HALBA REBELLION (1774 1779)

The Halba rebellion is considered as an importanttribal rebellion in the history of the present day state of
Chhattisgarh in India. The event of Halba rebellion took place in the area of the Bastar District in Chhattisgarh. It
created everlasting alteration in the Bastar District.
After the decline of the Chalukyas, the situations were such that both the Marathas and the British came one after the
other, to the place in order to rule. The Halba rebellion started against them in the year seventeen hundred and
seventy four. The then governor of Dongar, Ajmer Singh, was the initiator of the revolt of Halba. The revolution of
Halba was started with the desire of forming a new and independent state in Dongar.
The Halba tribe as well as the soldiers stood beside Ajmer Singh. The main reason behind the revolt was lack of
money and food in the hands of the common people. A long drought had affected the people especially those who had
very little cultivable land in their hands. Added to this severe problem, there was the pressure and fear caused by the
Maratha and the British on the commoners, which eventually resulted in the uprising.
The British armies and the Marathas suppressed them and in a massacre, many of the Halba tribal people were killed.
Subsequently, the army of Halba was also defeated. However, the situation was such after the defeat of the Halba
army that the history of the district of Bastar changed forever.

KOI REVOLT (1859)

Koi revolt is an important mass uprising among the tribal people in the region of Bastar. The rebellion was formed
to stand against the autocratic and domineering British rule. This significant revolt in the history of Chhattisgarh,
which is known as Koi revolt, took place in the year eighteen hundred and fifty nine.
A vital revolution among the other tribal rebellions, Koi revolt is considered as a serious uprising that resulted in a
considerable change as its aftermath. Koi revolution began taking its shape in the area of southern Bastar. The
tribal people declined to accept the decision of the British, which offered the contracts of cutting of Sal trees to people
outside the region of Bastar.
The contractors from Hyderabad were offered the deal of cutting the Sal trees in the region of Bastar. The people of
the Jamindaris, who were involved in the cutting of trees, were known as Kois, which subsequently became the name
of the revolution.

The contractors who were offered the contract of cutting the trees were also known to exploit the innocent tribal
people in many ways. This added to the problem and the tribal men were exploited both economically as well as
mentally.
When the water rose above their heads, the tribal people called for the Koi revolution in Bastar. They collectively
decided that they would not tolerate the cutting of a single tree. The British wanted to suppress the unrest and used
various methods to stop the opposition led by the tribal people. But this time, the tribal people were very steadfast in
their decision. They would not allow the exploitation of their natural resources and rich forests.

MARIA REBELLION (1842 1863)

Maria rebellion is a revolution that is unique in its characteristics. It took place in the region of Bastar. The revolt
of Maria Tribe was a prolonged rebellion, as long as twenty years. The Maria Revolution lasted for a very long time,
from the years 1842 to 1863.
It was apparently fought to preserve the practice of human sacrifice. Although it seems very inhuman to fight for such
a cause that involves killing of human practice, the tribal people had no other option other than this. There were
series of invasion by the Marathas and the British. The combined reign of the Marathas and the British made it almost
impossible for the tribal people to restore their individuality and originality. The Anglo-Maratha Rule forced the
aboriginal tribes to part with their tribal faiths and practices.
The British and the Marathas used to enter the temples constantly, which according to the innocent beliefs of the
tribal people polluted the sacred atmosphere of the temples. The only way to save the identity of the Marias was to
revolt against the invaders. The Maria Rebellion is considered one of the major tribal rebellions.

PARALKOT REBELLION (1825)

The year 1825 was an eventful one for the Abujhmarias, who were the inhabitants of the present day state of
Chhattisgarh. The Paralkot rebellion was a symbol of protest against the invasion against foreign rules. The revolt of
Paralkot was an expression of the resentments piled up in the minds of the Abujhmarias against the foreign attacks.
The anger was mainly against the foreign rulers Marathas and British.

The Paralkot revolt is one of the importanttribal rebellions in the history of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. An
Abujhmaria, Gend Singh, led the revolt of Paralkot and the other fellow Abujhmarias supported him. The purpose of
this rebellion was to acquire a world that is free of all evils. The foreign decree put the individuality of the native tribes
at stake and the Abujhmarias stood against this.
The Marathas levied heavy tax on the native people, which was impossible for them to pay. They revolted against the
injustice done to them by the foreign powers. It was their desire to build a Bastar, free of foreign intrusion.

