ABSTRACT
Chotanagpur offers a brilliant example of how an event (the Great Rebellion of 1857)1 can have multiple contours in a region. Factors such as desire for independence, political opportunism, traditional rivalries, ecology, religion and economic survival are so closely interwoven in the region that it is difficult to explain the rebellion in terms of dominant singular explanations. 1857 created new tensions but also gave vent to many existing ones. What is interesting to note, however, is how existing tensions intersected with the dynamics generated by sepoy mutinies and changing political configurations to acquire an anti-colonial texture. This is where the strength of the spirit of 1857 lay. Chotanagpur experienced a short but pronounced phase of sepoy mutinies
between July and October 1857. There was a pattern in these mutinies as sepoy units from Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Purulia (Manbhum) and Singhbhum were found marching towards the regional centre Ranchi after looting local treasuries, attacking official bungalows and buildings, destroying government records and breaking jails and releasing prisoners. Once in Ranchi, they made serious efforts to enlarge their social base by not only mobilizing influential local zamindars but also sending emissaries to other districts. They even set up a government and proclaimed a padshahi raj (Mughal emperor’s rule).2
