India’s Reaction to British Rule: An Overview

India’s Reaction to British Rule: An Overview!

Rebellious Movements against the British Rule:

In India the British rule was first established in Bengal and it was in Bengal that reaction against the British first began. After Plassey (1757) the English had become the power behind the throne and it was from that time the reaction against the British began.

Mir Jafar was a spineless, selfish, unpatriotic man who had betrayed his country and his Nawab to get the masnad of Bengal. But even for a man like him it was not possible to tolerate the British authority for long and he secretly entered into an agreement with the Dutch to oust the Eng­lish with their help.

This was how the reaction to British authority began. Mir Qasim who succeeded Mir Jafar, was a patriotic Nawab and was of a strong independent character. He loved his people. He would not tolerate the English merchants’ ruining the Indian mer­chants by cheating the government of internal tariff. He drew the attention of the Calcutta Council, but to no purpose. He, therefore, abolished internal tariff for all so that his subjects might not suffer.

This ultimately led to war with the British, But armed in more up-to date weapons the English defeated the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shah Alam and Suja-ud-daulah in the Battle of Buxar, 1764. Mir Qasim was defeated but that did not end opposition to the Eng­lish. Their selfish revenue policy, activities against the time honoured customs of the Indians led to rebellions in different districts of Bengal and Bihar, Chotanagpur etc.

In Rangpur and Dinajpur there were rebellions against the English due to the exploitation and oppression by the revenue officials, and the government had to use military force to quel the rebellions in 1783. In Bishnupur and Birbhum the mal­treatment of the local Rajas and realization of revenue with utmost severity during famine led to a total failure of law and order and the government had to take severe steps spread over a long time to bring the situation under control.

In Midnapore, South Bihar, Chotanagpur, Orissa etc. there were repeated Chuar rebellions. The Jungle Mahal of Midnapore, the Hoj of Singbhum, Kol and Munda in Chotanagpur, Bhumij of Manbhum, the Santhals of Rajmahal, the Khasias of Assam, the Khonds of Orissa gave no rest to the government by their repeated rebellions. Under the leadership of Jagannath Dhal of Dhalbhum, the Chuars rebelled, and Jagannath Dhal was joined by the kings of Kailapal,.

Dolka, Barbhum etc. in 1768. The zamindars of Nawabganj and Jharia stopped payment of revenue to the English. In 1832 the Hoj of Singbhum rebelled under the leadership of Ganganarayan, attacked the government office and occupied Barbhum for some time. The Adibasis of Chotanagpur, Singbhum, Malbhum rebelled at that time. The Hoj and the Munda communities also joined in the rebellion. At about the same time the government transferred lands of the Adibasis to the Sikhs and the Muslims. The Adibasis of Ranchi, Singbhum, Hfizaribag, Palamau, and parts of Manbhum rebelled against the British in protest.

The Santhals had migrated from Hazaribag and Manbhum to the hilly tracts of Rajmahal. But taking advantage of their poverty and simplicity the money lenders started exploiting them. The reve­nue collectors, railway employees were carrying on repression on them and even violated the honour of their women. For these reasons they rebelled against the government officers, police, money-lenders etc.

They became convinced that unless they could wrest their lands from the government there would be no end of their sufferings. In 1855 the Santhals rebelled and began to fight against the army with bows and arrows and naturally were defeated. But their rebellion was partially successful. The Santhal-inhabited areas were formed into a separate Pargana called Santhal Pargana and a special type of administration was introduced there.

Orissa came under the British control in 1803 but the local rulers did not accept the British rule without opposition. In 1804 the king of Khurda revolted against the British but the revolt was suppressed with a heavy hand by the government. But within a short time the Paiks of Khurda attacked the revenue collectors and the police and set the government treasury ablaze. In 1817 after prolonged repressive measures the government restored control over Khurda. Puri still continued to disobey the government. It was in 1825 that the revolt in Khurda was finally suppressed and the king of Khurda pen­sioned off and allowed to live in Cuttack.

