Impact of Gandhian Ideology on the Tribal Movements of Chota Nagpur in Twentieth Century

With the unprecedented expansion of the railways, roads and other modern communication system, the non-tribal element started flooding the tribal areas. In Chota Nagpur alone, for instance, between 1871 and 1931, the incidence of immigration rose from 96,000 to 3,07,000. The most striking feature of this period was the breakdown of the communal mode of production and the emergence of private right in land. ¹ A further stage in the development of the peasant system was the penetration of tribal economy by market. With the market came the middle men, merchants and moneylenders. Large-scale incidence of alienation of land from tribals to non-tribals took place. The tribal handicrafts declined. Out-migration from Chota Nagpur alone was 3,30,000 in 1891, 7,07,000 in 1911 and 9,47,000 in 1921. ² The result was that the tribals began to emulate the way of life and values of the non-tribals. This process has been referred to as `Sanskritization’ in social anthropological literature. The origin of these movements can be traced back to the beginning of the twentieth century; they gained momentum in the 1920s and 1930s.