A Rebellion that Turned into Tragedy: The Mangarh Massacre of 1913

The pain of the past is reflected in the form of failed rebellions which turned into tragedies because of a dictatorial power. In this story, the rebellion was started in the Mangarh Hills of Rajasthan and was ended by the British who killed around fifteen hundred brave warriors who took the initiative of pointing the accusing finger towards the perpetrators and oppressors.

War memorial of the Mangarh Massacre, Source: Google Images

It is said that an ocean is made of tiny droplets which contribute equally to its formation. In a similar sense, the freedom struggle of India was a combined force that included the struggles and sacrifices of every big and small protest for freedom.

The Mangarh Massacre of 1913 was one such unrecognized movement started by the Bhil tribal community of Rajasthan and Gujarat which ended by taking the lives of a large number of Bhils. This story accounts for the gruesome details of a massacre that had been hidden for decades only to have resurfaced in the consciousness of the country recently.

The Mangarh Massacre was the catastrophic result of a revolutionary movement led by a social and tribal reformer called Govindgir who challenged the exploitation committed upon various tribal communities by the Princely states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Princely states under the focus of this rebellion were Sunth and Banswara. Govindiri was an ambitious man who made a master plan for the success of the rebellion and so he chose to build a stronghold defense at the height of the impregnable Mangarh Hills of Rajasthan. Any enemy would think twice about venturing on this death mission, such as the motive of choosing the high-rising Mangarh Hills as the headquarters of this rebellion.

On 31st October 1913, the tribal warriors started a strategic chaotic movement by attacking various Police Stations around the states of Sunth and Banswara. It is said that a police officer was killed and many were captured to be used as bait later. The Bhils also made the most of their rebellion by looting the British government offices and financing their cause.

The tribals also enforced an unsuccessful riot on the Parbatgarh Fort of Sunth, which led to many casualties on the side of both British and the tribals. It was also the movement in their rebellion that the tribals might have realized that they would be defeated sooner and later as the British stood still despite all the tiny tremors created by them. And so, on 10th November, Govindgiri sent a delegation of Bhils to the British listing their grievances and disclaiming the fact that they won't negotiate on any terms.

The British gave a last chance to the Bhils and asked them to disband the rebellion by 15th November but the Bhil chose to stand still and srenthen in their hold at Mangarh Hills, ready to either win or die. The British issued a notice to capture Govingiri and his vital allies on 17th November 1913. Govindgiri was captured along with 900 other Bhil warriors. It is said that around 1500 Bhils must have lost their lives on that fateful day when the tops of Mangarh were attacked by the British and the Indian troops alike.

For many decades the tragedy of the Mangarh Hills remains oblivious to the country as it was a small movement started by tribal people who were considered insignificant only by the stereotypical Indian mind. It was only after the gruesome massacre of Jaliawala Bagh in 1919 that the wrenching pain of the Mangarh Massacre was also acknowledged on the same ground of it being a nationalistic movement against a common enemy.

The similarity between two massacres was similar and so with time the Mangarh Massacre was nicknamed the ‘ Adivasi Jallianwala Bagh Massacre’. But that is not the point. Two entirely different tragedies cannot be merged just based on the number of casualties. The Mangarh Massacre finally got its due and individual recognition in the form of the ‘Mangarh Dham’ which has been erected on the site of the Massacre in 2022, commemorating the sacrifice done by all those people who had the guts to raise their voices against the injustice in the first place. Just as this story is, remembering and respecting the unsung warriors who lost their lives still chanting the war cries.