List of Peasant Movements in India

• Indigo growers’ revolt had flared up in Bengal in autumn of 1959
• It is also known as ‘Nil Bidroho’
• On the one hand, this revolt was directed against the indigo planters, on the other, it grew into a rent strike against the planter zamindars.
• This indigo revolt gave birth to a political movement and stimulated national sentiment against the British rulers among Indian masses.

• Rangpur uprising took place in Bengal
• It is called the first tough peasant rebellion against the East India Company rule.
• Diwani right to britishers in 1765 and five year settlement in 1767 led to exploitation of peasants.
• European collectors and Indian Ijardar (revenue farmer) worked in tandem to extort money from the cultivators.
• The rebellion spread over a significant area, including Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Palama.
• After two years of strong confrontation, they lost to modern weapons of the British.

• Kol tribesmen of Chhota Nagpur were upset over exploitation by agents of the East India Company
• The Kols and other tribes enjoyed independence underneath their chiefs but the British entry threatened their independence.
• Handover of tribal lands and the encroachment of moneylenders, merchants and British laws created tension in the region.
• Leaders: Buddhu Bhagat, Joa Bhagat, Madara Mahato and others.

·        The rebellion started as a resistance against both the British colonial rule in Malabar region and the landlords who were mainly Hindus.

• The revolt goes fell into the trap of Hindu-Muslim riot.
• During this period, Khilafat movement was raised (During Non-Cooperation movement for the fulfilment of freedom for Muslims.
• Read more about Moplah rebellion here.

• It was a native rebellion in present-day Jharkhand.
• This revolution was not only against the British Raj but also against the zamindars.
• The Santhals were evicted from their own land due to failure to pay taxes and debts.
• It was planned by four brothers -Sidhu, Kahnu, Chand and Bhairav
• The rebellion was suppressed and was over-shadowed by the other rebellions.

• Ryotwari Settlement was the revenue system introduced in the Bombay Deccan region.
• The ryots of Deccan region of western India suffered heavy taxation under the Ryotwari system.
• The peasants found themselves trapped in a vicious network with the moneylender as the exploiter and the main beneficiary.
• The conditions had worsened due to a crash in cotton prices after the end of the American civil war in 1864, the Government’s decision to raise the land revenue by 50% in 1867, and a succession of bad harvests.
• This uprising also involved a social boycott of the moneylender.

• Birsa Munda led this movement in Ranchi.
• The Ulgulan, called the ‘Great Tumult,’ strived to ascertain Munda Raj and independence.
• The land agreements of the British were demolishing the tribal conventional land system.
• As a result of this rebellion, the government enacted the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act 1908.
• Traditional characters and language were used to arouse folk, exhorting them to demolish “Ravana” (dikus/outsiders and the British government )

• The revolt was led by Karam Shah
• It was guided by religious medicants called Pagal Panthis. At the initial stage it was directed against the zamindars and later assumed the character of an anti-British movement.
• Karim Shah taught that God created mankind. So, they are all equal and brethren to each other.
• The followers of Karim Shah, therefore, addressed each other as ‘Bhai-Saheb’. Their behaviour and way of life seemed unusual and peculiar to the people living in the plains.
• Bhai-Sahebs thus came to be called ‘Pagals’ (mad-caps) by the people in the plains.

• Led by Hazi Shariatullah and his son Dadu Mian
• Shariutullah vowed to bring the Bengal Muslims to the true path of Islam.
• Haji Shariatullah regarded British rule in Bengal as injurious to the religious life of the Muslims so, he wanted to expel the English intruders from Bengal

• The Tebhaga movement was organised mainly by the communist cadres of the bengal provincial krishak sabha.
• Tebhaga Movement was the sharecroppers’ movement demanding two thirds of the produce from land for themselves and one third for the landlords (so the word tebhaga).
• The resisting tenants added a new slogan to their agenda: the total abolition of zamindari system.
• The Partition of Bengal and the promises of the new government led to the suspension of the movement.

• This was the biggest peasant guerrilla war of modern Indian history affecting 3000 villages and 3 million populations.
• The princely state of Hyderabad under Asajahi Nizams was marked by issues like lack of civil and political liberties, forced exploitation etc.
• The autocratic-feudal regime of India’s biggest princely state was shaken up.
• The movement cleared the way for the formation of Andhra Pradesh on linguistic lines and realising another aim of the national movement in this region.