Articles
The Vanavasi* and Parvatvasi* Peoples’ Legendary Resistance to Foreign Rule
Dt: 30/10/24
The Vanavasi* and Parvatvasi* Peoples’ Legendary Resistance to Foreign Rule
Dr T.H.Chowdary*
“The Wonder that was India” is the title of the book by the noted historian, A L Basham ( 1914-1986) who taught in the University of Cambridge for long and in the Australian National University in Canberra . This book was published first in 1954 and later on in several editions in different languages of the world. It establishes the civilizational and cultural characteristics of Bharat. That India is a cultural nation was established by Dr B R Ambedkar in a celebrated paper when he was doing his post-graduate study in Columbia University in the USA . Modern nation states are only a few hundred years old since the 18th century only while Bharat ( and China) are thousands of years old. Bharat as it is now is the seventh largest country in area ( 3.3 mln sq. kmts ) and the foremost in population (1.46 bln). That India has emerged as nation state too was acknowledged by the world India as one of the founding states of the League of Nations (1920) post First World War and the United Nations Organization (UNO) post World War-II in 1945. With such huge population and large area it is natural that there is diversity in the flora and fauna of the country, in the languages spoken, in the colour and physique of the people especially as between those in the forest and mountainous areas, in the plains where flow the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Thapati, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri… The country is known as Bharat since thousands of years ago and described as extending from Sethu (bridge to Sri Lanka across the Sea ) in Rameswaram in the South to the Himalayas in the north.
(*Derisively denominated as tribes by the British rulers of Bharat )
2 . We have deserts, plains, mountainous regions, deltas, forests, and sea-coasts. People are of different hues and physique . Yet there are outstanding attributes – culture and veneration for the motherland . The holiness of the land and its several pilgrim centers and theerdhas knit the people together . One aspiration of peoples everywhere in this country has been and is that they should in their life time visit Varanasi and that their mortal remains should be immersed in the holy Ganga in Varanasi.
3. The north-east Bharat is known to us as well -related to uttar Bharat through Kurukshetra war and before . The area known as Kamarupa was ruled by Narakasura who was killed by Satyabhama , charioteered by her consort Lord Krishna . Narakasura’s son Bhagadatta mounted on his fierce elephant Supratheeka fought on the side of Kauravas in the Kurukshetra war. Babruvahana, son of Arjuna through Chitrangada, Princes of Manipur was involved in the Kurukshetra war. Rukmini, the noble consort of Lord Krishna is claimed by the people of the north-east as their daughter. Usha, the daughter of the King of that region the legend says had a dream that Lord Krishna’s grandson Anirudh would be her husband. He was miraculously transported from Dwaraka to Usha’s town Girinagar and was married to her . The event is presented in the play Usha Parinayam. All these legends establish the fact that the north-east, though distant had been celebrated as part of Bharat. Ahoms , the tribal people were Hinduised and ruled Assam for over five hundred years. The Mogals could conquer large parts of Bharat but not Assam. The Ahoms under the Generalship of Lachit Bar Phukan inflicted a crushing defeat on the mighty Mogal army in a naval battle on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat ( near Guwahati) in March 1671. Assam remained unconquered by the Mogals. However, the royalty became effete as years went by. The once invincible Ahoms were defeated by the Burmese in 1819 and the Burmese in turn were defeated and chased out of Assam by the British in 1825. Burma itself was incorporated in the British Indian empire. It was separated from Bharat in 1935.
All this past of the north-east is narrated as the background to the various Vanavasis / Parvatya rulers’ revolts against the British and the proselytization that was launched under their patronage. The important revolts are narrated:
4. The Khasis uprising (1829-33 ):
4.1 The East India company, governing India for the British Crown was intent on extending its dominance and rule to the northeast of India to what now is known as Meghalaya. It is inhabited predominantly by three vanavasi groups : Khasis, Jaintias and Garos in mostly distinct, forest mountainous, and the valley areas. The construction of roads and establishment of schools and hospitals by the British rulers was welcome but not subjugation and government and conversions. So, vanavasis valiantly rebelled against the British. The Khasi Revolt ( 1829-33) was centered around Nongkhlaw. The bow and arrow, sling and sword armed Khasis were no match to the gun-wielding and Motor vehicle riding British army . Thousands of Khasi fighters fell fighting. They finally resorted to guerrilla warfare and were overpowered. Tirot Sing their leader was captured on 9th Jan 1833 and deported to Dhaka. He died there on July 17, 1835. Tirot Sing was a true patriot. His statue was unveiled in Dhaka on 16th February 2024.
