Resistance to British Rule in India

RESISTENCE TO BRITISH RULE

1. RESISTANCE TO BRITISH RULE : I

PRE -1857 POPULAR UPRISINGS

AREA OF REVOLT	YEAR	LEADER	CAUSES/DEMAND OF REVOLT
Devi Sinha’s Revolt, Bengal (Devi Sinha was given the right to collect revenue from Rangpur, Purnia, Dinajpur & Idarpur by EIC in 1781)	1782	Dejenarayan, followed by Kinha Singh	Enhancement of revenue, together with new exactions, of local zamindars. (Devi Sinha was held guilty by Warren Hastings of corruption. In 1787 he exempted from the charge  )
Benaras, UP	1778-81	Raja Chait Singh supported by peasantry	Reinstate the old order, restore the existing agrarian relations
Revolt of Fatehshahi, at Saran in Bihar & at Gorakhpur in Eastern UP	1767-95	Fatehshahi, a zamindar supported by peasantry, led a rebellion	Same as above & against enhanced revenue demands
Bishanpur Revolt, Bengal	1789	Local raja with peasants	Against the appropriation of the estate, because of high revenue demand in spite of the drought
Vijiram Raje’s protest, Vizagapatanam	1794	Vijiram Raje with his followers	Against the termination of his claim to rule due to his tyrannical practices. He was also not able to meet the British demand of revenue and nazarana. The British made an alliance with Narayan Raje his son
Awadh	1799	Deposed Nawab of Awadh, Vizier Ali supported by peasantry	Same as above
Revolt of Tipu’s commadnders in eastern Ghats, known locally as ‘Pallaykars’	1799-1801	Guerilla warfare against British, supported by local population	The aim was to free the area of British and throw them back into the sea from where they had emerged. They expected French help which did not materialize. The effort failed
Tirunelveli district of north-Arcot	1799-1805	Local chiefs called ‘Poligars’ supported by peasantry	Same as above
Andhra	1799-1805	Same as above	Same as above
Malabar	1796-1805	Peasants led by Pazhassi Raje of Kurumbarnad	Same as above
Travancore	1796-1805	Velu Thampi, the prime minister of the state supported by soldiers & peasants	Same as above
Bundelkhand	1842	Bundela Rajput chieftains supported by peasantry	Same as above
The Rangpur Rebellion in districts Rangpur & Dinajpur of Bengal	1783	Peasants (both Hindu & MUslims) elected their own leader & raised a huge army	Against oppression of revenue collectors & Company officials
Mysore Province Nagar	1830-1831	Their own leader	Against enhanced revenue demands
Sanyasi & Fakir Rebellion: Bengal & adjacent areas of Bihar	1763-1800	Had religious overtones, led by Dasnami Sanyasis & Madari Fakirs e.g. Majnushah (of Shah-I-Madar, a Sufi order), aggrieved small zamindars and disbanded soldiers	Against high revenue demands & the resumption of rent free tenures for religious functionaries Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay novel ’Anand math’ popularized the revolt
Sherpur Pargana of Mymen Singh district of East Bengal	1824-33	Karim Shah and Tipu Shah (Pagal Panthi sect) led Hinduised tribes like the Garos, Hajangs & Hadis	Against the revenue settlement & illegal exactions of zamindars
Wahabi Revolt or Tariqah-I-Muhammadiya in the district of 24 Pargana, Bengal	1831	Initiated by Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi, Mir Nisar Ali alias Titu Mir led poor Muslim peasants & weavers	Challenged the local Hindu zamindars, the indigo planters & the state & the existing equations of power, established their own regime, started collecting taxes etc.
Faraizi Movement eastern Bengal	1840-70s	Haji Shariatullah & later his son Dudu Mian & his successor Naya Mian, led rural Muslim poor, movement was indigenous in origin, keen to purify Islam according to principles of Koran	Against landlords, indigo planters & the British rulers, violent clashes
The Moplah rebellion of Malabar: incidents occurred in Manjeri, Kulathu-south Malabar & Mattannur in north Malabar	1840s-1850s &1870s	The Moplahs were the descendents of Arab traders who had settled in the region had married Nair & Tiyar women. Later Cherumars, a low caste also converted to Islam; a community of cultivating tenants, laborers, petty traders & fishermen. The leaders were Umar Qazi of Veliamkode, Sayyid Alavi Tangal & his son Sayyid Fazal Pookkoya Tangal of Mamburam & Sayyid Sana-Ullah-Makti Tangal	Against British intervention in land relations that had created individual ownership in land. Shift from equal sharing of net produce of land by the Janmi (holder of Janmam tenure), Kanamdar or Kanakkaran (holder of Kanam tenure) and the cultivator. British recognized Janmi as absolute owners of land with the right to evict tenants, and the other two categories were reduced to their status of tenants & leaseholders Janmis were the high caste Hindu & the peasants were the Muslim Moplah. Also against a huge burden of high assessment & illegal cesses. Religion & economic grievances intermingled to produce militancy. Killed Janmis & desecrated temples
Moplah Rebellion in Malabar; the revolt continued well in the Gandhian pahse of non-cooperation movement	1920-22		Peasants continued their agitation against Janmis
The Bhills, Hill ranges of Khandesh, The Maratha territory	1819-1831	Ramosi leader Umaji Raje of Purandar	Threat to their political autonomy & control over local resources because of British rule & the advent of its non-tribal agents
The Kolis of Ahmednagar district	1829, 1844-46		Same as above
The Kol uprising, Chottanagpur & Singbhum region of Bihar & Orissa	1831-33	Hereditary tribal chiefs. Eg. Narayan Rao led tribal peasants. Plunder & arson were the chief modes of protest	Eviction of tribal peasants by Raja of Chhota Nagpur who farmed out land to outsiders for higher rents. The settlement of non-tribes & constant transfers of land to merchants & money lenders – referred to as ‘the sud’. Wiped off the British rule in a matter of weeks. The British army moved into restore order
Santhal Rebellion; spread over Bengal, Bihar & Orissa where they were scattered	1855	Led by Siddhu & Kanhu, Santhal brothers, supported also by low caste non-tribal peasants	Tribal lands were leased out to non- Santhal Zamindars and money lenders, the outsiders, called ‘Dikus’ by the Santhals; oppression of local police and the European officers engaged in rail, road construction. The company’s rule virtually collapsed army mobilized. A Santhal Pargana created, which inhabited Santhal areas, recognizing the distinctiveness of their tribal culture and identity
Urban Grain riots & resistance, Delhi & western Hindustan	1806-58	Lower classes of the Urban society	Against the monopolistic activities of the grain dealers & interventionist British officials
Rice riots in Vellore & southern India	1806-58		Against threats of conversion to Christianity
Artisan revolts	Calcutta-1789; Surat-1790s; Rohilkhand-1800s & Banaras-1809-1818		Decline of handicraft industries as a free trade imperialism

