November 15 marks the birth Anniversary of Birsa Munda, one of India’s most well-known indigenous leaders to fight against the British empire. Fittingly, his birthday is celebrated as the ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ across the nation, to celebrate the life history of various unsung indigenous heroes in India’s freedom struggle.
Birsa Munda is remembered as one of the greatest tribal freedom fighters: one who led Mundas and Kurukh tribal communities towards tribal rights and identity. The Munda revolt, led by Birsa Munda, was against the ‘unfair land-grabbing activities’ performed by the British government, which aimed to destroy tribal land, livelihoods and cultural roots. To establish surplus farming, the Britishers introduced a new agricultural system, encouraging non-tribal peasants to grow on the prosperous lands of the indigenous people. The alienation of tribals from their land and livelihood enraged Birsa Munda, who announced himself as the Prophet of the Munda tribe. he wanted to establish a kingdom for the tribals called ‘Munda Raj’. The Munda tribe started revering him as ‘Dharati Aba’, meaning the father of the earth.
The revolutionary tremors of Birsa Munda spread to Khunti, Basia and even Ranchi. Unfortunately, he was arrested in February 1900 and died in jail. Birsa Munda was also known for rejecting Christian Missionaries and conversion activities in tribal areas.
Like Birsa Munda from the Chotta Nagpur region, we have several such heroes and anti-imperial/colonial resistance movements from various tribes in the Northeast. The tribal communities from present-day North East India played a significant role in various anti-colonial resistance movements between 1826 and 1947.
Also Read | Prehistory: Northeast India’s most important archaeological sites
The first attempt to oust the colonial power began within two years of the annexation of Assam to British India, and led by Gomdhar Kowar. His attempt was, however, foiled, and he was arrested and sent to jail in Rangpur (i.e in present-day it is in Bangladesh).
However, the first uprising against the East India Company in Assam began in 1788 in Goalpara, then part of Bengal province. When East India Company occupied Bengal through the Battle of Plassey, Goalpara/Western Assam also came under the umbrella of the East India Company rule. Goalpara was then constituted of several estates and Zamindars like Gauripur, Bijni, Sidli, Mechpara, Parbatjhora, Rangamati, etc. After thirteen years of the Company’s rule in Goalpara, Ranaram Choudhury, then Zamindar of Mechpara, launched an armed attack against the Company with the help of the local tribal community.
Undoubtedly, North-East India has witnessed various tribal uprisings against colonial rule. However, these resistance acts have been often recorded as an attack by unruly tribes on civilized rulers. So, these tribal resistances or uprisings never came under the umbrella of freedom struggle.
On January 28, 1839, Chow Pha Plung Gohain-popularly remembered as Ranuwa Gohain, launched a massive attack on the British at Sadiya, killing Colonel Adam White, the administrator of Upper Assam along with eighty sepoys. This was probably one of the bloodiest assaults against the British before the First War of Independence in 1857.
Again in October 1861, hundreds of tribals from Nagaon in Central Assam took part in Phulagiri Dhawa, which was as you all know the first-ever peasant uprising against the British in the sub-continent. With Rongbhor Deka and Lakkar Deka, one of the peasants who was a martyr in this revolt was Songbhor Lalung that belong to the Tiwa community. The Tiwa community and fishing community of Phulaguri mainly participated in the uprising against the taxation policy of the British.
Also Read | Forgotten Battles Fought In Northeast India
In January 1882, over a dozen tribal youths were killed fighting the British under the leadership of Sambhudan Phonglo in Maibong. Again in May 1921, almost a hundred tea plantation labourers were killed in firing and brutalities unleashed by the British at Chargola after they opposed work in tea gardens owned by the British in Barak valley. They also wanted to join the freedom movement laid by the British.
The Hereka socio-religious movement, which started in Naga Hills, also contains an anti-colonial element. It was started by Jadonang to resist the infiltration of Christian missionaries as well as the reforms imposed by the British government. However, in 1931, Jadonang Malangmei was arrested by the British and was hanged for opposing the colonial rule.
Following the death of Jadonang, his cousin Rani Gaidilu, a 13-year-old girl of the Rongmei tribe took the leadership of the Hereka movement. The clarion call of Rani was “We are free people, the white men should not rule over us.”
She openly rebelled against British rule by telling the Zeliangrong people not to pay taxes. She also received donations from the local Nagas, many of whom also joined her as volunteers. She was then arrested in 1932 and sentenced to life imprisonment by the British rulers. Between 1932 and 1947, the Naga freedom fighter was kept at several prisons across the Northeast. Acknowledging her role in the struggle against the British, Jawaharlal Nehru called her the “Daughter of the Hills” and gave her the title “Rani” or queen.
The colonial administrative policies in the NE Frontier such as inner line, excluded area and partially excluded area are administrative measures to resist various anti-imperial attacks of hill and forest tribes.
