Birsa Munda and Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas: UPSC Notes

Birsa Munda's Ulgulan, tribal freedom fighters, the 11 tribal museums, PM-JANMAN and Forest Rights Act links: a structured UPSC explainer.

Why in news

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs will hold a Janjatiya Gaurav Pakhwada from 1 to 15 November 2026, ending on Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas. New platforms for tribal health data and forest-rights claims will be launched alongside it. For UPSC, this connects GS1 Modern History (tribal resistance) with GS2 welfare policy for Scheduled Tribes.

Background: Birsa Munda and the Ulgulan

• The movement: Birsa Munda was born in Ulihatu village in present-day Jharkhand. He led the Ulgulan, the “Great Tumult” of 1899–1900, which sought tribal self-rule and the return of Khuntkatti, the community land rights of the Munda people.
• Spiritual and political leader: he brought the Munda tribes together against British land laws and exploitation by landlords and moneylenders. Revered as Dharti Aaba, “Father of the Earth”, he imagined a moral, self-governing society free of colonial control.
• Death: he was captured, and died in Ranchi Jail at just 25.
• The day: since 2021, the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav year, his birth anniversary on 15 November has been marked nationally as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas. The 150th anniversary year, 2024–25, was observed as Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh.

Key features: remembering tribal freedom fighters

The museums project: the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is building 11 museums on tribal uprisings against British rule, funded through its Support to Tribal Research Institutes scheme. Four have opened, in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. The full list is below.

Other tribal leaders to know

• Veer Narayan Singh: a Binjhwar zamindar of Sonakhan in the Raipur region of Chhattisgarh.
• Raja Shankar Shah and Kunwar Raghunath Shah: Gond royals who resisted the British in 1857.
• Gundadhur and Lal Kalindra Singh: leaders of the Bhumkal uprising.
• Ropuiliani: a Mizo freedom fighter, whose museum is planned at Kelsih in Mizoram.

Welfare links

• PM-JANMAN: aimed at 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) communities spread over 18 states and a UT. It was launched at Khunti, Jharkhand, on Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas 2023, with ₹24,104 crore earmarked for 2023–24 to 2025–26.
• Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan: the other flagship tribal programme tied to the day.
• New in 2026: Jan-HIT, built with ICMR, is the first portal with health data broken down by tribe. A national digital platform will also take Forest Rights Act (2006) claims online, from gram sabha filing to signed titles.
• Culture: Adi Sanskriti and Adi Vaani are digital efforts to preserve tribal art and languages.

Prelims pointers

• Ulgulan: dates 1899–1900; the demand was Khuntkatti.
• Dharti Aaba means “Father of the Earth”.
• Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas: 15 November, designated in 2021.
• PM-JANMAN: 75 PVTGs, launched at Khunti in 2023.
• Leader–uprising pairs: Gundadhur with Bhumkal; Veer Narayan Singh with Sonakhan.
• Birth year: official PIB releases differ (1874 or 1875), so expect questions to avoid it.

Mains angle

Significance: tribal uprisings broaden the story of the freedom struggle beyond the Congress-led national movement. Museums and commemorations help correct how little these uprisings appear in mainstream history.

Points to evaluate:

• How far the land-rights themes of the Ulgulan carry through to the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
• Whether targeted missions such as PM-JANMAN reach the most isolated PVTG habitations.
• What tribe-wise health data adds to policy design.

Sample Mains question themes

1. Tribal uprisings were as much about land and identity as about colonial rule. Discuss with reference to Birsa Munda’s Ulgulan.
2. Examine how recent schemes seek to bridge development gaps for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

Revision checklist

• [ ] The Ulgulan: years, demands and the meaning of Khuntkatti
• [ ] Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas: date and the year it was designated
• [ ] Four or five tribal leaders and their regions
• [ ] PM-JANMAN: launch, target groups and budget
• [ ] The Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the gram sabha’s role
• [ ] The new 2026 platforms: Jan-HIT and the FRA digital platform

Full list: tribal freedom fighters museums (11)

Full list: national Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas venues

Sources: PIB (Ministry of Tribal Affairs), 27 October 2026; PIB Backgrounder, 14 November 2025; PIB, 14 November 2024 and 4 December 2025.

In the syllabus: Mains GS Paper 1: Modern History — mid-18th century to the present; the Freedom Struggle and its stages