Kadu Makrani

Ever heard somone say "naak katwa di" or "naak na katwana"? What if we tell you that cutting off noses, quite literally, became a way of resisting colonisation?

Dr. Tribhovandas Shah of Junagadh performed over 300 rhinoplasties between the mid-1880s & 1900. Most doctors never saw more than a dozen such cases in their whole careers. So, how did one doctor get hundreds of nose surgeries?

In 1889, Dr. Tribhovandas published a book, in which he mentioned “Makrani outlaws of Junagadh.” One of these outlaws was Qadir Bukhsh Rind Baloch. Born and raised in Makran, who later moved to Gujrat, and took on the alias of Kadu Makrani.

When the British expanded into Kathiawar, he saw local rulers exploiting their own people to appease the English. He organised his tribe into armed bands, raiding the treasuries of local rulers & looting granaries of British loyalists, redistributing food & wealth to peasants.

But his punishments for collaborators?

He didn’t kill them. He cut off their noses.

In South Asia, "naak kat jana" - losing one’s nose - is a deep symbol of dishonour. This “symbolic justice” left hundreds needing reconstructive surgery.

The British put a bounty of Rs. 1,000 & 20 acres of land for Kadu’s capture. One day, travelling between Gujarat & Balochistan, a man betrayed him. A stone struck his head, rendering him unconscious. He was later hanged for waging war against the British.

Even after Kadu’s death, his tribesmen carried on the practice—patients kept arriving at Tribhovandas’ clinic. It gave birth to a Gujarati saying: "Kadu cuts off noses, but Tribhovandas remakes them."