By Satyaki Paul
On June 9, 1900 Birsa Munda the young iconic tribal leader died in Ranchi Jail at Jharkhand (erstwhile Bihar). He was adorned with various names “Dharti Abba”, “Ulgulan”, “Bhagwan Birsa Munda”, etc. due to his high-spirited activism against the British Raj.
Birsa Munda was born in the highly packed tribal region around Bihar and Jharkhand in November 15, 1875. He belonged to the Munda tribal community of Chhotanagpur Plateau area. He initially educated by Jaipal Nag at Salga where he was evangelized into Christian religion, so that he would be able to go to German Mission School. In due course, he dropped out of school after coming to know about the impact of Christianity on indigenous peoples.
To counter such moves borne by Church, he started his own religion “Birsait” which was joined by individuals of Munda and Oraon community. In his own religion he incorporated elements of Vaishnavism, Christianity and Mundari religion. Thereby establishing an anti-thesis against the prevent norms and upholding oneself as an organic intellectual. The fight centred around defeating the “dikus” (exploiters) i.e., Britishers. From 1886-1890, Bhagwan Birsa Munda spent most of this time in Chaibasa region closely monitoring the Sardars agitation (leaders of tribal community). The rebellious nature of Sardars influenced Birsa Munda to take up Anti-British programs. In 1890, Birsa Munda left Chaibasa and started a latent movement against the British oppression of the Tribal communities, particularly in the Chhotanagpur region.In 1895, when the Sardariagitation was on the weakening, He claimed to have seen a vision of God, and he declared himself a prophet. Sociologist Max Weber observed that “prophets”appears during a social crisis. And, in such a primitive society, the prophetic claims and deep-seatedvisionsfascinatednumerous followers.
In due course, he disapprovedseveraloutdated customs, beliefs and practices and called upon his people to eradicate superstition, give up intoxication and animal sacrifice, prohibited begging and asked people to respectsingle God. The aim of such criticisms was to lessen the disparity between different Adivasi communities.Friedrich Engels in his study of the German Peasant War (1594-95) has opined that religion, though largely a conventional force, can also play a revolutionary role, particularly when it pronounces the disapproval of any oppressed class. Thus, when BhagwanBirsa Munda announced himself a prophet of a new religion with the task of rescuing his community from the British Raj, he gave theability to speakfor the ongoing economic and cultural displacementsmet by the indigenous tribal communities.
Bhagwan Birsa Munda proclaimed that, “Let the kingdom of the queen-end (British Raj) and our kingdom be established (Tribal Kingdom of Birsa Munda)” and he further requested the farmers and sharecrop farmers not to pay rents and other taxes to the Britishers.
In due course, he was detained by the then police and punishedhim to 2-years of rigorous imprisonment. In January 1898 he was released from jail, after sometime he started to reorganizing his movement towards ending the evangelization related activities of Christian missionaries. Thus, the “Ulgulan” (rebellion) started on December 24, 1899. In this revolt, around 7,000 Birsaitsarmed with oldprimitive weapons, started attacking the infrastructures which were perpetuating the Christian missionaries. The movement spread like wild-fire from Khunti to several districts Jharkhand (erstwhile Bihar). In Ranchi, the rebels even attacked the deputy commissioner of police. To counter such movements, British government mobilizedits troupes, the Birsaiteswithdrew to the neighboringregion of Sail Rakab hill, Dombari from where they engaged in a guerrilla war with the British police. On January 9, 1900, a vicious battle supervened between the two sides wherein20Birsaiteswere killed, while Birsa Munda fled deep into the forest. The British Rajproposed a reward of Rs. 500 on him and later he was detained on March 3. At the age of 25, he died in Ranchi jail on June 9, 1900 due to his worsening health conditions.
His death led to the introduction of Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act to please the Tribal communities and delimit the rebellion. Thus, he was not just any social reformer but also a revolutionary leader who challenged the British Raj. For many Jharkhandis he is the source of inspiration for contemporary struggles against various misappropriations and injustices. He has carved out a separate space for himself in local folk literatures and modern history for his revolutionary ideals to stir movement for freedom. Furthermore, to commemorate his birth anniversary on November 15, 2000 the state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar. The author works as a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, and the co-author of the book Anthropology For All (2021).