Subject: tribal warrior
Culture: Santhal
Setting: Chota Nagpur 19thc
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Mishra/Devi/Singh/Kumar 2025 p18-20
"The Santhal rebellion of 1855-57 was not restricted only to Santhal Parganas but it reverberated as far as Birbhum, Bankura and Hazaribagh. The main leaders of this insurrection were Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav of village Bhagnadihi. It had its origin in the economic grievances of the Santhals, due to the oppressions and frauds committed in those simple minded people by the Bengali and upcountry merchants and moneylenders. The extortions of those merchants and Mahajans had become awful, and they had amassed large fortunes within an incredibly short period by recurring cash and grains from the Santhals through various obnoxious ways.
"According to the settlement officer H. Macpherson, the deeper cause of the insurrection was 'the Santhal yearning for independence, a dream of the ancient days when they had no overlords'. The Santhals wanted to drive out the British and the dikus and establish an independent Santhal Raj. The insurgents used bows, poisoned arrows, axes and swords. In Hazaribagh, the 40th Regiment was sent for suppressing the rebellion and it was brutally suppressed. Santhal villages were raided and their property destroyed.
"[....] However these early uprisings were in fact not against the Government, but mainly against the local Rajas and the Zamindars. But as the British wanted to consolidate their power in Chotanagpur, they had to interfere and they naturally sided with the local Rajas and landlords because they were influential people and their cooperation would have proved quite beneficial for the alien rulers. It was much due to the British power that all these rebellions which occurred in Chotanagpur before the outbreak of the Revolt of 1857 were crushed with iron hands."
Ax
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Jewelry
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