Santhal rebellion

Historian Peter Stanley’s painstaking effort has shed light on the 1855 Santhal rebellion that was overshadowed by the events of the great mutiny of 1857. Perhaps the only reminders of the rebellion termed Hul, meaning the movement for liberation, are the ‘martello tower’ in Pakur and the statues of the Bhugnadihee brothers across Jharkhand. That some 10,000 Santhals were literally executed by the British has been dismissed as lost history, unworthy of any serious attention. In reality, the Hul was certainly a war with a…