Country: Bihar, India
Group: Santal
Date: 9/29/23
Team: Cheyenne Barron (lead), Nicole Cavallin, Ariana Jackson, Isabelle Kolnacki
Content Warnings: none
Approximate Time Period: 1832-1855
In 1832, the British East India Company forced the Santal people into labor to claer large portions of forest in the Raj Mahal area. The Santal people could not afford the tools and other materials that the British East India Company required them to use (Somers, 1979). The British forced them to take out loans with exorbitant fees. If they were unable to pay back these fees, the British forced the Santals to perform physical labor and took their land (Sen, 1997). During this occupation, two Santal brothers organized a rebellion against the British (Israel et al., 1991). Now, the Santal are considered a scheduled tribe and there is no evidence of current forced labor.
Data Quality (3/3): There is a significant amount of information from credible sources and peer reviewed journals to support the Santals experience with forced labor in Bihar, India.
Sources
- Israel, M., Chandra, B., Mukherjee, M., Mukherjee, A., Panikkar, K. N., & Mahajan, S. (1991). India’s struggle for independence 1857-1947. Pacific Affairs, 64(2), 41. https://doi.org/10.2307/2759990
- Jha, Amar Nath (2009). “Locating the Ancient History of Santal Parganas”. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 70: 185–196
- Sen, Suchibrata (1997). The Santals, crises of identity and integration. Ratna Prakashan. ISBN 81-85709-51-3. OCLC 40418077.
- Somers, George E. (1979). The dynamics of Santal traditions in a peasant society. Schenkman Pub. Co. OCLC 5668202.