5. The Jaintia uprising (1860-62):
5.1 Jaintias are another vanavasi group in what is Meghalaya now. They had wars against and also alliances with Ahom rulers of Assam over a period of 300 years. Many Jaintia Kings had typical Hindu names like Prabhat Roy, Bijoy Manik, Lakshmi Narayan. They were followers of Sakta sect of Hinduism. The British marched into the Jaintia Kingdom and annexed it in 1835 as punishment for a crime committed against a Briton. In protest against a new tax system introduced in 1860 by the British rulers and christianization by missionaries under the patronage of the British the Jaintias took to armed rebellion against the British rulers under the leadership of Kiang Nangbah. The bows and arrows and swords of the Jaintias were no match to the guns of the British soldiers. A traitor disclosed the hide- out of the ruler U Nangbah of Jaintias to the British. The King U Nangbah was captured, tried and hanged.
5.2 The insurgents were hunted, many were captured and hanged and a few surrendered. Thus ended their war of independence in November 1863. This rebellion had no connection with the 1857 uprising of British Indian army units and some Indian rulers smarting under British rule. The British rulers called the 1857 uprising a Sipoy Mutiny. Swathantra Veer Savarkar called it the First War of Independence .
6. The Garo Uprising (1872):
6.1 The Garos of Meghalaya comprise of five clans: Sangma, Marak, Momin, Arong and Shira. The Garos had a glorious history. They were independent and powerful with their capital at Gaur. The Garos’ territory in Meghalaya once extended upto the modern Malda district in West Bengal. It was occupied by the British in the latter half of the 19th century. Led by a brave Garo Pa Toga Sangma, the Garos attacked the British occupiers in 1872. It was an unequal fight ( as in the case of the Khasis and Jaintias). The Garos had machetes, swords and spear while the British had guns. Pa Toga refused to surrender and was killed along with hundreds of his fellow fighters. Some 500 Garo Sangmas enlisted in the British Indian army during World War- I. They were killed in combat by the German army in France.
6.2 Much before the 1857 revolt of India against the British, the valiant vana and parvat -vasi Khasis , Jaintias and Garos revolted against the British occupier rulers of India and were easily overpowered. Their fight for freedom from alien rulers was phenomenal, though defeated by modern arms wielded by the occupier.
Note: The narratives about the revolts of the Khasis, Jaintias and Garos in the above paras are based on extensively extracted matter from the book, “History of Assam” by Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary; published in July 2024 by Global Net publication of Delhi.
7. The Santhal Revolts ( 1855-56 and 1875-1900):
7.1 The Santhals are the largest group of Vana and Parvat-vasis spread over Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and western West Bengal. They number over several million. The Santhal rebellion of 1855 preceded the 1857 general revolt in most of north India against the British. Excessive taxation on forest produce and land sales to non-Santhals were the causes. The Santhals have an impressive history of revolts in several regions at several times – 1767, 1779, 1807 (led by Oraons), in Singhbhum by Hos in 1820. The Hule revolt in 1832, was a severe one in 1855 led by Sindhu and Kinha Mundas. All these were against British rule.
7.2 But their struggle for a state of their own comprising of large areas was led by the late Jaipal Singh Munda from the Simon Commission (1927) onwards. This struggle for a significantly Santhal state bore fruit when Jharkhand state was carved out of Bihar on 15th November 2000 by the BJP-led NDA government with Atal Behari Vajpayee as Prime Minister.
7.3 The crowning glory for our Santhal people, nay, to all Vanavasi - Parvati vasi Bharatiyas was in Smt. Draupadi Murmu becoming the Rashtrapati of Bharat on 25th July 2022.
