Kolhan: Manki-Munda system
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A backgrounder
As of 2025
Shubham Tigga, Sep 15, 2025: The Indian Express
On September 9, adivasis from the Ho tribe staged a protest in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district against the Deputy Commissioner (DC), accusing him of interfering with their traditional self-governance system by removing village heads, known as Mundas.
The district administration has since clarified that the protest was a result of rumor mongering on social media, and that Mankis and Mundas remain integral to the revenue system. But adivasi concerns persist, with many fearing the loss of their autonomy and a traditional system.
This conflict threatens a century-old balance between the indigenous governance system, the so-called Manki-Munda system, and the state administration in Ho areas of Jharkhand’s Kolhan region.
The Manki-Munda system
For centuries before the arrival of the British, the Ho tribe of Jharkhand’s Kolhan region lived under their traditional, decentralised system of governance which revolved around the social and political responsibilities of various stakeholders.
The Munda, or the head of the village, was responsible for resolving socio-political disputes at the village level. Each village had one Munda, appointed hereditarily. The Manki headed the pir, which generally consists of 8 to 15 villages. If cases were not resolved by the Munda, they moved upwards to the Manki.
The Manki and Munda had no responsibilities for revenue or land-related issues. The system was purely an internal, self-governing mechanism, with no sovereign authority outside or the concept of paying taxes.
Then came the East India Company, and with it, taxes.
Arrival of the British
After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the Company quickly expanded its territory and influence. In the aftermath of the Battle of Buxar (1764), the Company signed the Treaty of Allahabad with the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II in 1765, which granted it diwani rights (right to collect taxes) over the province of Bengal (including present day Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand).
In 1793, the Company administration inntroduced the Permanent Settlement Act, which allotted land deeds to zamindar and set land revenue demands on them (which they had to pay to the Company). These demands were set at an amount fixed forever but higher than most zamindars’ capacity to pay.
As a result, there was immense pressure on zamindars to be as extractive as possible. In Kolhan, they began actively seizing Ho lands to bring them under direct control. This system would eventually trigger a number of early-19th century adivasi revolts, such as the Ho revolt (1821-22) and the Kol revolt (1831-32).
After repeated failures to subdue the Ho people through brute force, the British decided to arrive at a strategic compromise by recognising and co-opting the Manki-Munda system.
Wilkinson’s Rules & impact
The British appointed Captain Thomas Wilkinson as their Political Agent in the Kolhan Government Estate (KGE), an administrative unit created in 1837 to control the Ho-dominated region.
Having already spent time in the region, Wilkinson understood the local dynamics well and realised that the best way to rule KGE was to work with not against their traditional leaders and governance system.
In 1833, he drafted a set of 31 rules, (henceforth, ‘Wilkinson’s Rules’) meant to be the “guiding principles” for the Ho community’s leaders. This was the first time that the traditional system of the Ho community — or for that matter any adivasi community — had been formally codified.
