Tribal Uprisings in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Under British authority, tribal uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries were known to be the most common, aggressive, and terrorizing of all. There are two types of tribal uprisings in India: mainland tribal uprisings and border tribal revolts, which are mostly focused around India’s northeast.

Revolutionary inclinations fuelled tribal uprisings, rebellions, and revolutions throughout India. They wished to take advantage of the circumstance in order to combat and eradicate the faults and ill-tendencies already existing in modern tribal life.

Many of India’s diverse tribal communities went against the British’s forced invasions into their regions. Before the advent of the colonisers, the tribal groups had lived discreetly and in touch with nature around their forests for centuries. The British came along and created radical transformation to their lifestyle. This consigned them to a position of slaves and borrowers rather than rulers of their very own land. The uprisings were essentially a reaction to this unwanted incursion and a struggle for freedom.

Causes behind the Tribal Uprisings in the 18th and 19th Centuries

• The fast changes made by the Britishers in the economy, government, and land revenue structure were the primary causes behind each of these tribal uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries. These developments caused the agricultural society to be disrupted, resulting in huge and long-term misery among its inhabitants.
• Beyond everything, the colonial goal of rising pressure for land income and obtaining as much as possible caused havoc among Indian communities. In West Bengal, for instance, total revenue collection was virtually doubled in less than three decades, more than double the sum gathered during the Mughals. The process was replicated in other sections of the nation as British rule extended, and the reality that not a portion of the profit was invested in agricultural improvement or farmer welfare exacerbated farmers’ dissatisfaction.
• Increasing pressure for land taxes compelled a huge number of farmers to incur further debt or lose their holdings. Without any customary authoritarianism towards their workers, the new landlords raised rents to devastating levels and expelled them if they did not pay.
• Shifting agriculture, fishing, hunting and the utilization of forest goods were always the tribals’ rights.
• The concept of settled agriculture was established with the inflow of non-tribals into the tribals’ ancestral lands. The indigenous people suffered as a result of this dispossession of land.
• The British brought money lenders to tribal communities, which led to the terrible exploitation of native tribes. Due to the newly-formed economic structure, the tribal people were compelled to work as labourers.
• Tribal communities used to have a system of common land ownership, but that was superseded by the notion of exclusive ownership.
• There were limits placed on the usage of forest products, shifting agriculture, as well as hunting techniques. This led to the tribal people losing their means of subsistence.
• Tribal life was typically egalitarian in comparison to orthodox culture, which was distinguished by class and status inequalities. With the arrival of immigrants, tribals were relegated to the lowest echelons of society.

Important Tribal Uprisings in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Some of the most important tribal uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries are as follows:

Rangpur, Bengal, Peasant Uprising (1783 AD)

• After establishing authority over Bengal in 1757 AD, the Britishers began taking as much as they could from peasants using revenue contracts. 
• When the executives failed to address the peasants’ concerns, they turned to the courts. 
• They assaulted the village cutcheries and agricultural storage facilities of contractors or public officials, led by Dirjinarain. 
• During the rebellion, both Muslims and Hindus fought alongside one another. 
• However, the company’s military personnel seized control over the situation and eventually put an end to the insurrection.

Kol Rebellion in 1832

• The Kols were among the tribes who lived in and around Chhotanagpur.
• They had complete authority underneath their community rulers, but that all ended when the Britishers arrived.
• The merchants and moneylenders arrived with the Britishers.
• The Kols were subsequently forced to sell their property to foreign farmers as well as pay massive taxation. Many became bonded labourers as a result of this.
• The Kols were also irritated by the British legal policies.
• In 1831-32, the Kols organised and revolted against the Britishers and moneylenders.
• They murdered several strangers and set fire to homes. This violent struggle lasted two years until being ruthlessly repressed by the Britishers, who used superior weapons to do so.
• The Kol Revolt was so fierce that troops from Benares and Calcutta were summoned to put it down.

Munda Ulgulan

• Chotanagpur was home to the Mundas.
• The Mundas used the Khunt Katti structure, which was a land-sharing system. The Khunkatti structure was supplanted by the Zamindari system upon the arrival of the Britishers. The tribals were compelled to work and were indebted as a result.
• Several uprisings against the Britishers occurred in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
• Birsa Munda, an effective and charismatic commander, declared a revolt in 1894.
• He planned a public uprising against the administration. He pushed individuals to forgo paying their obligations and taxes.
• He was caught and imprisoned for two years before his parole in 1897.
• He led an armed rebellion against the landowners and the authorities in December 1899.
• Government buildings, landlords’ homes, churches, as well as British property were all set ablaze by the Mundas.
• Birsa Munda had been apprehended in 1900. He was just 25 when he died in prison from cholera.

Conclusion

Countless tribal uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries as well as disruptions certainly occurred throughout colonial control, even during the era of the East India Company. These many frustrations culminated in the rebellion of 1857, which, despite targeting specific sections of Indians, remained the most significant insurrection against the Britishers before the commencement of the Independence movement.

The tribal insurrection in India occurred for cultural, political, and social reasons, most notably to protest the seizure of their territory and to assert their rights to natural forests and their resources.