Midnapore-Dhalbhum Uprisings in Bengal

The Midnapore and Dhalbhum uprisings were early civil rebellions against the East India Company in Eastern India. The British acquired control over Midnapore in 1760 and obtained Diwani rights over Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765. Following these political changes, the British administration introduced harsh revenue collection methods. Local zamindars, landholders, and ryots joined forces to resist foreign revenue officers and military detachments across the border tracts of Bengal and Jharkhand.

Main Causes of the Resistance

• Harsh Land Revenue Policy: The East India Company raised land revenue demands sharply after taking control of Bengal. The new revenue framework ruined traditional agrarian arrangements between zamindars and local cultivators.
• Dispossession of Native Chiefs: The British administration attempted to strip local zamindars of their hereditary lands if they failed to pay heavy annual tributes.
• Economic Exploitation of Ryots: British revenue collectors used force to collect land taxes. Local zamindars stood alongside their ryots to oppose British collectors, as highlighted by Henry Vansittart, the Governor of Fort William.
• Intrusion into Jungle Mahals: British forces demolished traditional mud forts and attempted to disarm tribal communities in the forest tracts of West Midnapore and Dhalbhum.

Course of the Revolt in Midnapore

In Midnapore, nearly 3,000 zamindars and talukdars maintained peaceful relations with local peasants before British intervention. When the British administration imposed new tax demands in the late 1760s, widespread discontent spread through the district. Zamindars like Damodar Singh organized armed bands of peasants to resist British tax collectors. Armed skirmishes broke out across the countryside in 1766. The rebels attacked Company revenue offices, intercepted tax collections, and protected local villages from British collectors.

Dhalbhum Rebellion under Jagannath Dhal

The Dhalbhum region experienced intense resistance starting in 1767. Jagannath Dhal, the Raja of Dhalbhum, refused to accept British authority or pay the demanded annual tribute.

• British Invasion: In early 1767, British troops under Captain Fergusson marched into Dhalbhum and captured the fort of Ghatsila. Jagannath Dhal destroyed his own property and fled into the forests to avoid capture.
• Installation of Baikuntha Dhal: The British deposed Jagannath Dhal and placed his nephew, Baikuntha Dhal, on the throne in exchange for an annual tribute of 5,500 rupees.
• Guerrilla Resistance: Jagannath Dhal mobilized local Bhumij and Chuar tribesmen to launch guerrilla attacks against British posts. The local population refused to recognize Baikuntha Dhal as their ruler.
• Reinstatement: Continuous warfare forced the East India Company to reinstate Jagannath Dhal as the ruler of Dhalbhum in 1777 to restore peace in the region.

Features of the Midnapore and Dhalbhum Uprisings

Suppression and Aftermath

The East India Company deployed military units across Midnapore and Dhalbhum to crush the uprisings. British officers constructed military posts throughout the Jungle Mahals to secure communications and revenue collection routes. By 1774, large-scale armed resistance in Midnapore was suppressed. Over the following decades, the British administration dispossessed the traditional zamindars of Dhalbhum, Manbhum, Raipur, Panchet, Jhatibuni, Karnagarh, and Bagri. These dispossessions triggered later anti-colonial movements in the region, including the Chuar Rebellion.

Essential Historical Facts

The British acquired control over the Midnapore district in 1760 through a treaty with Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal. Jagannath Dhal’s resistance in 1767 is considered the first major tribal and civil uprising in the Dhalbhum area of modern Jharkhand. Captain Fergusson led the British military expedition into Dhalbhum and captured the Ghatsila Fort in March 1767. Henry Vansittart served as the Governor of Fort William in Bengal during the initial phase of the Midnapore disturbances. The unrest in Midnapore and Dhalbhum laid the foundation for the broader Chuar Rebellion that spread across Bankura and Midnapore in 1798–1799.