Small and big uprisings sprang in Eastern India from the beginning of the colonial regime. A few of these were as follow
KHASI UPRISING (1829-1832)
Khasi were hill tribes who lived in the region between the Garo and Jaintia hills. In 1783, they broke out the open rebellion against the British. The leader of the revolt were Tirut Singh and Ganga Singh. The war continued for 4 years. British Army burnt their villages and also resorted to economic blockade. In the year of 1832, Khasi chiefs surrendered and in January, 1833, Tirut Singh surrendered. The revolt was thus crushed.
AHOM REVOLT (1828-1833)
It broke out in Assam, under the leadership of Gomdhar Konwar. Ahom Revolt started because the British had pledged to withdraw from Assam after the First Burma War (1824-26), but they tried to incorporate Assam’s territories into the Company’s dominion. Finally, the Company gave upper Assam to Maharaja Purandar Singh Narendra, and part of the kingdom was restored to the Assamese king.
THE KOL UPRISING (1831-32)
This tribe was spread over the Chhotanagpur region. It resented the transfer of land from Kol headmen to outsiders, like the Muslim farmers. In 1831, the Kol rebels killed about a thousand outsiders. The main cause of the revolt was the British occupation of Singhbhum. This was resented by the Raja of Parashat. The revolt was suppressed only after large-scale military operations.
FARAIZI MOVEMENT (1840-70)
It developed among the peasants of Eastern Bengal, under the leadership of Haji Shariatullah. It was indigenous in origin and sought to purify Islam by purging all un-Islamic beliefs and practices and considered Kuran as their sole spiritual guide.
After the death of Shariatullah in 1839, his son Dadu Mian took over the leadership and mobilized the peasantry around an egalitarian ideology that all land belonged to God, and collecting rent or levying taxes on it was against divine law. Violent clashes with the zamindars and planters occurred throughout the 1840s and 1850s. There was a temporary lull in the movement after Dadu Mian’s death in 1862, but then it was renewed again at a different scale by his successor Naya Mian in the 1870s.
SANTHAL REBELLION (1855-56)
The Santhal rebellion occurred in the Rajmahal hills of the Santhal region. It was led by Sidhu and Kanhu as a reaction against outsiders, particularly landlords, police, and moneylenders. At the outset, Santhal rebels made tremendous gains and captured a large tract of land extending from Rajmahal hills to Birbhum district. However, the rebellion was suppressed and about 15000-20000 Santhals were killed. After the revolt was suppressed the colonial state stepped in very quickly and efficiently to redress the grievances of the Santhals, with the result that a more cordial relationship ensued. The Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act was passed and the territories that they inhabited were grouped under a new territorial unit Santhal Parganas and it was henceforth stipulated that the usual bureaucratic and judicial procedures of British India would not apply there. Further, there were special provisions for land rights and it became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to non-Santhals.
MUNDA UPRISING (1899-1900)
It took place in the Chhotanagpur region near Ranchi and is also known as Ulgulan. (Great Commotion). Birsa Munda was its leader.
The main reason for the revolt was interference and exploitation of the tribal population by dikes (outsiders such as new landlords and moneylenders) who had destroyed the joint settlements (Khuntikatti) of the Mundas.
To the twin challenges of agrarian breakdown and culture change, Birsa along with the Mundas responded through a series of revolts and uprisings under his leadership in the region South of Ranchi in 1899-1900. In fact, Birsa appeared to the tribals as their savior.
The movement seeks to assert the rights of the Mundas as the real proprietors of the soil and the expulsion of middlemen and the Britishers.
He revolted against the British government and local moneylenders by galvanizing the people at large. This movement was popularly known as Ulgulan (i.e. great revolt). Birsa was treacherously caught on 3rd February 1900 and died in mysterious conditions on 9th June 1900 in Ranchi jail.