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Tribal Uprisings

Tribal Uprisings

 
UNTIL the British came to power, the tribals spread over large parts of India were, by and large, left to themselves. The tribals resented the efforts made by the British to extend their authority to the tribal territories. However, the major factor that led to hostilities with the British was the support the British gave to traders, moneylenders and revenue farmers who had made inroads into tribal territories and whom the tribals considered rank outsiders.
It is striking that before 1857, tribal uprisings outnumbered all other kinds of uprisings involving deposed rulers, peasants and others. The tribals fought the well-equipped British forces with such primitive weapons as axes and bows and arrows and died in their thousands.
The Khasis in the northeast opposed the construction of a road which was of strategic importance to the British for movement of troops. In 1827 the Khasis tried to stop work on the road by intimidating construction workers brought from Bengal. When these tactics did not succeed, they became more militant. Soon the unrest spread to the neighbouring Garo hills and efforts were made to persuade Chandrakanta, the former ruler of Assam, to rise against the British.
Alarmed at the rapid spread of the rebellion, the British burnt several Khasi villages and threw an economic blockade around the region.
The hostilities with the Khasis continued several years till their leader Tirut Singh surrendered in January 1833.
The Kolarian tribes of Chota Nagpur region in Bihar were ruled by their proud chieftain who claimed to be independent for more than fifty generations. In 1820 when the British Political Agent entered their region, he met with fierce resistance. Lieut. Maitland who encountered the Kols writes: "These savages, with a degree of rashness… scarcely credible, met the charge of the troops half-way in open plain, battle-axes in hand!"
Though the situation was brought under control by 1827, violence erupted again in 1831 when the government tried to introduce judicial and revenue systems in the region. The rebellion spread to Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Palamau and Manbhum. After extensive military operations the insurrection was suppressed in 1832. Thousands died. Budho Bhagat, one of the leaders, rather than surrender, perished with his whole family and 150 followers while defending his village. The insurrection was marked by ruthless severities on both sides and nearly 5,000 square miles of territory was laid waste in crushing the resistance of the Kols.


The Santhals were forced to migrate from their original homeland near Murshidabad on account of the excessive demands of zamindars. They cleared the forests skirting the Raj Mahal Hills with great labour and brought the land they thus acquired under cultivation.
But these simple people fell easy prey to the money-lenders and traders from Bengal and North India who charged high interest on money they lent.
Police and revenue officials lent support to zamindars in claiming cultivable lands from the Santhals for non-payment of dues.
In 1855, under the leadership of two brothers, Sidho and Kanu, who claimed divine revelation, the Santhals set up a government of their own.
They cut off postal and railway communications between Bhagalpur and Raj Mahal and went on a rampage. Such was their fury that they attacked English planters, railway staff, native police-officers, tradesmen and peasants and their families. People fled in terror as wave after wave of Santhals surged through the countryside to the beat of drums.
Even when the disturbed area was handed over to the army the Santhals showed no sign of submission and more than 30,000 men marched towards Calcutta. Hunter, in his Annals of Rural Bengal wrote: "What we fought was not war. So long as their drum went on beating, they went on fighting to the last man." About 20,000 Santhals died and Hunter concludes, "There was not a single sepoy in the British army who did not feel ashamed.

Santhal Hero

BABA TILKA Majhi was a Santhal leader who took up arms against the British in the 1780's.
The British surrounded the Tilapore forest from which he operated but he and his men held the enemy at bay for several weeks.
When he was finally caught in 1784, he was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged all the way to the collector's residence at Bhagalpur. There, his lacerated body was hung from a banyan tree.
A statue to the heroic leader was erected at the spot after independence.

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Dimdima is the Sanskrit word for ‘drumbeat’. In olden days, victory in battle was heralded by the beat of drums or any important news to be conveyed to the people used to be accompanied with drumbeats.

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Dimdima.com, the Children's Website of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan launched in 2000 and came out with a Printed version of Dimdima Magazine in 2004. At present the Printed Version have more than 35,000 subscribers from India and Abroad.

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