2-969-870 - /Heritage Images

Hill Village in the Santhal Country, 1856. '...it was too soon discovered that this race of men, naturally the most cowardly and harmless of the human race, were all of a sudden turned into the cruelest, boldest, and most bloodthirsty wretches that ever disgraced the face of the earth...troops were sent against them; but, these troops being composed of the natives of a tribe very similar to themselves, they fled upon the first attack of the Santhals. Regular troops were then poured in upon all sides; and, after some fighting and scouring the jungles, hanging the rebels, and capturing the chiefs, we may hope that the matter is at an end, and that the Santhals have been taught a lesson they will never forget'. The Santhal Rebellion, an uprising by the Santhal people, took place in present-day Jharkhand and West Bengal, against both the British East India Company and the zamindari system. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.