EARLY UPRISING OF BRITISH

 

1. Introduction

•Reason:  conquest of territories, expansion policy.

Uprooted :deposed kings, their descendants, zamindars, and palayakarars.

Independent of such revolts were the uprisings of the dispossessed peasants and tribal.

• The rapid changes introduced by the British in the agrarian relations, land revenue system, and judicial administration, elaborated in the previous lesson, greatly disrupted the agrarian economy, resulting in widespread misery among various sections of the society.

• Therefore, when the aggrieved erstwhile ruling class raised a standard of revolt, the support of the mass of peasants and artisans was not lacking.

2. Classification Of Revolts/Uprisings:

2.1 Peasant Movements :
    In these struggles, the peasants emerged as the main force, fighting directly for their own demands.

The movements in the period between 1858 and 1914 tended to remain localised, disjointed and confined to particular grievances, contrary to the movements after 1914.

Causes of the Movements:

Peasant Atrocities: The peasants suffered from high rents, illegal levies, arbitrary evictions and unpaid labour in Zamindari areas. The Government levied heavy land revenue.

Massive Losses for Indian Industries: The movements arose when British economic policies resulted in the ruin of traditional handicrafts and other small industries leading to change of ownership and overburdening of agrarian land, and massive debt and impoverishment of peasantry.

Unfavourable Policies: The economic policies of the British government used to protect the landlords and moneylenders and exploited the peasants. The peasants rose in revolt against this injustice on many occasions.

Si.No	Movements and Leaders	Year	Place	Reason
1	Indigo Revolt Movement  Leader : Bishnu and Digambar Biswas	1859	Bengal	..Indigo was in high demand worldwide. .. trade in Indigo was lucrative due to the demand for blue dye in Europe. .. European planters enjoyed a Monopoly over Indigo and they forced Indian farmers to grow Indigo by assigning fraudulent deals with them .. the cultivators were forced to grow Indigo in place of food crops. .. they Were advanced to loans for this purpose .Once the farmers could never repay it due to the high rate of interest. ..The tax rates were also exorbitant .. farmers were forced to sell indigo at non profitable rates so as to maximize the European planters profit. .. if a farmer refused to grow Indigo and planter paddy instead,  the planters resorted to illegal means to get the farmers to grow Indigo such as looting and burning crops,  kidnapping the family, etc., ..Government always supported the planters Who enjoyed many privileges and judicial immunity.
2	Pabna revolt Leaders : Ishwar Roy, Sabu Pal , Khodi Mollah	1870	Bengal	.. against landlords. ..Landlords forcefully collected rents and land taxes. .. often prevented the  tenants from acquiring Occupancy right under act X of 1859. ..This act conferred Occupancy rights on tenants who held land for 12 years as well as paid their  rents. .. the patients were often evicted from the land due to the non payment of the rent. .. due to the decline in the production of jute in 1870s, the  peasants were struggling with famine. .. some of the landlords declared an enhancement of land taxes. .. some Peasants declare their Parganas independent of zamindari control and tried setting up a local government with an army to fight the zamindari lathiyals or police.
3	Deccan Riots Leaders: –	1875	Maharashtra	..In the Bombay Deccan region, The British had introduced the ryotwari settlement as the system of land revenue. .. under this system the revenue of land was fixed On the yearly basis. .. The immediate cause of the Deccan riots in 1875 was the highest interest rates charged by Mahajans. .. The ryotwari system,  the revenue was fixed according to the soil type and the paying capacity of the farmers. .. however the revenue were so high that farmers found It extremely difficult to pay their dues. .. to pay the revenue farmers generally took loan from money lenders,  once the loans were taken the farmers found difficult to repay it.
4	Ramosi movement Leaders:  Vasudev Balwant Phadke	1879	Maharashtra	..Remosis of Maharashtra were The inferior ranks of Police in Maratha administration. .. After the fall of Maratha Kingdom they became farmers and paid heavy land revenue due to the demands of British
5	Bijolia moment Leaders: Sita Ramdas, Vijay Pathik Singh	1913	Rajasthan	..Land revenue and other taxes were the important issues behind this moment. .. The people suffered under the weight of double exploitation of British imperialism and native feudalism.
6	Champaran movement  Leader:   Gandhiji	1917	Bihar	.. The farmers of Champaran, a village in Bihar, were forced to grow indigo by the European planters instead of the food crops which were necessary for their survival.  ..The European planters were destroying the productivity of the land which was the main reason for the protest.  ..Mahatma Gandhi was invited by some of the peasants to look after their misery.  ..Gandhiji accepted an invitation and started a mass movement after seeing the plight of the indigo cultivators.
7	Kheda leaders : Gandhi and Vallabh Bhai Patel	1918	Gujarat	..The government reassessed the Kheda land and the cultivated crops.  ..On the basis of land data, collected in this way, the revenue was increased.  ..This was unacceptable to the peasants.
8	Mopla  Leaders:  Syed Ali and  Sayyid fazl	1921	Kerala	..major- being the increase in land tax, security of tenure and exploitation of the poor peasantry by the landlords.
9	Bordoli /  Borsad Leader: Vallabhbhai Patel	1928	Gujarat	..Bardoli Satyagraha has started after the increased and unfair taxes which the farmers of Bardoli had to pay to the British government.
10	Tebhaga  Leaders:  Kamparan Singh, Nyamat Ali	I946	Bengal	..The uprising was due to the sharecropping system that prevailed in the Bengal
11	Punnapra vayalar	1946	Kerala	..ICHR(Indian Council for historical research) says, these Communist agitations cannot be counted as the part of the Independence movement as they took place after the interim government led by Jawaharlal Nehru assumed office.  ..These riots were basically against the interim government.
12	Telangana  Leader:  Kumarayya and Sundarayya	1946	Andhra Pradesh	..social tensions arose due to influx of people from the Coastal Andhra region.  ..Protests started with the hunger strike of a student from Khammam district for the implementation of safe-guards promised during the creation of Andhra Pradesh.  ..The movement slowly manifested into a demand for a separate Telangana.
13	UP Kisan Sabha  Leader:  Indra Narayan and Gauri Shankar Mishra	1918	Uttar Pradesh	..In order to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights, and thus sparking the farmers' movements in India.
14	Avadh Kisan Sabha  leaders:  Baba Ramchandra	1920	Uttar Pradesh	..to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights
15	Eka moment  leaders:  Madari Pasi	1921	Avadh	.. high rent, which was generally higher than 50% of recorded rent in some areas. ..Oppression by thekedars who were entrusted to collect rent and practice of share rent also contributed to this movement.
16	Forest Satyagraha  leaders:  NV  Ramanaidu,  NG Ranga	1931	South India	.. to cut grass and twigs from the forests. ..the British captured most of the cattle of Tamora and the surrounding villages. ..The cattle owners were also accused of breaking the forest law and the tribals were harassed in the name of the law.
17	India Kisan Sabha  leaders:  Sahaja Nanda Saraswati	1936	Lucknow	..order to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights,  ..and thus sparking the farmers' movements in India.

