This
is a living picture of the aggressive and fearless personality of
People today
know these features of Birsa Munda.
We see it often emulated in paintings and sculptures. Perhaps this picture is
better than the sculptures. Shri Maharathi
sketched it in his own style.
Birsa
Munda (November 15, 1875-June 9, 1900)
was the son of Sugna Munda
and Karmi Hatu, born at Ulihatu, Ranchi District, Bihar. Birsa who studied at Salga, Burju and at the
On
In
1895 he was arrested and underwent two
year's rigorous imprisonment at Hazaribagh Central
Jail. Birsa and his desciples
set themselves the task of serving the famine-stricken and sick people. He
became a legend during his lifetime and was called "Dharati
Aba" (father of the earth) and was worshipped as
"Birsa Bhagwan".
As his influence increased, the movement among the Mundas
gathered momentum.
The
Mundas came into intermittent conflict with the British establishment from 1897
to 1900. In August, 1897 Birsa
Munda along with 400 of his men armed with bows and arrows,attacked the Khunti Police Station.
In
1898, on the banks of the river Tanaga, the Mundas
faced a British force which they initially defeated. Further action of the
British however resulted in the arrest of many of the Tribe's men and women. In
January 1900 a skirmish occurred on Dombari Hill
where many men, women and children were killed while being addressed by Birsa Munda. Later some of the
leading desciples of Birsa
were arrested. He himself was finally areested in Chakradharpur forest on
He
died at Ranchi Jail. Even today, however, in areas of
Orissa,
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BIRSA MUNDA |
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Early Childhood Birsa was born in year 1875, Thursday
was the day of his birth, and he was named after the day of his birth
according to the Munda custom. The folk songs
reflect popular confusion and refer to both Ulihatu
and Chalkad as his birth-place. Ulihatu
was the birth-place of Sugana Munda,
father of Birsa. The claim of Ulihatu
rests on Birsa’s elder brother Komta
Munda living in the village and on his house which
still exist in a dilapidated condition. Birsa’s father, mother and younger
brother, Pasna Munda,
left Ulihatu and proceeded to Kurumbda
near Birbanki in search of employment as labourers or crop-sharers (sajhadar)
or ryots. At Kurmbda Birsa’s elder brother, Komta,
and his sister, Daskir, were born
. From there the family moved to Bamba where
Birsa’s elder sister Champa
was born followed by himself. Birsa was born in a house built of
bamboo strips without a mud plaster or even a secure roof ;
a crop-sharer or ryot could not boast of a better
house. Folk songs relating to his birth seek to embroider the event with the
Biblical parallels : a comet or a flag-star moved
across the sky from Chalkad to Ulihatu;
a flag flew on a mountain top. At school when a teacher once saw Birsa’s palm, he observed on it the mark of the cross and
predicated that he would recover the kingdom one day. Soon after Birsa’s birth, his family left Bamba.
A quarrel between the Mundas and their ryots in which his father was involved as a witness was
the immediate reason for proceeding to Chalkad, Sugana’s mother’s village, where they were granted refuge
by Bir Singh , the Munda of the village. Birsa’s
birth ceremony was performed at Chalkad. Sugana Munda’s
elder brother, Bara Kan Paulus,
had been converted to Christianity at Ulihatu long
before Birsa was born. Sugana
and his younger brother became Christians at Bambna ; Sugana rose to be a pracharak
(catechist) of the German mission. On conversion he adopted the Christian
name of Masihdad and Birsa
of Daud Munda, also
called Daud Birsa. Birsa’s family stayed at Chalked till the uprising (ulgulan). Birsa’s early years were spent with his
parents at Chalkad. His early life could not have
been very different from that of an average Munda
child. Folklore refers to his rolling and playing in sand and dust with his
friends, and his growing up strong and handsome in looks ;
he grazed sheep in the Driven by poverty Birsa was taken to Ayubhatu,
his maternal uncle’s village. Komta Munda, his eldest brother, who was ten years of age, went
to Kundi Bartoli, entered
the service of a Munda, married and lived there for
eight years, and then joined his father and younger brother at Chalkad. At Ayubhatu Birsa lived for two years. He went to school at Salga, run by one Jaipal Nag.
