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The second half of 19th century was one of themost eventful periods in the history of modernOrissa and things were moving fastly forcrystallizing movements of two distinct characters.While on one hand the movement for Oriyaidentity was taking a definite shape as a mark ofprotest against the high handedness of somedomiciled non-oriya elites and their invasion onoriya language and culture, on the other hand,discontents smouldering among the people againstthe oppressive Garhjat administration was headingtowards a conflagration. This discontent graduallyflared up in the form of popular protest and theperiod witnessed a series of peasant and tribaluprisings against their native rulers who wereprotected by their colonial masters. In thisconnection, mention may be made of the Kondhuprisings of Boudh, 1862, the Chasa (Peasant)uprising of Athmallick, 1863, the Santhalinsurrection of Bamanghaty, 1866, the KeonjharBhuyan rebellion of 1868 and the Bonai Bhuyanuprising of 1871.

So, also Gangpur, which was the fourthbiggest of the eleven, 'A' class states of Orissa,experienced a violent uprising of the tribal peasantsin the year 1897. It may be noted here that in theprocess of the integration of princely states, thepresent district of Sundargarh was formed withthe merger of two states namely Bonai and

Gangpur Garhjat States. The exploitation of thesubjects in the erstwhile GangpurGarhjat wererooted in various types of feudal extractions likeBethi, Bethi, Magan, Rasad, Karchawl, inaddition to the land revenue collected at exorbitantrates. But we know that revolution is a productof social, cultural and economic disparities of thepeople. Perpetuated by geopolitical reasons, themomentum of an agitation is considerablydetermined by the degree of people's involvementto a cause. Besides feudal exploitation, theeconomic disparities between the denizens anddomiciled sponsored by the ruling chief RaghunathSekhar Deo, triggered up an agitation in the year1897. The torch bearer of this rebellion, behindwhose leadership, the denizen rebels rallied wasone Madri Kalo a tribal Gaontia or villageheadman of Bhuyan community. This was the firstawakening of the soils from their domant slumber.But attempts have been made in the administrativerecords of the colonial government to marginalizethe scope of this movement by branding it as amere "Gaontia Meli" or uprising of somedisgruntled intermediaries. It is equally unfortunatethat no work has yet been done to project theleadership profile of this great tribal leader who isfaintly remembered by some local people. MadriKalo will chiefly be remembered as one whothrough his selfless scarifices prepared a solid

Madri Kalo and theFirst Tribal Uprising in the State of Gangpur

Dr. Pravat K. Mallick

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frame work for a future tribal peasant agitationon massive scale led by Nirmal Munda, nearlytwo and half decades after his death.

In the administrative set up of the GangpurState, the revenue village, under the direct controlof the ruling chief was known as Khalsa villageand the headman of such village was designatedas Gaontia.1 The rights and duties of a Gaontia asenvisaged in the record was to collect Malguzari(rent) from the tenants and to maintain law andorder in this Gaontiari villages for which he enjoyedlarge chunks of Bhogra i.e. rent free service landand 25% of the revenue collected by him ascommission.2

Gaontiari as a sort of temporary lease, anda Gaontia before the year1900 was required torenew his lease year every five year after expiryof the term. At the time of each renewal, theGaontia had to pay a lumpsum amount to the chief,known as Nazrana which was highly competitive.In the neighboring district of Sambalpur, a Gaontiacould not hold more than 20% of the totalcultivable land of his Gaontiari. But in Gangpur, aGaontia could hold far more than this andtherefore a Gaontia was treated as a rich andinfluential person in the village.3 This prevailingpractice, encouraged the Agharias and Telis ofSambalpur and other neighboring states to seektheir fortune in Gangpur state. They found theoriginal Gaonitias too primitive in their outlookand very easy to put aside by offering double theNazarana paid by them to the chief. Gaontiary inGangpur was so lucrative that even the Brahmansand Goalas felt tempted to infiltrate into Gangpurto secure Gaontiari by gratifying the ruler.

Raja Raghunath Sekhar Deo, the XVIIIruler of the Paramara Sekhar line of Gangpur(1871-1917) was by nature a man havingtremendous lust for wealth. He came from theco-lateral Kharposhdar family of Birbira and

putting aside the claim of his paternal uncle GajrajSekhar Deo, became the king of Gangpur afterthe death of its XVIIth ruler ChandrabhanuSekhar Deo who died issueless in 1871. Havingcome from a rural area like Birbira, RajaRaghunath turned to be a luxury loving and powerhungry man.4 He needed a new place and a newcourt, for which lumpsum amount was required.To translate his dream into action, he introducedNazar Kut settlement in some villages in 1874AD to raise the revenue of the State.5 Thoughthis was a system of assessment by eye estimateand purely defective as guess work, yet itenhanced the revenue position of the State to aconsiderable extent. While the revenue of the stateaccording to the Zamabandi prepared by his uncleGajraj Sekhar Deo in 1865, during his minoritywas Rs.5200/- and a number of a asbwabs, theNazarkut settlement increased it to Rs.15,000 perannum, which was three times more in additionto supplies of rice and pulses. Most probably, herequired this money for the construction of animposing palace for his residence, which accordingto Hunter was a collection of low thatchedBuilding.6

Raja Raghunath came to know that theAgarias, Telis, Brahamans and Goalas ofSambalpur could be highest bidder as comparedto the aboriginal Gaontias. In anticipation ofgetting lumpsum amount as Nazarana, he betookhimself to excessive enhancement of Nazrana.Instead of renewing leases on fair payment, heoutsted the tribal leassees openly in favour of richbidders from 1895 onwards. This generated greatdiscontentment and raised a rebellion under theleadership of a Bhuyan Sardar named Madri Kaloin 1897. However, details of this armed agitationagainst the Durbar administration is not available.

