MODERN INDIAN HISTORY 20/02/2017

MODULE -7
CIVIL REBELLIONS IN INDIA DURING BRITISH RULE
The civil uprisings were led by deposed rajas and nawabs or their descendants,
uprooted and impoverished Zamindars, landlords and poligars. They revolted
because of their local grievances with the British rule.

CAUSES OF CIVIL REBELLIONS

The sudden localized revolt took place because of the rapid changes the British
introduced in the economy, administration and land revenue system caused a
huge distress among the farm cultivators, peasants, artisans and many scholarly
and priestly classes. Moreover in spite of collecting huge amount of land revenue,
even a penny was not spent for the betterment of the people in India and the
plight of the farmers continued to degrade regularly.
Many of the Peasants and Artisans lost their lands in the hands of British loyal
Zamindars. Because of very low income the peasants or the artisans has to borrow
money from these Zamindars which they hardly repay because of reduced income
and in bay most of the land came in the hands of the Zamindars who were loyal to
British.
Another major cause of the rise of civil rebellion was that the new courts and legal
system encourages the rich to oppress the poor. Whole of the Police, Judiciary
and general administration was hard hit by prevalence of corruption as well as
favouritism. This whole system was far away for the betterment of the common
people. The British officials openly looted, oppressed and tortured the common
people at will.
The handicraft industry which prevailed in India which was largely supported by
earlier rulers and Zamindars was eroded by the one way free trade policies of the
British Empire. The plight of Scholarly and Priestly classes and the very foreign
nature of the British rule etc. culminated outbreak of civil rebellions in India.

BENGAL AND EASTERN INDIA

FAKIR UPRISING
Faqirs were a group of wandering Muslim religious mendicants. Shortly after the
annexation of Bengal in 1776-77, Majnum Shah, the leader of Faqirs, began to levy
contributions on the zamindars and peasants and, defied the British authority.
After Majnum Shah’s death, Chirag Ali Shah, supported by Pathans, Rajputs and
the disbanded Indian soldiers extended the operations to the northern districts of
Bengal. Two famous Hindu leaders who supported him were Bhawani Pathak and
Devi Chaudarani, a woman. The Faqirs led by Chirag Ali Shah gained considerable
strength and attacked English factories, seized their goods, cash, arms and
ammunitions. There were a number of skirmishes between the Faqirs and
Company’s troops. The Faqirs were finally brought under control at the beginning of
the 19th century.

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SANYASI REVOLT
The coming of the British brought with it economic hardships symbolised by the
massive famine of 1770, and a general callousness on the part of the
Company’s stooges. The immediate cause of the rebellion was the restrictions
imposed on visits to holy places estranged the sanyasis (generally Hindu
Nagas and Giri).

The sanyasis retaliated by organizing raids on the Company’s factories and state
treasuries. Only after prolonged military action could Warren Hastings contain the
raids by the sanyasis which included massacre of 150 sanyasi in 1771. After
nearly half a century long strife, the Sanyasi Uprising ended in the second quarter of
the nineteenth century. Area affected included Murshidabad and
Baikunthupur forests of Jalpaiguri, in West Bengal.

Anandamath, written by India’s first modern novelist, Bankim Chandra

Chatterjee, from which the song Vande Mataram was taken and declared to be
India’s National song, is the best reminder of the Sanyasi Rebellion.

AHOM REVOLT
The British had pledged to withdraw after the First Burma War (1824-26) from
Assam. But after the war, instead of withdrawing, the British attempted to
incorporate the Ahom’s territories in the company’s dominion. This sparked off a
rebellion in 1828 under the leadership of Gomdhar Konwar. Finally, the Company
decided to follow a conciliatory policy and handed over Upper Assam to Maharaja
Purandar Singh Narendra and part of the kingdom was restored to the
Assamese king.
WESTERN INDIA
CUTCH REBELLION
The British interfered in the internal feuds of the Cutch and, in 1819, defeated and
deposed the ruler Rao Bharamal in favour of his infant. A British resident governed
the areas as the de facto ruler with the help of a regency council.

The administrative innovations made by the regency council coupled with excessive
land assessment caused deep resentment. The news of the British reverses in
the Burma War emboldened the chiefs to rise in revolt and demand the restoration
of Bharamal. After extensive military operations failed to control the situation, the
Company’s authorities were compelled to follow a conciliatory policy.
SURAT SALT AGITATIONS
A strong anti-British sentiment resulted in attacks by local Surat population on the
Europeans in 1844 over the issue of the Government’s step to raise the salt duty
from 50 paise to one rupee.Faced with a popular movement; the Government
withdrew the additional salt levy. And, again in 1848, the government was forced to
withdraw its measure to introduce Bengal Standard Weights and Measures in
face of people’s determined bid to resort to boycott and passive resistance.

