Civil Uprisings Before 1857

The term “civil” refers to anything that isn’t related to defense or military. The Civil Uprisings before 1857 mostly refers to uprisings led by deposed rulers or their descendants, uprooted and impoverished zamindars, landlords, and poligars (landed military magnates in South India), and ex-retainers and officials of conquered Indian States. The rack-rented peasants, bankrupt artisans, and demobilized soldiers formed the backbone of the rebellions, providing a mass basis and striking strength.

Social Base of Rebellions

• Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the East India Company’s political influence grew, and by the end of the eighteenth century, the British had established themselves as India’s dominant force.
• As the Company rose in the political realm, it became necessary to create and implement policies in the areas of land tax, law and order, and administration.
• The implementation of such rules wreaked havoc on Indian society and prompted adjustments.
• Furthermore, the Company’s primary goal was to use India’s riches to aid England’s prosperity.
• People’s socio-cultural, economic, and political lives were disrupted as a result of these upheavals.
• As a result of the upheaval, a rebellion broke out in various sections of the country.
• Rebellions were not limited to the final years of the British Empire; they were a continual aspect of the empire from the outset, culminating in the uprising of 1857.
• The erosion of traditional institutions of authority, as well as greater economic pressure, were two major causes of these revolutions.
• Traditional sectors of society, whose livelihoods had been almost entirely transformed for the worst, rebelled at a time when the newly developed elite of urban intellectuals was reaping the benefits of British control.
• Religious mendicants led political-religious movements like the Faqir and Sanyasi uprisings, whose religious rituals were difficult for the British to comprehend.

Characteristics of Civil Uprisings

• In most cases, these uprisings reflected shared conditions, even though they occurred at different times and in different places.
• The semi-feudal commanders of civil uprisings had a traditional worldview and were backward-minded.
• Their main goal was to return to earlier forms of government and social relations.
• These revolutions arose from local causes and concerns, and their repercussions were as localized.

Major Causes of the Uprisings

• Rapid changes in the economy, administration, and land revenue system occurred during Company rule, all of which were detrimental to the people.
• Several zamindars and poligars, who had lost control of their lands and earnings as a result of colonial authority, held personal grudges against the new authorities.
• Traditional zamindars and poligars’ egos were bruised when they were demoted in status by government officials and a new class of merchants and moneylenders emerged.
• Millions of craftsmen were destitute as a result of colonial policies that destroyed Indian handicraft industries.
• Their misery was worsened by the departure of their traditional supporters and buyers—princes, chieftains, and zamindars.
• The religious speakers, priests, pundits, maulvis, and others were reliant on the traditional landed and bureaucratic elite, the priestly classes fostered hostility and resistance against alien control.
• The priestly class was directly affected by the demise of zamindars and feudal rulers.
• The British rulers’ foreign nature, which has always been alien to this region, and their disdainful attitude of the native people harmed the latter’s pride.

Important Civil Uprisings

Sanyasi Revolt (1763-1800)

The Sanyasi revolt was a late-eighteenth-century rebellion in Bengal, India, in the Murshidabad and Baikunthpur forests of Jalpaiguri under the leadership of Pandit Bhabani Charan Pathak. Since the British East India Company was given the right to collect taxes after the Battle of Buxar in 1764, some refer to it as an early war for India’s independence from foreign rule, while others classify it as acts of violent banditry following the depopulation of the province during the Bengal famine of 1770.

Background:

• A group of sanyasis in Eastern India were forced to oppose the British yoke after the devastating famine of 1770 and the British’s strict economic regime.
• Originally peasants, some of whom had been evicted from their property, the sanyasis were soon joined by a significant number of dispossessed minor zamindars, disbanded troops, and the rural poor.
• The Sanyasi Rebellion encompasses at least three distinct events. One is a huge group of Hindu sannyasis who travelled from North India to various regions of Bengal to see shrines.
• Many of these ascetics would collect a religious fee from the local chiefs and zamindars, or area landlords, on their way to the shrines.
• When the economy was good, the headmen and zamindars were more willing to help.
• Pandit Bhawani Sharan Pathak was the major hero of the ‘Sanyasi Rebellion’ against British control and exploitation in Bengal in the eighteenth century.
• The Sanyasi Rebellion was India’s first anti-British uprising.

Sanyasi Revolt:

• In the 18th century, the Sanyasis who rose against the English were not always individuals who had given up the world.
• Sanyasis included naga sadhus, or ascetics who had given up clothing. Others, on the other hand, were those who wore garments and were allowed to marry.
• The British were suspicious of these travelling individuals, referring to them as ‘erratic beggars,’ ‘gipsies of Hindustan,’ ‘lawless mendicants,”religious vagrants,’ and so on.
• Following the British acquisition of revenue rights in Bengal, many zamindars faced financial hardship as a result of the high tax rates.
• Many tax demands grew once the East India Company gained the diwani, or right to collect tax, and local landlords and headmen were unable to pay both the ascetics and the English.
• Crop failures and famine, which killed 10 million people, or roughly one-third of Bengal’s population, exacerbated the situation, since most of the arable land remained fallow.
• Many Sanyasi sects travelled from northern India to Bengal to visit various holy sites and shrines.
• During their religious travels, the Sanyasis would collect alms and contributions from these zamindars.
• This was ended when the zamindars found it too difficult to distribute charity after paying the British their dues, as they were left with very little.
• The British believed the Sanyasis to be looters and placed limits on their ability to access sacred sites.
• The Sanyasis rose out against the British and looted English factories and government coffers in a revolt against the British.
• The Murshidabad and Baikunthpur forests in Bengal were the epicentre of the uprising.
• Warren Hastings ordered the execution of 150 unarmed sanyasis in 1771.
• The Sanyasi insurrection lasted over 50 years, and it was only entirely repressed in the 1820s.
• The uprisings, also known as the Fakir Rebellion, were marked by equal involvement of Hindus and Muslims.
• Important leaders were Majnum Shah (or Majnu Shah), Chirag Ali, Musa Shah, Bhawani Pathak, and Debi Chaudhurani.
• Debi Chaudhurani’s involvement honours women’s contributions to early anti-British resistance.