Birsa Munda's vision of a golden age was a return to a past era, described as a satyug or "age of truth," when the Munda tribe lived in harmony and prosperity. During this golden age, the Mundas lived honest lives, cultivated their land, constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, and did not kill their relatives. It was a time free from exploitation, vices like drinking liquor, witchcraft, and sorcery, and outside interference from missionaries, landlords, moneylenders, and colonial officials. Birsa urged his followers to reform their society by giving up these vices and reclaiming their ancestral rights to land and self-rule, envisioning a Munda Raj led by themselves rather than outsiders
. This vision appealed strongly to the people of the region because they were suffering under the oppressive policies of the British colonists and Hindu landlords (referred to as dikus), who exploited them through high taxes, land dispossession, forced labor, and social disruption. Birsa’s call to restore their glorious past and regain control over their land and culture offered hope for justice, dignity, and freedom from exploitation. It resonated deeply with the tribal people's desire for social equality, cultural preservation, and empowerment against external domination, making his movement a rallying point for resistance and revival
. In summary, Birsa’s vision was both a nostalgic ideal of a just and prosperous tribal society and a political movement aimed at ending exploitation and restoring tribal autonomy, which naturally attracted widespread support among the oppressed tribal communities of Jharkhand and surrounding areas.
