The Santal Rebellion 1855–1856: The Call of Ṭhạkur

331 Pages·2022·17.197 MB·English

by  Peter B. Andersen

THE SANTAL REBELLION 1855–1856
The book presents a new interpretation of the Santal Rebellion, the Hul 1855–1856,
drawing on the colonial sources as well as Santal memories. It offers a critique of
postcolonial approaches that overlook specifically tribal perspectives and see the Hul
as a class-based peasant rebellion.
The author analyses the Hul and its participants – the Santals and their opponents,
both the colonial administration and the Bengalis. He also looks at the attempts of
the Hul’s leaders, Sido and Kạnhu, to reform the Santal religion. Offering a new,
respectful reading of the Hul’s religious legitimation, the book argues that changes in
Santal religion and ethics were responses to the colonial regime’s new and aggressive
economic order. The Hul’s leaders, Sido and Kạnhu, demanded the introduction
of just laws based on the universal principle of equality. This historical approach
leads to a call for the inclusion of the voice of tribal and Ādivāsī minorities when
formulating politics for their development in the 21st century.
The book is relevant for researchers and students of social history, social reform,
tribal and indigenous studies, postcolonial studies and South Asian studies.
Peter B. Andersen is a sociologist of religion and an associate professor in the
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen,
Denmark. His main areas of interest are modernity and the changes in religion in
the modern period up to the present. His early work focused on the transmission of
Hindu and Buddhist practices and beliefs into Santal religious practices, and on the
change from oral to print transmission of knowledge among the Santals. In India,
he has worked in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu, among the Bodos in Assam, and among
the Santals in several eastern Indian states. His Dr Ambedkar Memorial Lecture
at NISWASS was published as Santals: Glimpses of Culture and Identity (2005).
He co-authored  From Fire-Rain to Rebellion: Reasserting Identity through
Narratives (with M. Carrin and S.K. Soren, 2011) and edited The Bodo of Assam:
Revisiting a Classical Study from 1950/ Halfdan Siiger (with S.K. Soren, 2015) and,
most recently, Re-Interrogating Civil Society in South Asia: Critical Perspectives
from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (with Rubya Mehdi and Amit Prakash, 2021).
Several articles, including collaborations with Kumkum and Ranjit Bhattacharya, and
with Boro Baski, address literature in minority languages. In Denmark, he has helped
to design and conduct a number of surveys and is a member of the European Values
Study working group. In 2021, findings from his independent survey on the COVID-
19 crisis in Denmark, ‘Covid-19 – Religion and Existential Wellbeing’, were published
as a thematic issue of the Danish Journal Religionsvidenskabeligt Tidsskrift.

THE SANTAL REBELLION
1855–1856
The Call of Ṭhạkur
Peter B. Andersen
First published 2023
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 Peter B. Andersen
The right of Peter B. Andersen to be identifed as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-27346-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-37460-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-34030-0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/b23196
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
TO THE MEMORY OF DR DHIRENDRA NATH BASKEY

CONTENTS
List of illustrations ix
Preface x
Glossary xv
1 Introduction 1
2 A brief note on existing research related to the Santal
rebellion 34
3 Sources of information related to the Santal rebellion
and Santal religion 42
4 The Santals and the Damin-i-Koh 57
5 Changes of religious mood in the run-up to the Santal
rebellion 69
6 The course of the Santal rebellion 95
7 Transformation of religion and ritual legitimation 141
8 Purity and atrocities 192
9 Aftermath and amends? 212
10 The Santal rebellion on the background of Indian
religion in the 19th century 225
vii
CONTENTS
11 Identities and rebellions: Tribal or peasant 238
12 Logics, ethics and existence 246
13 Summary and conclusions 259
Appendix I: Place names 275
Appendix II: Bengal Judicial Proceedings 278
References 289
Index 304
viii
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
4.1 The Rajmahal Hills 58
4.2 Revenue received on account of Damun lands 62
5.1 ‘Sonthal Dance by Moonlight’ 72
5.2 ‘Sonthal Trophy’ 87
6.1 Sido 96
6.2 March from Nagore 119
6.3 ‘The 45th Regiment Burning down a Santhal Village
and Recovering Plunder’ 125
6.4 ‘Santal prisoners and an informer’ 132
6.5 ‘Santal prisoners being led away’ 133
8.1 Map of Major Shuckburgh’s Santal village-burning tour 193
8.2 ‘The Savage and the Maiden’ 201
9.1 ‘Searching for the Santals’ 221
Map
1.1 The Area, 1855 1
ix