RAMPA REBELLION (1922 23)

The grievances of the tribal assumed least significance for the Congress that claimed to be an all India party fighting
against the British imperialism. As soon as the British took over Eastern India tribal revolts broke out to challenge the
alien rule. In the early years of colonisation,no other community of India offered such heroic resistance to British rule
or faced such tragic consequences as did the numerous tribal communities of now Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa,
Bengal and Andhra pradesh.
The forest laws imposed by the British had infringed the rights of the tribal from time to time and they had to fight
their grievances on their own with little or no help from outside. Most of the tribal uprising were armed uprising
against the British The Rampa Rebellion(1922-23) under Alluri Sita Rama Raju of Andra pradesh was fought by
the tribal as a protest to the oppressive Madras Forest Act of 1882.
The Act placed restrictions on the free movement of tribal in the forest areas and prevented them from engaging in
their traditional lifestyle of Podu (shifting) cultivation, and use of the forest for firewood and toddy Period from 19171923 ,there was lot of unrest in the tribal areas spreading from east Godavari to Vizianagaram.
One of Andras early revolutionaries, Alluri Sita Rama Raj (1897-1923) was able to successfully mobilize the local
tribal for an armed rebellion against the British. He made them give up alcohol and gave them military training first
with bows and arrows and later with weapons . Inspired by the revolutionaries of Bengal, Raju decided to raided
police stations in and around Chintapalli, Krishna-devi-peta and Raja-vommangi, in search of ammunitions . The
repressive measures and the unjust policies of the British, coupled with the misdeeds of British contractors who
exploited and oppressed the workers of the hill tribes of the Visakhapatnam and East Godavari district,
provoked him.He carried out a campaign in the region which brought him into conflict with the police .
This eventually culminated in the Rampa Rebellion. Despite having fewer manpower and weapons, Alluri and his men
exacted tremendous damage on British interest, as they were much more familiar with the hilly terrain and adept in
guerrilla tactics.The Malabar special Force was brought in to crush the rebellion . A reward of Rs. 10,000 was
declared on Alluri .Like all revolutionaries he was gunned down on May 7 ,1924 at the age of 28.The brave patriot
declared shoot me,kill my body a thousand times .But remember I will be born again and again on this land to
liberate people and To see the end of you.

SANTHAL REBELLION (1855 56)

Santhals were freedom loving people. They lived in the southern part of the chhottanagpur plateau and tilled land
for livelihood. However, under the permanent settlement of 1793 the lands which the santhals had been cultivating
traditionally passed on to the Zamindars. The santhals then shifted to villages in the hills of Raj Mahal but these lands
were also claimed by the cultivation of indigo by European planters. This brought them in confrontation with
the British.The construction of railways taken up in the northern areas also disturbed the tribal habitat. The railway
officials humiliated their women besides meeting out all kinds of atrocities on them.

The atrocities perpetrated on the tribals took the shape of an unrest, which erupted in the from of an armed revolt in
1855 56. The tribals of Bhagalpur, Manbhoom, Raj Mahal participated in the revolt. Siddhu Khanhu, Chand and
Bhareo, four sons of chulu santhal of bhagna Dihi village of Raj Mahal district provided them the leadership. Nearly
10,000 men armed with bows & words & spears gathered in Bhagha Dihi village and made a solemn declaration
under the leadership of Siddhu and Khanhu that there is no govt, thanedar & hakim over us. The establishment of a
santhal state was also announced. The infuriated santhals made the houses of moneylenders, zamindars revenue
officers railway stations and indigo factories their main target of attack. Their slogan was destruction of zamindars,
moneylenders & government officials.

To suppress the santhal rebellion the British army was put under the command of Brigader General Lyoed. On 15
Aug, through a public declaration the santhals were warned to surrender within 10 days or face severe punishment. In
November, the govt imposed the martial law. Gradually the mutiny slackened. However, the fire lit by them could not
be extinguished by the British adm in India.

TARAPUR REBELLION (1842 -1854)

Tarapur rebellion is another great example of the tribal rebellions in the place of Bastar that is a part of the
present day Chhattisgarh. Tarapur rebellion is one more revolt in which the common people of Bastar stood against
the foreign rulers. The revolt of Tarapur took place from 1842 to 1854. There had been continuous uprisings in
Bastar against the foreign rulers.

