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Contents
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Page No.
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Preface
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The Background
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1
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From about the second half of the eighteenth century, the tribal
agrarian order in many parts of the Indian subcontinent began to disintegrate
under the pressure of the influx of the aliens,..
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Early Years (1872-94)
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12
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Centuries ago, the ancestors of Birsa, who belonged to the Purti
clan, in the course of their wanderings in search of a homeland for
themselves, came upon a river called Domdagara in the vicinity of Chutia,..
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The Making of a Prophet
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20
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Birsa's career so far except for his sensitivity to religious
influences was typical of a Sardar's. Then he rapidly evolved through a
sequence of interesting events, the agitator grew into a prophet in 1985.
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The Beginning of the Political Movement
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28
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Out of the innocuous religious overtones of the movement in 1985
emerged its agrarian and political character. Behind this change was the
growing influence at the Sardars,..
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The Interlude
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36
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The four years following the first phase of the movement were
marked by two famines, the passage of an ineffective piece of agrarian
legislation, the continuing Sardar agitation and the failure of the
government to curb Birsa's activities after his release from jail.
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The Uprising
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52
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The uprising of 1899-1900 threw into relief the ideas that
underlay it. In 1892, there were only covert suggestions of stopping payment
of rent to zamindars, holding lands rent-free and re-establishing the
Mundas'..
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The End
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69
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On 28 January the two leading Munda Sardars, Donka and Manjhia,
and thirty-two others surrendered in a body following the attachment of their
property.
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The Religious Movement of Birsa and the Birsaites
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79
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On 28 January the two leading Munda Sardars, Donka and Manjhia,
and thirty-two others surrendered in a body following the attachment of their
property.
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Consequences of the Movement
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94
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In 1900-1 though the agitation among the Mundas entirely died
away, the feelings which gave rise to it smouldered as widely as ever. The
relations between landlords and ryots were as unsatisfactory as they could
be,..
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