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KOLHAPUR AND SAVANTVADI REVOLTS
The Gadkaris were a hereditary military class which was garrisoned in the
Maratha forts. These garrisons were disbanded during administrative
reorganization in Kolhapur state after 1844. Facing the spectre of unemployment,
the Gadkaris rose in revolt and occupied the Samangarh and Bhudargarh forts.
Similarly, the simmering discontent caused a revolt in Savantvadi areas.

NORTH INDIA
KUKA MOVEMENT
The founder of Kuka movement was Bhagat Jawahar Mal. Initially it was started as
a religious movement with a view to reform the Sikh religion by purging it of the
degenerate features, Kuka movement, founded in 1840 in the Western Punjab,
turned into a political struggle against the British.
The Kuka movement sought to abolish the caste system in the Sikhism and create
a society based on equality. It advocated woman’s freedom and abstinence from
alcohol and drugs and discouraged non-vegetarianism.
The British took several measures to crush the Kuka revolt between 1863-1872.
Ram Singh, one of the famous leaders of the Kuka movement, gave a call to his
followers for boycott of British goods, government schools and government posts.
Known to his followers as Satguru, he was deported by the British to Burma where
he died in 1885.The Kuka Revolt also came to be known as Namdhari Movement.

SOUTH INDIA
DIWAN VELU THAMPI REVOLT
The East India Company’s harsh conditions imposed on the state of Travancore,
after both of them agreed to a subsidiary alliance arrangement under Wellesley
in 1805, caused deep resentment.
The ruler failed to pay the subsidy and fell in arrears. The high-handed attitude of
the company compelled the Diwan, Velu Thampi, to rise against the Company,
assisted by the Nair battalion. A large military operation had to be undertaken to
restore peace. The revolt was ruthlessly suppressed and Velu Thampi was publicly
hanged.
POLIGAR REBELLION
The poligari system had evolved with the extension of Vijayanagar rule into Tamil
Nadu. Each poligar was the holder of a territory or palayam (usually consisting of a
few villages), granted to him in return for military service and tribute.
Given their numerical strength, extensive resources, local influence and
independent attitude, the poligars came to constitute a powerful force in the political
system of south India. The East India Company, eager for revenue, opposed the
manner and scale in which the poligars collected taxes from the people. The
issue of taxation—more specifically, who was to collect it, the traditional rulers or
the rapacious new collectors from overseas —lay at the root of the subsequent
uprising.

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When in 1799 the poligars of Tirunelveli District rose in open rebellion, the East
India Company took all possible measures to check the spread of the uprising. A
detachment of Company troops was speedily deployed against the Tirunelveli
poligars, while dire warnings were issued to poligars in other parts of the south not
to join the rebellion.
The suppression of the poligar rebellions of 1799 and 1800-1801 resulted in the
liquidation of the influence of the chieftains. Under the terms of the Carnatic Treaty
(31 July, 1801), the British assumed direct control over Tamil Nadu. The poligari
system, which had flourished for two and a half centuries, came to a violent end
and the Company introduced a zamindari settlement in its place.
REVOLT OF RAJA OF VIZIANAGARAM
The East India company invited the wrath of the people of Northern Sarkar when,
after the acquisition of these territories in 1765, it demanded a tribute of three
lakh rupees from the Raja and also asked the Raja to disband his troops.
The Raja supported by his subjects rose up in revolt. The Raja died in a battle in
1794. Finally, the company offered the estate to the deceased Raja’s son and
reduced the demand for presents.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CIVIL REBELLIONS

These rebellions were massive in totality, but were wholly local in their spread and
isolated from each other. They were the result of local causes and grievances,
and were also localized in their effects.
They represented national or common efforts but separated in time and space.
Socially, economically and politically, the semi-feudal leaders of these rebellions
were backward looking and traditional in outlook. These revolts were local and
isolated from each other. British government ruthlessly suppressed them for e.g.
Velu Thampi, the rebellious Diwan of Travancore was publicly hanged. The
suppression of civil rebellions was a major reason that revolt of 1857 did not spread
to South India and most of Eastern and Western India.

SIGNIFICANCE
The historical significance of these civil rebellions lies in that they established
strong and valuable local traditions of resistance to British rule. The Indian
people were to draw inspiration from these traditions in the later nationalist
struggle for freedom

PREVIOUS YEAR’S QUESTION (PRELIMS)

1. Which one of the following revolts was made famous by Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee in his novel Anand Math? (2006)
(a) Bhil uprising (b) Rangpur and Dinapur uprising
(c) Bishnupur and Birbhum rebellion (d) Sanyasi rebellion

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