The native people of Bastar felt that their local tradition and culture were being considerably harmed and the social,
political as well as economical principles were being hampered. Thus, they stood against the Anglo-Maratha reign in
order to restore their native culture. The tribal people were charged heavy taxes and were forced to pay the taxes.
The local Diwan, who used to collect the taxes from the common people, became the symbol of oppression for them.
Most of the anger precipitated on the local Diwan as the higher authorities were out of their reach. The tribal rage
grew more and more, resulting in the Tarapur rebellion.

THE NAGAS OF INDIA

The Nagas are a hill people numbering about 700,000 inhabiting the remote and mountainous country between the
Indian state of Assam and Burma (Myanma). There are also Naga groups in Burma. The Nagas are divided into 16
main tribal groups, each with its own name and mutually unintelligible language, but their sense of national identity,
forged during the years of British administration and reinforced by resistance to Indian government domination, now
largely overrides the differences that separate them.
The Nagas traditionally are a tribally-organized people with a strong warrior tradition, with their villages sited on the
hill tops, and making frequent raids onto the plains below. The British first came into contact with the Nagas when
they took over Assam and the Brahmaputra Valley in the 1820s and moved into the hill areas in order to stop Naga
raids, especially from the Angami tribe. In 1878 the Angamis rose as a tribe and were severely suppressed. After this
the British gradually took over the whole area; however, in effect, British administration was limited in scope and
effect. It was made a rule that no Indian official should be posted to the hills, that traders and speculators from the
plains should be excluded and that most officials were drawn from the Nagas themselves. Missionaries converted
many Nagas to Christianity and this facilitated literacy and the use of English, all of which encouraged a Naga sense of
a separate identity.
In the run-up to Indian independence Nagas presented their own case for independence and when Assam (with other
Indian provinces) was granted a large measure of self-rule in 1937, the Naga areas were under direct British
administration. In World War II Nagas aided the British and harassed the Japanese. The Nagas set up the Naga
National Council (NNC) to discuss matters of future status and in 1947 an NNC delegation led by Z. A. Phizo went to
Delhi to press for Naga independence, a demand that was refused by Nehru, although he stated that autonomy for the
Nagas would be considered. Therefore the NNC declared unilateral independence in August 1947 (at the time of
Indian and Pakistani independence), although this was ignored by the outside world. However the Governor of Assam
held talks with NNC leaders in 1948 and reached a nine-point agreement with them which recognized the right of
Nagas to develop themselves according to their freely elected wishes although the agreement could be extended or
negotiated after 10 years. The Nagas interpreted this as giving them the right to opt out of the Indian Union after 10
years. This was not the interpretation of the Indians however, and in practice they treated the nine-point agreement
as a dead letter.
From 1948 the administration of the Naga areas began to change. Indians took over the administration and the posts
which in the past had been held by Nagas. After the Chief Minister of Assam had been given a hostile reception by

