Birsa Munda

• ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ on November 15^th is celebrated in the memory of Birsa Munda, an Indian tribal Independence activist and a folk hero belonging to the Munda tribe of Jharkhand.

ABOUT BIRSA MUNDA

• He was a folk hero and a tribal freedom fighter hailing from the Munda tribe.
• He was born on November 15, 1875, in Ulihatu, near Ranchi.
• He spearheaded an Indian tribal mass movement that arose in the Bihar and Jharkhand belts in the early 19^th century under British colonisation.
• Munda rallied the tribals to fight against the forceful land grabbing carried out by the British government, which would turn the tribals into bonded labourers and force them to abject poverty.
• As a reaction to the introduction of the Zamindari system, or Permanent settlement in tribal areas, Birsa Munda in 1894 declared “Ulgulan”, or revolt, against the British and the Dikus – the outsiders.
  • It was aimed at destroying the tribal “Khuntkatti” agrarian system.
  • Khuntkatti means the joint holding of land by tribals.
• He created a faith called ‘Birsait’ and protested against conversion of tribals to Christianity.
• He was also known as ‘Dharti Abba’ or the Earth Father
• He died on June 9, 1900, at the young age of 25.
• Jharkhand state was created on his birth anniversary in 2000.