Jharkhand

Jharkhand sits on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, a land of forests, rivers and rich mineral deposits whose name is usually understood to mean land of forests. People have lived here since the Stone Age, and stone tools have been found at many sites across the plateau. Rock shelters such as Isko in Hazaribagh district carry ancient paintings of animals and geometric designs. For thousands of years the region has been home to Adivasi communities, including the Munda, Oraon, Santhal and Ho, whose languages, village councils and festivals remain central to the identity of the state. The Asur community is associated with a very old tradition of smelting iron in small clay furnaces.

In ancient times the forested plateau lay on the edge of the great kingdoms of the Gangetic plain, such as Magadha and the Mauryan Empire, but its hills and jungles allowed local societies to keep much of their independence. During the medieval period the Nagvanshi dynasty ruled large parts of Chota Nagpur for many centuries, moving its capital several times. The ruins of their palace at Navratangarh near Gumla, built around the 17th century, can still be explored. In the Palamu region the Chero rulers built strong hill forts, and the old and new Palamu forts near Betla National Park are popular with visitors today. Mughal armies also campaigned in the region, though control from Delhi was often loose.

After the East India Company gained the right to collect revenue in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765, British rule spread into the plateau. New landlords, moneylenders and forest laws threatened the land and customs of tribal communities, and the region became known for powerful resistance movements. Tilka Manjhi rose against the Company in the 1780s, the Kol uprising broke out in 1831 to 1832, and in 1855 the brothers Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu led the Santhal Hul, one of the largest tribal rebellions of the century. In the 1890s Birsa Munda led the Ulgulan, or great tumult, and he died in Ranchi jail in 1900. He is still revered across the state.

The colonial period also brought industry. Coal mining grew rapidly around Jharia and Dhanbad, and in the early 20th century the Tata iron and steel works was established at Sakchi, the town that grew into Jamshedpur. People from Jharkhand took part in the revolt of 1857 and in the national freedom movement, and in 1940 the Indian National Congress held its annual session at Ramgarh.

After independence in 1947 the region formed the southern part of the state of Bihar. Demands for a separate state with its own identity had begun even earlier, and the Jharkhand Party led by Jaipal Singh Munda, the former Olympic hockey captain, gave the movement a political voice from around 1950. After decades of campaigning, Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar and became a separate state on 15 November 2000, the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda. Ranchi was chosen as its capital.

Travellers can trace this story at the Palamu forts, the Navratangarh ruins, the terracotta temples of Maluti and the Baidyanath temple at Deoghar. In Ranchi, the old jail where Birsa Munda died is now a memorial park and museum.