The Khonds lived in Khond Mahal in Madras. In 1815 in a place named Gumsur there began hostilities between the British and local king Dhanajay Bhari who was ultimately put under arrest and his kingdom occupied by the British. Dhanajay appealed to the Khonds for support who under a leader Dora Bisui revolted. This revolt was suppressed but in 1864 the Khonds again revolted under a new leader Chakra Bisui.

The king of a place named Angul gave all out support to this revolt for which the British occupied Angul. Chakra Bisui kept himself in hiding for a few years and again stood against the government. This time the government drove him out of Khond Mahal. Next year Khond Mahal again revolted where­upon the government after suppressing it with a heavy hand trans­ferred Khond Mahal from Madras to Orissa.

In 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War the British sent their troops through Ahom kingdom. It was agreed at that time that after the war Ahom kingdom would be placed under British pro­tection and the kingdom would remain under the Ahom king. But after the Burmese War was over, the British started collecting revenue from the Ahom kingdom and run its administration. The power and authority of the Ahom royal Court were also reduced. In 1828 the Ahoms placed Gomdhar Kunwar on the throne of Ahom kingdom and raised the standard of rebellion. But it was suppressed by the British.

In 1830 a second revolt was planned in which Khamti, Singpo, Manipuri, Garo, Khasia people were to join. The revolt started by declar­ing Rupchand Kunwar as the king. The different branched of the Ahom royal family joined this revolt. But as the plan became known to the British the revolt was easily suppressed.

When the district of Sylhet and Kamrup flanking Khasia hills on two sides came under the British a road was being built to connect Kamrup and Sylhet through Khasia Hills. An English man named David Scot made Tirat Singh of Khasia Hills to agree to the construc­tion of the road by the British. In the course of the construction of the road the British brought many soldiers in the Khasi hills which unnerved Tirat Singh. There was also a rumour that the British would start collecting revenue from the Khasia people. Tirat Singh in the circumstances attacked the British with a number of followers.

The Caros arid the Khamtis also came to the help of Tirat Singh and the combined forces began to fight with the British bravely. But it was not possible for them to hold their own for long against the British. The British offered terms of surrender to Tirat Singh that if he would accept the overlordship of the British then the British would return his kingdom to him.

Tirat Singh refused to accept the terms by replying that to accept the terms offered by the British would relegate the position of Tirat Singh to that of a slave, and that the respect of an ordinary citizen was far greater than a slave king. He rejected the offer with contempt. It was not until the death (1834) of Tirat Singh that the British could bring peace in Khasia kingdom.

Anti-British Movement of the Muslims:

It was first in Bengal that anti-British movement among the Muslims began. As a result of the replacement of the Muslim rule by the British in Bengal, many respectable Muslims lost their employment under the government. The new method of land settlement introduced by the Company threw out many traditional zamindars as their estates were settled with highest bidders. Disbanding of Nawab’s army threw many men and officers out of employment. Import of British-made goods ous­ted the indigenous weavers and spinners from their traditional employ­ment as small and cottage industries could not stand in competition with the machine-made imported cloth.

The life and living of the English men were also contrary to those of the Muslims and naturally gave rise to hatred in them for the British. Oppression of the Indigo Planters on the indigo cultivators, exploitation by the new class of zamindars, the extortion by the naibs and gomasthas made the life of the Muslims in Bengal intolerable. Thus economic, social, political and religious grievances pushed the Bengal Muslims into the path of rebellion.

In 1776-77 Majnu Shah, a Muslim Fakir led the Bengal Muslims to rebellion. His centre of activity was Makwanpur in the Nepalese Terai. In Bengal the centres of activity of his followers were Madarganj and Mahasthan in Bogra district. They also built a fort at Mahasthan. Disregarding the British authority Majnu Shah and his followers began to realize land revenue from the ryots. On Majnu Shah’s death, his son Chirag Ali took over as the leader of the Fakirs and between 1788 and 1790 the rebellious activities of the Fakirs had spread all over north Bengal.