Nagas he ordered that a police force be placed in the hills. The Nagas again declared independence in January 1950
after they had conducted their own plebiscite which showed an almost unanimous vote in favour but this was not
recognized by the Indian government which gave the Naga Hills the status of part of the tribal areas of Assam. In 1952
Nehru himself visited the Naga Hills but refused to meet the NCC while he was there or to receive their demands, and
the Nagas were suspected of being manipulated by foreigners who wished to break up the Indian union. Soon after,
the Baptist missionaries were expelled from the Naga areas.
The Nagas then launched a campaign of civil disobedience, similar to that used to achieve Indian independence,
withdrawing from schools
North-East India
and the administration and refusing to pay taxes. The NNC leaders were arrested, the 16 tribal councils all under
the control of the NCC were abolished and armed police and, later, the Indian army, were moved into the area. In
1956 the NCC proclaimed the establishment of a Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) with its own constitution
and Naga Home Guard. From 1956 to 1958 a bitter guerrilla war was conducted in the Naga Hills, with alleged
atrocities on both sides. According to government figures 1,400 Nagas were killed against 162 Indians. Nagas and
others have alleged that the Indian forces engaged in torture, rape and murder, burned villages and destroyed crops
and while not all of these reports can be substantiated (because of restricted access to independent observers) it does
appear that many violations did take place.
Divisions began to emerge in the Naga movement with the formation of the Naga Peoples Convention led by Dr
Imkongliba Ao, which favoured Indian statehood as a practical alternative to complete independence, and this
received a more favourable response in Delhi, although the new state of Nagaland at that time the smallest state in
India with an area of 15,360 square kilometres and a population of 350,000 came into being only in 1963. But the
war continued with the Indian army using counter-insurgency tactics of rehousing villagers away from their villages
in order to separate them from the insurgents. Phizo of the NNC had managed to reach London where his efforts on
behalf of the Nagas began to attract world attention and sympathy, forcing the Indian government to let some
journalists visit and report on Nagaland.
A breakthrough appeared to come with the appointment of a three-man Peace Commission, of the Rev. Michael Scott,
B. P. Chaliha (the Chief Minister of Assam), and J. P. Narayan, which was able to negotiate a ceasefire beginning in
May 1964. However efforts to bring about a permanent settlement failed as the two sides could not agree on a formula
for settlement. The ceasefire continued in name until September 1972 when it was unilaterally terminated by the
Indian government, but in practice fighting had continued and by the late 1960s the situation in Nagaland had
reverted almost to what it had been before the ceasefire. Further allegations of brutalities were made against the
Indian army. However it appeared that the Indian forces had been strengthened and the NCC guerrillas weakened
during these years. There were divisions within the guerrilla forces, with one breakaway group in a much publicized
surrender in August 1973, and perhaps more importantly a well entrenched Nagaland state government of the Naga
National Organization (NNO) which had joined with the Indian government and which supported measures against
the guerrillas. Many NCC guerrillas had taken refuge on the Burmese side of the border while Phizo remained in exile
in London. A new state government in Nagaland, the United Democratic Front (UDF) elected in 1974, attempted to
negotiate a ceasefire, but this was refused by the Indian government, which was now in a position finally to defeat the
much depleted NCC forces, who by 1975 were surrendering in significant numbers.
Some Nagas, while supporting the ideal of independence, nevertheless argued that armed conflict against the full
power of the Indian state could only lead to suffering for Nagas and ultimate defeat, and that resistance should be on
the political plane, with the search for maximum autonomy within the Indian Union. The Naga Peace Council, a
continuation of the body which had brought about the ceasefire of the 1960s, made contact with the underground

forces. The result was the Shillong Accord signed between the governor and the representatives of the FGN in
November 1975. The provisions of the Accord stated that the signatories accepted the binding extent of the Indian
constitution, that weapons would be surrendered to the Peace Council, that security operations would be suspended
and that the curfew would be lifted. This Accord reflected the strong desire for peace within Nagaland but it was not
accepted by all of the Naga resistance; Phizo in London repudiated it as did the Chinese-influenced Alle command led
by J. H. Muivah based in Burma, which introduced a new ideological note into the formerly heavily Christian Naga
movement. This group became the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and carried on its struggle from
Burma for many years, although heavily outnumbered by Indian forces.
By the 1980s most of Nagaland was at peace in contrast to the various insurgent movements active in the other Tribal
States and Territories of the north-east and the growing conflict within Assam between Assamese and Muslim
immigrants from Bangladesh. The NSCN, however, was still active not only in Nagaland but among the Nagas of
neighbouring Manipur, and there were continuing clashes between the NSCN based in Burma and the Indian army,
and allegations of human rights violations by military forces. Within constitutional politics there had been growing
dissidence in the ruling Congress I Party (the NNO had merged with the Congress Party in 1976) but its future
appeared secure when it was re-elected in November 1987; however it lost its majority in August 1988 and, rather
than allow the newly formed opposition group, the Joint Regional Legislature Party, form a government, the
legislature was dismissed and the state was placed under Presidents rule (i.e. direct rule from Delhi).
Notwithstanding the many problems that continuing insurgency has created, Nagalands future will depend on how
well government can fulfil the expectations of its people at 42% its literacy rate is higher than that of India as a
whole yet jobs are scarce, especially outside the civil service. Nagas have successfully resisted the imposition of Hindi
by the central government in favour of English, but a knowledge of Hindi is necessary to function in the north of India
at least and this may limit opportunities outside the state.