Important Tribal Movements of Mainland India

At a Glance

• What it is Tribal revolts in central, west-central and southern India
• Best known Santhal Rebellion (1855-56), led by Sidhu and Kanhu
• Common cause Loss of land to outsiders, revenue demands, moneylenders
• Result Suppression by force, with some concessions
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: People’s Resistance Before 1857

Where Does It Fit?

This is the seventh topic of the category on people’s resistance before 1857. The previous topic gave the causes and characteristics of tribal revolts. This topic tells the stories of the important mainland tribal movements. The next topic covers the tribal movements of the north-east. Previous topic: Tribal Revolts: Causes and Characteristics.

What Were the Pahariya and Chuar Risings?

Pahariyas’ rebellion (1778): British expansion into the territory of the martial Pahariyas of the Rajmahal Hills led to an uprising in 1778. The British were forced to usher in peace by declaring their territory a damni-kol area.

Chuar uprising: Famine, enhanced land revenue demands and economic distress goaded the Chuar tribesmen of the Jungle Mahal of Midnapore and Bankura districts in Bengal to take up arms. They were basically farmers and hunters, prominent in Manbhum and Barabhum, and held their lands under a kind of feudal tenure but were ready to change from farming to hunting at the bidding of their jungle chiefs or zamindars. The uprising lasted from 1766 to 1772 and surfaced again between 1795 and 1816. In 1768 Jagannath Singh, the zamindar of Ghatsila, rose with thousands of Chuars, and the Company government capitulated. In 1771 the Chuar sardars Shyam Ganjan, Subla Singh and Dubraj rebelled, but this time were suppressed.

The most significant uprising was under Durjan (Durjol) Singh in 1798. He was the zamindar of Raipur and had been dispossessed because of the Bengal Regulations. In May 1798 a body of 1,500 Chuars acted violently in Raipur to halt the auction of the estate. The revolt was brutally suppressed. Other leaders included Madhab Singh, Raja Mohan Singh and Lachman Singh. Some historians call the term Chuar derogatory and prefer the Revolt of the Jungle Mahal. The Midnapore setting overlaps with the zamindar revolts in Important Civil Uprisings (I): Eastern and Central India.

What Was the Kol Mutiny (1831)?

The Kols and other tribes inhabit Chhotanagpur, covering Ranchi, Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Palamau and western Manbhum. The trouble of 1831 began with large-scale transfers of land from Kol headmen to outsiders such as Hindu, Sikh and Muslim farmers and moneylenders, who were oppressive and demanded heavy taxes. British judicial and revenue policies badly affected the traditional social conditions of the Kols. Under Buddho Bhagat, the Kol rebels killed or burnt about a thousand outsiders. Only large-scale military operations restored order.

What Were the Ho and Munda Risings (1820-37)?

The Raja of Parahat organised his Ho tribals to revolt against the occupation of Singhbhum, now in Jharkhand. The revolt continued till 1827, when the Hos were forced to submit. In 1831 they rose again, joined by the Mundas of Chhotanagpur, against the newly introduced farming revenue policy and the entry of Bengalis into their region. The revolt was extinguished in 1832, but Ho operations continued till 1837.

In 1899-1900 the Mundas south of Ranchi rose under Birsa Munda in the Ulgulan, one of the most significant tribal uprisings of the period 1860-1920. It began as a religious movement and gathered political force against feudal, zamindari tenures and exploitation by moneylenders and forest contractors. Birsa was captured and imprisoned. This later rising falls outside the pre-1857 period.

What Was the Santhal Rebellion (1855-56)?

The Santhals, an agricultural people, had fled to settle in the plains of the Rajmahal hills in Bihar. Continued oppression led to a rebellion against the zamindars. Moneylenders, supported by the police among others, joined the zamindars in subjecting the peasants to oppressive exactions and dispossession of land. The rebellion turned into an anti-British movement. Under the two brothers Sidhu and Kanhu, the Santhals proclaimed an end to Company rule and declared the area between Bhagalpur and Rajmahal autonomous. The rebellion was suppressed by 1856.

What Were the Khond and Koya Revolts?

Khonds (1837-56): The Khonds of the hilly tracts extending from Odisha to Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh revolted against Company rule. Chakra Bisoi, a young raja, led them, joined by the Ghumsar, Kalahandi and other tribals, to oppose the suppression of human sacrifice, new taxes and the entry of zamindars into their areas. With Chakra Bisoi’s disappearance the uprising ended. A later Khond rebellion in 1914 in Odisha arose from the hope that foreign rule would end.

Koyas: The Koyas of the eastern Godavari tract, joined by Khonda Sara chiefs, rebelled in 1803, 1840, 1845, 1858, 1861 and 1862, and again in 1879-80 under Tomma Sora. Their complaints were oppression by police and moneylenders, new regulations and the denial of customary rights over forests. After Tomma Sora’s death, Raja Anantayyar organised another rebellion in 1886.

What Were the Bhil, Koli and Ramosi Risings?

What Do These Movements Show?

As an analytical point, the mainland movements share one pattern: each began when outsiders or new rules took away something the tribe controlled, whether land (Kols, Santhals), forests (Koyas), passes and forts (Bhils, Kolis) or employment (Ramosis). The Company answered with force, and then sometimes with conciliation, as with the Pahariyas and the Ramosis.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Match-the-following questions Leaders, tribes and years are asked directly
• Santhal Rebellion It is the most important mainland tribal movement before 1857
• Pattern Loss of land and livelihood to outsiders runs through all of them

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the tribal movements of north-east India. Next topic: Tribal Movements of the North-East.

Key People and Terms

• Damni-kol The Rajmahal Hills territory declared a peace zone for the Pahariyas
• Chuar A tribal people of the Jungle Mahal, also called the Revolt of the Jungle Mahal
• Ulgulan The Munda uprising led by Birsa Munda
• Santhal An agricultural tribe of the Rajmahal hills
• Khond A tribe of the hilly tracts from Odisha to Andhra Pradesh
• Ramosi A hill tribe of the Western Ghats employed by the Marathas

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for tribal movements with causes and outcomes. These points add depth.

• Loss of land Kols and Santhals lost land to outsiders
• Force and conciliation The Company used both, as with the Bhils and Ramosis
• Wider impact The Santhal rebellion became anti-British