Previous Year Question
With reference to the history of India, “Ulgulan” or the Great Tumult is the description of which of the following events ?
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
‘Ulgulan’ means the ‘Great Tumult’ or ‘Great Rebellion’. It was the Munda rebellion of 1899–1900 led by Birsa Munda in the Chotanagpur region. Therefore, option (d) is correct.
A principal objective of the rebellion was the restoration of the traditional Khuntkatti community land rights of the Mundas and the liberation of tribal land from the control of outsiders.
Munda discontent was directed against the British land-revenue system, the occupation of land by landlords, moneylenders and other ‘dikus’, and the economic exploitation of tribal communities.
Birsa Munda presented the vision of a ‘Munda Raj’ free from British rule and exploitation. He was not merely a political leader but also a religious and social reformer. His followers called him ‘Dharti Aaba’.
The rebellion was suppressed by the colonial government and Birsa Munda was arrested in 1900. He died in Ranchi Jail at the age of 25.
The movement brought the question of tribal land rights prominently before the colonial government. Provisions concerning these rights were later consolidated more comprehensively in the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, which restricted the transfer of tribal land.
Option (a) was a widespread military and civilian uprising; option (b) was the Mappila rebellion in Malabar in 1921; and option (c) was a peasant rebellion against forced indigo cultivation in Bengal. None of these was known as ‘Ulgulan’.