MUNDA
REVOLT - MODERN HISTORY
News: Birsa Munda Jayanti: PM Modi
announces Rs 24,000crore schemes for tribals
What's
in the news?
●
On the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa
Munda, the PM also launched a Rs 24,000 crore welfare
of tribals scheme in the country.
●
He will also inaugurate the Vikshit Bharat
Sankalp Yatra from the land of Birsa Munda.
Leadership:
●
Birsa Munda, organised and led the tribal
movement, giving the tribals a call for “Ulgulan”
(Revolt) to the tribals in the south of Ranchi in 1899-1900.
●
He urged the Mundas to give up drinking
liquor, clean their village, stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.
●
He called himself Dharti Aba, father of
the world.
Reasons:
●
The land
policies of the British were destroying their traditional land system
(Khuntkatti system or joint tenures).
●
Hindu landlords
and moneylenders were taking over their land.
●
Missionaries
were criticising their traditional culture.
●
The ‘Ulgulan’ or the ‘Great Tumult’ as the
movement came to be called, aimed at establishing
Munda Raj by driving out the British.
Rebellion:
●
Munda used traditional symbols and
language to rouse people, urging them to destroy “Ravana” (dikus/outsiders and
the Europeans) and establish a kingdom under his leadership.
●
Birsa’s followers began targeting the
symbols of diku and European power. They attacked police stations and churches,
and raided the property of moneylenders and zamindars. They raised the white
flag as a symbol of Birsa Raj.
●
On
3rd March, 1900, Birsa Munda was arrested by the British police while
he was sleeping with his tribal guerilla army at Jamkopai forest in
Chakradharpur (Jharkhand).
●
Birsa
died of cholera in the jail and the movement faded out.
Significance:
●
Authorities prepared land records to
safeguard tribal interests, leading to the Chotanagpur
Tenancy Act 1908, preventing an easy land takeover by ‘Dikkus’.
●
The movement showcased tribal people's
ability to protest injustice and express anger against colonial rule.
●
Movement faded after Birsa's death.
●
Janjatiya
Gaurav Diwas: The birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa
Munda (15 November