84 SOCIAL SCIENTIST He also holds out a threat, I have to add that you are not justified in preferring any complaints against me, because I am an old servant of the Raja and acted under his orders. You can claim compensation from the Raja and not from me. I shall encroach upon your districts or else you should make some arrangements for my pay.14 Elsewhere the Bhil Naiks were similarly active. In Ahmednagar Bhagoji Naik and Kajar Singh Naik led the Bhils in their depredations spread over two years. They plundered villages, closed down the passes, looted the treasury, and even hired Arab mercenaries to carry out their raids. Kajar Singh was killed two years later by one of his own men.15 V It is interesting to note the parallels in the responses of the tribals and other sections of Indian society to the 1857 uprising. The rebellions were led by the scions of feudal aristocracy, tribal and non-tribal, who saw in the events of 1857 an opportunity to restore their lost Raj, and free themselves from the clutches of money lenders and other agents of the oppressive Raj. A feudal structure had emerged in many tribal societies, and the indebted and impoverished small tribal jagirdars sought freedom from the dispensation that had brought about their ruin. Secondly, a sizable body of peasantry or yeomanry, both tribal and non-tribal, joined the uprisings. The Bhogata or a section of the Kharwar peasantry under their leaders who, too, were small jagirdars joining hands with the Chero feudal lords was an interesting development. Thirdly, the tribal story differs from the non-tribal in that the tribals had other scores to settle, with the moneylenders, traders and other enemies who were protected by the British Raj. And so, as the Gond chief s poem shows their wrath was turned against British rule. Lastly there were many forms of tribal protests, depredations being one of them. The tribal heroes of these uprisings have been honoured in various ways today. A statue of Bir Narain Singh stands at Raipur. I organized a mela in honour of Nilambar and Pitambar at Khemu-Sanga in Palamau in 1967. But more important than such gestures is the thought today that the tribals and non-tribals fought together at a critical point in the coun.tr/ s history, and that the specific issues highlighted by tribals in course of their participation are not without relevance today.