 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Chuar Rebellion" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Chuar Rebellion | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofIndian independence movement | |||
 Estate onJames Rennell's 1776 map. | |||
| Date | 1766–1834 (68 years)[1][2] | ||
| Location | Dhalbhum Estate,Midnapore district,Manbhum District &Bishnupur Estate inBritish India (present-dayWest Bengal &Jharkhand inIndia) 22°55′N86°31′E / 22.917°N 86.517°E /22.917; 86.517 | ||
| Goals | Self-governance | ||
| Resulted in | Surrendered andestates transferred toJungle Mahals District, and later transferred toSouth-West Frontier Agency &Burdwan District | ||
| Parties | |||
| Lead figures | |||
| |||
| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | Unknown | ||
| Injuries | Unknown | ||
| Arrested | Subal Singh,Rani Shiromani,Madhav Singha Dev, Raghunath Singh | ||
| Charged | Treason,Hanging | ||
  Dhalbhum, Bishnupur, Midnapore & Manbhum Location of the rebellion | |||
Chuar rebellion, also called theChuar Bidroha was a series of peasant movements between 1766 and 1834 by the tribal inhabitants of the countryside surrounding theJungle Mahals settlements ofDhalbhum,Midnapore,Bishnupur andManbhum against the rule of theEast India Company (EIC).[5][6][7]
The literal meaning ofChuar orChuad orChuhad is a barbaric, an uncultured or a robber. During the British rule,Bhumijas of theJungle Mahal area were calledchuars (low caste people), their main occupation was hunting of animals and birds and farming in the forests, but later some Bhumij becamezamindars and some started working asGhatwals (feudal lords) andPaiks (soldiers).[8] When theEast India Company started collecting revenue for the first time in 1765 in the Jangal Mahal district of Bengal, then in this conspiratorial way of the British, the water, forest, land grab activities were first opposed by the people ofBhumij tribe and the revolution was blown against the British rulers in 1769. When the British asked who these people were, their stoic landlords addressed them asChuar (meaning rude or wicked inBengali) out of hatred and contempt, after which the name of that rebellion was 'Chuar Rebellion'.
Before the end of 1770, it was officially recorded that one-third of the population had vanished. Depopulation became the greatest concern for the British East India Company. Despite the ongoing famine, the Company continued to pressure local rulers, including the weakened Rajas of Bishnupur and Birbhum, as well as the old zamindars (who had been responsible for tax collection during the Mughal era), to increase revenue.[9]
In Birbhum alone, by 1771, only 4,500 out of 6,000 rural villages remained. Depopulation continued until 1785, and the lands of around 1,600 abandoned villages reverted to jungle.[9] In Bishnupur, hundreds of villages were entirely deserted, and even in the larger towns, fewer than one-fourth of the houses remained occupied. Among the worst affected areas in Bengal were Purnia and Bishnupur, both of which suffered immensely from the famine.[10][11]
The Company’s revenue demand for 1768-69 was set at £1,524,567, and the actual receipts exceeded that amount. However, by 1770, the receipts had drastically dropped to just £65,355, even though the demand remained at £1,380,269. Despite a good harvest in 1771, vast areas of cultivable land were left unused. By 1772, Warren Hastings estimated that one-third of the population had perished by that time.[9]
In 1767, the tribal revolt started inDhalbhum andBarabhum and later spread toManbhum,Midnapore andBishnupur districts ofJungle Mahal. Jagannath Singh Patar at Dhalbhum, Subal Singh at Kuilapal and Shyam Gunjam Singh at Dhadka led this rebellion in 1767-71. The Chuar people intensified this rebellion in the surrounding areas ofManbhum,Raipur andPanchet. In 1782-85, Mangal Singh along with his allies also led this rebellion. The Chuar Rebellion was at its peak in 1798–99 under the leadership ofDurjan Singh, Lal Singh and Mohan Singh, but was crushed by the British Company's forces.
In early 1799, theChuars were organized at three places aroundMidnapore:Bahadurpur,Salboni andKarnagarh. From here they launched guerrilla attacks. Among these was the residence ofRani Shiromani in Karnagarh, who actively led them. According to the letter written by the then collector, the Chuar rebellion continued to grow and by February 1799, they had occupied a continuous wide area of many villages around Midnapore. In March, Rani attacked with about 300 rebels and looted all the weapons of the Company's soldiers in the garh (local fort) of Karangarh. This sequence of attacks and plunder continued till December 1799. It was later led by Jagannath Patar's son Baidyanath Singh and grandson Raghunath Singh. Later, other zamindars, along with the Ghatwals and Paiks, spread this revolt to the entireJungle Mahal and the surrounding areas, which lasted till 1809. Even after this, the rebellion continued in some areas ofBengal in a sporadic form.
Between 1788 and 1809, the Chuars and Paiks of the Bishnupur and Midnapore parganas revolted against the British East India Company under the leadership of Madhav Singha Dev.[12][13]After the 1810 revolt led by Baijnath Singh of Dampara, which prompted the deployment of military forces, the Ghatwali system in Jaibalea,Bishnupur, was dismantled byEast India Company. In its place, new police stations were established across various estates, and the daroga police system was reinstated.[14]
In 1832–33, again the Ganga Narayan Hungama, also known as the Bhumij Revolt, was led by Ganga Narayan in theManbhum and Jungle Mahal areas of the erstwhile Midnapore district, Bengal, by Bhumij tribals.[15]
By Regulation XIII of 1833, the district of Jungle Mahals was broken up, and a new administrative unit known as theSouth-West Frontier Agency was formed.[16][17] The estates of Senpahari, Shergarh andBishnupur were transferred toBurdwan District and the remainder constituted theManbhum District.[18]
| Rebellions in British India |
|---|
| East India Company |
|
| British Raj |
|
| Sl. No. | Revolt | Leader | zamindar | Active years | Outcome | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Revolt of the Rajas of Dhalbhum[19] | Jagannath Pater/ Jagannath Singh Patar [hi] | (Dampara)Ghatshila/Dhalbhum | 1766–1790 | Hanged | [20][4] |
| 2 | Subla Singh/Subal Singh [hi] | Kuilapal | 1767–1770 | Hanged | [21][20][22] | |
| 3 | Samangunjan/ Sham Ganja | Dhadka/Barabhum pargana | 1767–1771 | Defeated | [20][23][19] | |
| 4 | Raja Jagannath Dhal | Dhalbhum | 1767 | Defeated | [24][25] | |
| 5 | Rebellion of the Chuars | Lal Singh | Satarkhani/Barabhum | 1782–1799 | Defeated | [12][26] |
| 6 | Durjan Singh | Raipur/Bishnupur | 1798–1799 | Defeated | [27][28][12] | |
| 7 | Rebellion at Bishnupur | Rani Shiromani (lady) | Karnagarh | 1799–1812 | Died in jail | [29] |
| 8 | Madhav Singha Dev | Bishnupur | 1801–1809 | Died in jail | [30][31][12] | |
| 9 | Baidyanath Singh/ Baijnath Singh | Dampara/Dhalbhum | 1809–1810 | Defeated | [14][4] | |
| 10 | Revolt of Ganganarayan | Ganga Narayan | Barabhum | 1830–1833 | Defeated | [20] |
| 11 | Raghunath Singh [bn] | Dampara/Dhalbhum | 1831–1834 | Hanged | [32][33][4] |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)