Tribal revolts in India before Indian independence

Below is given a chronological record of tribal revolts in India before the independence from the British rule in the year 1947. The list covers those tribal uprisings that occurred during the period of British rule in India.

18th century

• 1766-72 Chuar revolt under the leadership of Raja Jagannath.
• 1774-79: Halba rebellion in Dongar (By Halba tribes in Bastar Chhattisgarh) against British armies and the Marathas.
• 1778: revolt of the Pahariya Sardars of Chota Nagpur against the British Government.
• 1784-1785: Uprising of the Koli Mahadev tribes in Maharashtra.
• 1789: revolt of the Tamar of Chota Nagpur against British.
• 1794-1795: the Tamars revolted again.
• 1798: The revolt of the tribals against the sale of Panchet estate.

1800-1899

• 1812 Kurichya Rebellion organised by the tribal people Kurichyas against the Wayanad invasion of British in 1812.
• 1850 The Kond tribe revolted in Orissa under leadership of chief Bisoi.
• 1855 The 'Great Rebellion'by the Santal community against the British in Eastern India led by Sido and Kanho, claiming to have supernatural powers.
• 1857-1858 The Bhil revolted against under the leadership of Bhagoji Naik and Kajar Singh.
• 1860 The Lushai tribal people raided the then British Tripura and killed 186 British subjects.
• 1860-1862 The Synteng tribal Jaintia Hills in North-East India.
• 1861 The Juang tribal community revolted in Orissa.
• 1862 The Koya tribal community revolted in Andhra against tribal landlords called 'Muttader' in tribal dialect.
• 1869-1870 The Santal people revolted at Dhanbad in Eastern India against a local monarch.The British mediated to settle dispute.
• 1879 The Naga tribal people revolted in North-Eastern India.
• 1880 The Koya revolted again at Malkangiri in Orissa under leadership of Tammandora.
• 1883 The Sentinelese tribal people of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean attacked the British.
• 1889 The mass agitation by the Munda against the British in Eastern India.
• 1891 The tribals of North-East India revolted against the British under leadership of Tikendraji Singh.
• 1892 The Lushei people revolted against the British repeatedly.
• 1895 The famous revolt by the Munda tribal community under leadership of Birsa Munda.Later, Birsa was arrested.

20th century

• 1911 The uprising of the tribal people of Bastar.
• 1913-1914 Tana Bhagat movement in Bihar
• 1913 samp sabha by guru govind & 1507 bhil people against British at mangadh hill
• 1917-1919 Kuki Uprising in Manipur against British colonialism under the leadership of their chieftains called haosa
• 1920-1921 Tana Bhagat movement happened again.
• 1922 The Koya tribal community revolted at Rampa against the British under leadership of Alluri Sitarama Raju
• 1932 The Nagas revolted under leadership of 14-year old Rani Guidallo in North-Eastern India.
• 1941 The Gond and the Kolam revolted in collaboration against British Government in the Adilabad district of the state of Telangana.
• 1942 Tribal revolt under leadership of Lakshmana Naik at Koraput in Orissa.
• 1942-1945 The tribes of Andaman and Nicobar islands revolted against occupation of their islands by Japanese troops during world war.

References

• Khan, Ismail. 1986. Indian tribe through the ages. Vikas publishing house, New Delhi.
• Gautam Bhadra. 1975. “The Kuki (?) Uprising (1917-1919): Its causes and Nature,” Man in India, vol.55,1, pp.10-56
• Pattnaik .B. K., 2013. Tribal Resistance Movements and the Politics of Development Induced Displacement in Contemporary Orissa, Social Change , Vol. 43(1), pp 53–78
• Baviskar Amita. (1995). In the belly of the river, tribal conflict over development in the Narmada valley. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Das, Vidhya (2001). Mining bauxite, maiming people, Economic and Political Weekly, 36(28), July 14–20: 2612–14
• Oliver-Smith Anthony (2001). Displacement, resistance and the critique of development: From the grassroots to the global, Final report prepared for ESCOR R7644 and Research Programme on Development Induced Displacement and Resettlement, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford