Santhal Rebellion of 1855

Santhal Rebellion

It needs to be noted that the Santhals moved into the Rajmahal area in the late 1770s and early 1780s from the region of Cuttack, Dhalbhum, Manbhum, Hazaribagh and Midnapore. They showed a willingness to give up a nomadic life and lead a settled life. They were ready to clear the forests, plough the land, and grow crops. This suited the British interests; the Company wanted more revenue from land and more crops for export. The British, therefore, persuaded the Santhals to settle in the foothills of Rajmahal. But a feud between the Santhals and the Paharias continued for a long time (It has been called a battle between the hoe and the plough: the hoe symbolizing the Paharies who used the tool in shifting cultivation and the plough standing for the Santhals who used it for settled agriculture). The British worked out a compromise between the two groups by forming the Damin-i-koh in 1832-33. (Damin-i-koh is a Persian term meaning the skirts-or outside edges-of the hills) A portion of land at the foothills was declared to be that of the Santhals; they were to live and practice agriculture with the plough within this area, and become settled peasants. The Pahariyas were practically forced to retreat into the higher hill tracts. 

Over time, the Santhals found that they were gradually losing the land they had worked on and brought under cultivation. The Permanent Settlement Act of 1793 proved to be disastrous for the agriculturists. The taxes levied by the Company government on their land was heavy and money had to be borrowed to pay off debts. But the diku money landers charged very high rates of interest and, when debts remained unpaid , took possession of the land. Slowly, zamindars were taking over the Damin tracts. By the 1850s, the Santhals felt the need to rebel against the zamindars and the moneylenders. The rebellion soon turned into a movement against the British colonial state. The Santhals called the rebellion 'hul', meaning a movement for liberation. Under Sindu and Kanhu Murmu, two brothers, the Santhals proclaimed an end to Company rule, and declared the area between Bhagalpur and Rajmahal as autonomous. It  is said that emissaries with Sal branches as a form of secret communication were sent by the Murmu brothers to Santhal lands to gather support. Phulo and Jhano Murmu, the sisters of Sidhu and Kanhu, participated in the rebellion and are said to have entered the enemy camp under cover and killed several soldiers before they themselves died. The British suppressed the rebellion with a heavy hand by 1856, burning down villages or destroying them with the help of elephants, and killing thousands of Santhals. Sidhu and Kanhu were killed. 

It was after the Santhal Revolt of 1855-56 that the Santhal Pargana was created out of the districts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum. The pargana was to have special laws within it.