Birsa Munda: News

Birsa Munda was a 19th-century tribal leader and freedom fighter who led the indigenous Munda tribe in an armed rebellion against the British Raj. Munda hailed from the tribal regions of modern-day Jharkhand and was the inspiration behind its formation as a distinct state of the Indian Union in 2000. The region of Chhotanagpur faced two issues: the rampant conversion of tribals to Christianity by the Christian Missionaries and the usurping of tribal land by outsiders due to the policies of the British government. Munda urged tribals to leave Christianity and revert to their native faith. He formed guerilla armies to fight the British and attacked their personnel and places of gathering. In 1900, he was arrested by the British government and died in a Ranchi jail at the young age of 25. Later in 1908, however, the British passed an act that prohibited non-tribals from acquiring tribal land. Apart from Jharkhand, Munda is cherished and remembered from Odisha in the east to Karnataka in the west. He was fondly called 'Dharti Aaba' which means "father of the land" by his followers. Munda lived a short life but became immortal through his acts of courage and patriotism.