Bhavani Pathalk, Debichaudhurani etc. who were freedom-loving and anti-British were in close touch with the Fakirs. Gradually the Pathan and Rajput soldiers who had lost their employment due to the disbanding of the Nawab’s army, also joined the Fakirs. From 1793 to 1800 the Fakirs continued fight with the British and it became almost impossible for the govern­ment to realize land revenue from north Bengal. Their main centre of activity was Nepalese Terai. In order that they might not use Nepalese territory for their rebellious activities, the British entered into an agreement with the Nepal government after which the Fakir rebellion began to die out.

Akin to the Fakir rebellion was the Paglapanthi rebellion. The Paglapanthis were a sect of the Muslims. Karm Shah of Susang was the founder of this sect. He wanted to spread truthfulness, equality, and brotherhood among the people. His followers included both Hindus and Muslims, Hajongs and Garos. On the death of Karm Shah, his son Tipu started a rebellion against the zamindars with a large number of his armed followers and attacked the Cachari (office) of the zamindar of Sherpur and occupied it. Within a short time he appointed judge, magistrate, collector etc. in a limited area of Sher­pur and began to rule independently. But his centres of activities were all gradually occupied by the government.

Another anti-British rebellion was started at Faridpur under the leadership of Hajji Shariat Ulla. Shariat Ulla was an advocate of reform of the Islam by excluding later political interpolations into it and thereby making it clean and pure. He also wanted social and political reforms. He was against exploitation of the ryots by the zamindars and intended to re-establish Muslim rule in Bengal by ousting the British from power. This movement was a mixture of religious and political ideals and came to be known as Faraizi move­ment.

After the death of Shariat Ulla, his son Dadu Mia also known as Mohammad Mahasin began a no-tax campaign with a view to ending the British rule. He set up courts of law within the villages with old, experienced persons so that nobody might go to the British, courts for justice. He encouraged the ryots to stand against the ex­ploitation by the zamindars. Between 1838 and 1857 this rebellious movement was acquiring more and more strength. This movement was the forerunner of the Wahabi movement and later Faraizi movement got mixed with Wahabi movement when it also began in Bengal.

Abdul Wahab was born in Nejd in Arab. He was the founder of the Wahabi religious sect. Purification of Islam and its revival in original form were the ideal of the Wahabis. Almost at the same time a similar movement was started at Delhi by Wali Ulla. Wali Ulla was a liberal-minded reformer and did not make any distinction between Siha and the Sunni Muslims.

After Wali Ulla, his son Abdul Aziz assumed the leadership of the followers of Wali Ulla and declared that India was not a Dar-ul-Islam, i.e. a land fit for those who pro­fess Islam, for it was under the British who were non-Muslims. In order to convert India into a Dar-ul-Islam it was necessary to re­establish Muslim rule in India. Further, as a result of the entry of many Hindu converts into the fold of Islam, many non-Islamic cus­toms have entered into the Islam.

It was therefore necessary to purify Islam and revive the religion Hazrat Mohammad had preached. Thus this movement became both a religious and political movement. Syed Ahmed gave leadership to this movement at Rai Bareilly. In order to convert India into a Dar-ul-Islam it was necessary to end the Sikh rule in Punjab and the British rule in Bengal. Syed Ahmed began (movement for achieving this purpose. He was deeply influenced by the ideas of Wali Ulla, Abdul Aziz and particularly Abdul Wahab.

The movement which began under the leadership of Syed Ahmed is known as Wahabi movement. He came under the influence of Wahabi movement in Arabia when he went there as a Haj pilgrim. But considering from the point of view of the nature of the move­ment the modern historians are of the opinion that the movement of Syed Ahmed, although known as Wahabi movement, was more akin to the movement of Abdul Aziz and Wali Ulla. Many call it Wali Ulla movement.