Madri Kalo belonged to tribal communityand was the resident of village Kuribaga now

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coming under Bargaon Block of the Sundargarhdistrict. He was the Gaonita of six revenue villagesnamely Kureibaga, Gudhiali, Jampalli, Liploi,Sialjor and Lamloi and for his Gaonitiari service,he enjoyed large chunks of Bhogra land in twentyvillages.7 As the Bhuyans like gonds were the localmilitia in the state of Bonai and Gangpur, servingunder the king's army, Madri Kalo had expertisein the traditional art of warfare. The local sourcesreveal that he too had mastery over some tantraesoteric art, through which he could utlise thehoney bees against the enemy. All these may soundsomething mythical or skeptical brain work of hisfollowers to extol and elevate the leadershipprofile of Madri Kalo, but we may deduce fromthese above facts that he was a very popularleader and powerful organizer.

Like Dombari hill in the career of BirsaMunda, Mahabir hill of Bargaon was the seat ofMadri Kalo's tantrik practice and in future itbecame the nerve center of his rebellious activities.The local sources reveal that as he hadadministered into his body an Ayurvedic Medicinecalled pather lasa, he was storng like a huge blockof stone and it was difficult to overpower him inwrestling. Though an affluent Gauntia, resourcefulboth socially and economically, Madri was notan oppressive intermediary and popular amongthe tenants both tribal and non tribal for his helpfulnature.8

In 1895, when Gaontiary tenures in its usualconvention were renewed, like many other originaltribal Gaontias, Madri Kalo was dislodged andhis Gauntiary was transferred to a new biddernamed bhagabat ia Teli by the durbaradministration. Misfortune did not come alone forMadri Kalo. Adding more disgrace to hishumiliation one Ghasinumu, a royal protegeebelonging to collateral branch of Paramara Sikharfamily encroached some of the Zagir lands of

Madri kalo. Under this circumstance, Madri kalohad no way out but to rise in arms with his friendsand followers in 1897. Mahavir hill, the seat ofhis tantrik Sadhana now became the nerve centerof this rebellion where from Madri directed thecourse of his operations.9 Despite best efforts, itbecame difficult on the part of the Durbaradministration to nab the rebels who weresheltered in the inhospitable hills and forests ofthe region.

It is a rare co-incidence that the rebellionof Birsa Munda at this point of time had greatlychallenged the British authorities in Chhotnagpurregion of of Bihar.Gangpur and Chhotnagpurbeing two contiguous region, what theGovernment feared was that, in case, any link wasestablished between these two group of rebels,the situation would go out of control. Hence theGovernment thought of deputing a contingent oftroops under the command of the DeputyCommissioner of Singhbhum to assist the state'spolice of Gangpur in suppressing this rebellion.10But even after the arrival of the British troops, itwas difficult to apprehend Madri Kalo and hisfollowers who continued depredatory operationsfrom their hideouts in the inaccessible hills andforest. Hence the state administration resorted todiplomacy and with the assistance of his reliablefriend the Gaontia of Kuranga succeeded inarresting Madri Kalo in 1900 A.D.11

Madri Kalo was sentenced for ten yearsof imprisonment of which he spent six years inSundargarh jail and the rest four years at Ranchi.He was released from the jail in 1910.12

The last part of his life was miserable. Beingapprehensive of the renewal of the rebellion afterhis release from the jail, the Gangpur state authorityhad virtually rendered him paralytic by amputatingthe femural artery of his leg. Four years after hisrelease from the jail, in this deplorable paralytic

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condition he breathed his last in 1914 in the villageLamloi near Rajganpur.13 But, he left behind forthe tribal tenants of Gangpur a rich tradition ofpopular resistance against hegemonic oppressionof the state's administration. As the torch bearerof the first insurrection against the oppressiveDurbar administration, Madri gave a timidgeneration, a sense of courage and moral strengthto fight out for justice which expressed itself in aviolent form, in terms of the Munda rebellion of1939 nearly a quarter century after his death.Another resultant change that came after MadriKalo's rebellion was that the rebellion exposedthe evils of age old Durbar administration intraditional line. Hence, in 1900 AD theGovernment appointed a Durbar as chiefexecutive with judicial and executive powers.Madri Kalo, in this way, has become a livinglegend in the history of peasants movement in thestate of Gangpur. It was a spontaneous reactionof the denizen tribals against Durbaradministration and domiciled opportunists. MadriKalo, therefore, occupies a significant place inthe history of popular resistance movement in theGarhjat states of Orissa.

Foot Notes :1. I.E.B. Cobden Ramsay. Feudatory states of

Orissa. P-1842. Ibid3. Idid4. Mallick Pravat, Gangpur Rajyare Prathama Gana

Jagarana O Melia Sardar Madri Kalo. TheSambad - 15th August 1999 also Navapatra-May/June - 1999 PP. 18-22 ff

5. O.D.G. - Sundargarh - P.72 also in p.2926. W.W.Hunter. A Statistical Account of Bengal -

Vol-XVII p.19057. Mallick Pravat Op cit.8. Mahapatra Dr. K.N. Biplaba ra Sikhara Mahabira

O Dombari The Ulugulan (Souvenir of BirsaMunda statue committee-Rourkela-1998)

9. Ibid10. O.D.G. - Sundargarh P. 7611. Mallick Pravat - Op cit.12. Op cit13. Op cit

Dr. Pravat Kumar Mallick is the Head of Departmentin History, Ispat College, Ved-Vihar Sector- 16,Rourkela - 769003.