Page 31 - SST Class 08

Roopchand as the Raja. Other tribes, such as the promise that his land would be returned to his
Nagas, the Khamtis and the Garos, too joined the family. This promise, however, was not kept, so he
revolt. However, they could not face the mighty reverted back to his tribal faith and adopted the
British army. The Singpos rose in minor revolt worship of Hindu deities. He was also expelled from
again in 1839. the school. This incident turned him against the

The Nagas too broke in rebellion in 1844 and missionaries and the government.
troubled the British forces for about three years. He was still very young in 1890 when he took up

The Kukis, living in present-day Manipur, raided the cause of his tribe. He
the British territory in 1826, 1844 and 1849, started his struggle for the
killing a large number of people. They were traditional agrarian rights of the
finally put down in 1850. Mundas in the protected forests
which the British government
Case Study : Birsa Munda had overtaken. The other lands
The revolts we have studied above occurred before that the people were given were Birsa Munda
the First War of Independence (called the Sepoy only barren lands.
Mutiny) in 1857. However, the tribal revolts At first, the Mundas petitioned the government
continued to occur even after 1857. One relevant several times, only to be turned down. Birsa Munda
case is that of Birsa Munda. felt that the only way out was to take to arms. He

Birsa Munda was born in the year 1875 in Ulihatu united his people and rose in revolts and uprisings
in Ranchi of a part of Chota Nagpur region. His on many occasions in order to expel the British
family had gone in search of employment in officers and other middlemen from the area. The
Bamba. His family had been dispossessed of the movement became quite popular with the people.
land by the British authorities. The family was in Birsa Munda was treacherously arrested on 3
desperate condition wandering from one place to February, 1900. He died in jail on 9 June the same
another in search of some respite. year under mysterious conditions.

Birsa was very young when he came into the Birsa Munda is revered by the people of his tribe as
contact of a Christian missionary when he joined a a god. He was only 25 when he died.
German school. He converted to Christianity on the

v The distribution of tribal population is not uniform, it is found in clusters.
v The tribals live in far-flung areas and have peculiar lifestyle, customs and traditions.
v Interference by the British effected a change in the economies and societies of the tribals in numerous
ways.
v The chief causes of the tribal revolts were exploitation by the British, interference into their customs and
traditions, conversion by Christian missionaries and violent repression of tribals at the hands of the British.
v Many tribal uprising took place at different places in the country. Among them, Munda revolt and Santhal
revolt were most prominent.
v The Chota Nagpur and north-east regions have witnessed a large number of tribal revolts during the entire
British rule right from early nineteenth century.
v Birsa Munda sacrificed himself for the tribal cause at a young age of 25 years.
v Munda revolt was headed by Birsa Munda. Due to his bravery and courage, Birsa Munda became a
legendary figure in the history of tribal revolts in India.

Colonialism and Tribal Societies
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