The Wahabi or Wali Ulla movement became very powerful in Rai Bareilly, Meerut, Delhi and Bengal. In Bengal the movement got mixed up with the Faraiji movement and acquired great strength. Syed Ahmed’s followers Mir Nasir Ali, better known as Titumir began the movement first at Barasat and gradually spread it to Jessore and Nadia where a large number of the weavers-joined the move­ment. Krishna Roy zamindar enhanced the land revenue of the ryots who joined the Wahabi movement within his zamindary. Titu­mir began open hostilities with the zamindar and after constructing a fortress of bamboo poles declared war against the Hindu zamindars.

His followers attacked the village named Puma, killed its priest and defiled the Hindu temple. They also tortured the Hindus of the village. Even the Muslims of the village who refused to take their side were not spared. After ransacking the village Purna, Titumir declared that the British rule had ended and the Muslim rule re-­established. In Twenty Four Parganas, Faridpur, and Nadia, the followers of Titumir for the time being became invulnerable. The British government sent a force to suppress the movement. Many of the followers of Titumir lost their lives at the hands of the British troops. Titumir’s bamboo fortress at Narkelberia in Barasat was occupied by the British after a fight in which Titumir was killed. His chief followers Gulam Rasu] with 350 men were prisoners. Gulam Rasul was tried and sentenced to death.

Wahabi movement took communal character in some places and led to communal oppression. But it’s ideal having been restoration of Muslim rule, it became naturally anti-British. For this reason the anti-British character of the movement received emphasis. At the initial stage this movement was limited to the lower middle class Muslims, but gradually well-to-do Muslims also joined the movement and in Malda, Bakharganj etc. the movement received the support of Muslim saints, zamindars, merchants, in fact, the Muslim community by and large.

At the initial stage when the Wahabi movement became somewhat communal in character, the Hindu society looked upon it with suspicion and fear. But with the occupation of Punjab by the British, when the Wahabi movement became fully anti-British in character, the Hindu community gave it moral support. The move­ment, then assumed a political character.

Another movement similar to that of the Wahabis began in Punjab under the leadership of Bhagat Jawharmal, commonly known as Sia Sahib. This movement is known as Kuka movement, the aim of which was to purify the Sikh religion by removing the superstition, image worship, hard life for the widows, etc. Sia Sahib and his chief disciple Balak Singh made Hazaro in North West Frontier Province the centre of activities of the Kuka movement.

They regarded Guru Govinda Singh as the only real guru of the Sikhs and wanted aboli­tion of caste system, introduction of inter-caste marriage and absten­tion from drinks. But the main aim of the movement was to free Punjab from the British rule. After the death of Sia Sahib, Balak Singh took the leadership of the movement and raised a Sikh army. He claimed himself to be an incarnation of Guru Govinda Singh. In order to oust the British from Punjab, he called upon his followers and the Siikhs not to attend the British courts, to give up schools, to boycott British made goods, to give up service under the British.

With one lac twenty five thousand followers he announced his plan to end the British rule and began to train his followers militarily. He appointed Suba, Naib Suba and similar other officers in different parts of Punjab in order to strengthen the Kuka movement. But as corruption and debauchery crept into the organisation many of the followers left it. But the Kuka movement did not cease. On the contrary Ram Singh who now led the movement got into touch with the Maharaja of Nepal secretly for support in organising an army in Jammu.

The British government naturally became apprehensive of the possible effect of the Nepalese support to the movement. They kept a watch on the situation. When the British had occupied Pun­jab they assured the Punjab Darbar that they would abolish cow slaughter in Punjab. But the British government did not act up-to their assurance. Thus cow slaughter in Punjab, opening of butchers’ shops near the Golden Temple in Amritsar, sale of beef etc. made the Kuka community determinedly anti-British.

They started killing the butchers. British government sentenced nine Kuka rebels to death for this, and two were transported for life. These steps by the govern­ment made the Kuka rebels all the more uncontrollable. They attacked the treasury of the Nawab of Malaudh of course without success, but they put many to death in Malaudh and Kotla. The Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, killed 49 Kuika rebels by firing from cannon, Ram Singh was arrested and deported to Rangoon as a political prisoner. Thus was the Kuka rebellion suppressed.

