Rebellion in a ‘Little-Known’ district of the Empire: 1857 and the Hos of Singhbhum

This paper focuses on the nature of rebellion of 1857 in the Singhbhum district of Chotanagpur, then considered a relatively unimportant region of the british Empire in India, chiefly inhabited by the Ho tribe. In particular, it argues that niether the nationalist nor the subaltern opinions of various scholars writing on 1857 have taken into account the specific situation prevailing in Singhbhum were the rebellion was a multi-layered movement with the raja Arjun Singh of Porahat, the sepoys and the people coming together in an anti-British uprising.