An integrated historical account of indigenous land rights, colonial exploitation, social transformation, political awakening and the struggle for self-governance in Chotanagpur.
1. Introduction
The Munda Rebellion, popularly known as Ulgulan (The Great Tumult), was one of the most significant indigenous uprisings against British colonial rule in nineteenth-century India. Led by the legendary tribal leader and freedom fighter Birsa Munda, the movement emerged in the Chotanagpur region of present-day Jharkhand during the final decade of the nineteenth century, culminating in an armed uprising between 1899 and 1900.
The rebellion was not merely an armed confrontation against British authority. It represented the culmination of decades of economic exploitation, alienation of ancestral lands, disruption of traditional institutions, restrictions on forest rights and challenges to indigenous cultural identity.
