Manbhum District was one of the districts of the East India during the British Raj.[3] After India's independence, the district became a part of Bihar State. Upon the reorganization of the Indian states in the mid-1950s, the Manbhum district was partitioned based on language. The Bengal-speaking areas were included in West Bengal, while the rest were kept with Bihar (present-day Jharkhand).
Manbhum gets its name from the 16th century military general Man Singh I who is known for his conquests Of Bihar, Odisha and parts of Bengal. He later also served as the governor (Subahdar) of this region during the reign of King Akbar.[4]
In other versions, the district name derived from Manbazar or Manbhum khas parganas. The headquarters of Jangal mahal region from around 1833 to 1838, when the district was formed.[5]
History
Manbhum under Panchet and Medinipur administration, 1776
The history of Manbhum district predates the 18th century. Before its formation, the Panchet estate was established through the consolidation of smaller zamindaris, including Patkum, Barabhum, Sikharbhum, and Telkupi. Historical records of these region's previous rulers or chiefs are sparse for the period before British East India Company rule in India. The company formed Jungle-Mahal district in 1805, incorporating the Panchet estate and other forested areas into a single administrative unit.[6]
In 1833, the East India Company formed the Manbhum district with its headquarters in Manbazar, covering an area of 7,896 square miles, by dividing the Jungle-Mahal region to enhance administrative efficiency. In 1838, the headquarters shifted to Purulia, and over the following years, the district underwent several divisions. These divisions occurred in 1845, 1846, 1871, and finally, in 1879, reducing its size to 4,112 square miles. In 1901, the district area was 4,147 square miles, inhabited by a population of 1,301,364.[2] In 1912, Manbhum became a part of the Bihar and Orissa Province.
On 1 April 1936, the Bihar and Orissa Province was partitioned into two separate provinces Bihar and Orissa based on language, though Manbhum continued to remain a part of Bihar. Post-independence, linguistic tensions emerged in the district due to imposition of Hindi language over the native Bengali-speaking majority. This led to the establishment of the "State Reorganization Commission" on December 23, 1953. The commission recommended the creation of a new district named "Purulia," primarily for Bengali speakers, by carving it out of the former Manbhum district in Bihar. The proposed Purulia district included 19 police stations from Manbhum, while 10 police stations from the Dhanbad sub-division and 2 police stations from the Purulia sub-division of Manbhum remained in Bihar.
Subsequently, three police stations of West Bengal —Ichagarh, Chandil, and Patamda—were transferred to Bihar upon a special request from TISCO, Jamshedpur. The "Bengal-Bihar Border Demarcation" Bill was passed in Parliament on August 17, 1956, and in Rajya Sabha on August 28, 1956, ultimately receiving the signature of the President of India on September 1, 1956. Consequently, on November 1, 1956, Purulia officially became a part of West Bengal, comprising 16 police stations, covering an area of 2,007 square miles (5,200km2), and hosting a population of 1,169,097. However, other areas, including Ichagarh, Chandil, and Patamda, continued to remain under the jurisdiction of Bihar, with the former two became part of Saraikela, while Patamda (an area used to under the Barabhum police station) became part of Dhalbhum (presently East Singhbhum district). Furthermore, on November 15, 2000, South Bihar was bifurcated to form a separate state called Jharkhand due to demographic disparities between North Bihar and South Bihar. Today, these areas form parts of the Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi, Saraikela Kharsawan and East Singhbhum districts in Jharkhand.
As of the 1931 census, the Manbhum district recorded a total population of 1,810,890, with 940,009 males and 870,881 females. In terms of linguistic diversity, Bengali constituted the majority with 1,222,689 individuals, followed by Hindustani speakers at 321,690 (including Kurmali and Panchpargania)[7] and the Santhali at 242,091. Other noteworthy linguistic groups encompassed Koda (4,623), Bhumij (2,918), Gujarati (1,912), Kharia (1,995), Marwadi (1,774), Odia (1,563), Karmali (1,568), Telegu (1,332), Kurukh (946), Naipal (662), Punjabi (661), Mundari (789), Tamil (525), Mahali (312), and Ho (57).[8]
Purulia district is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur-Adra, Jhalda, Anara and Balarampur.
Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern limit of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, Singhbhum included the Kolhan estate located in its southeastern part. The district has been segmented into two smaller districts, East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum.
Barabazar is a census town in the Barabazar CD block in the Manbazar subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Before Indian independence in 1947, it was the capital of an expensive zamindari of Barabhum in British India.
Chandil is a census town in the Chandil CD block in the Chandil subdivision of Seraikela Kharsawan district in the state of Jharkhand, India.
Bandwan is a census town in the Bandwan CD block in the Manbazar subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Kurmali or Kudmali is an Indo-Aryan language classified as belonging to the Bihari group of languages spoken in eastern India. As a trade dialect, it is also known as Panchpargania, for the "five parganas" of the region it covers in Jharkhand. Kurmali language is spoken by around 550,000 people mainly in fringe regions of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, also a sizeable population speak Kurmali in Assam tea valleys. Kurmali is one of the demanded languages for enlisting in Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
Chuar rebellion or Chuar revolt, also known as Jungle Mahal movement was a series of peasant movements between 1771 and 1809 by the tribal inhabitants of the countryside surrounding the Jungle Mahals settlements of Dhalbhum, Midnapore, Bankura and Manbhum against the rule of the East India Company (EIC).
Manbazar II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Manbazar subdivision of the Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The Bengali Language Movement of Manbhum was a cultural and political movement that took place in the then Bihar Province from 1912 to 1956. Post independence, between 1948 and 1956, the language movement spread intensely among the Bengalis of Manbhum. Through this movement created around the Bengali language, the public demand for the establishment of Bengali as one of the official languages of the Bihar, mainly Manbhum, was expressed. This language movement was first ever linguistic movement for Bengali language and the longest language movement in the world.
Dhananjay Mahato was a freedom fighter and social activist who turned politician and later chairman of Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority, Jamshedpur. He was elected as Member of the Legislative Assembly from Ichagarh constituency and Member of Bihar Legislative Council. He was a member of All India Congress Committee.
The Kudmi Mahato are a tribal community in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha of India. They are primarily agriculturalist.
The Lok Sewak Sangh, or Manbhum Lok Sewak Sangh, was a political party in Purulia District, West Bengal, India. LSS was founded in 1948. The party was the main political force in Purulia District from the independence of India until the fall of the second United Front cabinet.
Bagal is a cattle herding caste of East India. Bagal people are living in the state of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. They use Kudmali/ Manbhumi dialect of Bengali as their mother tongue and use Bengali, Hindi and Odia language to communicate with the outside society.
Chandil block is a CD block that forms an administrative division in the Chandil subdivision of Seraikela Kharsawan district, in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Kukru block is a CD block that forms an administrative division in the Chandil subdivision of Seraikela Kharsawan district, in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Nimdih block is a CD block that forms an administrative division in the Chandil subdivision of Seraikela Kharsawan district, in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Seraikela block is a CD block that forms an administrative division in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of Seraikela Kharsawan district, in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Patamda is a small town in the Patamda CD block in the Dhalbhum subdivision of the East Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Patkum estate was one of the zamindari estates of India during the period of the British Raj. It is believed that the estate was found by scion of the King Vikramaditya of Solar dynasty. During British raj it was part of Bengal presidency, composing todays Chandil, Kukru, Nimdih, Ichagarh and Kandra. Ichagarh was the capital of the state.
Buli Mahato was a revolutionary leader of the Bhumij Rebellion and Kol Rebellion. He was a zamindar of the Kudmi community of Karadih village in Sonahatu Thana, Jharkhand.
↑ Lacey, W. G. (1933). Census Of India 1931 – Bihar and Orissa. Vol.VII. Part I, Report. Superintendent, Government printing. p.233. JSTORsaoa.crl.25797116. Alt URL: "In addition to the Munda and Dravidian languages, there are a number of distinctive dialects spoken by various primitive tribes, which in one sense might be called "tribal languages". But they have not been included in the present list, because they are little else than corrupt forms of the main Ariyan languages current in the locality. Kurmali and Panch Pargania are examples of this type, to which some reference has already been made. Both of these have been treated as Hindustani."
Bhattacharya, Birendra ku. (1985). Bengal District Gazetteers (Purulia)(PDF). Narendra Nath Sen, State editor, West Bengal district gazetteers. Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 November 2016.
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