Honouring “Sheroes”: Santal Women Hūlgariyās and the Cultural Spaces of Memory in Contemporary Jharkhand

This article explores the contemporary representations of “sheroes” belonging to Adivasi communities, i.e. tribal or indigenous populations of India. It focuses on the collective memory of the two hūlgariyās (“sheroes”) of the Santal hūl (Rebellion) of 1855-56, Phulo and Jhano Murmu. This marks a shift in the interpretation of the anti-colonial resistance that took place in the Santal Parganas Division of the erstwhile Bengal Presidency (present-day Jharkhand, eastern India). The article analyses how the two hūlgariyās are remembered today through various forms of memorialisation – visual, textual and performative. It aims to highlight the active role of Adivasi women in shaping historical narratives, challenging the male-centric indigenist perspective and affirming their indigeneity. These forms of memorialisation may have been used over the last 10-15 years as a tool to bring Adivasi women into historical discourse, paralleling earlier efforts by Dalit writers to centre Dalit “sheroes” into history. I consider these diverse forms of memorialisation as modes of resistance aimed at asserting women’s agency.