Birsa Munda and the Making of Adivasi Identity: The Ulgulan and Its Legacy

June 9 marks the death anniversary of Birsa Munda, one of India's most revered Adivasi (tribal) leaders and freedom fighters. Born on November 15, 1875, in Ulihatu village in present-day Khunti district of Jharkhand, he became a religious reformer, social mobiliser and political leader who reshaped Munda tribal society. His birth anniversary, November 15, is observed across India as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (Tribal Pride Day) in his honour.

Birsa is remembered for leading the Ulgulan, meaning the 'Great Tumult', a movement in the closing years of the 19th century against British colonial rule and against 'diku' or non-tribal outsider landlords. Colonial land policies, including the spread of revenue intermediaries, eroded traditional Adivasi systems of collective land ownership such as Khuntkatti, under which the descendants of the original forest-clearing settlers held land together as a community. As customary rights broke down, many Adivasis fell into debt, lost their land, and were pushed into forced labour, fuelling unrest across the Chotanagpur plateau.

The Ulgulan reached its peak at Dombari Buru, a hill in Khunti, in January 1899, where thousands of Birsa's followers gathered to assert their rights over land. British forces surrounded the hill and opened fire. Birsa was arrested in early 1900 and died in Ranchi Jail on June 9, 1900, at the age of 24. Colonial records attributed his death to illness, though doubts have long persisted among his followers. Revered as 'Dharti Aba' (father of the Earth), he inspired a distinct religious movement known as the Birsait faith.

Though the British crushed the uprising, it forced lasting change. The resistance led the colonial administration to recognise Khuntkatti land rights and eventually to enact the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act of 1908, which aimed to prevent the transfer of Adivasi land to non-Adivasis and remains one of the strongest legal protections for tribal land in Jharkhand. The aspiration for tribal self-rule voiced during the Ulgulan later flowed into the movement for a separate Jharkhand state, achieved in 2000.

For aspirants, Birsa Munda is a high-frequency figure in modern Indian history and current affairs. Key points to remember are the Ulgulan and Dombari Buru, the Khuntkatti system, the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act of 1908, the title 'Dharti Aba', and Janjatiya Gaurav Divas observed on his birth anniversary, November 15. His life connects tribal movements, land rights and the wider freedom struggle.