Explanation:

 • Among the numerous tribal revolts, the Santhal 'hool' or uprising was the most massive one.

• The Santhals lived scattered in various districts of eastern India. With the introduction of permanent settlement in Bengal in 1793, the Santhals were employed as labourers with the promise of wages or rentfree lands. However they were forced to become agricultural surfs, exploited at will. Tribal lands were leased out to non-Santhal zamindars and moneylenders. To this was added the oppression of the local police and the European officer engaged in railroad construction. This penetration of outsiders by the Santhals completely destroyed their familiar world and forced them into action to take possession of their lost territory. These outsiders were called 'Dikus' by the Santhals. Hence, option (b) is not correct.

• The first rebellion of messianic character erupted in 1854 under Bir Singh of Sasan in Lachimpur. • In July 1855, when their ultimatum to the zamindars and the government went unheeded, several thousand Santhals, armed with bows and arrows, started an open insurrection against the unholy trinity of their oppressors-the zamindars, the mahajans and the government. The insurrection spread rapidly and in a wide region between Bhagalpur and Rajmahal, the Company's rule virtually collapsed, spreading panic in government circles. At this stage, the Santhal rebels were also being actively helped by the low caste non-tribal peasants. Hence, option (c) is not correct.

• This invited brutal counter-insurgency measures; the army was mobilised and Santhal villages were burnt one after another with vengeance. According to one calculation, out of thirty to fifty thousand rebels, fifteen to twenty thousand were killed before the insurrection was finally suppressed. Therefore, the modes used in the rebellion as well as the suppression of the movement were highly violent. Hence, option (a) is not correct.

• Henceforth, the British government became more cautious about them and the Santhal inhabited areas were constituted into a separate administrative unit, called the Santhal Parganas, which recognised the distinctiveness of their tribal culture and identity. Hence, option (d) is correct.