19 Must-Read Books on Adivasi Movements in India

Blurb:

Our list of books on the Adivasi movements in India starts with one of the earliest armed resistances the subcontinent witnessed. In the early 1950s, the Nagas began a movement demanding a separate country, independent from the Indian state, one that would last decades and yet ongoing. The book shows the journey of the struggle, from raising political consciousness among the local masses to long periods of bloodshed and absolute violence and the various political machinations leading to numerous failed negotiations.

The Naga Story also shows the Indo-Naga peace talks that go on still to unite the Naga populations spread across the different northeastern Indian states under one state. When discussing Adivasi movements in India, this chapter of Indian history is unmissable.

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This book continues our exploration of the Naga Adivasi movements in India. It shares inside perspectives of the movement, from the leaders to the soldiers, and is the result of extensive research and reportage. Members of ten Naga tribes across India and Myanmar talk about their experiences through this book, from their childhood to the reasons why they joined this resistance. These journeys vary wildly, from Myanmar to China to India, and go all the way back to the Second World War years.

With ample context and insights, Kuknalim is a one-stop resource for understanding the Naga struggle and its importance to our country and the world at large. Whether you agree with its politics or not, its writing and comprehensive coverage make it one of the best books covering the Adivasi movements in India.

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Our next selection exploring Adivasi movements in India, Nandini Sundar’s The Burning Forest, is the story of Bastar, central India, where one of the most militarised conflicts in the country still rages on. Beginning in 2005 with the Salwa Judum movement, a government-backed vigilante group aimed at suppressing Maoist influence, the war has left a deep scar on the local tribal communities. Hundreds were killed, and thousands were forcibly displaced into government camps as the region became a battleground between the state and insurgents.

Bastar has a wealth of mineral resources, which turned the struggle into a fight for more than political control, one for land and livelihoods. Through real-life stories, extensive fieldwork, court testimonies, and government records, Sundar presents the failures of democracy and the complicity of political parties, the media, and the judiciary. The Burning Forest is essential reading to understand how economic interests and state power make the survival of Adivasi communities in India’s heartland almost impossible.

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In Nightmarch, anthropologist Alpa Shah takes us deep into the Naxal heartlands, the site of one of the biggest and most influential Adivasi movements in India. In 2010, as government forces ramped up operations against Maoist insurgents, Shah joined a guerrilla platoon on a seven-night, 250-kilometer march. Disguised in olive-green fatigues and unarmed, she was the only woman in the group. She was trying to understand why India’s poorest, overlooked by its economic growth, have chosen to reject democracy and side with revolutionary ideologies.

Shah’s journey explores the lives of tribal communities entangled in a conflict shaped by dispossession and inequality. Her years of research and on-ground observations allow her to bring their stories to life, showing both the unity and fragility within one of the most persevering Adivasi movements in India. Nightmarch provides a human lens on a movement often reduced to violence while reminding us of the deep-rooted struggles behind such Adivasi movements in India.

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Our next choice of books on Adivasi movements in India is Hello Bastar. The book offers a rare inside look into how a handful of revolutionaries entered Bastar in the 1980s and built a movement that New Delhi now calls India’s biggest internal security threat. Rahul Pandita takes us through the early days of the Maoist movement, showing how it spread across ten states, driven by the plight of the poor and marginalised.

With access to top Maoist leaders like Ganapathi and Kobad Ghandy, Pandita writes about the movement’s inner workings through firsthand accounts and on-the-ground reportage. The book also shows the lives of Adivasi tribals living in the “Red Zone,” who have long been caught in the crossfire. Through its blend of storytelling and analysis, Pandita’s book is essential reading to understand the roots of this conflict and the larger Adivasi movements in India.

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The Naxalite Movement in India traces the origins of one of the most influential Adivasi movements in India that began in 1967 in a small village and spread across key states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal. Once called the greatest internal security threat by the UPA government, the movement has evolved into the Maoist insurgency that continues to challenge India’s democratic structure.

In this updated edition, Prakash Singh provides a historical sweep of the movement, from its early days to its transformation into a formidable force capable of launching lethal strikes. Despite setbacks, the movement remains a significant threat in several states. Singh’s work is essential for understanding the Naxalite insurgency’s long-lasting impact and its ongoing role in India’s internal conflicts.

