18 Tribal Movements

Sampriti Panda

LEARNING OUTCOME:

Definition of social movement and its types
Tribal uprisings and British era
Different types of peasant and tribal movements
Role of peasants and tribes in these movements

INTRODUCTION:

In this module we will briefly survey few tribal movements that erupted at different times in various pockets of India. We will also try to focus on the underlying causes of these tribal movements in various forms and dimensions. When the British rule gained control over the Indian sub-continent, they discovered that the sub-continent is marked by numerous self-regulating villages, controlled by various endogamous Jati (caste) groups, who followed their own hereditary occupations. Few British administrators-scholars also found that some of the human groups lived isolated from the Brahmanic varna-jati hierarchy. These isolated groups lived in hills, forest or in the areas out skirting the forests. These people had different form of economy; some of them practiced shifting cultivation form of primitive farming whereas some of them did hunting and gathering to earn their livelihood. These isolated groups of people, who were not a part of the Brahmanic hierarchic civilization, were later termed as ‘tribes’. (S. Sinha, 1982). Gradually these tribes became a part of social category, especially for the purpose of census and administration. But the hidden aim of the British in India was to exploit the maximum of socio-economic resources and drain them off to make the colonial rule in India powerful and prosperous. Thus with this aim, the British tried to conquer and spread into most of India. They tried to reach every nook and corner of the India to expand their network of capitalist order which also tried to enter into infringes of the tribal communities. This attempt of the colonial rule in British India disturbed the tribal life and various rebellions and uprisings among the tribal’s aroused. These social movements among Indian tribes came up in various forms and were widely prevalent during the British Rule. (Paul, 1989).

1. SOCIAL MOVEMENT:

“A Social Movement occurs when a fairly large number of people, or an otherwise identifiable segment of the population, deliberately band together for collective action in order to actor, reconstitute, reinterpret, restore, protect, supplant or create some portions of their culture or social order, or the better their life-chances by redistributing the power of control in a society” (L.K. Mahapatra, 1968).Social movements may continue for a very long period of time with the same collective action. The goals and objectives of social movements may change from time to time depending on the potentiality and the members who participate in the movement.

1.2 Type of Social Movement:

Depending on the orientation of the society, social movements may be of 4 types. They are – Reactionary, Conservative, Revisionary, and Revolutionary.

When the aim is to seek or bring back the ‘good old days’, the social movements are called as Reactionary or Revivalistic. The conservative social movements aim to continue with the status quo and obstruct further changes. Revisionary movements are those in which the aim is to bring out changes in specific areas, without replacing the previous or existing structure. In revolutionary movements, the objective is to replace the whole of the existing structure or culture with a more suitable, adequate and progressive one. But such thing has not yet occurred actually (Mahapatra, 1972).

1.3 Brief Survey of Social Movements in India:

There has been various types of tribal movements, which has been categorized by Surajit Sinha (1972) as follows.

The first category is ethnic (tribal) rebellions in 18th and 19th century during early days of British rule in India. These include:

(a) Sardar Larai (1885) and Birsa Movement (1895-1900) among the Mundas.

(b) Ganganarain Hangama (1832) among the Bhumij.

(d) Santal Rebellion (1857-58)

(e) Rebellions of the Kacha Nagas (1880s)

The second category was a series of reform movements, which tried to imitate the cultural pattern of the higher Hindu castes. These included movements like:

(a) Bhagat movement among the Oraon.

(b) Vaishnavite reform movement among the Bhumij.

(d) Kherwar movement among Santhal.

The third category is of inter-tribal political associations and movements with an aim to recognize their community and state as ‘tribe state’.

(a) Jharkhand Movement among tribes of Chotanagpur and Orissa.

(b) Hill state movement in Assam Hills.

Some of the tribes who were located near the international frontiers also rose Violent Secessionist movement like:

(a) Nagaland Movement

(b) Mizo National Front Movement.

