Santhal rebellion

Also called: Santhal Hul, Santhal revolt · Topic: Peasant and Tribal Resistance under Company Rule · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 4 "The Colonial Era in India"; Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"

Meaning

The Santhal Hul (1855–56) was an armed rising by the Santhals of the Rajmahal hills, led by the brothers Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, against three enemies: zamindars, moneylenders (dikus) and the colonial state. They rebelled over heavy taxes, high interest and the loss of land they had cleared themselves.

It matters because it was one of the biggest tribal risings under Company rule. British troops crushed it, but it still forced the British to create the Santhal Pargana, a separate area with special laws. This makes it a classic example of a "defeated revolt that changed the law".

Explanation

Background: from pioneers to debtors

• The Company invited the Santhals as pioneers (the first settlers who cut down forest and turned it into fields) in the Rajmahal hills of the Bengal Presidency.
• They settled in the Damin-i-Koh ("the skirts of the hills"), land the Company marked off for Santhal farming. [2]
• Within two decades the land began slipping out of their hands.
• The Santhals had cleared it with their own hands.
• Outsiders and the state now took the profit from it.

Causes: three squeezes at once

• Heavy taxes from the colonial state
• Tax fell on land the Santhals themselves had cleared.

• Rates kept rising, so one bad harvest forced a family to borrow.

• Debt to the dikus

• Diku is the Santhal word for "outsider". The dikus were mostly traders and moneylenders from the plains.
• They charged very high interest. When a Santhal could not repay, they took his land.

• Britannica names mahajans (moneylenders) and landlords as the main exploiters the rising targeted. [2]

• Zamindari claims

• Zamindars claimed control over the Damin area.

• The Santhals believed this land was theirs because they had cleared it.

• By the 1850s the enemy list was clear: zamindars, moneylenders and the colonial state.

The rising: sequence of events

• 30 June 1855
• Sidhu and Kanhu addressed about 10,000 Santhals in the heart of Damin-i-Koh.

• They said Thakur Bonga (the great spirit) had appeared to them. He had ordered them to drive out the outsiders (mahajans, zamindars and the British) and set up Santhal rule. [2]

• Hul means "revolution" in Santhali. [2]

• The rebels wanted an ideal world of Santhal rule, free of outsiders.
• They declared their own government.

• They vowed to "fight to the last drop of blood."

• Official records name a wider leadership: Sidhu-Kanhu, their younger brothers Chand-Bhairav, and their sisters Phulo-Jhano. [3]

• The British were caught by surprise and lost ground at first.

Repression and results

• The army moved in.
• Troops burned whole villages and killed thousands, leaders included.
• Martial law (army rule in place of the normal courts) was imposed in the affected districts. [2]

• The fighting lasted about six months. An estimated 15,000–20,000 Santhals died. [2]

• The leaders' fate

• Sidhu was captured in mid-August 1855, betrayed by other Santhal leaders, and later hanged. [2]

• Kanhu was executed on 23 February 1856. [2]

• Indian elites helped the British. Maharaja Mehtab Chand of Burdwan helped them in the Santhal rebellion and again in 1857.

• The concession: the Santhal Pargana
• It was carved out of Bhagalpur and Birbhum districts and covered 5,500 square miles.
• It was given special laws. The British hoped a territory of their own would calm the Santhals.

• The British called these administrative reforms. They gave the Santhals more autonomy and some protection from exploitation. [2]

• The picture war in Britain

• In 1851 the Illustrated London News drew Santhal villages as peaceful, idyllic places.

• After 1855 the same magazine showed them as scenes of "violent and savage deeds", with burning villages and chained prisoners. These images showed British power to readers at home.

• Legacy: the Hul inspired other tribal communities to resist. It became a model for later risings.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: 1855–56, under East India Company rule. This is before the Revolt of 1857.
• Region: the Rajmahal hills of the Bengal Presidency, centred on the Damin-i-Koh tract. The Santhal Pargana was later formed from Bhagalpur and Birbhum districts. The area lies in present-day Jharkhand.
• Key people:
• Rebel leaders: Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu. The Class 12 NCERT image caption calls Sidhu "Sidhu Manjhi". Also named are Chand-Bhairav and Phulo-Jhano. [3]

• On the British side: Maharaja Mehtab Chand of Burdwan, who helped the British.

• How we know:

• NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside", and Class 8, Ch 4 "The Colonial Era in India".
• Illustrated London News sketches: from 1851 and from after 1855. They are visual evidence of how British views of the Santhals changed.
• Government of India records: these name the wider leadership. 30 June is observed as Hul Diwas. [3]
• Encyclopaedia accounts: Britannica gives the 30 June 1855 gathering, the death toll and the dates of the leaders' capture and execution. [2]

Don't confuse with

• Paharias: the Paharias were the older hill people of the Rajmahal area. They lived by shifting cultivation and forest produce. The Santhals were newcomers, settled plough farmers invited in as pioneers.
• Damin-i-Koh vs Santhal Pargana: the Damin-i-Koh was the tract marked for Santhal settlement before the revolt. The Santhal Pargana (5,500 sq miles from Bhagalpur and Birbhum, with special laws) was created after it.
• Munda Ulgulan: led by Birsa Munda in the 1890s, among the Mundas of Chotanagpur. Ulgulan and Hul both mean a great rising, but the Hul came first, in 1855–56, under Sidhu and Kanhu.
• Hul Diwas vs the date of Kanhu's execution: Hul Diwas (30 June) marks the 1855 gathering where the rising began. It does not mark Kanhu's execution (23 February 1856). [2][3]

Prelims Hooks

• Hul means "revolution" in Santhali. The rising ran from 1855 to 1856. [2]
• Leaders: Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, along with Chand-Bhairav and Phulo-Jhano. 30 June is Hul Diwas. [3]
• Place: the Santhals were settled in the Damin-i-Koh of the Rajmahal hills. [2]
• Three targets: zamindars, moneylenders (dikus) and the colonial state. A trap option is "only the British". Diku means "outsider".
• Order of events: 30 June 1855 gathering of about 10,000 → Sidhu captured mid-August 1855 → Kanhu executed 23 February 1856. About 15,000–20,000 Santhals died. [2]
• Santhal Pargana: 5,500 sq miles taken from Bhagalpur and Birbhum, with special laws. Maharaja Mehtab Chand of Burdwan sided with the British.

Mains Points

• A defeated revolt can still change the law.
• The Hul was crushed by the army, yet it produced the Santhal Pargana with special laws.
• Colonial policy changed only when revenue and order were threatened, not out of goodwill.

• So legal protection for tribal people in India began as a tool to stop rebellion.

• The "triple exploitation" model.

• The pattern was state taxes, plus diku debt, plus zamindars grabbing land.
• It repeats in the Deccan Riots and the Munda Ulgulan.

• The common root: the Company turned land into something that could be taxed, mortgaged and sold. Tribal custom did not see land this way.

• Religion and images as tools on both sides.

• The rebels spoke through Thakur Bonga, not through petitions. A divine command gave them legitimacy and pulled in the masses. [2]
• The British used Illustrated London News pictures to shape opinion at home. The 1851 idyllic villages became "savage" scenes after 1855.
• This helped build the "savage tribe" stereotype. Use it in answers on how colonial rulers produced knowledge about Indians.

Related concepts

• Diku
• Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu
• Santhal Pargana

Read more

• The Santhal Hul, 1855–56