Birsa Munda and the Adivasi Identity

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Relevance: GS Paper I (Modern History, Society) & GS Paper II (Tribal Rights, Constitution)

The Indian Express

1 · What Happened

On 9 June, the death anniversary of the great Adivasi leader Birsa Munda, tribal groups in Jharkhand gathered to honour him and protect his ideals.

Their gathering connects to a heated modern debate — the “delisting” demand. Some groups argue that tribal individuals who convert to Christianity or Islam should lose their Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation benefits. Birsa’s followers reply that Adivasi identity comes from ancestry and land, not from religion — and that this was Birsa’s own vision.

2 · Who Was Birsa Munda?

Birsa Munda(15 November 1875 – 9 June 1900): was a 19th-century religious reformer and freedom fighter from the Chotanagpur plateau (today’s Jharkhand). People lovingly called him “Dharti Aaba” — Father of the Earth. He fought against the harsh exploitation of tribal people by outsiders and by British rule.

His Journey

1	Early break. He first studied in a missionary school but left it, hurt by the church’s mocking remarks about Munda customs.

2	His own faith. He founded the Birsait faith — one God, clean living, no witchcraft, no alcohol. It was separate from tribal Sarnaism, Christianity and Hinduism, giving the Mundas their own spiritual identity.

3	A bigger vision. He became the first to bind together three ideas — *Adivasi identity, religious independence, and self-rule (disum)*.

3 · The Ulgulan — “The Great Tumult”

The growing anger of the Chotanagpur tribes exploded into the Ulgulan (The Great Tumult) in the late 1890s. It was aimed at the British and at the dikus — outsider landlords and moneylenders who grabbed tribal land.

The climax — Dombari Buru (January 1899): Thousands of Birsa’s followers gathered on this hill in Khunti to assert their rights over their land. British forces surrounded them and fired into the unarmed crowd. In Adivasi memory, Dombari Buru is remembered as a site of massacre and a lasting symbol of resistance.

Martyrdom: Birsa was captured and died in Ranchi Jail on 9 June 1900. His dream of self-rule later inspired the Jharkhand statehood movement (led by Jaipal Singh Munda), which finally created Jharkhand in 2000.

4 · The Legislative Shield — CNT Act, 1908

The British crushed the rebellion by force — but its intensity forced them to protect tribal land by law. The result was the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act, 1908, still a vital shield today.

Recognised Custom Khuntkatti System Legally accepted the tribal way of clan-based, shared land ownership and village self-governance.	The Core Shield Section 46 Tribal land cannot be sold to non-Adivasis without the Deputy Commissioner’s prior permission.
Fast Justice Revenue Courts Only Land-grab cases go to Revenue Courts, not slow civil courts, for quicker decisions.	Why It Matters Stops Land Loss Without it, outsiders could easily take away the land that is the lifeline of Adivasi society.

5 · The “Delisting” Debate — The Heart of Today’s Story

The Pro-Delisting View		The Counter-View
Those who convert to Christianity or Islam leave behind tribal customs and rituals, so (they argue) they should lose ST reservation benefits.		Birsa’s descendants and historians say Adivasi identity is ethnic and ancestral, not religious. Importantly, Article 342 sets no religious condition for being an ST — unlike the rules for Scheduled Castes.

UPSC Value Box

Birsait Faith	Faith he founded — one God, clean living, no alcohol; a distinct Munda identity.
Ulgulan	“The Great Tumult” — Birsa’s rebellion (late 1890s) against the British and dikus (outsiders).
Dombari Buru (1899)	Hill in Khunti where British forces fired on unarmed followers; a symbol of resistance.
CNT Act, 1908	Chotanagpur Tenancy Act. Section 46 bars sale of tribal land to non-Adivasis without permission.
Khuntkatti	Traditional clan-based, shared (collective) ownership of tribal land.
Article 342 of Indian Constitution	Lets the President/Parliament list Scheduled Tribes — with no religious condition.
5th & 6th Schedules (Art. 244)	Give special self-rule and land protection to tribal areas.
PESA Act, 1996	Gives the Gram Sabha control over local resources — echoes Birsa’s idea of disum (self-rule).
Kartik Oraon Case	Held tribal identity is birth-based; one stays in the tribe after conversion if clan customs continue.
PM-JANMAN	Mission for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) — housing, health, development.
Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan	Scheme named after Birsa; fills infrastructure gaps in 60,000+ tribal villages.

MCQ Practice Question

Q. With reference to Birsa Munda and tribal land rights, consider the following statements:

The Ulgulan led by Birsa Munda was directed against both British authorities and non-tribal outsiders known as dikus.
The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 was enacted to make the sale of tribal land to non-Adivasis easier and faster.
Under Article 342, a community can be recognised as a Scheduled Tribe without any condition relating to religion.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 1 and 3 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

Statement 1 — Correct: The Ulgulan targeted both the British and the dikus (outsider landlords and moneylenders).
Statement 2 — Incorrect (the trap): The CNT Act was made to protect tribal land — Section 46 bars its easy sale to non-Adivasis. Its purpose has been reversed here.
Statement 3 — Correct: Article 342 carries no religious condition for ST status, unlike the framework for Scheduled Castes.

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