Few tribal belt who are linked with the common problems of agrarian unrest and communist movement led to some violent political movement like:

(a) Hajng Unrest (1944)

(b) Naxalbari Movement (1967)

(d) Birsa Dal Movement in Ranchi (1968-69)

2. Tribal Uprising During British Era:

The British entered India with the hidden intention to explore natural resources and minerals from India, started exploring and including into tribal areas too. Gradually they opened up new channels of transport and communication, which also increased the migration of non-tribal to the tribal regions. This intrusion of non-tribal’s into tribal dominated region further created disturbances in the economy and livelihood of the tribal and led to the confrontation between the tribal’s and the immigrant peasants and other castes. In this encounter, the tribal’s realized that they were looked down upon by the other dominant outsiders. The Mundari speaking tribes of Chotanagpur thus made a distinction between the outsiders as Diku (non-men, aliens) and their own people as How or Ho (men). With gradual process they also feet ecologically, demographically, social, culturally and politically threatened and endangered by the other outsiders (Sinha et al. 1969). Various tribal rebellions burst out among several tribal groups at different times as they felt danger on their demographics, social, economic and political integrity. Rebellions like the uprisings among the Pahariyas in Bihar in 1778, Koli uprising in Maharastra in (1784-1785), Chuar rebellion among the Bhumij of Manbhum (1795-1800), Kol rebellion among the Ho of Singhbhum (1832), Ganganarain Revolt of 1832, Sardar Larai of 1885, Birsa movement o 1895-1900, Santhal rebellion in 1880s and many more.

Some of the tribal leaders like Sido and Kanhu who propagated the Santhal rebellion (1855-56), Birsa Bhagwan who marched the Birsa Movement of (1895-1900) among the Munda tribe, Jado Naga who was the potential leader in the rebellion of the Kaccha Naga in 1880’s were regarded as messiahs among their tribal groups. These messianic leaders wanted to incorporated many elements from the Hindu and Christian religious communities into tribal groups. Fuchs (1965) writes that these messianic leaders also propagated Hindu ideals of ritual purity and asceticism among the tribal societies. For example, Birsa Munda preached that his tribal men should not follow and should not practice polygyny, murder, deception, theft, alcohol, as these are regarded as sinful.

The intrusion of British into India was later followed by the arrival of European and American Christian Missionaries into the country. These Christian missionaries tried to spread education and other welfare measures among the Indians. It slowly and gradually also entered into the tribal fringes and tried to spread Christianity among these tribal communities. Sinha (1982) mentioned in his book that these Christian missionaries provided a wide platform for various ethnic groups and clans. Ao, Angami, Sema, Lhota, Rengma and so on of former Naga Hills District to bring about their inter-tribal Naga identify. Christianity also converted many tribal to provide strength to fight with dominant outsiders, to which Sinha further says that it led to “detribalization” is essential features of social structure, cultural pattern and world-view.

With the intrusion of British and Christian Missionaries, various changes came over into the tribal communities. The social formation, mode of production, livelihood, property owning system and many other aspects of tribal life changed. The feudal or semi-feudal tribal economy had now transformed into a multi-caste village organization. The tribal now were in direct conflict with the capitalism of colonial rule. This led to the collapse of tribal-feudal system and land became transferrable. Land was turned into commodity and was sold out in market. The concept of Zamindars introduced by the British was now much in practice. Gradually the tribal lands were owned by various Zamindars and money-lenders. This was a new-challenge for the tribal’s to survive for. The land-ownership gradually went into the hands of non-tribal. New forces of modernizations like modern-education, and practices by Christian missionaries also interrupted the tribal life (Paul, 1989). The continuous interruption of the outsiders into tribal word of and moreover tribal’s losing their livelihood as well as identify led to various tribal movements throughout the nation, but the pace of these rebellions could not reach the mass.

The tribal movements were the result of severe socio-economic problems faced by the tribal under the British Raj. These movements further expressed the desperation of the tribal groups against the economic exploitation and social oppression faced by them. These revolts, uprisings, attacks, rebellions, movement has been further classified by Gough into five types in terms of their goals, ideology, and methods of organization (Paul 1989) mentions these five types of tribal peasant movements classified by Gough. They are as follows:

(a) Restorativerebellions, which was aimed to throw out the colonial intrusion from the tribal areas and restore the previous structure. For example, the Chaur tribes of Midnapur in 1799, the famous Santhal tribal revolt of 1855-56, the Synteng of Jaintia Hills of North-Eastern India in 1860-62. The Garo tribes of Khasi Hills and Garo Hills of North-Eastern India also made revolts in 1852, 1857 and again in 1872. The Lushai and Kukis also made revolts in 1860, 1871, 1888, 1889-90 and in 1892, The Manipur rebellions in 1891, the Assam Riot of 1894 and many other rebellions and uprisings were raised against colonial exploitation and deprivation. The largest restorative rebellion was the “Mutiny” of 1857-58, which was started by Hindus and Muslim soldiers against colonial rule. After the 1857-58 Mutiny, the most popular uprising was in 1893-94, which was an agrarian movement of the peasantry led by the North-Eastern Region. The colonial government later named it ‘Assam Riots’. After these revolts, the Bhils of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh also revolted against the British rule in respective to their lands. Later Gonds of Adilabad district also revolted against the government policies on land revenue and encouragement on land and forest.

