What are some things every Indian should know about Indian history?
They were 6 from one family. 6 brothers and sisters - Sidhu, Kanu, Birsa, Bhairav, Fulmani and Jhanu. They were able to unite 400 villages under their call. They were able to build a struggle to restore freedom against the powerful British. They were able to give a new name to their struggle and the name of that struggle is the Santal Rebellion. 'Hul' means rebellion, this rebellion that took place in 1855, just 2 years before the famous or infamous (as per colonial powers) Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 which was glorified in Indian history books as ‘first freedom struggle movement’ and first serious movement to expel the British from the country.
However, the Hul or Santhal Rebellion remained supressed in Indian history text books. In this rebellion not only the Santal tribal dominated citizens, the oppressed people also became its partners.
30 June 1855. On this day 170 years ago, two of the leaders of the Santal rebellion in undivided India, Sidhu (Sidho) and Kanu (Kanhu), called thousands of Santals, Chamars, Bagdis and people of various religions and castes to fight against the excessive exploitation of the British and traders and merchants in the Bhagnadihi field. This was the rebellion of the so-called lower castes. The first organized movement of the Dalit-Adivasi people on Indian soil. The Santal rebellion or Santal Hull began in 1855 in Murshidabad district of West Bengal and Bhagalpur district of Bihar. During the British period, the Santals (present day Jharkhand area), who were subjected to unjust oppression by local landlords, moneylenders and English officials, unitedly formed a movement against them. This was the first armed mass struggle against them. The persecution against them increased as a result of the Permanent Settlement introduced by Lord Queen Cornwallis in 1793. Therefore, the Santals raised their voices against British rule before the Sepoy Mutiny.
The tragedy of Indian history books written from Nehru era onwards, focused too much on congress and Nehru-Gandhi dynasty regarding the Indian freedom movement. This is what happens when writing history is left to the communist-Islamist historians under Maulana Azad and subsequent education ministers. Some people will justify this by saying that history gets distorted everywhere by the powerful ruling elite who set pro-incumbency narratives. This may be true, but in Indian history book context, there is nothing but Nehru-Gandhi worship by the congress party propaganda to maintain monopoly on the freedom movement.
P.S. -This post is neither spam nor plagiarised material and follows Quora policy
Picture source: Google / Respective rightful owner
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