The Rebellion

• The depressed and anguished Santhals engaged in guerilla warfare against the Britishers and formed their own troops which included the farmers, villagers, and the women. The villagers killed the policeman when they came to arrest the duo brothers. They were able to capture large parts of land including Rajmahal Hills, Bhagalpur district, and Birbhum.
• They militarized over 10000 Santhal people. The villagers put to fire the storehouses and the warehouses and all forms of communication lines were disrupted. The government applied all possible means to suppress the movement. In order to curb the rebellion, Britishers used heavy loaded weapons against bows and arrows used by the Santhals.
• The landlords were in the support of the government whereas the local people supported the Santhals in full vigor.
• Unfortunately, the duo brother Sidhu and Kanhu were arrested and the revolt had a brutal end. The Santhals were repressed and the movement came to an end in 1856.
• The Santhal rebellion is considered to be one of the extraordinary incidents in the history of pre-independence.

The 19th century witnessed innumerable movements, but the ones like the Santhal revolt hold a significant role in India’s struggle for freedom.  The Santhal revolt ( also known as the Hool revolt ) started on 30th June 1855, with the help of prominent leaders like Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, and Bhairav, and also their two sisters Phulo and Jhano, all of them played an important role in the movement.

The Santhals were the tribal people inhabiting the forest of Rajmahal hills. In 1832, East India Company demarcated the Damin-i-Koh from the region of Jharkhand and gave it to Santhals to settle with a promise of non-interference in their land. But with changing times and the rising demand of the Britishers, the rent to the Santhals raised to an exorbitant rate. Ultimately, the Santhals were trapped in a situation where they had the only option to revolt against the Britishers and the Zamindars, leading to Santhal Rebellion.