Legacies of a colonial state

Shashank Kela's book A Rogue and Peasant Slave has more to do with the present state of Adivasi politics than the history of over two centuries of Adivasi resistance. One can perhaps treat the book as a source of history that is yet to be written. It is a great tragedy that there is such a scarcity of Adivasi literature, written by the people it speaks for. With Adivasi languages left to languish, academia has become the only source of knowledge on Adivasi resistance. 

The first part of Kela's book covers the history of the Adivasis of the Bhils of Nimar in Madhya Pradesh. His archival research demonstrates the devastating impact of colonialism on Adivasi societies, and traces historical continuities into the present. The evidence of racism and the manner of co-option, excessive taxation, betrayal and violent subjugation by colonial officers and the ruling elite is well documented. Bhil rebellions were met with brutal suppression. The Bhils started to lose land – little by little – to 'foreigners' and caste-based societies, and were driven further into the forests. The state not only failed to protect them, but exacerbated the process of land alienation with the desire to 'civilise' the rogue peasant in the hill and bring him down to settled agriculture where he could be taxed into submission. For Kela, the process of breaking down Adivasi resistance started with the disarming of Adivasi societies during colonialism, and continues today with the invasion of non-Adivasis on Adivasi land.