CHAPTER 3

PEASANT MOVEMENTS AND UPRISINGS AFTER 1857

India Struggle for Independence(1857-1947) Notes

Revision Notes or Short Notes

 

Introduction

Effects of Colonial Exploitation on Indian Peasants

Economic Policies:

• Land revenue system burdened peasants.
• Ruin of handicrafts led to overcrowding on land.

Zamindari System:

• Zamindars charged high rents and illegal dues.
• Peasants forced to borrow from moneylenders.

Ryotwari System:

• High government land revenue forced borrowing.

Impact:

• Peasants lost land to landlords, moneylenders, rich peasants.
• Reduced to tenants, sharecroppers, or landless laborers.

Resistance:

• Peasants resisted exploitation (against zamindars or colonial administration).

Forms of Protest:

• Individual or small group crime (robbery, dacoity).
• “Social banditry” – stealing from rich to survive.

 

Part-1

The Indigo Revolt (1859-1860)

Background:

• European planters forced peasants to grow indigo under oppressive system.
• Peasants received low prices, had to accept advances they couldn’t repay, and faced violence from planters’ men (lathyals).
• Magistrates often sided with planters.

Trigger:

• Misinterpreted official letter led to belief that peasants could choose crops.

Peasant Actions:

• Petitions and demonstrations (September 1859).
• Refusal to grow indigo, defend villages with weapons (spears, slings, etc.).
• Rent strikes against planters who were also zamindars.
• Legal action against planters.
• Social boycott of planters’ servants.

Success Factors:

• Strong initiative, cooperation, organization, and discipline of peasants.
• Unity between Hindu and Muslim peasants.
• Leadership from well-off peasants, petty zamindars, moneylenders, ex-planter employees.

Support from Bengali Intelligentsia:

• Newspaper campaigns (Harish Chandra Mukherji of Hindoo Patriot).
• Mass meetings, memoranda on grievances, legal support.
• Din Bandhu Mitra’s play “Neel Darpan” exposed planter oppression.
• This support established a tradition for future nationalist movements.

Missionaries’ Support:

• Extended active support to indigo ryots.

Government Response:

• Restrained due to recent uprisings and public pressure.
• Appointed Indigo Commission to investigate.
• Commission exposed coercion and corruption in the system.
• Government issued notification (November 1860) protecting peasants’ rights.

Outcome:

• Planters closed factories due to resistance and inability to operate without force/fraud.
• Worst abuses of the system mitigated.
• Indigo cultivation almost wiped out in Bengal by 1860.

Part-2

Agrarian Unrest in East Bengal (1870s-Early 1880s)

Causes:

• Zamindars trying to:
  • Increase rent beyond legal limits.
  • Prevent occupancy rights under Act X of 1859.
• Illegal methods used by zamindars:
  • Forced eviction.
  • Seizure of crops and cattle.
  • Costly litigation.

Peasant Resistance:

• May 1873: Agrarian league formed in Pabna district.
• Tactics:
  • Mass meetings.
  • Rent strike.
  • Legal challenges.
  • Raising funds for legal battles.
• Movement spread throughout East Bengal.
• Focus on legal resistance, minimal violence.
• Developed legal awareness and ability to form associations.

Outcomes:

• Partial settlements:
  • Official pressure.
  • Zamindar fear of litigation.
• Many peasants acquired occupancy rights and resisted rent increases.
• Government:
  • Defended zamindars during violence.
  • Neutral in legal battles and peaceful protests.
  • Passed Bengal Tenancy Act (1885) – partially addressed issues.

Reasons for Movement’s Acceptance:

• Limited goals:
  • Address immediate grievances.
  • Enforce existing legal rights.
• Not aimed at ending zamindari system.
• No anti-colonial stance:
  • Operated within legal bounds.
  • Sought status as “ryots of the Queen.”

Solidarity and Support:

• Hindu-Muslim solidarity among peasants.
• Support from Indian intellectuals (Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, R.C. Dutt).
• Later support from Indian Association (Surendranath Banerjee, Anand Mohan Bose, Dwarkanath Ganguli):
  • Campaigned for tenant rights.
  • Helped form ryot unions.
  • Organized mass meetings.
• Nationalist newspapers advocated for stronger protections than Tenancy Bill.

Part-3

Deccan Riots (1875): A Peasant Uprising in Maharashtra

Background:

• Ryotwari System:Land revenue directly settled with peasants (ryots) who owned the land.
• Debt and Moneylenders:Peasants struggled to pay revenue, relied on moneylenders who charged high interest and seized land.

Key Events:

• 1860s:American Civil War boomed cotton exports and prices.
• 1864:Civil War ended, cotton prices crashed, hurting peasants.
• 1867:Government raised land revenue by 50%, worsening situation.
• Bad Harvests:Further strained peasants’ ability to pay revenue.

Trigger Point (December 1874):

• Peasants in Kardab village failed to convince moneylender Kalooram to halt eviction.

Peasant Actions:

• Social Boycott:Villagers refused to interact with moneylenders (shops, services, labor).
• Target:“Outsider” moneylenders (Marwaris, Gujaratis).
• Spread:Boycott grew across Poona, Ahmednagar, Sholapur, Satara districts.

Escalation to Violence (May 12, 1875):

• Peasants in Supa village attacked moneylenders’ houses and shops.
• Burned debt bonds, deeds, and other debt-related documents.
• Violence minimal, focused on destroying symbols of debt.

Government Response:

• Suppressed the movement within a few weeks.
• Deccan Agriculturists’ Relief Act (1879): Offered limited protection against moneylenders.

Support for Peasants:

• Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (led by Justice Ranade) supported peasant resistance against 1867 revenue increase.
• Nationalist newspapers advocated for the D.A.R. Bill.

Peasant Resistance Elsewhere:

• Mappila outbreaks in Malabar.
• Vasudev Balwant Phadke’s social banditry in Maharashtra (1879).
• Kuka Revolt in Punjab (1872).
• Peasant riots in Assam (1893-94) due to high land revenue.

Part-4

Peasant Movements after 1857

Shift in Nature:

• Princes, chiefs, and landlords no longer the main force.
• Peasants fight directly for economic issues.
• Targets: foreign planters, zamindars, moneylenders.
• Limited goals, specific grievances, not anti-colonial.
• Localized movements, lacked continuity or long-term organization.

Nature of Protests:

• Spontaneous reactions to excessive oppression, deprivation, exploitation.
• Fought to maintain existing position, not for land ownership.
• Objected to eviction, rent increase, moneylender abuse, unfair taxation.
• Utilized legal system and extra-legal means when necessary.
• Believed actions were sanctioned by legal authority (“sarkar”).

Peasant Strengths:

• Courage, sacrifice, organizational skills, cross-religious/caste solidarity.
• Secured concessions from the colonial state.

Colonial Response:

• Willing to compromise within colonial economic/political structure.
• Treatment differed from response to civil rebellions/tribal uprisings.

Weaknesses of Movements:

• Limited understanding of colonialism, social framework.
• Lack of new ideology, social/economic/political program.
• Struggles within framework of old societal order.
• No vision of alternative society or all-India leadership.

Outcomes:

• Colonial state offered concessions or used force to suppress movements.
• 20th century saw peasant movements merge with anti-imperialist movement.
• Peasant participation strengthened national movement and enabled class-based struggles.

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