(Martyrdom Day: June 9)
Even though he lived for just 25-years, Birsa Munda is one legend who has made a
long-standing impact on India’s fight against the British. A young freedom fighter
and a tribal leader, whose spirit of activism in the late nineteenth century, is
remembered to be a strong mark of protest against British rule in India.
Birsa Munda – a tribal freedom fighter, religious leader and a folk hero belonged
to the Munda tribe. Birsa Munda spearheaded an Indian tribal mass movement
that arose in the tribal belt of modern Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh
and Chattisgarh in the late 19th century during the British Raj. Munda is one of
the most important faces of Indian tribal movements against the British, who
inspired various tribes not only Mundas but also Kharias and Oraons, who
accepted him as their leader.
Birsa Munda was born at Ulihatu in the Bengal Presidency (presently in
Jharkhand) on 15 November 1875 into a Munda family. Munda spent his
childhood amidst poverty in a typical tribal setup, where he converted to
Christianity and became Birsa David in order to receive an education from a
missionary school.
During the late 1880s, Munda began to understand the nature of exploitation
meted out by the British against the native tribals. The huge disruption caused by
British agrarian policies made an impact on the livelihood of these tribal people,
disrupting their usual way of life which was hitherto peaceful and in tune with
nature. Not only British economic and political policies but also aggressive
religious and cultural policies of the Christian missionaries which belittled the
tribal people and their culture acted as fuel for their fight against the British.
During the period 1886 to 1890, Birsa Munda spent a long period of time in
Chaibasa which was close to the centre of the Sardars agitation. By the time he
left Chaibasa in 1890, Birsa was strongly entrenched in the movement against the
British oppression of the tribal communities.
The British agrarian policies provided for the spark for the Mundas to revolt. The
Mundas had followed the Khunkhatti system of joint landholding. The British
replaced this with the Zamindari System, which allowed outsiders to enter these
tribal areas. The entry of outsiders aided by the British lead to exploitation of the
native tribals. Mundas, who were once the landowners were soon reduced to
forced labourers resulting in further more impoverishment and deprivations.
As a reaction to the introduction of the Zamindari system or Permanent
settlement in tribal areas, Birsa Munda in 1894 declared “Ulgulan” or revolt
against the British and the Dikus – the outsiders. He was soon known as Birsa
Bhagwan in these areas and a huge number of tribals began to follow Munda.
In 1894, Birsa Munda began to awake masses and also arose them against the
British atrocities. Not only the tribals but also many other Hindus and Muslims
also flocked to see the new leader of the masses.
Birsa Munda travelled to every village to raise the consciousness of the people .
He declared an end to Victorian rule and proclaimed the beginning of Munda rule.
He organised an effective movement wherein people stopped paying taxes to the
British.
The Christian missionaries were unnerved as Birsa was becoming the stumbling
block in the path of conversion. Many within Christianity also began to join
Mundas . He was arrested in 1895 and released after two years. After his release
in 1897, Munda picked up the movement by re-organising the tribals. Munda
went underground and sowed the seeds of revolt against British. By 1899, he had
built a strong army with proper training to tribal soldiers.
On December 24, 1899, Munda launched an attack on police stations and
churches, killing few policemen. The energised tribal uprising had spread to
almost entire Chotanagpur region. Birsa Munda called for a decisive war against
the British and attacked the places loyal to the British for the next two years. The
British forces put all their might to suppress the revolt and attacked heavily on
Munda guerrillas. The Britishers attacked the tribals and killed hundreds of
people. Birsa made a tactical retreat to the hills of Singhbhum.
On February 3, 1900, Birsa Munda was finally caught by the British from Jamkopai
forest, Chakradharpur. Birsa Munda died on June 9, 1900, while lodged at the
Ranchi jail aged just 25. Authorities claimed he died of cholera although this is
doubted.
Even after 120 years of his death, Birsa Munda is remembered by the masses as
one of the greatest tribal icons of the country who is a symbol of anti-feudal, anti-
colonial struggle despite the fact that left-leaning Marxist historians deliberately
subdued his greatness to achieve their ideological aspirations.
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