8. Birsa Munda (b.15-11-75 d. 9-6-1900):
8.1 A great son among Bharatiya Jana Jatis was Birsa Munda. As a boy he went to a Christian mission school in Chaibasa. He was not much impressed by the Gospel the missionary teachers taught. He went back to his people in Khunti. He revolted against conversions of his people as well as exploitation by landlords and alienation of traditionally tribal -owned land to non -tribals. He exhorted his people to give up superstitions but worship only their traditional gods and to keep cleanliness all-round ( long before Prime Minister Modi ji’s Swatch Bharat Abhiyan). He was considered Bhagawan by his people. The British rulers did not like his agitation and defiance of British rule; especially against conversions. The British government caught him in his hideout near Chakradharpur early 1900 and condemned him to jail in Ranchi. He died while in jail due to cholera ( according to some due to excessive drinking) . He has become a national hero and is venerated and celebrated as a patriot who fought the alien British rulers. 15th of November is celebrated as Birsa Munda the patriot who fought the British rulers. A postal stamp was issued in his honour in the year 1988 and the Airport in Ranchi is named after Birsa Munda.
9. Rani Gaidinliu ( b. 26-1-1915 d. 17-2-1993):
9.1 Rani Gaidinliu , the Naga freedom fighter of Manipur is a shining example of a Vanavasi heroine of outstanding nationalist fervor who fought the British rulers not only for freedom but also against the de- nationalizing Christian missionaries engaged in proselytization undermining the native faith and traditions of her people, the Nagas. She was besides a freedom fighter, a spiritual leader of the Nagas. She led the political and religious movement called Haraka. She was captured and arrested in October 17, 1932 at age 17 and sentenced for life and put in a Shillong jail . Her movement against Christian missionaries , British rule and for self-government had the rallying war cry: “ We are free people. White men should not rule over us”. She was freed in 1947 after Bharat gained independence from British rule.
9.2 Bharat honored her with Padma Bhushan in 1982 and a commemorative postal stamp in 1994. No Nehru clan person spent a 14 -year long spell in jail. Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi as Prime Ministers nominated themselves and got Bharat Ratna. Rajiv Gandhi too was awarded Bharat Ratna as a victim of a movement in Sri Lanka to suppress which he sent India's armed forces which had to be withdrawn in disgrace.
10. Rani Durgavati ( b. 5-10-1524 d. 24-06-1564) : She ruled Gondwana ( Jabalpur-Chindwara) as Queen Regent between 1550 and 1564. She defeated and repelled mighty Mogal Akbar’s armies trying to take over her kingdom on three attempts between 1555 and 1560. In the final round in 1564 she personally led her army (like Lakshmibai of Jhansi in the 1857-58 uprising against the British) . When defeat was imminent she killed herself , thrusting a dagger into her chest. She did not want to be captured by the mlechas. The Jabalpur University is now called Rani Durgavathi Viswa Vidyalaya since 1983. A commemorative stamp was brought out by the Department of Posts in June 1986.
11. Komaram Bheem ( b. 1900 d. 1940) is another legendary Gondu leader who led an armed fight against the exploitative and communal rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad . He had a colourful career . He killed a Nizam’s policeman who came to arrest him for the offence of illegal cultivation of traditional tax-free forest land . He escaped capture by wandering off to Assam . He worked there in the tea estates. He learnt Hindi and English and returned to his home after four and a half years disappearance. He constituted a council of Gondu fighters from 12 Tandas (Gondu habitations) and raised an army of 500 fighters to take on the Nizam’s armed police and liberate the Gondu area from Nizam’s rule. He carried on a guerrilla war with his soldiers against the Nizam’s police. His slogan was: “ Jal, Jangal and Zameen” ( water, forest and land). He carried on the guerrilla war for over a decade from 1928 . He was caught in an encounter with armed policemen and was shot to death in Oct 1940. He and his war against the hated Nizams rule to gain land and self-rule for his people is celebrated in Telangana. The district in which he operated is now called Komaram Bheem Asifabad.
12. Many Bharateeyas are ignorant of the intense love and veneration that our Vanavasi and Parvatvasi (mountainous) people have for this Punyabhoomi , Bharat and our Sanatan Dharma. One expression of sanatan dharma in them is evident from their names - Draupadi, Anasuya, Sita, Rukmini , Arjun , Surya and so on. The British rulers called them by a derogatory name - tribes and characterized their society as primitively tribal. No; they are brave sons and daughters of Bharat intensely loving this land and nature , its rivers, and forests as holy . They waged wars against the foreign rulers with the weapons they could forge and wield. It is only after independence especially after Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies had come to power that they are becoming part of the government establishments holding highest positions like their brothers and sisters from all communities and regions. We shall cherish their communion with us and their resistance to conversion by fraud, deception and allurement to an intolerant foreign origin faith . ( 2,466 words)
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