Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu the leader of the Santhal rebellion (1855–1856)

Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu
(statue)

Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu were the leader of

the Santhal rebellion (1855–1856), the native
rebellion in present-day Jharkhand.

Hailing from the village
Bhognadih in Sahibganj district , in eastern India
against both the British colonial and the
corrupt upper caste zamindars.

Before the British advent in India, Santals
resided in the districts of Cuttack , Dhalbhum ,
Manbhum , Barabhum, Chhotanagpur , Palamau,
Midnapur , Bankura and Birbhum . 

They were engaged in
their way of life by clearing the wild forest and hunting for subsistence and livelihood. 

But as the agents of
the new colonial rule claimed their rights on the lands
of the Santals, felt cheated and disgraced.

On 30 June 1855, two Santal rebel leaders, SidhuMurmu 

and Kanhu Murmu, mobilized about 50,000
Santals and declared a rebellion against British Raj.
The Santhal rebellion (sometimes referred to as the
Sonthal hool), commonly known as Santal Hool
was a native rebellion in present day.

Soon after the declaration the Santals took to arms.
In many villages the Zamindars, money lenders and
their operatives were put to death. The open rebellion
caught the British Government in surprise. Initially a
small contingent was sent to suppress the rebels but
it could not succeed and this further fueled the spirit
of the revolt. When the law and order situation was
getting out of hand the British Government finally
took a major step and sent in large number of troops
assisted by the local Zamindars and the Nawab of
Murshidabad to quell the Rebellion. British
Government had announced an award of Rs. 10,000
to arrest Sidhu and his brother Kanhu Murmu.
A number of skirmishes occurred after this which
resulted in large number of casualties for the Santals.
The primitive weapons of the Santals, weren't a
match against the musket and cannon firepower of
the British. Troop detachments from the 7th Native
Infantry Regiment, 40th Native Infantry and others
were called into action. Major skirmishes occurred
from July 1855 to January 1856, in places like
Kahalgaon, Suri, Raghunathpur, and Munkatora.

The revolt was brutally crushed, the two celebrated
leaders Seedo and Kanhu were killed. Elephants
supplied by the Nawab of Murshidabad were used to
demolish Santal huts and likewise profound atrocities
were committed by the British army in quenching the
Rebellion.

Of the 60,000-odd tribesmen who had been

mobilised in the rebellion, over 15,000 were killed, and
tens of villages were destroyed. They did not get
support of Gwalas (milkmen) and Lohars
(blacksmiths).
Although the Rebellion was crushed with a heavy
hand, some British army officers like Major Jervis
who observed-
"It was not war; they did not understand yielding. As
long as their national drum beat, the whole party
would stand, and allow themselves to be shot down.
Their arrows often killed our men, and so we had to
fire on them as long as they stood. When their drum
ceased, they would move off a quarter of a mile; then
their drums beat again, and they calmly stood till we
came up and poured a few volleys into them. There
was not a sepoy in the war who did not feel ashamed
of himself.

Charles Dickens in Household Words wrote-

"There seems also to be a sentiment of honour
among them (Santals); for it is said that they use
poisoned arrows in hunting, but never against their
foes. If this be the case- and we hear nothing of the
poisoned arrows in the recent conflicts,-they are
infinitely more respectable than our civilised enemy
the Russians, who would most likely consider such
forbearance as foolish, and declare that is not
war."

Although its impact was largely shadowed by that of
the other rebellion, the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the
legend of the Santal Rebellion lives on as a turning
point in Santal pride and identity. This was
reaffirmed, over a century and a half later with the
creation of the first tribal province in independent
India, Jharkhand .

Sidhu Kanhu Murmu University is named upon them.
Indian post also issued a ₹ 4 stamp in 2002
honouring them.

Sources:

1. Wikipedia

2. Historytution