The revised land revenue system, colonial administration and judicial system of the British ruined Indian handicraft and farmer societies, resulting in extreme poverty. Peasants were forced to borrow money from zamindars and money lenders. The government levied heavy land revenue in Rythowari areas. The actual cultivators were reduced to tenants while their land, cattle and crops were handed over to landlords or money lenders.
Peasant Movement for Indigo Cultivation
Indigo Revolt was one of the most significant peasant revolts in India. The cultivation of indigo left lands infertile and barren forever. Moreover, peasants in the Bengal region were forced to cultivate and sell Indigo at cheaper rates to the British. Upon refusal, they were tortured and beaten mercilessly and forced to cultivate Indigo. In the years 1859-60, Indigeo cultivators in Bengal rose against the British rule. With the help of the intelligentsia in Bengal, peasants revolted and refused to cultivate Indigo. The government was forced to stop the cultivation of the Indigo and appoint a commission for investigation and mitigation of revolt.
Peasant Movements in Bihar and Bengal
The Indigo peasants in Bihar revolted against the cultivation practice in the years 1866-68 at Darbhanga and Champaran. This was followed by the outburst of peasants in the East Bengal region in 1870. The powerful zamindars took recourse to harassment and illegal seizure of property, extortions and large scale use of force to increase rents and prevent peasants from acquiring occupancy rights. The Bengal peasants also had a long tradition of resistance stretching back to 1782, when the peasants of North Bengal rebelled against the east India Company.
From 1872 to 1876, peasants united and formed a union to impose a No Rent policy and fought against zamindars and their agents. The government suppressed the peasants acts of violence and promised to take action against the zamindari oppression.
Peasant Movement in Maharashtra
In 1875, Maharashtra witnessed the major agrarian unrest in the country with Pune and Ahmednagar being the epicenters of the movement. In Maharashtra, the British government directly settled the revenue with peasants but also spiked the rates of revenue so high as to make it impossible for the peasants to pay revenues. The latter had to borrow money at extremely high interest rates from moneylenders. More and more land was brought under mortgage and sold out to these moneylenders. This lead to agrarian riots in 1875. The police failed in curb the peasants resistance, which later had to be supressed by the whole military force in Pune. The modern intelligentia of Maharashtra supported the peasants demands. It pointed out that the sources of the peasants misery were high revenue rates and governments inability to provide loans at cheaper rates.
Peasant Movements in Kerala and Assam
North Kerala and Assam had also witnessed peasant unrest movements. The situation in Assam aggravated due to High land revenue assessment. Peasants refused to pay enhanced revenue to landlords and fought against land revenue collectors to seize their lands. With the situation worsening, the police had to mobilized large networks to suppress the peasants movements. Many peasants were brutally killed in the riots.
These movements or riots did not impose a threat to the British rule but proved that the Indian peasants reactions were instant and spontaneous. The peasants would always resist the government's efforts to get control and power in the name of law and order. Thus, the illiterate and ignorant people performed acts of appreciation against the menace of the increasing British colonialism.
The popular movements and rebellions of the 19th century did, however reveal the immense source of resistance to imperialism that lay dormant among the Indian people. By the 1930s, the condition of peasants started to improve all over the nation due to gradual political and economic developments, which were made possible with efforts undertaken by the Indian National Congress during that period.
