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REBELLION
IN THE
FOREST

By:-Juliette, Afnan, Aditi,

Vadin
 Location of Bastar

It is South of Chhattisgarh.
Has borders with Andra Pradesh,
Orissa and Maharashtra.
River Indrawati flows from east to
west.
 People of Bastar

A number of different communities live in

Bastar.
Eg:-Maria and Muria, Gonds , Dhurwas,
Batras and Halbas.
They speak different languages but share
common customs and beliefs.
The people of Bastar believe that land is a
gift from Mother Earth to humans, and that
humans should respect this gift. They look
after their forests with great affection and
care.
 How did the people of
Bastar handle the forest?
They looked after the earth by making
some offerings at each agricultural
festival.
The local people looked after the forests
lying between the boundaries of their own
village.
If people from one village wanted to take
some wood from the forests of another
village, they had to pay a small fee
(devsari/ dand/ man) in exchange. Sal trees in Bastar

Some villages also protect their forests by

engaging watchmen .
 How did the colonial govt >

dominate the forests?

In 1905, they reserved 2/3 of the

forests
Stopped shifting cultivation, hunting
and collection of forest produce.
Under the colonial rule the people of
Bastar were exploited for a long time.
They were forced to pay higher land
rents and to work for free.
They suffered more during the
famines which took place between
1899-1900 and 1907-1908.
 The Rebellion

The initiative of rebelling against the British was taken by the Dhurwas of the
Kangar Forest, which was the first forest to be reserved.
House-holds in every village supported the rebellion by bearing its expenses.
Gunda Dhur from village Nethanar was an important figure in the rebellion.
A mass movement of destruction in the form of looting, burning of bazaars,
schools, and police stations, and the houses of officials and traders spread
throughout Bastar.
 Symbols of rebellion used from 1910
 THE MAJOR VICTOR
FOR THE REBELS

The work on forest reservation was

temporarily suspended and the area to be
reserved was reduced to half of the
original proposed before1910.
Even though the British were able to
suppress the rebellion, it took them three
months(February-May) to bring the
situation totally under control. However
they never managed to capture Gunda
Dhur.