(b) Religious Movements: These were launched to free the ethnic groups from oppression and bring them a state of righteousness and justice. There are various instances of such religious movements under many charismatic leaders in various pockets of India. For example Paul 1989, mentions the Naikda tribal movements in Gujarat under the religious leader of Joria Bhagat in 1867-70, the charismatic leader Birsa Munda who claimed to be the ‘Dharti Aba’ (Father of the world) and the deliverer of ‘Munda Raj’ which would be free from every kind of exploitation and oppression. Birsa Munda led this powerful religious movement among the Mundas of Bihar in 1890.Another messianic movement occurred under Govindgiri, a tribal convert to Hinduism in 1900-1912 among the Bhils. Another movement organized by a charismatic leader in 1930s among the Gond tribes claimed the ‘Kshatriya status’ for the Gonds. The Bhagat movement among the Oraons of Chotanagpur in 1895 is one of the biggest religious movements so far. The Bhagat movement wanted to propagate and install their ‘Kurukh Dharam’ in its pure form by worshipping ‘Bhagwan’. Later the ‘Tana Bhagat’ movement was campaigned to developed hatred and revolt against the Christian missionaries and outsiders. Gough also mentions that the religious movements among the tribal of North-Eastern India was kind of violent. He gives the example of Moamoria movements of the Vaishnavites of Assam in 1769-1839 was predominantly of tribal and low-caste origin.

(c) Social Banditry is simple form of organized social protest to fight against injustice, oppression and poverty. It is a modest and un-revolutionary form of protest. Gough further categories ‘social banditry’ into five types, they are as follows:

(a) “Thugee” of north and central India. (1650-1850)

(b) “Sanyasis” and “Fakirs” of Bengal (late 18th century)

(d) The tribal Lodhas of Midnapur in 19th century.

(e) The tribal Kallar of South India from 18th to 20th century.

These tribal groups turned into social banditry when they were deprived of their livelihood and were and landless, homeless and eventually were thrown out of their own territories. Later these tribal groups looted along with their kinsmen from plundering landlords and rich peasants and shared their loot within their group, even sometimes with poor and oppressed peasants too.

(d) Terrorist Vengeance: This act of terror was acted to meet collective justice. In India almost every tribal village has some or the other legendary stories who protested against landlords, revenue agents, money-lenders and officials. But many a times when the oppression by these outsiders becomes intolerable, some groups of individuals or sometimes only an individual risk their own life for his community. The act of terrorism with the ideas of vengeance and justice for their own community against the landlords and money-lenders do come up eventually with a sense of pride and natural justice. The example for such an act is the Lushai-Kuki tribes of North-Eastern India who followed the custom of head-hunting with vengeance.

(e) Mass Insurrections: These mass insurrections are a sudden and dramatic protest which addresses a particular grievance. These mass insurrections are usually without any ideology or charismatic leader, thus they usually seem to be reformative in nature at first, but sometimes they turn revolutionary too. One of the examples of these mass insurrections was the Santhals uprisings of Bengal in 1870. The Santhal uprising was an outcome of economic deprivation due to British policies on land. Gough (1974) mentions that the Santhal uprising was initially revolutionary in nature, but later as these uprising lacked a central coordination, it could not succeed properly.

3. Movements of North-East and Middle India:

K.S. Singh (1982) brings another discussion on the variations among tribal movements which vary from region to region. He mentions that the tribal movements in North-Eastern region of India is essentially political and secular in nature as the overwhelming majority of tribal in north-east region have a relatively secure social and economic system. Whereas compared to the situation in Middle India, the situation is a bit complex. Unlike North-east region, the middle India does not have over whelming majority of tribal’s. Moreover the process of industrialization has a huge impact on the tribal pockets of middle India. Even the agrarian issues are almost in forefront when we talk of tribes of middle India. Therefore the tribal movements in this region have essentially agrarian character and are exposed to rapid changes due to industrialization growth.

