Agrarian Discontent and Growth of Nationalism in Manbhum (1767-1925)

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The People of Manbhum with their castes and sub-castes and their zamindars assumed freedom from the Nawabs when Watts and Clive joined in the conspiracy against Sirajuddaulah. But these Bhum-ending tracts of Manbhum, Dhalbhum, Barabhum including Panchet enjoyed freedom for the last five hundred years and did not pay revenue to any one either to the Mughals or the Nawabs. But this was not the case with the neighbouring zamindars of Midnapore and Burdwan. The zamindars of Manbhum tracts did not pay revenues to the British even after Plassey and within ten years after that battle carried on a war with the English in 1767. It was not the case of Midnapore and Burdwan who paid regular revenues to the Nawab and from September 1760 paid their taxes to the British. So these wars of the Manbhum Zamindars with their Ghatwals and Digwars were known as the Chuar Rebellion giving scope to the formation of a non-regulated district in 1805 known as Jungle Mahals. This revolt extended by the Bhumijs upto 1832, when the foundation of Manbhum district became possible in 1833.

The second phase of this struggle deals with the introduction of English education in India, resulting the growth of an intellectual middle class. Imbibed with this new spirit, nationalism emerged in our country for the partition of Bengal in 1905. Now the rural people of Manbhum also, began to join in this movement in large number, creating a new phase in our freedom struggle from 1925.

The writer Dr. Sudipta Mukherjee Chakraborty was born in 1966 in an affluent family of village Bagda District Purulia, West Bengal. She has a brilliant academic record at Varanasi all throughout her life starting from Durga Charan Girls Inter College. Then she obtained a first class first B.A. (Hons.) degree in History in 1987 followed by an M.A. degree, obtaining first class in 1989 both from Banaras Hindu University. She obtained an M.Phil. degree also from BHU in 1990.

Afterwards she had to shift the place of her study including research where she obtained Ph.D. in 2006 from the University of Burdwan. After spending a few years as a faculty member of History at Amar Kanan College, and Memari College, she is now an Associate Professor of History at Burdwan Raj College.

During her brilliant academic career at Varanasi, she became an Awardee of National Scholar of History.

In recent years, local or regional history has become the subject of historical scholarship. The researches already done on local history tend to focus on the fundamental characteristics of life and society of a given region at a specified time and the dimension of local-regional integration. The study of a district seems no doubt about the validity as well as relevance of local history. It helps us in understanding the history of a wider region or national history. The study of local history illuminates local diversities which are essential for a comprehensive knowledge of a wider region.

The thesis "Agrarian Discontent and Growth of National Consciousness in Manbhum District 1767-1925, deals mainly with the discontent of the people in the district from the beginning of the British rule. The area under review is the defunct district of Manbhum, now comprising the districts of Purulia in West Bengal, Dhanbad in Jharkhand and the western part of the district of Bankura. Originally the district of Manbhum was created by the British in 1833 under the Government of Bengal, declaring it as a non-regulated area. The district had been so declared due to utter agrarian discontent of the people and the zamindars, and their revolt against the British Raj. The revolt of the peasantry as well as the people culminated in the armed-struggle against the British as early in 1767, just after the grant of Diwani of Bengal to the English East India Company. This revolt continued in different phases the earliest one was termed by the British as the Chuar Rebellion, another known as the Bhumij Rebellion and the third was the Santhal Rebellion. The last was associated with the revolt of 1857. Even then it continued thereafter, here and there, giving no respite to the British.