2. RESISTANCE TO BRITISH RULE: II

• THE REVOLT OF 1857 & ITS CONSEQUENCES:-
• CAUSES:-
• Widespread discontent that that had been accumulating as a result of British Policies in India
• Policy of conquest and Doctrine of Lapse
• Gradual disappearance of Indian states destroyed the means of livelihood for many
• New land revenue system
• People feared that British Rule endangered their religion by not respecting their sentiments
• Bullets of Enfield rifle
• The Sepoys too had their own specific grievances. Non existing avenues of promotion & disparity between salaries & differences in treatment of Indian & European soldiers 
• THE REVOLT:-
• By 1857, the material for a mass upheaval was ready, only a spark was needed to set it fire
• The episode of greased cartridges provided this spark for the Sepoys & their mutiny provided general populace the occasion to revolt
• On May10, 1857 Sepoys stationed at Meerut, led by Mangal Pande mutinied & straightaway marched to Delhi & proclaimed the 80 year old Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as emperor of India
• The 7th Awadh irregular cavalry refused to accept the grease cartridge of Enfield Rifles
• A British official called Forsyth said that almost 3/4th of adult male population in Awadh was in rebellion
• Henry Lawrence, the Commissioner of Lucknow collected the Christian population & took refuge in fortified Residency
• Lawrence was killed & its defense was taken over by colonel Ingles
• On 25 September 1857, James Outram & Henry Havelock arrived to reinforce the British garrison
• Twenty days later Colin Campbell, who was appointed as the new Commander of British forces in India, came with his forces & rescued the besieged British garrison
• London Times noted that British had to virtually ‘reconquer’ India
• It was acknowledged later by Aitcheson a senior British official, when he bitterly complained, ‘in this instance we could not play off the Mohammedans against the Hindus’
• ‘Relief of Lucknow’ painted by Thomas Jones Parker (1859) commemorates British heroes (Campbell, Outram, & Havelock) who suppressed the rebels
• ‘in Memoriam’ painted by Joseph Noel Paton (1859) English women & children sit huddled in a circle seemingly waiting for inevitable – dishonor, violence & death
• Subhadra Kumar Chauhan composed the line, ‘Khoob lari mardani who to Jhansi wali rani thi’

STORM CENTERS	LEADERS
Bareilly	Bhakt Khan
Kanpur	Nana Sahib & his loyal servants Tantia Tope & Azimullah
Lucknow	Begum of Awadh & her young son Birjis Qadir
Jhansi	Laxmibai
Gwalior	Laxmibai, helped by Tantia Tope
Paragana of Barout (UP)	Shah Mal
Singhbhum (chhota Nagpur)	Gonoo (kol tribal cultivator)
Jagdishpur (near Arrah)	Kunwar Singh
Faizabad	Maulavi Ahmedullah (led 22nd Native Infantry)

• REASONS OF FAILURE:-
• Most of Indian princes & chiefs sided with British
• Modern educated Indians did not supported the revolt
• Revolutionaries were short of modern weapons