Hul Diwas: Remembering the Santhal rebellion

Subject : History

Section: Modern History

Concept :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about Hul Diwas on June 30, remembering the sacrifice of Adivasis in their fight against British colonial authorities.

Santhal Rebellion

The Santhal rebellion or ‘Hul’ – literally, revolution – began in 1855, two years before the the uprising of 1857, often referred to as “the first war for Indian independence”.
The Santhal revolt (also known as the Hulrevolt ) started on 30th June 1855, with the help of prominent leaders like Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, and Bhairav, and also their two sisters Phulo and Jhano.
The depressed and anguished Santhals engaged in guerrilla warfare against the Britishers and formed their own troops which included the farmers, villagers, and the women.
In this quest, they were able to capture large parts of land including Rajmahal Hills, Bhagalpur district, and Birbhum.
They militarized over 10000 Santhal people. The villagers put to fire the storehouses and the warehouses and all forms of communication lines were disrupted.
The government applied all possible means to suppress the movement. In order to curb the rebellion, Britishers used heavy loaded weapons against bows and arrows used by the Santhals.
The landlords were in the support of the government whereas the local people supported the Santhals in full vigour.
Unfortunately, the duo brother Sidhu and Kanhu were arrested and the revolt had a brutal end.
The Santhals were repressed and the movement came to an end in 1856.

How was the revolt, different From the Other Revolts?

Organized movement
The Santhal uprising was an organized movement with good leadership qualities. In a short period of time, it was successful in uniting about 60,000 people.
If we look at the other spontaneous movement of that time, we find that none of the movements was that well-arranged as the Santhal revolt. The unity of the Santhals shook the nerve of the Britishers.

Use of weapons & Tactics

Despite the Santhal using bows and arrows against the weapons and artillery used by the Britishers, the guerrilla tactics, which was a new occurrence for Bihar to fight against the Britishers, gave Santhals an upper hand.

Trained leadership

The prominent leaders of the war, Sidhu, and Kanhu in a short span of time, were successful in mobilizing a huge number of people to fight against the cause.

Blow on British powers

The Santhal rebellion was a blow on the British powers. It was such a fierce movement that Britishers had to implement martial law to quell the powers of Santhals

Growth of Revolutionary Nationalism

The Santhal revolt fostered a sense of unity among the Santhal tribes.
It was seen as the beginning of larger wars to free the people from the oppressive British rule.
This movement resulted in a feeling of nationalism which helped to mobilize people for further wars, like the Revolt of 1857.

Identity of the tribal people

The Santhal rebellion gave birth to the modern Santhal identity.
It also promoted the tribal people to protect their culture and tradition from any kind of destruction and interference.

Successful movement

It was seen that the Britishers did acknowledge their follies, despite the Santhals being defeated
Further, after the end of the war, the Santhal Paraganas Tenancy Act was enacted which provided the tribes some protection against the oppressive British Rule.
This was successful in inculcating nationalist feelings among the people.