Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs

Jharkand meaning the forest area is geographically known as the Chotanagpur plateau, forming the north-eastern portion of peninsular plateau of India. It is an area of great unevenness consisting of succession of plateaus, hills and valleys drained by several large rivers like Damodar, Subarnrekha, Barakar, Brahamari and Mahanadi etc...

Geologically as part of the landmass millions of years ago, Jharkhand as ‘ancient’ land a part of Gondwanaland. The hills in Jharkhand are older than the Himalayas. The rivers were flowing before the Ganga. Jharkhand has always been strategically important located as it was at the tri-junction of three great kingdoms of the past Magadh in the north. Kalinga in the south and Gauda in the east. For a long time Jharkhand functioned as a buffer the mighty Magadh empire and the powerful Kalinga Kingdom. The area has been known by various names Vanamchal, Jangal Mahal and Jharkhand in different history.

The Jharkhand history and its reference goes back to the 13th century. Jay Singh Deo, king of Orissa, in 13th had declared himself to be the king of Jharkhand. Jharkhand has also been mentioned in the copper plate of the period. In the bio-graphy of the 15th century saint Mahaparabhu Chaitanya Devs also it is mentioned that the great master passed through Jharkhand during his pilgrimage to Vrindavan from Jaganathpuri. In 1585 during the time of Akbar, the king of Chhotanagpur was a tributary ruler under Akbar. In ‘Akbarnama’ the region of Chhotanagpur is described as Jharkhand (Jangal Pradesh). The Jharkhand region was famous by another name Khukhra during the Mughal period which was famous for its Diamonds.

In 1605, after the death of Akbar, this area has witnessed a very bad law and order situation and was declared independent by local chiefs. In 1616, during the period of Jahangir, Ibraham Khan was Governor of Bihar. A battle was fought between the then king of Chhotanagpur Raja Durjan Sal and Ibraham Khan in which Raja Durjan Sal was defeated. Ultimately 1771, Jharkhand came under the East India Company. Some remarkable local revolution continued to take place from time to time e.g., the Munda uprising (1797, 1807 & 1919), the Bhumij revolt of Manbhum (1798 & 1834), the Chero uprising (1800) the kol rebellion (1820), the Santhal insurrection (1835) and the Birsa movement (1895-1900) etc...

No recount of Jharkhand can be taken as complete without paying homage to Birsa Munda who towards the end of 19th Century provived an entirely new direction to the tribal movement. In many ways it was Birsa Munda who sowed the seed of a separate land for the people of the Chotanagpur plateau. Having been exposed to western culture during his association with missionary organisation, Birsa Munda started what he called Ulgulan (revolution) to shake off the British yoke as well as feudal landlordism. His followers identified him with sun-god, a healer and a miracle worker.

There is no doubt that Birsa occupies a truly exalted position as a great protagonist of tribal rights and is the most revered national hero of the Chhotanagpur Plateau. While he could not defeat the British they were forced to recognise the age old ‘Khunkatti System’ (land of owned by cleaning forests) as being beneficial to the tribals. This gave rise to the 1908 Chhotanagpur Tenacy Act to arrange further alienation of tribal lands. Birsa Munda’s anti-raj image was transferred into a silent, yet powerful icon of national resistance, symbolic of a vanishing tribal environmental heritage. His heroism and sacrifice from the theme of many inspiring folk songs sung even today at sunrise and sunset in this land of minerals - his land Jharkhand. With his death, the tribal nationalist agitation instaed of subsiding, gathered speed and became even more wide spread which finally culminated in the Parliament passing the Bihar Recognisation Bill on August 2, 2000 to create the separate State of Jharkhand. And as a result Jharkhand reached its crowning glory on 15th November 2000 when the state of Jharkhand was actually demarcated on the map of India. 15th November was chosen to mark this momentous since it was Birsa Munda’s birth day, it is a happy day for the people of this area.