Remembering Bhagwan Birsa Munda on His Death Anniversary
#GS-1 #Modern Indian History #Important Personalities #Culture #Tribal Culture #Rapid Fire CA #Quick Facts For Prelims
Why in News
- The Prime Minister paid tribute to Bhagwan Birsa Munda on 9th June 2026 to mark his Martyr Day.
About Birsa Munda
- Birsa Munda was a tribal freedom fighter, social reformer, and folk hero belonging to the Munda tribe of the Chotanagpur region.
- He was born on 15th November 1875 in present-day Jharkhand.
- He organized tribal communities to fight against British colonial rule, landlord exploitation, moneylenders, missionary influence, forced labour, and land alienation.
- His movement grew out of the earlier Sardari Larai or Sardar Movement which protested against land loss in the Chotanagpur region.
- He fiercely defended the Khuntkatti system where tribal communities held collective customary rights over their land.
- He raised the famous political slogan “Abua Raj Ete Jana, Maharani Raj Tundu Jana”, which means “Let our rule be established and the Queen’s rule end.”
- His teachings created a new faith group called the Birsait community that focused on social reform, moral discipline, and tribal identity.
- He led the Ulgulan Movement, also known as the “Great Tumult,” at the start of the twentieth century to remove British rule, restore tribal self-rule, and fight outside exploiters called dikus.
- British authorities arrested him and he died in Ranchi Jail on 9th June 1900, with official records stating cholera as the cause of death.
- His powerful struggle led to the creation of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, which stopped the transfer of tribal land to non-tribals.
- The government celebrates his birth anniversary as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas to remember the great contributions of tribal communities to Indian history.