Modern History Of Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK In English)

With the decline of Mughal Empire, the Maratha power rose-up in Jharkhand region. This is the period when the British East India Company also kept their eyes on the region. Among them, the most powerful and strategic was the British who came India for trading purpose but gradually annexed many areas to create their own territory, that was later known as the 'British Empire.'

The Advent of the British in India and Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK in English)

The British rule did not establish directly in India. At first, they spread their trading relations in most of the states of India and gradually established their role from one region to another and finally in Jharkhand region. India had been an attractive destination for foreign invaders since ancient times.

Arrival of the British in the Jharkhand State

On 12th August, 1765, the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II gave the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the East India Company. Jharkhand (then was a part of Bihar) was also came under the control of the British. British arrived in Jharkhand in 1767 AD.

Causes of the British Advent in Jharkhand

The main causes of the British advent in Jharkhand were as follows ▸ East India Company was afraid for its trade due to the opposition of Mir Qasim and the Marathas in the Gangetic valley of Bihar and the Santhal Pargana.
▸ The Company officers were often contravened by the Zamindars of South Bihar, when the British forced to pay tribute, they took shelter in the forest areas of Chhota Nagpur and Palamu.
▸ The Marathas became the real threat to the company's Western frontiers in Bihar.
This fact made the Chhota Nagpur and Palamu strategically very important for the British. Thus, they tried to control the hills and forts of these two regions.

British Advent in Various Places of Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK in English)

British advent in various places of Jharkhand were as follows

British Advent in Rajmahal

▸ Rajmahal was the capital of Shuja in the Mughal period. Dr Gabriel Boughton was the representative of the British East India Company.
▸ The company got the permission to monetise their coins in the royal mint until 1681, but in 1702, the Mughal-Company relations became so strained that the Company officers were imprisoned in the fort by the Mughals.
▸ In 1708, the same incident happened between the Company and Quli Khan. In 1763, Major Adams attacked on the territory of Nawab Mir Qasim and the Company gained rule of Rajmahal area.
▸ This is apparent that the possession of British rule over Rajmahal had been completed before gaining the Diwani (Revenue Administration) of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.

British Advent in Singhbhum

After gaining the Diwani right in 1765, the British entered in Jharkhand through Singhbhum. They had control over Midnapur area (West Bengal) in 1760. This helped the British to occupy Singhbhum and its adjoining areas easily.
At that time Singhbhum had three parts

Dhalbhum

▸ Ferguson was assigned for the expedition on Singhbhum in AD 1767. At first, he conquered Jhargram.
▸ Due to this expedition, the frightened rulers of Ramgarh, Silda and Jambani accepted the British subordination. Then the Company forces marched to Dhalbhum and defeated the ruler but the ruler of Dhalbhum burnt his fort before leaving and it was captured by the British force in AD 1767.
▸ The ruler of Dhalbhum sent to Midnapur and this battle ended with the accession of Jagannath Dhal on the Dhalbhum throne with an agreement of repayment a tribute of ` 5,500 per annum.
▸ After sometime Jagannath Dhal denied to pay the tribute to the British and enjoyed the status of independent ruler. Then the Company sent Lt Rook to teach him a lesson but Jagannath Dhal escaped.
▸ Lt Rook made his brother Nimu Dhal as the new king. Then Bhumij Revolt started against the new king.
▸ Jagannath Dhal continued to wage war against the Company. Later, the Company declared him as the ruler of Dhalbhum in AD 1777 after the agreement on increased tribute and not to entertain rebel forces.

Porhat

▸ In 1720, the ruler of Porhat, Ghanshyam Singh was also provided an agreement to pay a tribute in return for the safety and security of his territory.
▸ The ruler of Porhat did this for his own benefits as he wanted to obtain the statue of Pauri Devi from the Seraikela ruler.
▸ He wanted to establish his supremacy over Seraikela and Kharsawan and he also wanted to get rid of Hos suppression with the British assistance.

