Santhals were agrarian people who had settled in plains of Rajmahal hills of Jharkhand.
They rose in revolt against the zamindars, police and money-lenders who subjected the peasants to oppressive exactions and dispossession of lands.
The rebellion turned into an anti-British movement.
Under Sidhu and Kanhu, two brothers, the Santhals proclaimed an end to Company rule, and declared the area between Bhagalpur and Rajmahal as autonomous.
