The Unsung Tribal Freedom Fighters of India

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The proverb goes, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter." The untold and more heartfelt tale of the bravery and sacrifices made by unheard tribal freedom fighters for their motherland Bharat is the subject of this edited book. They are the unsung heroes of Indian history since these 'Tribal Freedom Fighters' were never depicted in the big narratives of the country, as a consequence, they are unsung versions of the historiography of India. This book pays recognition to the lives of these unsung 'Adivasi Nayaks' from the northern to southern regions of India who took the initiative and fuelled the nationalist embers of dissent and revolt in all corners of the nation at large. These tribal fighters shed their lives in defence of the motherland after sacrificing their lives for the nationalistic cause. This edited collection of 26 papers disrupts the widely held notion that revolts of tribal freedom warriors began in India after 1857. Instead, it contends that this freedom struggle of tribal arose following the establishment of the East India Company of India.

Dr. Sushil Sarkar is an Assistant Professor of English at Kashipur Michael Madhusudan Mahavidyalaya, Purulia, West Bengal. Dr. Sarkar completed M.A. from Banaras Hindu University, Banaras. Under the supervision of Dr. Aroonima Sinha, Professor of Lalit Narayan Mithila University and with special guidance of Dr. Sanjit Kr. Mishra, Professor of English (ASH) at IIT Roorkee, he earned his Ph.D. Currently, his book 'Translation Works on Dalit and Tribal Life Writings' will be published soon. His research interests are in Dalit and Tribal Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Refugee Narratives, Third World and Fourth World Literature/Environmental Literature and Gendered Life Writings.

"Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;

Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile

The short and simple annals of the poor."

The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Thomas Gray

My heart aches to express the saga of unsung tribal warriors' and 'the short and simple annals of the poor' compared to the larger narratives of India's freedom movement. To pay tributes and respects to the unsung tribal heroes of Bharat as the lesser-known freedom fighters or unsung heroes is a tale of the unrecognised histography of India. These tribal leaders are the 'Unacknowledged Legislators of the World' and their history of Azadi is defined by the Indian value system as the micro- narratives of freedom struggles. This book on 'The Unsung Tribal Freedom Fighters of India' is an effort to recognise and honour the unsung tribal freedom fighters, many of whom are not at all well-known or little-known to the younger generations. Even the tribal society is in darkness as systematic documentation has not yet been done for posterity to commemorate and recollect their contributions. Tribal uprisings against the British in India started at least 75 years before the 1857 upheaval. These fights, which were fought with conventional bows, arrows, and spears, took place before the recognised political movement, emerged in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Indian tribes are typically free-loving people. Their reliance on the land and the forest for food is great. They, therefore, rebelled against the local government when the British routinely levied taxes on land, viewing it as an affront to their long-standing privileges. As we celebrate 75 years of independence, it is a great responsibility to realise that the parallel liberation movement flourished in our remote villages and forests, separated from the mainstream freedom movement unrecognised in the annals of history. The projection of The Unsung Tribal Freedom Fighters of India is a modest attempt to celebrate these mostly unknown tribal heroes and their epical movements for mother India, whose contributions are still largely unacknowledged. This collection is an effort to remember and respect the sacrifices made by courageous tribal freedom fighters who gave their lives resisting oppressive power and the British imperialism unleashed in the lives of innocent Indians. The Govt. of India is at 75 of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav attempts to encourage young generations and children to know about the supreme sacrifices and patriotism of our lesser-known tribal fighters as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav of Independence India. In this glorious commemoration of independence of India, this book is atribute to the contributions of the unheard voices of the tribal freedom fighters of India compiled through the ICSSR sponsored seminar entitled "The Saga of Unsung Tribal Heroes of Freedom Movement of India Projected in History, Literature and Print Media."

The Telugu film RRR drew the attention towards two of the lesser known heroes of India's Struggle for Independence: Komuram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju. Not that Komuram and Alluri were unknown. It is just that in the secondary school- level textbooks read in a wider part of our country, the contributions of Komuram and Alluri were not included. But so were the contributions of several other men and women who made incomparable contribution in the freedom struggle of India. I do not remember reading the names of Sido Murmu, Kanhu Murmu, or Birsa Munda in my Std. IX and Std. X History text books in which the description of India's Struggle for Independence began with the Sepoy Mutiny of the year 1857. Even if one accuses the makers of RRR of taking artistic liberties with actual events in history, one can take it as a consolation that this film made Komuram and Alluri familiar names outside Telangana.

Attending the ICSSR-sponsored National Seminar on The Saga of Unsung Tribal Heroes of Freedom Movement of India Projected in History, Literature and Print Media, organized by the Department of English, Kashipur Michael Madhusudan Mahavidyalaya, Purulia, West Bengal, in March 2023 was an eye-opening experience for me. The scholars at the seminar presented papers on Sido and Kanhu Murmu and their sisters, Fulo and Jhano, the heroes of the Santhal Rebellion of 1855; Birsa Munda; Deben Das Rabha of Kamakhyaguri; Pt. Sunderlal Sharma of Odisha; Shankar Mahali; Rani Gaidinliu of Rongmei Naga tribe; and a multitude of freedom fighters from what is now Chhattisgarh, including Shaheed Gaind Singh, Ramadhin Gond, Kunjbihari Choubey, and Tulsi Prasad Mishra. Of course, not all of these freedom fighters were tribals; but that does not in any way undermine their efforts in securing a life of honour and independence for their people.

I am grateful to Dr. Sushil Sarkar, Assistant Professor, Kashipur M.M. Mahavidyalaya, who was the Convenor of that seminar, and Dr. Bibhas Kanti Mandal, Principal, Kashipur M.Μ. Mahavidyalaya, for hosting me at their institute. I am grateful to the entire team at Kashipur M.M. Mahavidyalaya. But, most of all, I am grateful to all the scholars who I had the good fortune of listening to. I extend my best wishes to all those scholars, and I hope that this volume would serve its purpose of informing the world of the lesser known heroes of India's Struggle for Independence.