Tribal movements in north-east are entirely different from elsewhere in the country because of its unique geo-political situation and historical background (Singh, 1982). The north-east region remained isolated from the cultural systems of the mainland; also it was separated from the politic-economic system of colonialism. In fact the tribes of North-east India never faced any kind of threat to their identity. They has more firm base for their institutions and were not deprived of their possessions on land and forest moreover, the impact of Christianity in the north-east region, brought a strong sense of identify among the tribal’s. The political processes in these regions became stronger and strengthened. The older tribes tried to assume new names and the smaller tribes made an effort to get merged with larger tribes, So that these tribes can get their own autonomy. Slowly the process of formation of new states came to existence, leading to insurgency in these areas. The tribes like Naga, Mizo, Meitei, Tripura demanded separate state and autonomy.

The impact of Christianity was so much in all north-eastern states that it became a symbol of tribal identify. As a result the processes of Sanskritization were not much in presence infact some nativistic movements had started to revive the pure and pristine elements of tribal culture. They are the Seng-Khasi, established in 1989 which tried to preserve the Khasi way of life from the impact of Christianity. The second on was the Zeliangroung Movement which started under Jadonang as a religio-cultural movement. Under Rani Gaidinliu, this movement remained stronger, nationalist, promoted tribal solidarity and demanded separate state for Manipur, Assam and Nagaland. Similarly the Brahma movement among Bodo-Kachari, alsodemanded the formation of Udayanchal. In fact the Ahoms of Assam also came up with the Ahom movement, demanding a creation of separate state in upper Assam. Singh, 1982 in his edited book ‘Tribal Movements in India’, Vol. II, talks about the tribal societies in middle India, which are closely integrated with the British administration and economic system. The movement of peasants into tribal areas had led to lot of disturbances and manifestations in tribal life and livelihood. The tribal’s faced threat towards their control on land, forest resources and their environment. Most of the tribal’s also lost their right of possession on their lands. Along with this, the process of Sanskritisation and agrarian issues also were at work. This finally led to a lot of tribal movements in various parts of middle India. The most important of these was demand for the establishment of Jharkhand state. The Bhagat movement among the Gonds, political movement for autonomy, various tribal unrest among Munda, Santhal, Bhil etc. and many more uprisings came together.

Singh, 1982 classified these movements into four types. They are as follows:-

(a) Movements for Political Autonomy, which includes the voices raised by the Gonds and the Bhils for the creation of a separate state. The Gond raj was also demanded by the Kurma Bhimu in Adilabad district in 1941. Later in the Gond leaders demanded a separate tribal area from Chattisgarh and its nearby district of Rewa and Vidarbh region. Similarly movements for tribal autonomy by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha also aroused in 1980, followed by the tribal autonomy movement in South Gujarat in 1960s. However this movement slowly became recessive and could not gather much strength.

(b) Agrarian and forest-based movements: These movements are restricted to only some regions. The leaders of these movements focused on the means of livelihood, their right on forest, forest land and forest produce. A number of forest Satyagrahas were launched in 1930s which demanded the restoration of tribal rights on forest. For example forest Satyagraha led by the Kharwar of Palamau in 1950s in Madhya Pradesh, also the Gonds in Madhya Pradesh too resisted against the forest right. In early 1940s the Gonds of Adilabad district, led by Kurma Bhimu started this protest. The agrarian movements among tribal’s of Chotanagpur the “tree-war” in Orissa against deforestation of Sal trees and the most major mass movement to protect forest, the Chipko movement are to be named a few.

(c) Sanskritisation Process: Sanskritisation process was much more spread in middle India as a result many of the tribal groups were losing their culture as well as identity; this further led to various tribal movements. The Bhagat movements from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan; The Sant Samaj movement led by Gahira Guru among the Kawar, the Swami Narayan presence among the tribal are few to be named which contributed towards peasantisation of the tribes.

(d) Cultural Movements: The Sarna Dharam or Sari Dharam, centering around the Sarna or the sacred groove started as a religious movement among the tribal in 1961, similarly other movements like Adi Dharma, Birsa cult, Bonga cult, Jairea, Kharwar, also had their impact on tribes. In the mean time Christianity had become the most striking factor of culture change among tribes. Yet the presence of Sarna Dharma and Gondi Dharama also led its tentacles into tribal religion. Apart from these, few tribal movements for their identity came into picture. The effort to make a separate script for the Santhals, named Ol Chiki by Pandit Raghunath Murmu and also the lost script of the Ho people, the Varana Kshiti, led to some script movement among the tribes. These movements aroused mostly in middle India but could not reach the tribes of south India. Although the involvement of tribes in these movement were visible, yet it did not gain much strength with due course of time.