2.2 Tribal Revolt:

• The tribals’ mainstay were shifting agriculture, hunting, fishing and the use of forest produce.

• With the influx of non-tribals into the traditional regions of the tribals, the practice of settled agriculture was introduced. This led to a loss of land for the tribal population.

• The tribals were reduced to being landless agricultural labourers.

• The British introduced money lenders into the tribal areas which led to severe exploitation of the local tribals. They became bonded labourers under the new economic system.

• The tribal societies had a system of joint ownership of land which was replaced by the notion of private property.

• There were restrictions imposed on the use of forest produce, on shifting agriculture and on hunting practises. This led to the loss of livelihood for the tribals.

• Tribal society was traditionally egalitarian compared to mainstream society which was marked by caste and class distinctions. With the coming of the non-tribals or outsiders, the tribals came to be classified under the lowest rungs of society.

• A Forest Department was set up in 1864 by the government mainly to control the rich resources of Indian forests. The Government Forest Act of 1865 and the Indian Forest Act of 1878 established complete government monopoly over the forested land.

• The work of the Christian missionaries also led to social upheaval in tribal society and this was also resented by them.

Tribe	year	Leaders	Cause
Chaur	1766 - 1772	Raja Jagannath	excess revenue demand and Bengal famine
bills	1817	sevaram	agrarian hardship
hos	1820	……	British occupation of Singbum
ramosi	1822	Chitur Singh, Pratap Singh,  Datara Patkar	against British rule
Kollis	1824	…….	Dismantle of forest
Ahom	1828 - 1833	Gomadhar Kunwar	British occupation
Kashi	1829- 1832	Tiruth Singh	British occupation
kol	1831 - 1832	Budhu Bhagat	land transfer to to outsiders
santhals	1855- 1856	Sindhu and kanu	British rule
Naikda	1858	Roop Singh	for  Dharmaraj against banjariya Bhagat on grazing and timbers
Buyan and Jung	1867 -68	Ratna  nayak,  Dharani Nayak	installation of British protege on Throne
Kacha nagas	1882	sambodhan	British intervention
Munda	1899	Birsa Munda	land system, missionary activity and forced labour
bills	1913	govind Guru	temperance and purification movement
oroans	1914	Jatra Bhagat	religious reason
chenhus	1921-22	……	British Control of forest
koyas/Ram pass	1922-24	Alluri sitarama Raju	British rule
Naga	1932	Jadu and Rani Gaidinliu	reformist movement later directed against  excess of British rule

   2.3 Civil Revolt

•  violent action organised by a group of people who are trying to change the political system in their country: 

• The government has brutally crushed the rebellion. action against those in authority, against the rules, or against normal and accepted ways of behaving: 

• a backbench rebellion against the new foreign policy.

2.3.1 Sanyasi (Bengal)- 1780 : led by religious monks against British restrictions and  ruin of peasantry 

2.3.2 Kattabomman revolt -1792- 98:  by Veerapandiya Kattabomman against imposition of British  suzerainty.

2.3.3  Paika revolt  (Orissa) - 1804-06  :led by Bakshi Jagabandhu against the British occupation and revenue policy.

2.3.4  Velu Thambi (Travancore)- 1805: led by Velu Thampi against British extortion.

2.3.5  Kittur revolt (Karnataka) -1824 :by chinnamma and rayappa against British interference in Kittur.

2.3.6  Pagalpantis  (Maimansinh)- 1825- 33:  by Karam Shah and Tipu. religious reasons and nature.

2.3.7  Raju (Vizag)- 1827: by Veerabhadra Raju.

2.3.8  Farezi  -1838 : by Haji Sarai and the  dadu mian For the cause of tenants.

2.3.9  Polygar (Kurnool)- 1846: by Narasimha Reddy.

3. Revolts and Movements with reference to Tamil Nadu:

Revolt of Kattambomman Area: Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu Year: 1792-99 Leader: Veerapandya Kattabomman (Ruler of panchalankurichi)

Attempts of the British to force Katabomman to accept their suzerainty and his refusal

Defiance of the British by Kattabomman for 7 years; his final capture and execution by the British (1779); annexation of his territory by the British (1779).