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K. S. Singh’s Birsa Munda looks at the life and legacy of one of India’s most celebrated tribal leaders. Birsa Munda’s movement, which defied colonial rule and exploitation, symbolised tribal resistance across India. Since the book’s second edition was released in 1983, Birsa’s legacy has only grown.
Singh’s work, based on anthropological research and archival records, explores the movement while also analysing Birsa’s transformation into a symbol of tribal identity. The book has led to creative works in regional literature and continues to hold relevance today. This book offers essential insights into the impact of Birsa Munda’s struggle for anyone seeking to understand Adivasi movements in India.

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In The Santal Rebellion 1855–1856: The Call of Thakur, Peter B. Andersen reinterprets the Hul, one of the largest Adivasi movements in India. Rather than framing it as a class-based peasant revolt, Andersen zooms into the religious and cultural motivations of the Santal leaders, Sido and Kạnhu, who sought justice against colonial exploitation.

By drawing on both colonial records and Santal oral traditions, Andersen tries to understand how the Hul was a response to the colonial regime’s disruption of the Santal way of life. He reveals how Sido and Kạnhu’s efforts to reform the Santal religion were deeply tied to their fight against colonial economic policies. This book is crucial for understanding the Santal Rebellion (and the broader Adivasi movements in India) in its true context—one of resistance and cultural preservation—and states the importance of including tribal voices in historical and modern policy discussions.

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The Struggle for Narmada documents the decades-long fight of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), one of the biggest mass struggles and Adivasi movements in India. This is the story of the Adivasis of the Narmada Valley, whose battle to save their land, forests, and the river Narmada is central to the struggle, though oft overlooked.

Nandini Oza, a former NBA activist, shows this story through the voices of two Adivasi leaders, Keshavbhau and Kevalsingh Vasave, both displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Their testimonies depict the harsh realities of displacement, loss of livelihood, and the environmental and cultural destruction that followed the construction. This book helps the reader understand the Narmada movement through the eyes of those who lived it and is critical to looking at the many contours of the Adivasi movements in India.

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Peter Stanley’s Hul! Hul! chronicles the largely forgotten Santal Rebellion of 1855—an uprising that saw over 10,000 Santals die and a significant portion of the Bengal Army deployed to suppress it. Often overshadowed by the 1857 Indian Rebellion, the Hul was dismissed by British officers as “execution” rather than a war, despite its scale and impact.

Using the British officers’ reports, Stanley offers the first comprehensive account of the rebellion, from its roots in colonial oppression to its brutal suppression. He writes about how the Santals, facing starvation and disease, fought against overwhelming odds and the far-reaching effects of the rebellion. For those interested in Adivasi movements in India and colonial history, Hul! Hul! is an unflinching look at one of the most serious challenges to British rule in India.

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Rahul Ranjan’s The Political Life of Memory examines Birsa Munda’s legacy in contemporary Jharkhand. Through memorials, statues, and symbolic sites, Ranjan tries to understand how these representations selectively shape Birsa’s political life to serve modern political agendas. He shows how memory is wielded as a tool by both the state and Adivasi communities to assert their claims on the past.

By focusing on how Birsa’s story is retold in these monumental forms, The Political Life of Memory argues that his political ideas are often confined to curated narratives, limiting their broader relevance. For those interested in Adivasi movements in India and memory politics, the book is a reminder of how the past is too often used to shape contemporary political landscapes.

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In Environmental Movements of India, Krishna Mallick recounts the stories of three major movements: Chipko, Narmada Bachao Andolan, and Navdanya. Each movement responded to a different crisis: Chipko’s defence of forests, Narmada’s fight against displacement, and Navdanya’s resistance to GMOs and the loss of farmers’ livelihoods.

Mallick places these movements in a wider ethical and philosophical context to show how grassroots activism can be a powerful voice for marginalised communities and the importance of Adivasi movements in India. As climate change threatens those who live closest to nature, the book’s relevance only grows.

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In The Roots of the Periphery, Bhangya Bhukya explores how colonial policies shaped the perception of Adivasi communities, like the Gonds of the Chanda region (which would partially be the factor behind many of the Adivasi movements in India). Far from being naturally primitive or isolated, Bhukya argues that these societies were central to regional governance before British rule imposed a divide between the plains and hills, casting hill communities as uncivilised.

