Before the revolt of 1857 CE and after the revolt of 1857 CE, various revolts took place against the British rule. The tribal resistance was led by people of local tribal community. Leaders of Kol, Santhal, Bheel, Munda etc. and tribal communities. led the revolt in their respective areas. During British rule, the British rulers were forced to face tribal resistance at various places.
After the estabishment of colonial rule, the tribal society was affected by the changes which took place in land revenue system, administrative system and judicial system. Under the British administrative system, police and administrative officers entered the tribal regions and exploited the tribal community. Various types of bans were imposed upon them and atrocities were lashed upon them.
Alongwith the British officers, the contractors, merchants, moneylenders and others started to work as the middlemen of the British. The forests were occupied and various types of rules were formed in the name of protection of forests and bans were imposed. They were made to do forced labour. Various types of taxes were imposed on commodities produced in tribal regions.
Interference of Christian missionaries increased in tribal regions. The agitated tribals struggled against the British government. When colonial government crushed this resistance in an extremely cruel manner. Their resistance transformed into an armed rebellion.
The tribal people never attacked one another. They did not attack those who had played important role in the tribal economy and with whom they had trade relations. They did not attack the ironmen, carpenters, pottery makers, weavers, hair dressers etc. and on the servants who used to work for outsiders.
In northern India, revolt was done by Chuar, Khasi, Singo, Naga, Kuki, Khond, Santhal, Kol, Munda, Bhumj etc. Bheel, Ramosi and others revolted in western India. Kora, Malya, Konda and Dora tribal revolts took place in the south.
The description of these rebellions is as follows:
Khasi rebellion: Various revolts took place in northern India against the colonial exploitation. Khasi tribe which resided in the mountainous region near the border of Assam revolted in 1829 CE. The British started the task of building, roads that passed through their region.
For this task, when the people from Khasi tribe were forcefully employed in the form of labourers, agitation increased in their community. Under the leadership of Tirat Singh, the Khasi attacked the British. The British suppressed this revolt cruelly.
Kol rebellion: Kol people were dissatisfied with the administrative system of the British, their rigid land revenue system and due to the misbehaviour done by local officers and workers. This revolt started from Chotanagpur in 1831 CE and soon spread in Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Palamu, Manbhumi and other places of the Bihar state.
Bhumi rebellion: Bhumi tribe revolted in Veerbhumi and Jangal Mahal under the leadership of Ganganarayan in 1832 CE.
Khond rebellion: Khond tribe, which resided near the border of Orissa, revolted against the British rule under the leadership of Chand Bisal in 1846 CE.
Santhal rebellion: The revolt of Santhal tribe was the most violent and important revolt which took place against the British rule after 1850 CE. Region from Bhagalpur to Rajmahal was an area dominated by the Santhals. The revolt of Santhals mainly spread up to Veerbhumi, Bankura, Singhbhum, Hazari Bagh, Bhagalpur and Munger.
The policy of British colonial exploitation was the major reason behind this revolt. The spirit of revolt got aroused in the Santhals due to excessive collection of land revenue, not getting justice from British courts, atrocities and corruption of the police, exploitation by the moneylanders, the problem of credit etc..
Expansion of rebellion: On 30th June 1855, thousands of Santhal tribals gathered in Bhagnidiha. They decided to end the foreign rule and to establish a rule based on justice and religion. Sidhu and Kanhu were the major leaders of the Santhals. They declared to end the rule of British company and declared themselves independent.
They said that God himself had chosen them for this job and they had received that message from heaven. In every village, one leaf plate, rice dried in sunlight, oil and turmeric were sent by Sidhu and Kanhu. It was said that the internal power of the Santhals would increase as they consumed this and they would be inspired for struggle.
They attacked the police station and other buildings which were symbols of colonial rule. They robbed rich people. Army was called for assistance of the British administration to suppress this revolt. Sidhu was caught in 1885 CE and was killed. Kanhu was caught in 1855 CE. In this way, the Santhal rebellion ended in 1856 CE.
Munda rebellion: The Munda tribe revolted between 1899 – 1900 CE under the leadership of Birsa Munda. This revolt took place in Ranchi. The Munda tribe started to consider Birsa Munda as an incarnation of God. Birsa Munda induced the Mundas to run an armed rebellion against the British officers, Christian priests, contractors and landlords. He urged his people to kill them. The Munda attacked churches and the policemen. Birsa Munda died in jail in 1900.
Romosi rebellion: Among the tribal revolt of the west, Romosi rebellion took place under the leadership of Chittar Singh in the region surrounding Satara in 1822 CE. Romosi were agitated within the British administrative system.
Bhil rebellion: Bhil revolt took place under the leadership of Sevaram in 1825 CE. Bhils were dissatisfied with the British rule due to agricultural reforms. The British sent a battalion of army to suppress Bheel revolt.
Kora Maalya rebellion: Among the revolts which took place in the south, Kora Maalya revolt which took place in 1900 CE, was the major one. This was a revolt that opposed British imperialism. Kora Maalya called himself as one of the five Pandavas and said that he had the power to transform bamboo into guns and the guns held by the police into water.
He gathered around 5000 people and attacked the police station. He also declared that he would throw the British out of India. In Godavari Agency areas a revolt took place against forest act and custom duty. The revolutionaries addressed themselves as the army of Lord Rama. One of its leaders, Rajan Anatya called himself as the incarnation of Lord Rama.
Konda Dora rebellion: Konda Dora tribals started revolt against the atrocities of the British government, exploitation of the Pradhan, forced labour etc. This tribe resided in the Krishandevpeta hills of Vishakhapattnam district. Under the leadership of Tapsvi Ramraja, an armed rebellion started in 1922 CE. Gautam Dora, Mallu Dora, Angiraj, Jyeny Raja etc. were some of its prominent leaders.
They assassinated British officers Colonel Scott and Haetarson. Ramraja wrote a letter to the chairman of the ‘congress session of 1923 stating that if they got many thousands of guns, he and his companions could end the British rule from India and establish self-rule.
This tribe revolted and prepared a plan to form a parallel government to the British government in Orissa and Andhra. The British government suppressed this revolt in 1924 CE in an extremely cruel way. Gautam Dora was killed. Witnessing the increasing atrocities by the British, Ramaraja surrendered, but the British imprisoned him and shot him.
On one hand, the British officers, armed with modern weapons and assisted by the army at several places, were suppressing the tribal revolt; on the other hand, the tribal people were fighting with bows and arrows, spears, axes etc. In this armed struggle on the basis of their selfconfidence, various tribes exhibited unparellel bravery against the British colonial rule.
The merchants and moneylenders who were working as the middlemen of the British were also attacked upon. Most of the revolts had been suppressed but this tribal resistance proved that . they would but not accept exploitation.
Although these revolts were restricted to a limited region, they forced the British rule to consider their problems. As a result of armed resistance, various reforms related with land were enacted and implemented. Chotanagpur Tenancy Act was formed in 1908 CE.
