Why in the news?

• The Ho community in Jharkhand is protesting over the government’s intervention into the tribes Manki-Munda System.

Manki-Munda System

• What is it?: 
  • It is a Traditional Governance of Ho tribe (Kolhan, Jharkhand).
    • Munda → hereditary village head; resolves local disputes.
    • Manki → head of 8–15 villages (pidh); appellate authority.
  • Pre-colonial: purely social & political, no tax/revenue role.
• Colonial Transformation
  • British Expansion:
    • Post-Battle of Buxar (1764) and Treaty of Allahabad (1765), Company gained tax collection rights.
    • Permanent Settlement Act (1793): Introduced zamindars, high revenue demand → led to land alienation, tribal dispossession, and revolts (Ho revolt 1821–22, Kol revolt 1831).
  • Wilkinson’s Rules (1833):
    • Drafted by Capt. Thomas Wilkinson; codified 31 rules for Ho governance.
    • Recognised Manki-Munda system under colonial law, integrating it into the Kolhan Government Estate (1837).
    • Outcome:
      • Preservation of tribal leadership but co-opted as agents of the British.
      • Influx of dikkus (outsiders) due to railways and land pattas.
      • Introduced private property & raiyat (tenant) system, replacing communal ownership.
• Post-Independence Developments
  • Kolhan Government Estate dissolved (1947), but Wilkinson’s Rules continued.
  • Courts upheld them as customary practice (e.g., Mora Ho vs State of Bihar, 2000).
  • Attempts to reform: Nyay Manch draft law (2021) stalled → no updated framework.
  • Currently: Wilkinson’s Rules still operational in Kolhan.