Santhal Uprising
Introduction
The 1857 uprising was the end result of the continual huge and tiny native rebellions that had occurred within the preceding hundred years of the British rule. Once the Battle of Plassey in 1757 came to an end, the political management of the East India Company increased and by the end of the eighteenth century, the British emerged as the main power in India.
These changes diode to the dislocation within the socio-cultural, economic and political lifetime of the individuals. The subsequent turmoil led to an outbreak of rebellion in numerous parts of the country. Rebellions weren’t confined to the later period of the British Empire but were a constant feature of it from its very beginning, culminating in 1857. The revolt wasn’t a fulminant resistance but the end result of a century tradition of fierce tradition of fierce popular resistance of British domination.
Who were the Santhals?
They were the agricultural individuals settled in Rajmahal Hills of Bihar. The British turned to them for the expansion of the revenue through agriculture. Santhals united and allied to clear forests to practice agriculture. In 1832, an outsized number of areas were demarcated as Damin- i-koh or Santhal Pargana. However, step by step, the exploitation rose, that gave rise to the rebellion.
Fun Facts about Santhals
·· The Santhals are the biggest tribal group in India today as per the population figures. They’re native to predominantly Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.
· Until the 19th century, they lived their lives harmonic with nature and practiced shifting agriculture and hunting. They lived in the hilly regions of Birbaum, Barabum, Manbhum, Palamur and Chotanagpur.
· These areas came under the Bengal Presidency whose monarchy passed onto the British after the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The lives of Santhals were raptured by the onslaught and introduction of the Zamindari System. They were rendered landless guaranteed laborers in their own lands.
· The local landlords occupied the Santhal lands and exploited them.
· The tribal people engaged in commercial activity and enterprise by the barter system. Once currency was introduced due to the intervention of the colonizers, they heavily relied on moneylenders. These moneylenders exploited them to absolute poverty. Helpless and humiliated, by debts of cash weighing on their shoulders.
Santhal Rebellion:
- On 30th June 1855, two years before the Great Revolt of 1857, two Santhal brothers Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu organised 10,000 Santhals and proclaimed a rebellion against the British. The tribals took an oath to drive away from the British from their homeland. The Murmu brothers’ sisters Phulo and Jhano also played an active part in the rebellion.
- When the police came to arrest the brothers, the villagers killed the policemen. They were able to capture large parts of land including the Rajmahal Hills, Bhagalpur district and Birbhum.
- Although the rebellion took the government by surprise, they crushed it with a heavy hand. The British firepower was no match for the tribal methods of warfare composed of spears and arrows. About 15000 Santhal villagers including the Murmu brothers were killed and their villages destroyed.
- The landlords supported the government whereas the local people including the milkmen and the blacksmiths supported the Santhals.
- The Santhals were fierce fighters but they were honourable. According to some British observers of the time, the Santhals used poisoned arrows for hunting but did not use poisoned arrows against their enemies in war. It is ironical that the British came to ‘civilise’ the natives.
- Martial law was declared on 10th November 1855 and it lasted till 3rd January 1856.
- The British passed the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act in 1876 which offered some protection for the tribals against exploitation.
- The Santhal rebellion was overshadowed by the revolt of 1857 but it remains a watershed in the evolution of the modern Santhali identity. It played an important role in the creation of the state of Jharkhand in 2000.
With the introduction of permanent settlement in Bengal in1793, heavy taxes, oppression of money lenders, landlords, and revenue officials were the main reason for the rising of the rebellion. Under Sidhu and Kanhu rose against oppressors and declared themselves independent in 1854.