Kolhan

▸ Kolhan was the centre of Ho tribe. The Hos were freedom loving and a warrior class but exploited by the Singhbhum rulers who used them in their struggle against their own rivals.
▸ Due to the attack of Ho on Nagbanshi areas the trade route through Kolhan became unsafe. The event brought attention of the British towards this area.
▸ In AD 1820, the Company sent Major Rufsez with a strong force to the Ho area to suppress them but he had to setback against the Hos when he tried to help the Singhbhum ruler in the matter of collection of tax.
▸ Then Col Richard came with a big army and after a month of battle, Hos accepted the sovereignty of the British.
▸ After few years, again Hos participated very actively in the Kol Rebellion of 1831-32. In 1836, the British force came to suppress the revolt and after 4 months of battle, the Hos surrendered in February, 1837.
▸ It was the first time when the Hos entered in the direct relation with the Company with the same condition as were with the rulers of Porhat and Dhalbhum.
▸ The rulers of Singhbhum accepted the supremacy of the British in AD 1890.

British Advent in Palamu

▸ Captain Camac came to Palamu with his force in 1771. At that time the fort was under the occupation of Chiranjit Rai and Jainath Singh. When Camac proceeded to Palamu, they both managed to escape to Ramgarh and the fort was captured by the British.
▸ The Patna Council instructed Camac on 19th February, 1771 to take position on Palamu and to declare Gopal Rai as the ruler on a condition of payment of revenue.
▸ The Council was pleased with Camac's success against Palamu and honoured and rewarded him with the others who had assisted the British Army during the expedition.
▸ On 9th April, 1771, the Patna Council resolved to leave Palamu under the management of Gopal Rai and Bhawani Singh, the Faujdar of Palamu.
▸ In June 1771, Jainath Singh again started disturbances in Palamu and was suppressed by Lt Mackenzie, Lt Keating and Lt. Camac. Finally, he was expelled from Palamu and took shelter in Surguja.
▸ By the mid of July 1771, the East India Company gained its authority over the whole of Palamu.

British Advent in Chhota Nagpur

▸ It is observed that to establish the authority over Chhota Nagpur was easy for the British East India Company as compared to the other states.
▸ The Nagbanshi ruler, Drip Nath Shah did not have friendly relation with Mukund Singh who was the contemporary ruler of Ramgarh.
▸ Mukund Singh carried on several expeditions into Nagvanshi territory on the pretext of realising arrears of revenue.
▸ Compelled by all these adverse conditions, the Nagvanshi ruler sent his lawyer to meet Captain Camac, when he was camping at Jai Nagar in February, 1771.He had supported Camac in his Palamu campaigns by extending supplies and other necessities.
▸ The Nagbanshi ruler had also sent one of his subordinate chiefs, the Raja of Bundu to help Camac.
▸ Later Drip Nath Shah went personally to meet Camac at Satbarwa. He accepted himself as a subject of the Company and agreed to pay revenue of ` 12,000 besides giving help against the Marathas.
▸ Drip Nath Shah made several requests to Camac to allow him to pay taxes directly to the Company instead of through the ruler of Ramgarh.
▸ The Patna Council accepted the proposal in August, 1771. Drip Nath Shah was granted a Patta for 3 years from 1771 to 1773. The revenue was fixed at ` 36,000 payable in the treasury at Azimabad (Patna).
▸ Wilkin Law came into existence in Chhota Nagpur in 1834. It was meant to safeguard Adivasi lands and culture.

