When the colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905, and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce, the people of Bastar were very worried. Some villages were allowed to stay on in the reserved forests on the condition that they worked free for the forest department in cutting and transporting trees, and protecting the forest from fires. Subsequently, these came to be known as ‘forest villages’. People of other villages were displaced without any notice or compensation. For long. So villagers had been suffering from increased land rents and frequent demands for free labour and goods by colonial officials. Then came the terrible famines, in 1899-1900: and again in 1907-1908. Reservations proved to be the last straw.
People began to gather and discuss these issues in their village councils, in bazaars and at festivals or wherever the headmen and priests of several villages were assembled. The initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger forest, where reservation first took place, Although there was no single leader, many people speak of Gunda Dhur, from village Neth anar, as an important figure in the movement. In 1910, mange boughs, a lump of earth, chillies and arrows, began circulating between villages. These were actually messages inviting villagers to rebel against the British. Every village contributed something to the rebellion expenses. Bazaars were looted, the houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were bum and robbed, and grain redistributed. Most of those who were Attacked were in some way associated with the colonial state and its ppressive laws. William Ward, a missionary who observed the events, e: From all directions came streaming into Jagdalpur, police, chants, forest peons, tchoolmasters and immigrants.
Source E
‘Bhondia collected 400 men, sacrificed a number of goats and started off to intercept the Dewan who was expected to return from the direction of Bijapur. This mob started on the 10th February, burnt the Marenga school, the police post, lines and pound at Keslur and the school at Tokapal (Rajur), detached a contingent to burn Karanji school and captured a head constable and four constables of the State reserve police who had been sent out to escort the Dewan and bring him in. The mob did not maltreat the guard seriously but eased them of their weapons and let them go. One party of rebels under Bhondia Majhi went off to the Koer river to block the passage there in case the Dewan left the main road. The rest went on to Dilmilli to stop the main road from Bijapur. Buddhu Majhi and Harchand Naik led the main body.’ Letter from De Brett, Political Agent, Chhattisgarh Feudatory States to Commissioner, Chhattisgarh Division, 23 June 1910. Source F
Elders living in Bastar recounted the story of this battle they had heard from their parents:
Podiyami Ganga of Kankapal was told by his father Podiyami Tokeli that:
‘The British came and started taking land. The Raja didn’t pay attention to things happening around him, so seeing that land was being taken, his supporters gathered people. War started. His staunch supporters died and the rest were whipped. My father, Podiyami Tokell suffered many strokes, but he escaped and survived. It was a movement to get rid of the British. The British used to tie them to horses and pull them. From every village two or three people went to Jagdalpur: Gargideva and Michkola of Chidpal, Dole and Adrabundi of Markamiras, Vadapandu of Baleras, Unga of Palem and many others.”
Similarly, Chendru, an elder from village Nandrasa, said:
“On the people’s side, were the big elders – Mille Mudaal of Palem, Soyekal Dhurwa of Nandrasa, and Pandwa Majhi. People from every pargana camped in Alnar tarai. The paltan (force) surrounded the people in a flash. Gunda Dhur had flying powers and flew away. But what could those with bows and arrows do? The battle took place at night. The people hid in shrubs and crawled away. The army paltan also ran away. All those who remained alive (of the people), somehow found their way home to their villages.’
The British sent troops to suppress the rebellion. The adivasi leaders tried to negotiate, but the British surrounded their camps and fired upon them. After that they marched through the villages flogging and punishing those who had taken part in the rebellion. Most villages were deserted as people fled into the jungles. It took three months (February – May) for the British to regain control. However, they never managed to capture Gunda Dhur. In a major victory for the rebels, work on reservation was temporarily suspended, and the area to be reserved was reduced to roughly half of that planned before 1910.
The story of the forests and people of Bastar does not end there. After Independence, the same practice of keeping people out of the forests and reserving them for industrial use continued. In the 1970s, the World Bank proposed that 4,600 hectares of natural sal forest should be replaced by tropical pine to provide pulp for the paper industry. It was only after protests by local environmentalists that the project was stopped.
Let us now go to another part of Asia, Indonesia, and see what was happening there over the same period.
Language: English