MPPSC 2024 Prelims Paper-I · Question 23 of 100

Correct — C, Bhil. Tantya Bhil, popularly called 'Tantya Mama,' was a Bhil tribal revolutionary from the Nimar region of (undivided) Madhya Pradesh who resisted British rule and exploitative moneylenders/landlords between 1878 and 1889 through guerrilla raids, redistributing seized wealth among the poor — earning him the epithet 'the Indian Robin Hood.' He was captured and hanged on 4 December 1889 at Jabalpur.

• (a)Kol — The Kol are a distinct Scheduled Tribe of the Baghelkhand/Vindhya region (Rewa, Satna, Sidhi, Shahdol) — not the community Tantya Mama belonged to.
• (b)Gond — Madhya Pradesh's largest tribe, centred on Mandla-Dindori-Chhindwara — a different community from the Bhil of the Nimar-Khandwa belt where Tantya Mama was active.
• (d)Bharia — A small PVTG confined to the Patalkot valley of Chhindwara district — unconnected to Tantya Mama, who belonged to the numerically much larger Bhil community of western/southern MP.

The Bhil are India's largest tribal community by population and are concentrated in western Madhya Pradesh (Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Barwani, Khargone) as well as Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Tantya Bhil (1840-1889) is remembered as an anti-colonial resistance figure who targeted British-aligned landlords and moneylenders and redistributed the proceeds to poor tribals, in the tradition of a folk 'Robin Hood.'

MPPSC and UPSC both test the tribal affiliation of named local revolutionaries — lock the person's name to their exact community rather than guessing from region alone, since several Madhya Pradesh tribes (Bhil, Bhilala, Gond) share overlapping territory. Also watch for a name-collision trap: 'Tantya Mama' (a Bhil of Nimar, MP, d. 1889) is a different person from the similarly-named 'Tantia Tope' (a Maratha general of the 1857 revolt, d. 1859).

• Tantya Bhil ('Tantya Mama') — a Bhil tribal revolutionary, active 1878-1889 in the Nimar region.
• Known as 'the Indian Robin Hood' for redistributing seized wealth among poor tribals.
• Captured and hanged on 4 December 1889 at Jabalpur.
• The Bhil are India's largest tribal community by population, concentrated in western MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

• Confusing Tantya Bhil (Bhil tribal revolutionary, MP, d. 1889) with Tantia Tope (Maratha general of the 1857 revolt, d. 1859) — different people, different movements, a similar-sounding name
• Assuming every Nimar-region freedom fighter is Bhilala rather than Bhil — the two are related but distinct communities

MPPSC often asks the tribal affiliation of named local revolutionaries/martyrs; UPSC tends to test the broader tribal-revolt theme (causes, leaders, terms like 'Ulgulan').

No directly related past PYQ was found. Note: the UPSC store does contain a similarly-named 'Tantia Tope' question (UPSC 2006, on the 1857 revolt figure betrayed and hanged in 1859) — but that is a different historical person from this question's Tantya Bhil/'Tantya Mama' (the Bhil tribal revolutionary hanged in 1889), so it is deliberately NOT linked here to avoid a false match.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Tantya Bhil ('Tantya Mama'), the Bhil revolutionary of the Nimar region, was executed by the British in which year?

  • (a)1857
  • (b)1889
  • (c)1900
  • (d)1942

  Answer(b) 1889.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is the largest tribal community in India by population?

  • (a)Gond
  • (b)Bhil
  • (c)Santhal
  • (d)Munda

  Answer(b) Bhil.