The Kol Rebellion (1831–32) was one of the earliest large-scale tribal uprisings against British colonial administration in India, and it took place in the Chotanagpur Plateau region — corresponding largely to present-day Jharkhand, including areas such as Ranchi, Singhbhum, and Hazaribagh.

The rebellion was led by the Kol tribal communities (which included the Munda and Ho tribes) and arose from deep economic and social grievances caused by British interference in traditional tribal land systems:

• Loss of land and authority: British policies displaced traditional tribal chiefs and headmen, transferring land and administrative control to outsiders.
• Exploitation by outsiders ("dikus"): Non-tribal merchants, moneylenders, and zamindars migrated into the region and began exploiting tribal populations through unfair land settlements, high interest loans, and forced labour.
• Disruption of the traditional land-tenure system: The tribal system of communal land ownership was replaced by individual proprietorship favouring outsiders, undermining the tribals' traditional rights over forest and agricultural land.

The uprising was ultimately suppressed by British military force, but it was significant because it was among the first organised expressions of tribal resistance to colonial exploitation, and it exposed the failures of British administrative and revenue policy in tribal areas. It set a precedent that was echoed in several later tribal movements in the same broader region, including the Santhal Hool (1855–56) and Birsa Munda's Ulgulan or "Great Tumult" (1899–1900), both of which also originated in and around the Chotanagpur Plateau.

The other plateaus mentioned are unrelated to this specific event: the Deccan Plateau and Malwa Plateau lie in central/western India far from the Kol tribal heartland, while the Meghalaya Plateau is in the northeast and is associated with different tribal communities (such as the Khasi and Garo) and different colonial-era conflicts.