A hero who was desperate to battle against the British Raj was born in modern India and his leadership characteristics are so intense that he draws individuals without a second thought. Let's meet one of Modern India's biggest heroes.In the mid-1870s, Birsa was born. A bad father's son, he grew up in the Bohonda forests, grazing sheep, playing flute, and dancing in the local akhara.
Forced by poverty, his dad had to move in search of job from location to location. As a teenager, Birsa heard stories of the previous Munda uprisings and saw the community's sirdars (leaders) urge the individuals to rebel. They spoke of a golden age when the Mundas were free from dikus oppression and said that there would be a time when the community's ancestral right would be restored.
They saw themselves as the offspring of the region's initial colonists, battling for their territory (mulk ki larai), reminding individuals of the need to regain their kingdom.
Birsa went to the local missionary college, listening to the missionary sermons. He heard it said there too that the Mundas could attain the Kingdom of Heaven and recover their lost privileges. If they became good Christians and abandoned their "poor practices," this would be feasible.
In the business of a prominent Vaishnav preacher, Birsa also spent some time later. He wore the holy thread and started to appreciate the significance of purity and piety. Birsa was profoundly affected in his growing-up years by many of the concepts he came into contact with.The purpose of his motion was to reform tribal society. He encouraged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, purify their village, and stop believing in sorcery and witchcraft. But we must remember that Birsa switched against missionaries and landlords of Hindu people as well.
He saw them as external forces that ruined the way of life of Munda. Birsa encouraged his supporters in 1895 to regain their glorious past. In the past, he spoke of a golden era– a satyug (the age of reality) –when Mundas lived a nice life, built embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, cultivated to earn a living.They didn't destroy their parents and brothers. They were living sincerely. Birsa also wanted people to work, settle down and cultivate their fields on their land once again. What worried most British officials was the Birsa movement's political aim, as it wanted to drive out missionaries, moneylenders, Hindu landlords, and government and set up a Munda Raj with Birsa at its head.
All these forces were recognized by the motion as the cause of the poverty suffered by the Mundas. British land reforms destroyed their traditional land system, Hindu landlords and moneylenders took over their land, and missionaries criticized their traditional culture.
The British officers decided to behave as the movement spread. In 1895, Birsa was detained, convicted on charges of rioting, and imprisoned for two years. He started touring the villages when Birsa was released in 1897 to collect assistance. He used traditional symbols and language to provoke individuals, urge them to kill "Ravana" (dikus and Europeans) and under his governance to create a kingdom.
The adherents of Birsa started to target the symbols of diku and European authority. They assaulted churches and police stations and raided moneylenders and zamindars' assets. As a sign of Birsa Raj, they lifted the white flag.
Birsa died of cholera in 1900 and the movement disappeared. The movement was important in at least two respects, though. First– the colonial government was compelled to implement legislation so that dikus could not readily take over the territory of the tribals. Second– it again showed that the tribal individuals were capable of protesting against injustice and expressing their anger at colonial rule. They did this in their own particular manner, inventing their own struggle rituals and symbols.
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India History