MOVEMENTS AFTER 1857
PEASANT MOVEMENTS
MOVEMEN LOCATIO
PERIOD LEADERS ABOUT
T N
Europeans were forcing them to grow Indigo on
their lands instead of more paying crops like rice
armed rebellion (swords, spears, bow & arrows)
women turned up to be fighting with pots, pans
& kitchen equipment
gomasthas/ gumastas- agents of planters were
beaten up
Indigo commission (1860)- to inquire into
problem of Indigo cultivation
it held the planters guilty
Digambar it criticized them for coercive methods they
Indigo Biswas used with Indigo cultivators
1859-60 Bengal
revolt* Bishnu it declared that Indigo production not
Biswas profitable for ryots
supported by Bengal intelligentsia
Harishchandra Mukherji- supported Indigo
rebellion through his writings in the Hindu Patriot
Dinbandhu Mitra- oppression of Indigo
cultivation in his play Nil Darpan in 1860 (English
translation- Michael Madhusudan Dutta)
afterwards- though Indigo production collapsed
in Bengal after the rebellion, it didn't come to end
as planters shifted their operations to Bihar
Rent Act → 1859 Act X → 12 yr cultivation + pay
Lagan = land ownership to peasants. Landlords
started exploitation of peasants court cases,
eviction, taking away cattle, exhorbitant revenue.
1873
agri unrest due to aggressive practices of
zamindars
Pabna agri 1870s &
E Bengal
peasants of Yushufshahi pargana in Pabna dist
leagues* 80s
formed agrarian league
main form of struggle- legal resistance
1885- Bengal Tenancy Act was passed →
occupancy rights were secured, eviction only by
court order.
supported by- BC Chatterjee, RC Dutt, Indian Asso
heavy taxation under Ryotwari s/s
moneylenders- Marwaris/ Gujaratis (outsiders)
after end of American civil war (1864)- land
revenue raised by 50%
led by- Kunbi peasants in MH
Social boycott movement
Deccan
1875 Deccan VB Phadke supported by- MG Ranade
riots
1879- Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act was
passed- imp role played by Tilak for passage of
this bill
Phadke's techniques mentioned in BCC's
Anandmath
Alluri against British interference
Rampa 1916,
AP Sitarama location: Gudem-Rampa tract
revolt 1922-24
Raju (Koyas)
Gauri
Shankar
Kisan United
1918-21 Mishra
Sabha Provinces
Indra
Narayan
Dwivedi
Home Rule activists organised → kisan Sabhas in
UP to organise Peasants & to propagate HRL
ideals
United Provinces Kisan Sabha- Feb 1918...
during NCM this faction supported Gandhi
set up by- Gauri Shankar Mishra & Indra
Narayan Dwivedi
MMM- supported them
other prominent leaders-
Jhinguri Singh
Durgapal Singh
Baba Ramchandra (he was from MH, left
home at 13, served as indentured labour in
Fiji & came to Faizabad in 1909)
leaders participated in Amritsar session of
congress in 1919
Launch of NCM 1920→ UP KS → two factions
(Since NCM obj ignored Peasant's concerns)
UP KS → campaigned for NCM & Khilafat
Awadh KS
Awadh Kisan Sabha- Oct 1920 (Baba
Ramchandra)
didn't support NCM because of differences in
nationalists ranks
It asked kisans to refuse to till bedakhali land
& not to offer hari & begar (unpaid labour)
members- J Nehru
By Jan 1921, pattern of movement changed to
looting of Bazaars, houses, granaries and clashes
with people
Bareilly, faizabad, Sultanpur
AKS → Movement fizzled out
British Govt took Strict action
Awadh rent Amendment Act → relief
( Nazrana) Renewal fees completely
banned
dist- Hardoi, Bahraich, Sitapur (region) (N. Awadh)
issues:
high rents → 50% higher than recorded rates
oppression of thikadars
practice of share-rents (Batai)
INC asked UP KS to → mobilise Peasants → Unity
United
Eka 1921-22 Madari Pasi and Solidarity→ Eka Meetings
Provinces
Insist on the receipt of the rents peasants
paid.(proof against thikadars)
कसम गंगा मैया की जितना बनता उतना ही Rent देंगे.
later became violent → INC & Gandhiji disowned
Eka
resentment against oppressive Hindu landlords
grievances- lack of security of tenure, high rents,
renewal fees
later- merged with Khilafat
Mappila Kunhammed arrest of respected priest leader- Ali Musaliar=>
1921 Malabar
revolt Haji large scale riots
British- applied Martial law
communalisation of rebellion=> isolation from
Khilafat
previous land assessment- 1896, 30 yrs about to
complete
unjustified revenue hike- MS Jaykar [Surat Dy
Collector]- he didn't have experience--> 30% hike
Patel- Bardoli satyagraha patrika
पटेल ने कसम खलवाई → कोई violence नाही मंगत.
Gujarat
Bardoli कसम तोडने वाले को Boycott.
