FACTS ABOUT THE SANTHALS TRIBE YOU MAY NOT KNOW

 

             According to population figures, the Santhals are the most populous tribal group in India today. They are indigenous to the Indian states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha.

They lived in harmony with nature until the nineteenth century, practising shifting agriculture and hunting. They lived in Birbhum, Barabhum, Manbhum, Palamau, and Chhotanagpur's hilly regions.

These areas were administered by the Bengal Presidency, whose authority was transferred to the British following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The onslaught of the Zamindari system that they introduced disrupted the Santhal way of life. They were forced to work as bonded labourers on their own land in their own homes.

The barter system was used by the tribals for commercial activity. When currency was introduced as a result of colonial intervention, people began to rely on moneylenders. These moneylenders took advantage of them and drove them into abject poverty. They were burdened by heavy debts that kept piling up amidst the poverty and humiliation of being landless in what was traditionally their territory.

Two years before the Great Revolt of 1857, on June 30, 1855, two Santhal brothers, Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, organised 10,000 Santhals and declared a rebellion against the British. The tribals swore an oath to drive the British out of their homeland. Phulo and Jhano Murmu, the Murmu brothers' sisters, were also active in the rebellion.

When the cops arrived to arrest the brothers, the villagers killed them. They were successful in capturing large areas of land, including the Rajmahal Hills, the Bhagalpur district, and Birbhum.

Despite the fact that the rebellion caught the government off guard, it was crushed with a heavy hand. The British firepower could not compete with the tribal warfare methods of spears and arrows. Around 15000 Santhal villagers were killed, including the Murmu brothers, and their villages were destroyed.

The landlords supported the government whereas the local people including the milkmen and the blacksmiths supported the Santhals.

The Santhals were valiant fighters, but they were also honourable. According to some British observers at the time, the Santhals used poisoned arrows for hunting but not against their enemies in battle. The British came to 'civilise' the natives, which is ironic. Martial law was declared on November 10, 1855, and it lasted until January 3, 1856.

The Santhal revolt was overshadowed by the 1857 revolt, but it remains a watershed moment in the evolution of modern Santhali identity. It was instrumental in the formation of the state of Jharkhand in 2000.