The Kherwar Movement
The Kherwar Movement
The Kherwar movement of the 1870s in Santhal Pargana was a different kind of resistance. It began as religious reform and social purification among the Santhals under Bhagirath Manjhi and turned into a refusal to pay rent and accept the revenue settlement.
Period — 1870s | Leader — Bhagirath Manjhi | Area — Santhal Pargana, Godda side
What the movement was
- A movement of the Santhals in Santhal Pargana, two decades after the Hool
- Led by Bhagirath Manjhi, often called Babajee by followersबार-बार पूछा जाता है
- The name Kherwar is drawn from the Santhals' own traditional name for themselves
- It began as religious reform — one god, purification, giving up liquor and animal sacrifice
- It then became a movement against the revenue settlement and against rent payment
Why it turned political
- The Hool of 1855 had won a separate district but not relief from rent and debt
- New survey and settlement work raised fears of fresh land loss
- Moneylenders and traders had returned to the tract within a generation
- Bhagirath Manjhi asked followers to stop paying rent to landlords and government
- He is said to have declared his own authority, which the British read as open sedition
Method and character
| Feature | Kherwar movement |
|---|---|
| Nature | Reform plus non-payment, largely non-violent |
| Core demand | End of rent burden and unjust settlement |
| Religious side | Monotheism, purity, giving up liquor and sacrifice |
| Organisation | Village level preaching and mass gatherings |
| British response | Arrest of leaders and suppression of gatherings |
Why this movement matters
- It shows the shift from armed rising to reform and non-payment as method
- It links religious renewal with economic protest, a pattern repeated by Birsa and the Tana Bhagats
- It kept Santhal Pargana politically active between the Hool and the twentieth century
- It fed directly into the demand that produced the SPT Act of 1949
- It is the standard example of a socio-religious tribal movement in state papers
Names and terms
- Kherwar — traditional self-name of the Santhals
- Bhagirath Manjhi — the movement's central leader
- Babajee — the title his followers used for him
- Godda — the district most associated with his activity
- Safa Hor — the closely linked purification stream of the same movement
The Santhal Pargana story in one line each
- 1832 — Damin-i-Koh demarcated and Santhals settled in the tract
- 1855-56 — the Hool under Sidhu and Kanhu; Santhal Parganas district created
- 1870s — the Kherwar and Safa Hor stream under Bhagirath Manjhi
- 1876 onward — survey and settlement operations deepen the land question
- 1949 — the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act finally restricts land transfer
- The same grievance runs through all five entries — land, rent and debt
खेरवार संथालों का अपना पारंपरिक नाम है। इसीलिए यह आंदोलन धार्मिक सुधार और सामाजिक शुद्धि से शुरू होकर लगान-विरोध तक पहुंचा।
Memory hook — Kherwar ka do-hissa jod — Pehle sudhar, phir lagaan se inkaar. Neta ek hi naam — Bhagirath Manjhi. Jagah ek hi — Santhal Pargana.
Yahan confuse hote hain — Kherwar aur Hool alag hain, chahe dono Santhal ke hon.
✗ Kherwar movement was led by Sidhu-Kanhu | ✓ Hool — Sidhu-Kanhu, 1855; Kherwar — Bhagirath Manjhi, 1870s
✗ Kherwar ek sashastra vidroh tha | ✓ Kherwar mukhyatah sudhar aur lagaan-inkaar ka andolan tha
Exam pointer — JPSC me is topic se 'socio-religious movement' wala angle poochha jaata hai, aksar Tana Bhagat ke saath tulna me. JSSC CGL aur JKCE me seedha — Kherwar aandolan ka neta kaun. Ek line ka uttar chahiye, isliye naam aur dashak pakka rakho.
Ek nazar me
- Period — 1870s, Santhal Pargana
- Leader — Bhagirath Manjhi, called Babajee
- Community — Santhal
- Kherwar is the Santhals' own traditional name
- Began as religious reform and purification
- Turned into refusal to pay rent and reject settlement
- Largely non-violent in method
- Closely linked with the Safa Hor stream
- Comes after the Hool and before the Ulgulan
- Feeds into the demand behind the SPT Act, 1949