Talk:Birsā Mundā, the Ruler of Tribal Hindu hearts

By Vishal Agarwal

Birsā Muṇḍā was born in a family of Muṇḍā tribals in the Indian state of Jharkhand. In those days, the Christian missionaries from England and other European countries had swarmed the region and used various means to convert these poor and illiterate Hindu tribals to Christianity. Birsā was an intelligent boy and got admitted to a Christian school of his area. But, as a pre-condition to admission, he had to convert to Christianity and change his name to Birsā Dāvid.

For some time, his education went well. But one day, he got infuriated with the abuses that a teacher at his German Mission school hurled at Muṇḍā traditions. He realized that all European Christian missionaries were united in their contempt for Hindu tribal customs. He left the school in protest, and at the age of fifteen, went to study under a Hindu scholar Ānanda Paṇḍeya. Birsā became familiar with Hindu scriptures like the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, and adopted Hindu customs like vegetarianism and wearing the sacred thread. Armed with Hindu teachings, he went back to the Muṇḍā tribals to preach Vaiṣṇava Hindu values to them. He asked them to give up eating meat, witchcraft, polygamy and also taught the importance of worshipping Bhagavān regularly. To undermine the Christian missionaries and oppose collection of taxes from the tribals by the Churches, he came upon a novel idea. He declared himself as the Prophet (in opposition to Jesus Christ) and asked his followers to stop paying taxes to the British masters.

The British government, with the help of the landlords, was gradually ousting the poor tribals from their traditional forest lands, in which they had lived for centuries. The situation looked very hopeless to the Muṇḍā tribals. He was jailed for two years. But soon after his release, he started organizing the tribals once again.

The Christian missionaries of the region were very unhappy to see the growing popularity of Birsā Muṇḍā because it was a big hurdle in their efforts to convert Hindu tribals to Christianity. He and Śālī – a Muṇḍā lady – began organizing an army of Muṇḍā Hindu tribals to launch a final assault on some Christian missions of the area. Soon, a large number of these tribals were up in arms and they began to free their land from the British during 1899–1900. The British forces slaughtered with their guns hundreds of tribals who were armed with nothing more than bows and arrows.

The British and the Christian missionaries were terrified of Birsā Muṇḍā’s influence on the rebellious tribals and their rising power. One night, in March 1900, as he was asleep, the British captured him and jailed him. But they were scared to execute him, for the fear of inciting a great tribal rebellion in the area. Unfortunately, Birsā Muṇḍā died mysteriously in the prison in June that year. Some say that he was poisoned.

Although Birsā Muṇḍā lived a short life of 25 years, his legacy is celebrated by Hindu tribals even today not only in his native state of Jharkhand, but also in many other parts of India. In fact, the Bihār Military Regiment of the Indian Army still uses the words ‘Birsā Muṇḍā kī Jai’ as its war cry.

Birsā Muṇḍā’s life is very inspirational for many reasons. He was a poor tribal from a very ordinary family. His people, the Muṇḍās, were living a life without any hope, and felt helpless before the might of the British Empire, the landlords and the missionaries. Birsā Muṇḍā inspired the tribals to practice Hindu ideals and unite against the might of their exploiters. He inspired them to be proud of their heritage, and reject the negative views that the missionaries had for their traditions. Even though his people were armed with nothing more than bows and arrows, their rebellion made it clear to the British rulers of India that the tribals were not weak, that they were willing to fight for their rights, and were proud of their Hindu Muṇḍā heritage.