He accompanied his mother’s younger sister, Joni, who was fond of him, when
she was married, to He remained so
preoccupied with himself or his studies that he left the sheep and goat in
his charge to graze in the fields covered with crops to the dismay of their
owners. He was found no good for the job and was beaten by the owner of
field. He left the village and went to his brother at Kundi
Bartoli, and stayed with him for some time. From
there he probably went to the German mission at Burju
where he passed the lower primary examination. The Formative
Period (1886-1894) Birsa’s long stay at Chaibasa
from 1886 to 1890 constituted a formative period of his life. The influence
of Christianity shaped his own religion. This period was marked by the German
and Roman Catholic Christain agitation. Chiabasa was not far for the centre of the Sardars’ activities. Birsa was
amidst them’ Eliazer of Kasmar,
Gidun of Piring. Yohanna of Chapari, Mika of Dabgama, Tenga of Katingkel and Bhutka of Rugri were his own men. One day while delivering a sermon
in the Chaibasa mission attended by Birsa, Dr Nottrott expatiated
on the theme of the Soon after leaving Chaibasa in 1890 Birsa and his
family gave up their membership of the German mission in line with the Sardar’s movement against it. He apostatized to
the Roman Catholics and remained with them for a little while before lapsing
into hearthenism. This also followed the pattern of
the Sardar agitation which turned to the
Roman Catholic mission, seeking support for their claims, and the,
disappointed, returned to the old faith. For a year he also served in the
house of Munda at Kander,
where his eldest sister Daskir lived. It was probably in 1890
that he went to Bandgaon and came in contact with Anand Panre. Anand Panre, a munshi to Jagmohan
Singh. The zamindar of Bandgaon, was a Swansi. He was well versed into rudimentary form of Vaishnavism that prevailed in the area and with the Hindu
epic-lores, and enjoyed some reputation and
influence. Birsa occasionally accompanied him Gorbera and Patpur, but spent
most of his time at Bandgaon with him or his
brother Sukhnath Panre.
He stayed with the Panres for three years. He also
met a Vaishnav monk who visited the baraik at Bamani and
preached there for two months. He adopted the sacred thread, worshipped the tulsi plants. Wore the sandal mark
, familiarized himself with the Hindu concept of epochs and prohibited
cowslaughter. At Patpur,
his disciples claim, he had the vision (darsan)
of Mahaprabhu Vishnu Bhagwan.
Which marked the consummation of the Vaishnav
influence on their master. He left Corbera in the wake of the mounting Sardar
agitation. During these years he did not keep himself only to the Panres. He participated in the agitation stemming form
popular disaffection at the restrictions imposed upon the traditional rights
of the Mundas in the protected forest, under the
leadership of Gidiun of Piring
in the Porhat area. During 1893-4 all waste lands
in villages, the ownership of which was vested in
the Government, were constituted into protected forests under the Indian
Forest Act VII of 1882. In Singhbhum as in Palamau and Manbhum the forest
settlement operations were launched and measures were taken to determine the
rights of the forest-dwelling communities. Villages in forests were marked
off in blocks of convenient size consisting not only of village sites but
also cultivable and waste lands sufficient of the needs of villages. Outside the blocks lay
the protected forest areas in which rights were regulated, even curtailed.
