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Unit 2: Major Segments of Indian Society

of political decisions of the government and suggesting correctives (lbid:31). The key issue, thus, is Notes
of harmonising the national and tribal interests. In other words, the tribal problems have to be
viewed not in isolation but in the context of strategies operating in national life.
Tribal Movements
Numerous uprisings of the tribals have taken place beginning with the one in Bihar in 1772,
followed by many revolts in Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland. The important tribes involved in revolt in the nineteenth century
were Mizos (1810), Kols (1795 and 1831), Mundas (1889), Daflas (1875), Khasi and Garo (1829),
Kacharis (1839), Santhals (1853), Muria Gonds (1886), Nagas (1844 and 1879), Bhuiyas (1868) and
Kondhs (1817).
Before describing tribal movements, the typology of movements needs to be specified. Cameron
has classified them in four groups: (1) Reactionary, which seek to bring back the good old days.
Linton calls them ‘revivalistic’ movements. (2) Conservative, which are organised to obstruct the
current changes and seek to maintain status quo. Linton calls them ‘perpetuative’ movements. (3)
Revisionary, which desire specific changes by modifying the existing customs, improving or
purifying the culture or social order and eliminating some institutions. However, these movements
do not attempt to replace the existing structure as a whole. These movements have also been
termed as ‘social mobility’ movements. These movements are found mostly among low castes but
not amongst the tribals. (4) Revolutionary, which aim at replacing the whole of the culture or social
order with another more progressive. This does not mean that everything is to be replaced. This
movement is also termed as ‘revivalistic’ movement.
Most of the social movements among tribals in early India had their origins in religious upheavals
like Buddhism and Vaishnavism. Some Vaishnavist movements were found among Meithei tribe
in Manipur, Bhumij in West Bengal, Nokte Naga in Assam, Bathudi in Orissa, and tribals in
Jharkhand (Bihar), Orissa and south India (Mahapatra 1972: 402). These movements have also
been called religious movements. These were also found among Gonds in central India, Kond in
Orissa and Bhils in Rajasthan. The Britishers had to face some tribal movements in the nineteenth
and the twentieth centuries when they sought to stop head-hunting, human sacrifice, or slavery in
north-eastern India. There were also movements against oppressing landlords, moneylenders and
harassment by police and forest officials in Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and central Indian states. Bhagat
movements were found among Oraon of Chotanagpur, Bhils of Rajasthan, etc. These were revivalist
movements for avoiding animal food, liquor and blood sacrifices.
After independence, tribal movements may be classified into three groups: (1) movements due to
exploitation of outsiders (like those of the Santhals and the Mundas), (2) movements due to
economic deprivation (like those of the Gonds in Madhya Pradesh and the Mahars in Andhra
Pradesh), and (3) movements due to separatist tendencies (like those of the Nagas and Mizos).
The tribal movements may also be classified on the basis of their orientation into four types:
(1) movements seeking political autonomy and formation of a state (Nagas, Mizos, Jharkhand),
(2) agrarian movements, (3) forest-based movements, and (4) socio-religious or socio-cultural
movements (the Bhagat movement among Bhils of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, movement
among tribals of south Gujarat or Raghunath Murmu’s movement among the Santhals).
Such reformative movement was reported among the Mundas too under a powerful charismatic
leader Dharti Aba who preached Hindu ideals of ritual purity, morality, and asceticism, and
criticised the worship of priests. Among the Gonds in Madhya Pradesh, there were religious and
social mobility movements in the 1930s by charismatic leaders, claiming Kshatriya status and
seeking to purify religion and social institutions.
Surajit Sinha (1972:410) has referred to five types of tribal movements:
1. Ethnic rebellious movements during the British rule in the eighteenth and the nineteenth
centuries, like Birsa movement among the Mundas, Kol rebellion in 1832, Santhal rebellion in
1857-58 and Naga rebellion in the 1880s.

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