Tilak Manjhi : Jharkhand's First Martyr

 Baba Tilka Manjhi (or Jabra paharia) was the first Adivasi leader who took up arms against the British in the 1784, around 100 years before Mangal Pandey. He organized the Adivasis to form an armed group to fight against the resource grabbing and exploitation of British.

Long before Mangal Pandey fired the shot that started the First War of Indian Independence, India’s tribal communities gave their lives in opposing the colonizers. The known instance of an Adivasi rebellion against the British was that of Tilka Manjhi in 1785.

Historical Background :-

The Santhal people historically dwelled in the Eastern parts of Jharkhand. In the hills, resided the Paharias,and in the valleys, the Santhals. Both lived North of the lands of the Munda people. In 1765, the East India Company gained the ‘Dewani‘ of the current states of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. In 1769, the Chotanagpur and Santal Pargana regions were annexed. They paid rent to the non-tribal landowners, who sent a share to the Mughals.

The British replaced the Mughals as the receivers of rent. But then, they started to formalize land ownership. This began by encouraging revenue collection by the Dikus, which further irked the Santhals. Meanwhile, the Paharias, hill-dwelling people began to raid the plains for food. A great famine struck in 1770, and the plains-folk were devastated, but the raids continued.

This prompted the British to start ‘exterminating‘ the Paharias. But a collector called Augustus Clevland pursued a policy of pacification from the 1780s. The chiefs were offered an allowance, on condition that they stop their men from raiding. It met with mixed success, as such chiefs were viewed as subordinates of the British.

The Revolt of 1785 :-

Tilka was born in 1750, possibly in Tilakpur (hence his name). He was a great archer and organizer, which worried the British. In this narrative, Clevland’s rapprochement with the Paharias was but a form of ‘divideand rule’ – as it distinguished the warlike from the non-warlike. Tilka is said to have unified the non-Paharia tribes and led a revolt.

The year 1784 is considered as the first armed rebellion against the British and was the beginning of Paharia. It was due to great famine in 1770 and the consequences of Court of Directors orders influenced by William Pitt the Younger -- Court of Director issued ten year of the settlement of Zamindari and later in 1800 - this resulted in minim chance to negotiate between local Zamdindars and Santhal villagers. Tilka Majhi attacked Augustus Cleveland, British commissioner, and Rajmahal with a Gulel (a weapon similar to slingshot) who died later. The British surrounded the Tilapore forest from which he operated but he and his men held them at bay for several weeks.

After a period of guerrilla warfare, he was captured and hanged by the British in 1785. Some accounts say his body was tied to the back of a horse and dragged several miles, others only mention the hanging.

Tilka’s was the first in a long series of tribal resistance. His movement was followed by the Bhumji revolt in Manbhum of 1798, the Chero uprising in Palamu (1810), the Munda uprising of Tamar (1819-1820), the Kolk rebellion (1833), the second Bhumji revolt (1834) and the second Santal rebellion of 1855.

A statue to him was erected at the spot where he was hanged, after Indian independence, which is nearby residence of S.P. Bhagalpur and named after him. Also the Bhagalpur University was renamed after him - Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University.Another statue was established in Dumka town, Jharkhand.

By: Shashank Shekhar