion ka kshetra, Urdu:bagion ka diyar). It is a South-Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and is located on the east of the Diyarbakir province. The area of this district is 1748 sq.km. Geographically it is situated 550 meters above the sea level.

The town features numerous parks. The population is 56,887 (as of 2010). The mayor is Mr. Cemile Eminoğlu who belongs to the Peace and Democratic Party (BDP) of Turkey.