British Advent in Hazaribagh

▸ There were many reasons of the British entry in Hazaribagh. These were : – Ramgarh was a very important part of Hazaribagh. The ruler of Ramgarh, Raja Mukund Singh had disputes with the Nagbanshi ruler.
– Ramgarh was facing internal disputes and discontentment.
– Hostile attitude of Ramgarh ruler towards the British rule.
– Raja Mukund Singh openly supported the Cheros in their struggle against the British.
– Disputes with the neighbouring rulers.
▸ Mukund Singh sent a messenger, Ramchandra Singh to the British with the offer of friendship. Captain Camac accepted the offer and forwarded the same to the Patna Council.
▸ The Patna Council decided to impose annual revenue of ` 21,000 payable from 1772 and sent a Patta for 3 years (1772-75), but the ruler of Ramgarh felt that the imposition was too heavy to bear. He wanted to pay the arrears and current revenue in the form of cash and kind.
▸ Camac refused to accept his proposal.
▸ Mukund Singh did not sign the Patta and declared that he wanted to remain independent. He also announced that the foreign domination was not tolerable.
▸ The failure of agreement between the ruler of Ramgarh and British made the British more hostile to the ruler of Ramgarh.
▸ Camac decided to continue his policy of divide and rule. The Ramgarh ruler got in touch with the Maratha ruler of Ratanpur.
▸ The Marathas accepted the request and sent some of their Maratha warriors in Jharkhand. This prompted the rulers of Tori and Kunda to fight against the British. Meanwhile Tej Singh staked his claimed on the throne of Ramgarh on the advice of Camac. Camac took some counter measures and invaded Kunda.
▸ In AD 1772, a war broke out between Tej Singh and Mukund Singh. The rulers of Palamu and Chhota Nagpur assisted Tej Singh by the instruction of the British.
Despite this, Tej Singh was defeated and he escaped to Nawada. Reacting to this, the Patna Council ordered an attack on Ramgarh.
▸ After making a lot of strategy, Camac sided with Chhota Nagpur and fought with Tej Singh but Mukund Singh of Ramgarh could not fight and Ramgarh was annexed to the British Empire.
▸ In 1773, a new district of Ramgarh was created in which Ramgarh, Palamu and Chhota Nagpur were included. Camac was put incharge of this new district.

British Advent in Manbhum

▸ The credit to annex Manbhum in the British Empire is given to Major Ferguson.
Manbhum was very big region including Jharia, Katras, Parra, Balmundi, Balrampur, Panchet, Raghunathpur, Amya Nagar, Jhaldha, Jaipur, Hesla, Ichagarh, Barabhum and Chatra areas.
▸ There were five big and powerful Zamindars namely Supur, Chatra, Manbhum, Barabhum and Amya Nagar, which were almost independent.
▸ When the British force enter there, under the command of Ferguson, they faced strong resistance of the subjects.
▸ Finally, British were able to deploy a small contingent of force in Manbhum and fixed annual tribute.

Revolt of 1857 in Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK in English)

▸ The Revolt of 1857 was started in Jharkhand under the leadership of Madho Singh and followed by sepoys of Ramgarh Battalion against the British rule.
▸ It took place in Ranchi and also got the support of Vishwanath Shahdeo and Pande Ganpat Rao but the British were succeeded to suppress the Revolt of 1857.
▸ The Revolt of 1857 in the Singhbhum region of Jharkhand took place under the leadership of Raja Arjun Singh.
▸ Spreading of the movement at this place was the joint effort of the many prominent revolutionaries of Bengal who had come and worked in this region.
▸ After this incident, the British became so worried and directed the Company officials to verify the recruits before confirming them in employment.

British Advent in Seraikela and Kharsawan

▸ The Company tried to establish control over Seraikela and Kharsawan but their efforts ended in failure.
▸ The contemporary Seraikela was spread over 700 sq km to 225 sq km. In 1934, these two areas were amalgamated in the British Empire.
▸ The British Resident of Odisha started looking after Saraikela and Kharsawan was entrusted to the Eastern state agency.

Arrivals of Christians in Jharkhand

▸ Christian missionaries came to Jharkhand in 1845. Gossner Mission was the first Christian Mission.
▸ Four propagators were sent by German Father GS Gossner on 2nd November, 1845. They were Emilo Scotch, Calser August Brent, Friedrich Water and Theodore Jac.
▸ On 1st December 1845, for the purpose to help orphans, widows and poors, they established Bethe Sada (House of Pity).
▸ On 9th June, 1845, four Kabirpanthi adivasis i.e. Naveen, Bandhu, Ghuren and Keshav were baptised and included in Christian Mission.
▸ Missions were established in Gobindpur (1850), Chaibasa (1854), Hazaribagh (1854) and Pithoria (1855).
▸ Anglican Mission/Church of England Mission entered Jharkhand in April, 1869.
▸ In Jharkhand, Roman Catholic Mission started in 1869.
▸ The United Free Church of Scotland was started as Mission in Pachamba (Giridih) in 1871.
▸ Dublin University Mission started Colleges in 1899.
▸ Church of North India, GE Catholic Church was the first which spread modern education in Jharkhand.