The great Singhpho Resistance of 1825-1843 is one of the major attacks on the colonial rule from the tribals. After the discovery of tea in 1823 in the Singpho area, the British understood the economic and strategic importance of the Singpho homesteads.
After the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, the British began to implement a slave abolition policy in Singpho homesteads. This had severe effects on their traditional chieftainship system. The slave abolition policy became the bone of contention for the Singpho and the British. Furthermore, administrative policies were also introduced to stop the aggression of “unruly” tribal onslaughts on the British.
Apart from Singpho Resistance, there are also the great Adi Resistance of 1848, the Wangsho Resistance of 1875, the Battle of Bordak of 1894, the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891, the Kuki uprising of 1817-19 are hardly discussed.
The martyrs of these resistance movements are also never celebrated. The heroes of the two Khonoma Wars of 1814 and 1850, the brave Nagas who defended Khonoma till 1879 are never remembered and recognised in India’s Independent movement.
Also Read | False projection of Ropuiliani? Mizo freedom fighter vs India’s independence
Kalaguru Bishnuprasad Rabha is another tribal revolutionary who immensely contributed to India’s freedom struggle. As a freedom fighter, he actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930. At that time, the British government used various repressive tactics to keep the students away from the movement. Cunningham circular was issued urging students to refrain from political agitations. So, the British government’s eyes fell on Bishnu Prasad Rabha, who had jumped into the freedom movement, and the college authorities warned him to refrain from participating in the movement. He then left Ripon College and enrolled at Victoria College in Cooch Behar. At that time, the atrocities committed by the Zamindaars along with the English government on the poor peasants and subjects in Cooch Behar aroused a strong revolutionary spirit in the mind of Rabha. He protested against it like this,
“ৰাজ্যে আছে দুইটি পাঠা
একটি কালো এক সাদা
ৰাজ্যে যদি মংগল চাও
দুইটি পাঠাই বলি দাও।।”
Though he was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, he was never part of the Indian National Congress. The bourgeois character of the Indian National Congress in particular upset him. Rabha feared that farmers, labourers and the common people would again become subjugated under the Indian bourgeoisie.
Also Read | Women Freedom Fighters from Northeast India
Kamala Miri and his associates from the Mishing community also immensely contributed to India’s freedom struggle. Under the leadership of Kamala Miri, Bikram Miri, Beija Loying, Bhutai Loiying, Dhaturam Pegu, Bonda Loying, Shambhuram Miri, Sondhan Pegu and many others participated in Quit India Movement from Bonkua, Mahura Mauza of Golaghat District. Moreover, two Mishing Women of Pramila Medok and Bogimala Morang also participated in India’s freedom struggle. Like Kankalata Baruah, hundreds of tribal women of Assam had taken part in various phases of the freedom movement. Many of them like Mongri Orang, Jaluki Kachariani, and Dwariki Das had laid down their lives for India’s freedom.
But the name of these unsung heroes of India’s freedom struggle does not stop here. It is a long list. U Tirot Singh from West Khasi Hills, U Kiang Nangbah from Jaintia Hills, U Manick Daloi of Jowai, S Lorot Singh and Patied Khongwir joined Bose’s INA are freedom fighters from present-day Meghalaya. Thengphakri was the first Bodo women freedom fighter of Assam. The bravery of Lalsuthlaha, Ngura, Suakpuilala, Zakapa, Ropuiliani, Hnawncheuva, and Pasaltha Khuanchera-all of present-day Mizoram, and the brave heroes who had put up tough resistance to the British expeditions of 1871-72 and 1889 to the Lushai Hills. This list goes on.
Thus, there is a need for classifying the community-based contribution to the freedom struggle of India. Taking a cue from the “history from below” methods of cultural studies scholars and historians such as E. P. Thompson, Raymond Williams, and Eric Hobsbawm that circulated in the 1960s, the subaltern studies group aims to focus on the working class and particularly “peasant” historical accounts in post/colonial and post-imperial South Asia, specifically India. The subaltern studies must also include the contribution of the tribal communities which are remaining generally unheard. As eminent historian Ranajit Guha mentions, subaltern studies intervened in historical schools of thought that could not represent the history of nationalism in India without celebrating the role the elites played in bringing the larger nation into the discourse. This existing version of history, Guha argues, discounted subaltern contributions, and so the subaltern studies group sought “to rectify the elitist bias” in a field “dominated by elitism — colonialist elitism and bourgeois-nationalist elitism”. But, still, subaltern studies are unable to encompass the contribution of unsung tribal freedom fighters.
The author is Assistant Professor, Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati. Views expressed are personal.
Also Read | Birsa Munda birth anniversary: Everything you need to know about the freedom fighter
You just read a story that took days to report. Help us keep our reporters on the ground in the Northeast.
Ad-free reading, support and keep important stories alive
Support once (any amount)
Scan to pay via UPI