These orders were sometimes not understood by local officers who acted as if
all right of forest-swelling communities had been curtailed. Petitions were
submitted by Jeta Maniki
of Gudri, Rasha Maniki, Moni Maniki of Durkarpir claiming
the resumption of what they called were their old ancestral right to free
fuel. grazing etc. Birsa
led a number of ryots of Sirgida
to Chaibasa with a petition for the remission of
forest dues. Men form six other villages had preceded him. Nothing came of
it. The Chotanagpur Protected Forests Rules framed
under the Indian Forest Act came into force in July 1894. Viewing Birsa’s involvement in the Sardar
agitation with concern, Anand Panre
advised him not to let him emotion overpowers him; but he would not turn a
deaf ear to the inner voice. His three years’ apprenticeship under the Panres came to an end in 1893-4. In 1894, Birsa had grown up into a strong and handsome young man,
shrewd and intelligent. He was tall for a Munda, 5
feet 4 inches, and could perform the feat of repairing the Dombari tank at Gorbera damaged
by rains. His real appearance was extraordinary pleasant :
his features were regular, his eyes bright and full of intelligence and his
complexion much lighter than most of his people. During the period he had
a spell of experience typical of a young man of his age and looks. While on a
sojourn in the neighbourhood of village Sankara in Singhbhum, he found
suitable companion, presented her parents with jewels and explained to her
his idea of marriage. Later, on his return form jail he did not find her faithful
to him and left her. Another woman who served him at Chalkad
was the sister of Mathias Munda. On his release
form prison, the daughter of Mathura Muda of Koensar who was kept by
Kali Munda, and the wife of Jaga
Munda of Jiuri insisted
on becoming wives of Birsa. He rebuked them and
referred the wife of Jaga Munda
to her husband. Another rather well-known woman who stayed with Birsa was Sali of Burudih. Birsa stressed monogamy at a later
stage in his life. Birsa rose form the lowest ranks
of the peasants, the ryots, who unlike their
namesakes elsewhere enjoyed far fewer rights in the Mundari
khuntkatti system, while all privileges were
monopolized by the members of the founding lineage the ryots
were no better than crop-sharers. Birsa’s own
experience as a young boy, driven form place to place in search of
employment, given him an insight into the agrarian question and forest
matters; he was no passive spectator but an active participant in the
movement going on in the neighbourhood. The Making of a Prophet Birsa’s claim to be a messenger of God
and the founder of a new religion sounded preposterous to the mission. There
were also within his sect converts form Christianity, mostly Sardars. His simple system of offering was
directed against the church which levied a tax. And the concept of on God
appealed to his people who found his religion and economical religion saving
them the expense of sacrifices. A strict code of conduct was laid down : theft, lying and murder were anathema ; begging was
prohibited. Slowly, the messenger of
God began to be identified with God himself. The people approached him as
tier Singbonga or the Sun God, the good spirit who
watches over them and can do no ill. He was looked upon as an incarnation of Khasra Kora who had destroyed
the Asurs. They said the Sun (which they worship)
was above the Birsa was below ;
later on , it was given out that the he was Bhagwan
himself. Later Birsaites formed themselves into a
sect worshipping him as such. The stories of Birsa as a healer, a miracle-worker, and a preacher
spread, out of all proportion to the facts. The Mundas,
Oraons, and Kharias
flocked to Chalkad to see the new prophet and to be
cured of there ills. Both the Oraon and Munda population up to Barwari
and Chechari in Palamau
became convinced Birsaities. Contemporary and later
folk songs commemorate the tremendous impact of Birsa
on his people, their jay and expectations at his advent. The name of Dharti Aba was on
everybody’s lips. A folk songs in Sadani showed that the first impact cut across the
lines of caste Hindus and Muslims also flocked to the new Sun of religion.
All roads led to Chalked. Birsa Munda
and his Movement The British colonial
system intensified the transformation of the tribal agrarian system into
feudal state. As the tribals with their primitive
technology could not generate a surplus, non-tribal peasantry were invited by
the chiefs in Chotanagpur to settle on and
cultivate the land. This led to the alienation of the lands held by the tribals. |
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The new class of Thikadars were
of a more rapacious kind and eager to make most of their possessions. In 1856 the number of the
Jagirdars stood at about 600, and they held from a
portion of village to 150 villages. By 1874, the authority of the old Munda or Oraon chiefs had been
almost entirely effaced by that of the farmers, introduced by the superior
landlord. In some villages the aborigines had completely lost their
proprietary rights, and had been reduced to the position of farm labourers. To the twin challenges of
agrarian breakdown and culture change Birsa along
with the Munda responded through a series of
revolts and uprising under his leadership. The movement
seek to assert rights of the Mundas as the
real proprietors of the soil, and the expulsion of middlemen and the Britishers. He was treacherously caught on |
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