1926 (Surat- SVP
satyagraha Britt Govt → confiscation of land, Cattle
dist)
KM Munshi & Lalji Naranji- resigned from
Bombay LC in support of movement
at end, tribunal was set up under- Maxwell &
Broomfield---> 6% hike
Vallabhbhai Patil → title 'सरदार'
Rich Peasants/landholders→ Jotedars, hauladar,
gantidars
share-croppers → Bagardars, bagchasi, adhyars
bargardars worked on the lands rented to jotedars
Bengal Land Revenue Commission- Floud
Commission
Not 1/2 as tax → 2/3 share to bargardars
Tebhaga 1946 Bengal
(share-croppers) (#PYQ)
Only 1/3 as tax
Bengal Communist Party....
violent
Participation
Rajbanshis, Muslims → in large nos.
biggest peasant guerrilla war of MIH- affected:
3000 villages & 3 million population
issues
lack of political & civil liberties
forced exploitation by- deshmukhs, jagirdars,
Telangana 1946 Telangana
doras (landlords)- forced labour & illegal
exactions
peasants brought about a rout of the Razaqars-
the Nizam's storm troopers
All India Kisan Congress
@Lucknow, in April 1936
President- Sahjanand Saraswati (he was the pioneer of Bihar Kisan Sabha Movement and founder of Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS))
GS- NG Ranga
kisan manifesto issued & a periodical under Indulal Yagnik
AIKC & congress sessions- in Faizpur in 1936
After the split of CPI in 1964, the front was also divided into two — All India Kisan Sabha (CPI) and All India Kisan Sabha (CPI-M; Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha)
AIKS didn't support QIM by Gandhi, coz- peasants demand not fulfilled)
PEASANT ACTIVITIES IN PROVINCES
peasants were mobilised by- CSP activists
many- Karshak Sanghams (peasants orgs) came into existence
marching of peasants to landlords- to get their demands accepted
Kerala
1938- significant campaign for the amendment of Malabar
Tenancy Act, 1929
NG Raga set up in 1933- India Peasants' Institute
summer schools of economics & polity by:
PC Joshi
Andhra
Ajoy Ghosh
RD Bharadwaj
Sahjanand Saraswati
Karyanand Sharma
Yudaanndan Sharma
Bihar Rahul Sankritayan
Panchanan Sharma
Jamun Karjiti
THE MOVEMENT OF WORKING CLASS
YEAR ACTIVITIES
Sasipada Banerjea started workingmen's club & newspaper- Bharat Shramjeevi
1870
Sorabjee Shapoorji Bengalee- tried to get bill providing better working conditions to
1878 labour, passed in Bombay LC
Narain Meghajee Lokhande
newspaper- Deenbandhu
1880
he set up- Bombay Mills & Mills hand Association
1st strike by- Great Indian Peninsular Railways
1899
strikes were organized by- Ashwini Kumar Banerjea, Prabhat Kumar Roy Chaudhari,
Premtosh Bose, Apurba Kumar Ghosh
Subramaniya Siva & Chidambaram Pillai led strikes in Tuticorin & Tirunelvelli &
Swadeshi
were arrested
biggest strike of period was organized after the arrest of Tilak
#AITUC: All India Trade Union Congress
1st President: LL Rai
1st GS: Dewan Chaman Lal
LL Rai- 1st to link capitalism with imperialism- imperialism & militarism are the twin
child of capitalism
3rd, 4th session: President- CR Das
1922 Gaya session of INC welcomed its formation
other associated leaders-
1920
Nehru
(#100 yrs)
Bose
CF Andrews
JM Sengupta
Satyamurthy
VV Giri
Sarojini Naidu
NM Joshi*
Trade Union Act
recognized TUs as legal asso
laid down conditions for reg, regulation of TU activities
1926
secured immunities both civil & criminal for TU from prosecution of legitimate
activities, but put some restrictions on their political activities
6 month long strike in Bombay Textile Mills led by Girni Kamgar Union
1928
Public Safety Ordinance (1929)
Trade Disputes Act (PYQ)
Trade Disputes Act (TDA), 1929 made compulsory the appointment of Courts of
Inquiry and Consultation Boards for settling industrial disputes;
made illegal the strikes in public utility services like posts, railways, water and
electricity, unless each individual worker planning to go on strike gave an advance
notice of one month to the administration;
forbade trade union activity of coercive or purely political nature and even
1929 sympathetic strikes.
Meerut Conspiracy Case
trial & conviction of
Muzaffar Ahmed
SA Dange
Joglekar
Philip Spratt
Benn Bardley
Shaukat Usmani
NM Joshi- set up: AITU Federation
1931
dock workers of Bombay & Calcutta refused to load ships taking supplies to the warring
1945 troops in Indonesia
1946 workers went on strike in support of Naval Ratings
BC Pal, G Subramanya Aiyar- demanded better working conditions for workers
Associated communists:
SA Dange
Muzaffar Ahmed
PC Joshi
Sohan Singh Joshi
