The Hul was a valiant effort of the Santal people to free themselves from the oppressive powers of the landlords, moneylenders and the British crown. More than 150 years after the epic struggle of our warriors led by Sido and Kanhu Murmu, we want to honour their sacrifice by retelling the story of their gallantry to our children. A lot has changed since 1855, yet we are not the masters of our lives and destinies. Remembering the Hul will help us engage with our past and reinterpret its meaning for our present and future. It’s up to us to keep the spirit of the rebellion and its relevance alive! – Santal writer and publisher Ruby Hembrom (2014)
Among the causes of the rising were: the grasping and rapacious manner of merchants and moneylenders in their transactions with the Santals, the misery caused by the iniquitous system of allowing personal and hereditary bondage for debt, the unparalleled corruption and extortion of the police in aiding and abetting the moneylenders, and the impossibility of the Santals obtaining redress from the courts. – Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf in Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982, pp. 36-37 | Read more >>
About the creators of this book
Ruby Hembrom, a Santal, is the founder-director of adivaani, an archiving outfit of, by and for Adivasis. She is the writer of adivaani’s Santal Creation Stories for children, a recast of the Santal Creation myths in English.
Saheb Ram Tudu, a Santal, is an artist, illustrator, animation filmmaker and sculptor with degrees from the Banares Hindu University and the National Institute of Design. He has won 4 national and 2 international awards for his animations. He is also a published poet.
Music credits: Santal festival organized by Ghosaldanga Bishnubati Adibasi Trust in Santiniketan in February 2012 (recording by Ludwig Pesch).
Hul (Santal rebellion 1855-1856) | Santal Parganas | Tribal freedom fighters >>
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Learn more
Adivaani (platform for indigenous expression and assertion)
Biodiversity and development – Jharkhand
Education and literacy | Right to education
Ghosaldanga Bishnubati Adibasi Trust
Hul (Santal rebellion 1855-1856) | Tribal freedom fighters
Literature and bibliographies | Literature – fiction | Poetry
Santal | Santal Parganas | The Santals by Boro Baski
Video | Hul Sengel: The Spirit of the Santal Revolution (1855)
Video | Poetry reading by “Marshal” Parimal Hembram – West Bengal