Tribal revolts in India before Indian independence

Below is given a chronological record of tribal and peasant revolts in India before independence from British rule in the 1947. The list covers those tribal uprisings that occurred during the period of British rule in India.

18th century

1767-1833 - The Chuar Rebellion was a prolonged tribal uprising against British East India Company oppression in the Jungle Mahals region, led by figures like Jagannath Singh Patar, Durjan Singh, Rani Shiromani, Madhav Singha Dev and Ganga Narayan Singh. 1770-1787 - Chakma revolt in Chittagong Hill Tracts. 1774-1779 Halba Dongar by Halba tribes in Bastar state against British armies and the Marathas. 1778 Revolt of the Paharia Sardars of Chota Nagpur against the British. 1784-1785 Uprising of the Mahadev Koli tribes in Maharashtra and Tilka Manjhi of Santal Tribe.

19th century

• 1812: The Kurichiyar and Kurumbar rebelled in Wayanad.
• 1822-1824: Gurjar tribe in the Roorkee-Haridwar-Saharanpur region of the United Provinces under the leadership of Raja Vijay Singh of Kunja Bahadarpur organized an armed rebellion against the British, which was recognized by the British government as a 'Goojar Revolt' of 1824.
• 1825: Singphos attacked and set fire to the British magazine at Sadiya in Assam.
• 1828: Singphos Chief attacked Sadiya with 3000 tribal warriors.
• 1831-1832: Kol uprising of Kol tribals including the Ho, Oraon, Bhumij and Munda people in Chota Nagpur.
• 1843: Singpho Chief Nirang Phidu attacked the British garrison and killed several soldiers.
• 1849: Kadma Singpho attacked British villages in Assam and was captured.
• 1850: The Khond tribe revolted in Orissa Tributary States under leadership of chief Bisoi.
• Telanga Kharia rebelled in Chotanagpur Division.
• 1855-1856: The Santal Hul by the Santhal community against the British in Rajmahal Hills led by Sido and Kanho.
• 1857: Chero and Kharwar revolt in Chota Nagpur as part of the wider 1857 Rebellion.
• 1857-1858: The Bhil revolted between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges under the leadership of Bhagoji Naik and Kajar Singh as part of the 1857 rebellion.
• 1859: The Andamanese in the Battle of Aberdeen.
• 1860: The Mizo raided Tripura state and killed 186 British subjects.
• 1860-1862: The Synteng revolt in the Jaintia Hills in Eastern Bengal and Assam.
• 1861: The Juang community revolted in Orissa.
• 1862: The Koya community revolted in the Godavari district against Muttaders.
• 1869-1870: The Santhals revolted at Dhanbad against a local monarch. The British mediated to settle dispute.
• 1879: The Naga revolted in Assam.
• 1879: The Koya revolted at Malkangiri in the Vishakapatnam Hill Tracts Agency under leadership of Tammandora.
• 1883: The Sentinelese tribal people of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean attacked the British.
• 1889: The mass agitation by the Munda against the British in Chota Nagpur.
• 1890-1895: The Lushai Rising saw the Lushai tribes revolting against the British repeatedly. First as the Western Lushai Rising under Khalkam, then a southern Rising under Zakapa and an Eastern Rising under Lalbura.
• 1891: The Anglo-Manipuri war where the British conquered the kingdom of Manipur.
• 1899-1900: Revolt by the Munda tribal community under leadership of Birsa Munda (The Ulgulan).

20th century

• 1910: Bastar rebellion in Bastar state of the Central Provinces of Berar.
• 1913-1914: Tana Bhagat movement in Bihar.
• 1917-1919: Kuki Uprising in Manipur against British colonial rule under the leadership of their chieftains called haosa.
• 1922: The Koya tribal community revolted at in the Godavari Agency against the British under leadership of Alluri Sitarama Raju.
• 1932: The Nagas revolted under leadership of 14-year old Rani Gaidinliu in Manipur.
• 1941: The Gond and the Kolam revolted in collaboration against British Government in the Adilabad district of Hyderabad state.
• 1942-1945: The tribes of Andaman and Nicobar islands revolted against occupation of their islands by Japanese troops during World War II.

Gallery

References

• Khan, Ismail. 1986-Indian tribe through the ages. Vikas publishing house, New Delhi.
• Gautam Bhadra. 1975. "The Kuki (?) Uprising (1917-1919): Its causes and Nature," Man in India, vol.55,1, pp. 10–56
• Pattnaik .B. K., 2013. Tribal Resistance Movements and the Politics of Development Induced Displacement in Contemporary Orissa, Social Change, Vol. 43(1), pp 53–78
• Baviskar Amita. (1995). In the belly of the river, tribal conflict over development in the Narmada valley. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Das, Vidhya (2001). Mining bauxite, maiming people, Economic and Political Weekly, 36(28), July 14–20: 2612–14
• Oliver-Smith Anthony (2001). Displacement, resistance and the critique of development: From the grassroots to the global, Final report prepared for ESCOR R7644 and Research Programme on Development Induced Displacement and Resettlement, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford