Sakshi Education
By Srirangam Sriram, Sriram's IAS, New Delhi.
British colonial rule established itself in India during the second half of the eighteenth century. Although the Indian national movement started taking a unified shape in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the opposition to the colonial rule began much earlier.
The earliest response to British colonial rule came out in the form of series of peasant and tribal uprisings.
Peasant uprisings
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the revenue reforms of the Company's government had fundamentally affected and altered the Indian rural society. The land reforms and the high revenue demands of the Company's government had so severely affected the entire rural population that all sections of the peasantry in different parts of the country participated in a series of violent protests.
During the first century of British rule there were, first of all, a series of uprisings started by disaffected local rulers, Mughal officials or dispossessed zamindars. One could mention in this regard the revolt of Raja Chait Singh and other zamindars of Awadh in 1778- 81 and the rebellion of the Bundela Rajput chieftains in 1842. In the south, between 1799 and 1805 the Madras government faced stiff resistance from the local chiefs called the poligars. All these armed rebellions were, however, put down eventually by the British army.
The peasants themselves often on their own initiative offered resistance to British rule. The Rangpur rebellion of 1783 in the northern districts of Bengal is an ideal example of such opposition.
In many of the peasant movements of this period, religion played an important role in providing an ideology for protest. The earliest of these was the Sanyasi and Fakir rebellion, which rocked northern Bengal and adjacent areas of Bihar between 1763 and 1800.Another religious movement called the Faraizi movement developed among the peasants of eastern Bengal.
Tribal uprisings
The imposition of British rule and their economic policies resulted in the loss of their autonomous domains of power, freedom and culture. The destruction of their imagined golden past by the intruding outsiders-the suds and dikus-led obviously to violent outbursts.
Some of the peasant rebellions in pre-1857 India were participated exclusively by the tribal population whose political autonomy and control over local resources were threatened by the establishment of British rule and the advent of its non-tribal agents.
Bhil insurrection in 1819, Koli rebellion of 1829 and Kol uprising of 1831-32 were some of the tribal movements against the British. The most effective tribal movement of this period was, however, the Santhalhool(rebellion) of 1855-56.
In contrast to the urban intelligentsia, who were also the chief beneficiaries of colonial rule, the response of the traditional elite and the peasantry, who were losing out as a result of colonial impositions, was that of resistance and defiance, resulting in a series of unsuccessful attempts at restoring the old order.
The earliest response to British colonial rule came out in the form of series of peasant and tribal uprisings.
Peasant uprisings
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the revenue reforms of the Company's government had fundamentally affected and altered the Indian rural society. The land reforms and the high revenue demands of the Company's government had so severely affected the entire rural population that all sections of the peasantry in different parts of the country participated in a series of violent protests.
During the first century of British rule there were, first of all, a series of uprisings started by disaffected local rulers, Mughal officials or dispossessed zamindars. One could mention in this regard the revolt of Raja Chait Singh and other zamindars of Awadh in 1778- 81 and the rebellion of the Bundela Rajput chieftains in 1842. In the south, between 1799 and 1805 the Madras government faced stiff resistance from the local chiefs called the poligars. All these armed rebellions were, however, put down eventually by the British army.
The peasants themselves often on their own initiative offered resistance to British rule. The Rangpur rebellion of 1783 in the northern districts of Bengal is an ideal example of such opposition.
In many of the peasant movements of this period, religion played an important role in providing an ideology for protest. The earliest of these was the Sanyasi and Fakir rebellion, which rocked northern Bengal and adjacent areas of Bihar between 1763 and 1800.Another religious movement called the Faraizi movement developed among the peasants of eastern Bengal.
Tribal uprisings
The imposition of British rule and their economic policies resulted in the loss of their autonomous domains of power, freedom and culture. The destruction of their imagined golden past by the intruding outsiders-the suds and dikus-led obviously to violent outbursts.
Some of the peasant rebellions in pre-1857 India were participated exclusively by the tribal population whose political autonomy and control over local resources were threatened by the establishment of British rule and the advent of its non-tribal agents.
Bhil insurrection in 1819, Koli rebellion of 1829 and Kol uprising of 1831-32 were some of the tribal movements against the British. The most effective tribal movement of this period was, however, the Santhalhool(rebellion) of 1855-56.In contrast to the urban intelligentsia, who were also the chief beneficiaries of colonial rule, the response of the traditional elite and the peasantry, who were losing out as a result of colonial impositions, was that of resistance and defiance, resulting in a series of unsuccessful attempts at restoring the old order.
Published date : 27 Oct 2020 11:24AM
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