SUMMARY:

The whole module discusses the concept of social movement, its various types and categories, as and when described by researchers and scholars. It throws light on various social movements that took place among the tribes of India. The intrusion of British and impact of industrialization on tribal’s leading to various protest, the impact of Christianity on tribal identity, the process of Hinduization and Sanskritization on tribal religion, and various other factors are also discussed which ultimately led to tribal uprisings. The situation is North-east India and Middle India, are also described in detailed as these were the main hotspots of various tribal movements in India. Even today also the tribal movements for autonomy, identify and their rights still persist in some or the other form throughout the nation.

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REFERENCES

Fuchs, S. Rebellions Prophets: a study of messianic movements in India religions. Calcutta: 1965.
Gough, K. “Indian Peasant Uprisings.” Economic and Political Weekly, Special Number, (1974): 1392- 98.
Mahapatra, L.K. “Social Movements among Tribes of Eastern India.” Sociologus 18, Berlin, 1968.
Mahapatra, L.K. “Social Movements among Tribes of India.” in The Tribal Situation in India, edited by K. Suresh Singh. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advance Study, 1972.
Paul, M.C. Dimensions of Tribal Movements in India. New Delhi: Inter-India Publications, 1989.
Singh, K.S., ed. Tribal Movements in India Vol. 1. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1982.
Singh, K.S., ed. Tribal Movements in India Vol. II. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1982.
Sinha, S.Tribes and India Civilization. Varanasi: N.K. Bose Memorial Foundation, 1982.
Sinha, S. “Tribal Solidarity Movements in India: A Review.” in The Tribal Situation in India, edited by K. Suresh Singh. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advance Study, 1972.
Sinha, S., J. Sen and S.C. Panchbhai.“The concept of Diku among the Tribes of Chotanagpur.” Man in India 49, no.2 (1969): 121-38.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Elwin, Verrie. Religion of a Tribe. London: Oxford University, 1955.
Fuchs, S. Rebellions Prophets: a study of messianic movements in India religions. Calcutta: 1965.
Ghurye, G.S. Indian Sadhus, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1953.
Gough, K. “Indian Peasant Uprisings.” Economic and Political Weekly, Special Number,1974.
Haimendorf, C.V.F. The Chechus : Jungle Folk of the Deccan. London: Macmillan, 1943.
Hasnain, N. Bonded for Ever, Delhi: Harnam Publications, 1982.
Kuper, A.The Invention of Primitive Society. London: Routledge, 1988.
Mahapatra, L.K. “Social Movements among Tribes of Eastern India.” Sociologus 18, Berlin, 1968.
Mahapatra, L.K. “Social Movements among Tribes of India.” in The Tribal Situation in India, edited by K. Suresh Singh. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advance Study, 1972.
Munshi, I. ed. The Adivasi Question : Issues of Land, Forest and Livelihood. India: Orient Blackswan, 2012.
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Paul, M.C. Dimensions of Tribal Movements in India. New Delhi: Inter-India Publications, 1989.
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Singh, K.S., ed. Tribal Movements in India Vol. 1. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1982.
Singh, K.S., ed. Tribal Movements in India Vol. II. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1982.
Sinha, S.Tribes and India Civilization. Varanasi: N.K. Bose Memorial Foundation, 1982.
Sinha, S. “Tribal Solidarity Movements in India: A Review.” in The Tribal Situation in India, edited by K. Suresh Singh. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advance Study, 1972.
Sinha, S. “Tribe- caste continuum.” Man in India, Vol. 45, No.1, 1965.
Sinha, S., J. Sen and S.C. Panchbhai.“The concept of Diku among the Tribes of Chotanagpur.” Man in India 49, no.2 1969.
Srinivas, M.N. Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India, Oxford, 1952.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

Christoph von Furer – Haimendorf (1984) Tribes in India, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
N.K.Bose (1967) Culture and Society in India. Bombay, Asia Publication House.
Stephen Fuchs (1960) Rebellious Prophets, Bombay, Asia Publication House.
Paul Wilkinson (1971) Social Movements, London, Pall Mall.
L.P. Vidyarthi and B.K. Rai (1977) Tribal Cultures of India, New Delhi, Concept Publishers.
G.S. Ghurye (1959) The Scheduled Tribes, Bombay, Popular Book Depot.