Chapter 7 Independence Movement and Rajasthan — OUR RAJASTHAN STD 7 — Question

Tribes like the Bhil, Meena and Garasiya have been living in Rajasthan since ancient time There is Bhil majority in South Rajasthan. While the Meena tribe is predominant in Jaipur. They were badly exploited during the British rule. Some social reformers and workers made aware them, in that period. They started movements for their rights, which are as follows:

The Bhil Movement:
Govind Guru played an important role in spreading the ideology of awareness among the Bhils. He established the “Samp Sabha” and awakened the Bhils, against paying unfair taxes and forced labour. In the year 1913, when there was a session of Samp Sabha being held on Mangadh hills, on full moon in the month of Ashwini, the British army surrounded the hill and started firing. Thousands of tribals died and were injured at the spot. Guru Gobind Singh was shot in the leg. The incident was widely condemned and considered to be equivalent to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Because the followers of Govind Guru were called Bhagat, therefore this movement was also called Bhagat movement.

Motilal Tejawat was the second Maseeha of the tribal castes. Tejawat called the farmers Andy tribes for struggle against begar (forced labour), lagaan (taxes) and other atrocities at matrikundiya in Chittorgarh. Unity was emphasized to give impetus to the movement, hence it is also called Eki Aandolan. Thousands of trible peoples gathered at Udaipur to impart speed to the movement. They gave the Maharana a letter containing 21 demanding point. This letter of demand is called the ‘Call of Me war’ (Mewar ki pukar). The Maharana instantly accepted 18 demands.

The credit of organising the Bhil tribe of Dewal, Dungarpur and Banswara also goes to Bhogilal Pandya and Haridev Joshi.

Meena Tribal Movement:
One section of the Meena tribe was given the responsibility of maintaining peace by the British rule. This section of Meena used to guard and in return collected chauth (a kind of tax) from the village. These Meenas are called “Chaukidar Meena”. They were often held responsible for all the theft and robbery taking place in the state and when the stolen goods were not found, then the cost of the goods was recovered from the Meenas. In 1924 the government bound the people of Meena tribe, above the age of 12, to give daily attendance in the nearby police station (Thana), under the Criminal Tribes Act. Discontentment spread among the Meena due to these reasons. Movements were launched to remove the prevalent evils in Meena society and to remove harsh laws like “Jarayam Pesha”. As a result of constant efforts the ‘Jarayam Pesha’ law ended after independence in 1952.