Using a mix of oral histories, folklore, and archival records, Bhukya charts the evolution of Gond society from the Mughal period to the colonial era and how their resistance to assimilation was rooted in a strong sense of self-rule and autonomy. For anyone interested in Adivasi history and colonialism’s impact, this book is a critical reexamination of how these communities navigated state power.

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In Reordering Adivasi Worlds, Dr. Sangeeta Dasgupta looks at the lives of the Oraons and Tana Bhagats of Chhotanagpur while challenging conventional understandings of the term “tribe” and its colonial roots. Through colonial archives, missionary accounts, and oral histories, Dasgupta shows how colonial interventions shaped Adivasi identities, customary rights, and hierarchies that persist today.

Focusing on the Tana Bhagats’ resistance to colonial rule, landlords, and moneylenders, one of the many chapters of the Adivasi movements in India, the book depicts how they drew on their history to engage with Gandhi and are still navigating their place in contemporary India. Dasgupta’s work reveals the ongoing interplay between memory and protest in Adivasi movements. This book is essential for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of Adivasi movements in India and the role of memory in shaping current struggles.

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Dr. Namrata Goswami’s The Naga Ethnic Movement for a Separate Homeland takes a deep plunge into the century-old Naga struggle (whose importance can be partially grasped by the number of times it’s been mentioned in our list of Adivasi movements in India already!). Drawing from over a decade of ethnographic research and interviews, Goswami captures the impact of this conflict on daily life, particularly for the youth growing up in conflict zones. 

The book also shows the Naga community’s interactions with Indian state institutions like the army and paramilitary and how these encounters shape their lives. Through deeply personal stories, The Naga Ethnic Movement for a Separate Homeland fleshes out the Nagas’ deep connection to their land and identity. Goswami also addresses the inter-ethnic tensions fueling the ongoing struggle. For anyone seeking to understand the human side of the Naga movement, this book has many insights!

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The Mizo Uprising is the story of the twenty-year conflict between the Mizo National Front and the Indian government, from the 1966 Declaration of Independence to the 1986 Mizo Peace Accord. With few records from the period, the Assam Assembly Debates (1966-1972) offer a rare insight into key events, including India’s only aerial attack on its own citizens and the forced resettlement of 80% of the Mizo population.

Through these debates, Dr. J. V. Hluna and Rini Tochhawng take us through the movement’s evolution that led to the creation of Mizoram and one of the world’s most successful peace accords. The book throws light on a largely forgotten conflict that transformed Mizoram into one of India’s most peaceful states. It is a critical read for anyone seeking to understand the Mizo uprising, one of the major Adivasi movements in India, and its impact on the nation’s history.

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Unsung Heroes of Jharkhand Movement by Anuj Kumar Sinha highlights the stories of individuals who sacrificed their lives for Jharkhand’s creation. Divided into six sections, the book covers those killed by police, revolutionaries targeted by the mafia, the role of non-tribal and women revolutionaries, and the contributions of the All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU).

Sinha brings the reader’s attention to the movement’s often-overlooked figures, from those who faced violence to those who died from natural causes. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the history and sacrifices that shaped the Jharkhand movement, a major chapter among Adivasi movements in India.

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Through Politics of Identity and the Bodo Movement in Assam, Hira Moni Deka studies the Bodo struggle for a separate state, tracing the roots of one of the most significant Adivasi movements in India from the colonial era to the present. The book explores how the Bodos, marginalised both socially and economically, sought to assert their distinct identity through cultural revival, political movements, and protests—both violent and non-violent.

Deka presents the key moments of the Bodo movement, including the role of the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) and the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) in 2003. He also discusses the movement’s impact on Assamese identity and how the Bodos redefined their culture and language while opposing the Assamese mainstream. This book looks critically at the Bodo movement and its broader implications for identity politics in Northeast India and the Adivasi movements in India.

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Ananda Bhattacharyya’s Adivasi Resistance in Early Colonial India is the story of the Chuar Rebellion, one of the earliest uprisings and Adivasi movements in India against British rule in Bengal. The rebellion, peaking in 1799, was a response to both Adivasi grievances and the declining power of local zamindars. 

Using documents from the Midnapore District Collectorate and J.C. Price’s 1951 text, the book traces the roots of this major chapter of the Adivasi movements in India that began shortly after the East India Company arrived in Bengal. Bhattacharyya shows how their resistance became an early example of subaltern struggle in colonial South Asia and helps its readers understand the early phases of Adivasi resistance during British rule.

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