Rebellion in Ranchi explores the lives of children across India during colonial times. The protagonist, Sibu, provides a lens into the plight of children in the forests of Chota Nagpur, slowly moving into the Tana BhagatMovement, where they protest the injustices that the zamindars and the British Raj perpetrate on the Adivasis. In 1914, Jatra Oraon declared that the God of the Oraons Dharmesh had sent him a divine message. All Oraons had to become his disciples and follow what Dharmesh revealed. Chanting mantras, he urged the Oraon religion to be purged of evils like ghost hunting, belief in spirits, alcohol and sacrifice of animals. He advocated for people to give up working as labourers and stop paying rent to the landlord. He assured that Dharmesh would sustain them if they followed the path, claiming that a single rice grain could satiate hunger, and a handful scattered on the ground would yield enough to fill a granary. All Oraons had to cleanse themselves by casting household items, farming tools, and jewellery into rivers (Dasgupta, 2016).
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