Category Archives: History

“Since the days of remote past, the diversified art and cultural forms generated by the tribal and rural people of India, have continued to evince their creative magnificence. Apart from their outstanding brilliance from the perspective of aesthetics, the tribal/folk art and culture forms have played an instrumental role in reinforcing national integrity, crystallizing social solidarity, fortifying communal harmony, intensifying value-system and promoting the elements of humanism among the people of the country.” – Final Report “Evaluation Study of Tribal/Folk Arts and Culture in West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhatisgrah and Bihar” submitted to SER Division Planning Commission Govt. of India New Delhi by Gramin Vikas Seva Sanshtha West Bengal
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=29938

“Imagine a 25-year-old who took on an empire, left an indelible mark on tribal rights across the country and was seen as a mystic and folk hero for hundreds of thousands. Few would have achieved so much in so short a time and it’s not surprising then that Birsa Munda’s portrait hangs proudly in India’s parliament.” – Aditi Shah in “Birsa Munda – The Tribal Hero” (livehistoryindia.com, 26 July 2018)
https://www.livehistoryindia.com/history-daily/2018/07/26/birsa-munda
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23975

“The injustice done to the tribal people of India is a shameful chapter in our country’s history. The tribals were called ‘rakshas’ (demons), ‘asuras’, and what not. They were slaughtered in large numbers, and the survivors and their descendants were degraded, humiliated, and all kinds of atrocities inflicted on them for centuries. They were deprived of their lands, and pushed into forests and hills where they eke out a miserable existence of poverty, illiteracy, disease, etc. And now efforts are being made by some people to deprive them even of their forest and hill land where they are living, and the forest produce on which they survive.” – Supreme Court judgment quoted in “India, largely a country of immigrants”, The Hindu (Comment), January 12, 2011
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article1081343.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=4315

“The Ahoms ruled Assam for 600 years until the British took over in 1826. […] Modern history writing in Assam has also maintained a silence about these smaller kingdoms with fascinating, dramatic histories and intriguing royal families.” – Introduction to Indira Goswami’ s novel, The Bronze Sword of Thengphakhri Tehsildar (quoted in The Hindu, 2 March, 2013)
https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/a-literary-bridge/article4465234.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=10674

See also:
Colonial policies