Today marks the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Birsa Munda, who belonged to the Munda tribe. He was born on November 15 in 1875. During the British rule in the late 19th century, he spearheaded an Indian tribal religious Millenarian movement across the tribal belt of modern-day Bihar and Jharkhand.
Birsa had joined the German Mission School and converted to Christianity on the recommendation of his teacher Jaipal Nag. He was renamed as Birsa David, which later became Birsa Daud. However, he later left.
He subsequently started the faith of ‘Birsait’ as a revolt against the efforts of missionaries.
Birsa's stay at Chaibasa - which was near the centre of the Sardars agitation - from 1886 to 1890 constituted a formative period of his life.
He then became a part of the anti-missionary and anti-government program. He declared himself a prophet who had come to recover the lost kingdom of his people and was riveted in the tribal movement against the British.
On March 3, 1900, Birsa was arrested by the British police in Chakradharpur and sent to Ranchi jail where he died on June 9, 1900 at the young age of 25.
On this very day, netizens have also taken to Twitter to pay tributes as they remember Birsa Munda on his birth anniversary.
Have a look:
