History · Spectrum Books A Brief History of Modern India
Chapter 31 : Peasant Movements 1857-1947
Table of contents29 sections
- 1.Peasant Movements 1857-1947
- 2.A Survey of Early Peasant Movements
- 3.Indigo Revolt (1859–60)
- 4.Pabna Agrarian Leagues
- 5.Deccan Riots of 1875
- 6.Key Terms
- 7.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 8.Changed Nature of Peasant Movements after 1857
- 9.Weaknesses
- 10.Key Terms
- 11.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 12.Later Movements
- 13.The Kisan Sabha Movement
- 14.Eka Movement
- 15.Mappila Revolt
- 16.Bardoli Satyagraha
- 17.1930s Peasant Awakening
- 18.Kirti Kisan Movement
- 19.The Muzhara Movement
- 20.The All India Kisan Congress/Sabha
- 21.Under the Congress Ministries (1937-39)
- 22.During the War
- 23.Post-War Phase
- 24.Key Terms
- 25.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 26.Balance-Sheet of Peasant Movements
- 27.Key Terms
- 28.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 29.Quick-Recall Box
Chapter preview
Peasant Movements 1857-1947
The colonial administrative and judicial systems, along with exploitative economic policies, severely impoverished the Indian peasantry.
Causal Chain of Peasant Impoverishment: Industrialisation of Britain → policies preventing Indian exports → local handicrafts languished → land overcrowded by underemployed/unemployed artisans → heavy reliance on agriculture.
Regional Exploitation:
- Zamindari areas: Peasants suffered high rents, illegal levies, arbitrary evictions, and unpaid labour.
- Ryotwari areas: The government levied heavy land revenue.
- Consequence: Overburdened farmers approached local moneylenders → charged high interest rates → mortgaged land and cattle → moneylenders seized belongings → actual cultivators reduced to tenants-at-will, sharecroppers, and landless labourers.
- Reaction: Peasants resisted exploitation, realising the colonial state was the real enemy. Desperate peasants sometimes resorted to crimes like robbery, dacoity, and 'social banditry'.
A Survey of Early Peasant Movements
Early peasant movements were driven by the ruin of traditional handicrafts, massive debt, and impoverishment.
Indigo Revolt (1859–60)
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Bengal |
| Oppressors | European indigo planters |
| Causes | Planters forced peasants to grow indigo instead of paying crops (rice) → forced advance sums and fraudulent contracts → intimidation (kidnappings, illegal confinements, flogging, attacks on women/children, seizure of cattle, burning houses, crop destruction). |
| Trigger | 1859: Peasants decided not to grow indigo under duress. |
| Leaders | Digambar Biswas and Bishnu Biswas of Nadia district. |
| Methods of Struggle | Resisted physical pressure of planters and their lathiyals (retainers) backed by police/courts; organised counter-force; rent strike (refused enhanced rents); physical resistance to evictions; legal action supported by fund collection. |
| Role of Intelligentsia | Bengali intelligentsia supported via newspaper campaigns, mass meetings, memoranda on grievances, and legal battle support. |
| Government Response | Appointed an indigo commission to inquire into the problem. |
| Outcome | November 1860: Government issued a notification based on commission recommendations stating ryots could not be compelled to grow indigo and disputes must be settled legally. Planters closed factories; indigo cultivation virtually wiped out from Bengal by the end of 1860. |
Pabna Agrarian Leagues
Deccan Riots of 1875
Key Terms
📌 Exam Tidbits
- Verbatim Quote: According to the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency-Poona , regarding the Deccan Riots: "This moderation is in some measure to…
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View plans Chapter 32 : The Movement of the Working Class