Munda Rebellion
Munda rebellion of 1899-1900, was one of the prominent tribal revolts of nineteenth century. It was led by the Birsa Munda, a prophetic figure, in the south of Ranchi. The Ulgulaan meaning ‘Great Tumult’ (revolt) aimed at establishing Munda Raj and independence.
The Munda community lived in Chotanagpur and
its adjoining areas. The Munda means the village headman. They traditionally enjoyed tax free land as the
khuntkattidar or the original clearer of the forest. The land acquired by Khuntkattidar
was called Khuntokti. The system of collective ownership of the munda people
over this property was called Khutkati.
Causes of Ulgalan
The
Munda community had their own system of administration, laws and justice
system. With the establishment, the East India Company wanted to abolish these
social customs. The government tried to replace the Munda economy with a new
system of paying taxes in money, instead of crops. It increased public anger to
a great extent.
By
the nineteenth century, the East India Company, they introduced laws which
disallowed the Munda tribes from freely grazing their sheep or cattle and from
collecting firewood from their own forest land. The Company started replacing
the collective ownership of the Munda people by the individual ownership. This
led to influx of non-tribal people (outsiders) in the Munda regions.
The
introduction and settlement of Diku (moneylenders, zamindars, traders, and
mahajans) or enemy or outsiders made the Munda community dependent upon them.
Thekedars from Northern India came and tried to replace it with zamindari
system.
The
new zamindars caused indebtedness and forced labour or beth begari also
increased dramatically. Unscrupulous contractors had turned the region into bondage
labour.
The
appearance of Christian Missionaries like Lutheran, Anglican and Catholic,
started the forced conversion of Munda community into Christian. The spread of
education through missionary activities made the tribals more organised and
conscious of their rights. Tribal solidarity was threatened as the social tension
between the Christian and non-Christian Mundas deepened. The agrarian
discontent and the advent of Christianity, therefore, helped the revivalism
Munda religion. It sought to reconstruct the tribal society disintegrating
under the stresses and strains of colonial rule.
Birsa
Munda
The
famous Munda leader was Birsa Munda. He was the son of Sugan Munda, a
sharecropper of Ulihatu village in Ranchi. Because of poverty, he was forced to
live with his maternal uncle. At the age of 12, he adopted Christianity and
lived in the German Missionary School at Chaibasa. His relationship with
missionaries soured over the years. He went back to his own village to be
re-introduced to the traditional land of his fore father. He came under the
Vaishnava influence
In
1895, Birsa Munda came developed a new religious philosophy and called himself
‘Dharti abba” or “father of the earth”. He worshipped ‘Singbonga’ or the sun
god. Thousand of Munda people became his disciples and Birsa Munda became the
prophet of Munda community.
The new prophet became a critic of the traditional tribal customs, religious beliefs and practices. He called upon the Mundas to fight against superstition, give up animal sacrifice, and stop taking liquors. It was essentially a revivalist movement. It sought to purify Munda society of all foreign elements and restore its pure character. Birsa Munda used both Hindu and Christian idioms to create the Munda ideology and worldview.
Characteristics of Ulgalan
Birsa persuaded his followers to fight for
their ancestral lands and rights. He organized people to stop paying debts to
money lenders and taxes to the British. He broke all links with the
missionaries and took the path of Ulgulaan (revolt). This had alarmed the
British of an imminent rebellion. Birsa was arrested and sent to Ranchi jail.
After
releasing from jail in 1897, Birsa Munda once again began organizing the
tribals. He showed the seeds of revolt against the landlords and British. He
raised the self confidence of the tribals, who increased their attacks on the
landlords. He formed two military units- One unit for military training and
armed struggle and the other unit for propaganda.
The Munda rebellion was formed with only 6000 Munda
destitute. Their covert weapons were bows, arrows, spears, axes and special
battle axes called ‘tangi’. The rebels attacked police stations and
officials, churches and missionaries. In spite of hostility, they never
attacked the Dikus except in a couple of controversial matter.
On
Christmas Eve 1899, the Mundas shot arrows and tried to burn down churches in
the districts of Ranchi and Singhbhum. Next, in January 1900, the police
stations were targeted. The rebels planned to attack Ranchi on 8 January 1900.
On 9 January, however, the rebels were defeated. Birsa was captured and died in
jail. Nearly 350 Mundas were put on trial and of them three were hanged and 44
transported for life.
Significance of Munda rebellion
Though
the Munda rebellion was crushed, it was the first planed and organized
anti-feudal and anti colonial struggle. The government attempted to redress the
grievances of the Mundas through Chotanagpur
Tenancy Act 1908. It provided some recognition to their khuntkatti
rights and banned beth begari. Thus the Munda community won a degree of legal
protection for their land rights.
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