Like Wahabi and Kuka rebellions, the Munda tribals rebelled under the leadership of Sribisra in Chotanagpur. Sribisra received some English education and became a convert into Christianity. But as the new religion did not bring him any peace of mind he returned to his original religion.

He asked his Munda followers to worship only Singbonga, their great god and none else. He stressed internal purity, purity of character, abstention from drinking, and other vices prevalent among the Mundas. Gradually he was looked upon by the Mundas as God incarnate and Dharti Aba, i.e. father of the world: Sribisra’s movement was looked upon by the government with sus­picion, for it was their experience that such movements ultimately turned anti-British.

The government thought that Sribisra was also trying to oust the British and set up an independent Munda kingdom. The Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi, therefore, secretly arrested Sribisra along with fifteen of his followers. Bisra was imprisoned for two years. On his release after two years Sribisra began to worik hard for saving the Mundas from the famine and the attendant epide­mic that were stalking the land and also Organising the Mundas. He felt that an armed conflict with the British was inevitable and began to train his followers in fighting with bows and arrows and swords.

The movement now started by Sribisra sought to remedy the distress of the Mundas, to establish impartial justice, but soon turned into a violent one. Police in their attempt to suppress the movement often were defeated. The Mundas attacked the Khunti police station and killed one constable and set a number of houses ablaze. The Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi reached the spot of trouble and tried to pacify them. But the Mundas surrounded him where upon he ordered the army to fire on them. As a result 200 Mundas were killed, Bisra was arrested and kept confined in jail where he died of cholera.

In Bombay the Naikdas tribals of Panchmahal area joined the- Revolt of 1858. The British Government succeeded in persuading; them to lay down arms. But in 1867 under the leadership of Rup Singh or Rupa they rebelled against the British with a view to estab­lishing an independent kingdom. Rup Singh claimed a part of the revenue of Rajgarh, but was rejected by the government. Rup Singh at once attacked Rajgarh and seized some money and arms and ammunitions from the Police station. Then he looted Jambugoda. Rup Singh and his followers attacked several other places but ulti­mately he himself, his chief assistant Joria Bhagat, and the son of Rup Singh, Galalia were arrested by the British. All the three were sentenced to death,

Peasants’ Revolt:

From the time of the East India Company cultivation of indigo was a profitable business. Indigo was manu­factured from a kind of shrub which was cultivated annually. The English indigo merchants used to earn fabulous profit by exporting indigo to European countries. Lured by the high profit in indigo cultivation, the East India Company began to take direct part in indigo cultivation from 1780. They brought indigo manufacturers from West Indies and began to extend cultivation of indigo. Gra­dually a class of Europeans called Indigo Planters grew in Bengal, Bihar and in other parts of India who began extensive cultivation of indigo by Employing Indian Cultivators.

They also used to pay ad­vance money to Indian cultivators for cultivation of indigo in their own lands. The cultivators who would take advance from the Indigo Planters for cultivating indigo in their own lands virtually became landed slaves of the Indigo Planters, for they had to sell their pro­duce to the Indigo Planters from whom they had talen advance i.e. Dadan, at a price dictated by them. If they failed to deposit the produce within the stipulated date they would be forcibly taken to the Indigo factory and kept confined and inhumanly tortured.

Indigo cultivation went on increasing in acerage till synthetic indigo was invented. With the growth of the demand for indigo, there was extension of cultivation and with the extension of acerage of cultivation there was more torture on the cultivators. The culti­vators’ land in which indigo was not cultivated was forcibly brought under indigo cultivation. The Indigo Planters kept a number of lathials on their pay rolls and whenever any cultivator would fail to deposit his stipulated amount of produce within the prescribed time would be taken to the factory by these lathials who would mer­cilessly belabour the cultivators.

