What were the grievances of the tribals against the British?

There were various grievances of the tribals against the British which were:

• Tribal chief was an important part of the tribes. They enjoyed considerable authority like economic power, had the right to control and manage the territories. But when British interfered in their matters, the power and the functions of the chiefs reduced. They lost their administrative powers and had to follow the rules laid down by the British. They were also asked to pay tribute to the British and to control their people on behalf of the British.

• Britishers didn’t like the shifting cultivators as they didn’t have any fixed income, home and it became difficult to control them. They wanted them to settle down so it could become easy for the state to control them and to get hold of regular revenue. To make this happen, they introduced a certain measure which made their life difficult.

• Britishers introduced forest laws that controlled the forest land, designated reserved forests and declared forests as state property. They allowed jhum cultivators to cultivate on a small patch of land provided by them and in return they served as the cheap labour for the forest department.

• The Britishers, to expand their trade, came to the forest to buy forest produce, offered cash loans and also demanded wages. The tribals who were in search of work were paid very low wages by the contractors this, in turn, worsened their situation.