Santhal Rebellion (1855) - General Knowledge of Modern India: The Santhal community lived in the mountainous areas of Jharkhand-Bengal border areas - Manbhum, Barabhum, Singhbhum, Midnapore, Hazaribagh, Bankura region. Like the Kols, the Santhals also rebelled against the British for almost the same reasons. This rebellion was also crushed by the British army. Let us know the reason and result of this rebellion. How did the British suppress the Santhal rebellion, what is the importance of this rebellion.
Santhal Rebellion (1855)
Cause Of Rebellion
(01) The livelihood of Santhals depended on agriculture and forest wealth.
(02) After the establishment of permanent settlement, the Santhals lost their own land too. So he left his area and started living in the hills of Rajmahal.
(03) He made the land here suitable for agriculture, cut the forest and built a house.
(04) This area of Santhals was known as "Damnikoh". The government's eyes fell on Damnikoh as well and came there to collect the rent. Then Zamindari was established there. Now the dominance of landlords, moneylenders, moneylenders and government employees started increasing in that area. The amount of rent imposed on the poor Santhals was so much that they scattered under the burden of rent.
(05) The orgy of repression was such that 50 to 500% interest was charged on the loan given by the Mahajan. They were unable to pay the rent. Due to all these reasons, the poverty of the Santhal farmers increased.
(06) Due to non-repayment of loan, their fields and cattle were taken away. Santhals had to become slaves of landlords and moneylenders. Santhals were not going to get justice from anywhere. Government employees, police, police station etc. used to take the side of moneylenders only.
(07) Far from thinking about the interest of the Santhals, the wealth of the Santhals was looted by them, the respect of the tribal women was looted. There was no one to get the Santhals out of all this. Ultimately, this disappointment in his life wreaked havoc on the government one day.
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Nature And Main Leaders Of The Rebellion
In 1855, the anger of the Santhals crossed the limit. Four brothers came forward to get justice for the Santhals. Their names were - Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav. He united the Santhals. Sidhu called himself an angel so that the Santhal community could believe his words. To inculcate religious feeling among the Santhals, he said that he is the messenger sent by God 'Thakur' whom they worship daily. On June 30, 1855, these brothers called a general meeting of Santhals in which 10,000 Santhals participated. In this meeting, the Santhals were assured that it is the wish of Lord Thakur himself that the Santhal community should protest strongly against Zamindari, Mahajani and government atrocities. British rule should be abolished.
Bugle Of Santhal Rebellion
In July 1855 AD, the Santhals sounded the bugle of rebellion. In the beginning, this movement was not an anti-government movement, but when the Santhals saw that the government was also taking the side of the landlords and moneylenders, their anger broke out on the government as well. The Santhals killed the tyrannical Inspector Mahesh Lal. Destroyed the market, shops and set fire to the police stations. Santhals attacked many government offices, employees and moneylenders. Due to this many innocent people were also killed. Rail, post, telegraph service etc. were suspended between Bhagalpur and Rajmahal. The Santhals had taken an oath to end the British rule. Apart from Santhal rebellion, it was spreading like fire in places like Hazaribagh, Bankura, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Munger etc.
Suppression of Santhal Rebellion
The British government was shaken from inside after seeing the aggression of the Santhals. The government announced to strictly suppress this violent action. A manifesto was issued by the government from Bhagalpur and Purnia in Bihar that now the rebellion of Santhals should be crushed as soon as possible. A piece of army was sent from Calcutta Kejar Barro and Purnea to suppress the Santhals. Then after that the naked dance of repression started. Santhal did not have much power and did not have enough weapons. How long would they last with just arrows and bow? Nevertheless, he gave the pressure of this suppression very bravely. Ultimately many Santhals were arrested and more than 15 thousand were killed by Santhal soldiers. Santhal leaders were also arrested and killed. The arrest of their leader broke the morale of the Santhals and by February 1856, the Santhal rebellion was ended.
Importance Of Santhal Rebellion
Even though thousands of Santhals sacrificed their lives for their rights, they proved that even innocent people cannot tolerate oppression and atrocities to an extent. Efforts were made to fulfill the demands of the Santhals to the government later. Later, the government made Santhalpargana a district. Still, the oppression on the tribals continued. Taking the inspiration of the Santhal rebellion, the tribals did many rebellions against the government even further.
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Modern India