The price paid for the indigo cultivated by the ryots would not at times meet the cost of produc­tion. Once a cultivator would accept dadan he had no escape from it. He would become a landed slave of the factory wherefrom he had taken the dadan. There were cases where the Indigo Planters forcibly occupied the cultivable lands of the ryots and there was no remedy, for the government sided with the Indigo Planters. Macaualy in describing the inhuman torture of the cultivators by the Indigo Planters remarked that “great evils exist, that great injustice is fre­quently committed, that many ryots have been brought partly by the operation of the laws and partly by acts committed in defiance of law, into a state not far removed from that of predial slavery”.

In the Indigo factory at Jagacha or Chaugacha in the district of Nadia two brothers Bishnu Charan Biswas and Digambar Biswas used to work as Dewans. The torture on the indigo cultivators made the two brothers so perturbed that they resigned their services and began to organize the indigo cultivators and ultimately stopped indigo cultivation in Jagacha. The Indigo Planters sent their lathials to punish the cultivators but this time the cultivators who had been united, fought back the lathials. But in the fight one of the culti­vators died.

This led to an open revolt by the indigo cultivators against the British (1809). The ryots did not receive any dadan from the Indigo Planters, they started attacking government offices, Indigo factories, the residence of the European Indigo Planters, destroyed indigo crops, looted Indigo factories. The rebels used spears, lathis, swords as weapons of attack. In Central Bengal the leadership of the Indigo revolt was given by Bishnu. Charan Biswas and Digambar Biswas and in north Bengal by the Wahabi leader Rafique Mandal.

The Indigo revolt received support from the educated Bengalee community. The contemporary newspaper the Hindu Patriot of Harish Chandra Mukherjee published the tales of owe of the indigo cultivators and the inhuman torture on them by the Indigo Planters. Dinabandhu Mitra’s Nildarpan gave a vivid description of the cruelty of the European Indigo Planters towards the Indian ryots. Nildarpan created a great stir all over India and specially in Bengal. Reverend Long got Nildarpan translated into English by Michael Madhusudan Datta for which he was imprisoned for a month and fined one thou­sand rupees. This led to the universal condemnation of the British.

The government took every repressive measure to suppress the indigo revolt and the spread of the revolt in whole of Nadia district as well as to Jessore, Pabna, Malda, Rajshahi despite government re­pression became a matter of great headache for the viceroy.

By 1862 the situation became extremely complicated. The govern­ment was compelled to appoint an Indigo Commission. The Magis­trate of Faridpur, Mr. W. E. De Latour in his deposition before the Commission remarked that indigo cultivation was a system of blood­shed. The Indigo Commission in their report pointed out that the price that was paid to the indigo cultivators for their produce was not at all profitable.

Besides, they were forced to cultivate indigo against their will and thereby remain engaged in a wonk which did not bring them any profit. The Commission also recommended that oppression of the ryots must be stopped. The government accepted this recommendation and ordered the immediate stopping of intimi­dation, torture and application of force on the indigo cultivators.

Realizing that the future of indigo cultivation was almost sealed in Bengal, the Indigo Planters put more emphasis on the cultivation of indigo in Benares, Bihar, Doab and the neighbouring areas. But within a short time Indigo revolt began in Bihar also which practi­cally brought Indigo cultivation to an end. With the invention of synthetic indigo in 1897 cultivation of indigo was completely aban­doned.

The Indigo Revolt began due to the repression on a section of the Indian cultivators, but from this revolt an idea of the miserable condition of the Indian cultivators as a class can be had. The Indigo Revolt taught at least one lesson to the Indians that even the weakest and the most humble section of the society, namely, the peasants, if organised and given correct leadership could get their grievances remedied. The failure of the British to suppress the Indigo Revolt des­pite every kind of oppression proved the strength of unified movement.

Indigo Revolt was the first civil disobedience movement, which strategy was so successfully applied later by Mahatma Gandhi against the British adding non-violence to it.