170 Years of Santhal Hul (1855-56): A Milestone in India’s Tribal-Anti-Colonial Resistance

Possible UPSC Questions

Prelims

1. The Damin-i-Koh tract, scene of the 1855 Santhal rebellion, lay in the foothills of the
     A) Rajmahal Hills B) Aravalli Hills C) Vindhyan Range D) Satpura Range

2. Arrange these tribal uprisings in chronological order:
     1. Paika revolt 2. Santhal Hul 3. Kol uprising 4. Munda Ulgulan
     A) 1-3-2-4 B) 1-2-3-4 C) 3-1-2-4 D) 1-3-4-2

Mains

“Compare the Santhal Hul (1855–56) with the 1857 revolt in terms of causes, leadership and outcomes. How did these movements shape colonial tribal policy in eastern India?”

Quick Outline of Key Facts

Summary 

On 30 June 1855—now observed in Jharkhand as Hul Diwas—the Santhal tribe unfurled a “Hul” (revolution) against the East India Company. Two brothers, Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, rallied nearly forty thousand Santhals and 32 allied communities across the forested Damin-i-Koh belt of the Rajmahal Hills. The rebellion pre-dated the 1857 sepoy revolt and represented one of the earliest organised mass wars against colonial extraction.

Genesis. After the 1770 Bengal famine and Permanent Settlement (1793), Company officials enticed Santhals—migrants from Birbhum–Manbhum—to clear forests for settled agriculture. The 1832 creation of Damin-i-Koh promised secure holdings but soon degenerated into rack-renting, forcible land-grabs and two bonded-labour systems (kamioti share-cropping and harwahi carrying loads). Exploitative mahajans and corrupt zamindars, shielded by British courts, deepened indebtedness.

Course. On 30 June the brothers issued a proclamation at Bhognadih village; rebel bands targeted police stations, post-offices, bania shops and railway works. Lacking firearms, they wielded bows, axes and spears yet overran large tracts of modern Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. Company forces—reinforced with Gurkha, Sikh regiments, artillery and elephants—imposed martial law; by early 1856 pitched battles at Pirpainti and Tilakpur decimated the Hul. Both Sidhu and Kanhu fell, but sporadic skirmishes smouldered till 1857.

Impact. Though militarily crushed, the uprising forced administrative restructuring: Santhal Pargana was carved out (1855-56) and later the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act 1876 protected tribal land from alienation. The Hul inspired subsequent Adivasi assertions—Kol revolt (1831-33), Bhil uprisings (1818, 1825), Paika rebellion (1817), Birsa Munda’s Ulgulan (1899-1900) and the Tana Bhagat non-rent movement (1914). Together they highlighted the intersection of revenue policy, forest encroachment and ethnic marginalisation, shaping later tenancy safeguards such as the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act 1908.

Santhals today form India’s third-largest tribe, spread across Jharkhand-Bihar, Odisha and Bengal, and commemorations of Hul Diwas underscore their continued quest for cultural and land rights. The 170-year milestone offers a lens to reassess subaltern agency in the freedom struggle: well before 1857, Adivasi communities had mounted sophisticated, region-wide challenges to colonial rule.

Significance to the UPSC Exam

• GS I (History): Adds depth to tribal resistance movements; links revenue policies, migration and agrarian distress.

• GS II (Governance/Social Justice): Context for tenancy and forest-rights legislation; ongoing tribal land debates.

• Essay/Ethics: Illustrates grassroots leadership, collective action and the moral questions of exploitation versus justice.

• Prelims map-work: Familiarity with Damin-i-Koh, Rajmahal Hills, Santhal Pargana geography.