Peasant Movements in Colonial India

§1 — Peasant Movements: Quick Reference

Peasant Movements: Quick Reference

§2 — Indigo Revolt (Nil Vidroha) 1859-60

Indigo Revolt 1859-60

Background

European planters had been operating indigo plantations in Bengal since the 1810s, supplying dye for the British textile industry. By the 1850s, the system had become exploitative:

• Tinkathia system: peasants forced to grow indigo on the most fertile 3/20ths of their land.
• Fixed prices set by the planter — far below market rate; cost of cultivation often unrecovered.
• Loan trap: planters advanced cash to peasants for indigo cultivation; recovery and interest kept peasants in perpetual debt.
• Coercion: those refusing were beaten, imprisoned in private "factories", their crops destroyed.

The Revolt (September 1859)

Triggered in September 1859 in Govindpur village (Nadia district, Bengal), two ryot leaders Digambar Biswas and Bishnu Charan Biswas led peasants in refusing to grow indigo. The movement spread rapidly across Nadia, Murshidabad, Pabna, Khulna, Jessore, Faridpur, Burdwan. Tactics: collective refusal, attacks on planters' factories, social boycott of the planters' Indian agents (gomastas).

Support from Bengali Intelligentsia

• Harish Chandra Mukherjee — editor of Hindu Patriot — covered peasant grievances.
• Dinabandhu Mitra wrote the play Nil Darpan ("The Indigo Mirror", 1860) — the first Bengali drama published with social-political theme. James Long, a missionary, translated it into English; he was prosecuted by the planters and convicted (sentenced to a fine of ₹1,000 and one month's imprisonment). The trial publicised the issue.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar sympathised with the peasants.

Outcome

• Indigo Commission (1860) — found planters guilty of widespread coercion.
• Act XI of 1860 — prohibited compulsion of cultivators to grow indigo.
• Indigo cultivation collapsed in Bengal by 1862.
• The revolt is remembered as one of India's most successful peasant agitations of the colonial era.

§3 — Pabna Agrarian League 1873

Pabna Agrarian League 1873

In Pabna district of East Bengal (now Bangladesh), tenants under the Permanent Settlement found themselves squeezed by zamindars who illegally raised rents (abwabs), denied occupancy rights under Act X of 1859, and used violence.

In May 1873, peasants formed an Agrarian League under Ishan Chandra Roy, Shambhu Pal, and Khudi Mollah. Tactics: rent strikes, legal cases against zamindars, fund-raising, large meetings (sometimes 10,000-strong). The movement spread to neighbouring districts (Bogra, Tangail, Dhaka, Mymensingh) over 1873-76.

The British were broadly sympathetic — peasants targeted Hindu zamindars, and the movement avoided anti-British rhetoric. The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 codified occupancy rights and is often credited to the Pabna movement's pressure.

§4 — Deccan Riots 1875

Deccan Riots 1875

Background

In Bombay Presidency's Pune and Ahmednagar districts (Western Maharashtra), the Ryotwari system made peasants direct revenue payers. Several factors squeezed them:

• End of American Civil War (1865) — collapse of cotton boom, prices fell sharply.
• Land revenue increase (typically 50%+ at re-settlement).
• Maharashtra Famine (1876) approaching.
• Moneylender debt — peasants had borrowed at 25-50% interest from Marwari and Gujarati sahukars; default meant land seizure.
• The Limitation Act 1859 helped moneylenders enforce old claims.

The Riots (May–July 1875)

Beginning May 1875 in Supe (Pune district), peasants attacked moneylenders, burned bond papers and account books, and demanded land restoration. The riots spread across 33 villages in Pune, Ahmednagar, Sholapur, Satara districts. The movement was largely non-violent against persons but destructive of moneylenders' records.

Outcome

• Deccan Riots Commission (1875) — found peasant grievances genuine.
• Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act 1879 — limited interest rates; debt records had to be in proper form; courts were given powers to defer or scale down debts; peasant land could not be sold for old debts.
• The Act was a landmark in protecting cultivators from moneylender exploitation.

§5 — Kisan Sabhas of the 1920s

Kisan Sabhas of the 1920s

Awadh Kisan Sabha (1920)

In Awadh's Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, Faizabad districts, peasant misery under taluqdari rents fed agitation:

• Baba Ramchandra (Maharashtrian Brahmin who had earlier been an indentured labourer in Fiji) emerged as leader.
• Founded Awadh Kisan Sabha at Pratapgarh in October 1920.
• Demands: regulation of rents (often raised by 50%+), security of tenure (against ejections), abolition of begar (forced labour), abolition of nazrana (illegal exactions).
• The Sabha allied with the Indian National Congress; Jawaharlal Nehru visited and was influenced.
• British repression: 31 January 1921 firing at Munshiganj killed about 100 peasants.
• The UP Tenancy (Amendment) Act 1921 partially conceded demands.

Eka Movement (1921-22)

The Eka Movement ("Unity") in Hardoi, Bahraich, Sitapur districts (UP) was led by Madari Pasi, a Pasi (low-caste) leader. The movement combined caste assertion with peasant demands. Distinctively radical, Eka appealed across castes — Pasis, Chamars, Brahmins, Kurmis, Yadavs joined. Demands: rent at recorded rates, abolition of begar, ejection protection. The British suppressed Eka by mid-1922.

Andhra Forest Satyagraha

In Andhra (Madras Presidency), the Forest Satyagraha (1922-24) led by Alluri Sitarama Raju in the Rampa hill tracts targeted British forest laws restricting tribal access. Raju conducted guerrilla warfare; was killed in May 1924. The movement combined tribal and peasant grievances.

§6 — Bardoli Satyagraha 1928

Bardoli Satyagraha 1928

In Bardoli taluka of Surat district, Gujarat, the British raised land revenue by 22% in 1927 — heavy for Patidar peasants already struggling with falling agricultural prices.

Patel's Leadership

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel took charge in February 1928 at the request of the Bardoli peasants. He toured 80 villages, organised village committees, instructed peasants not to pay revenue, accepting confiscation of land and cattle. Assistants: Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh, Indulal Yagnik, Mohanlal Pandya, Abbas Tyabji, Mithubehn Petit.

Press coverage was extensive — Mahadev Desai's daily despatches built national outrage. Women's participation under Mithubehn Petit, Bhaktiba was remarkable.

Settlement (August 1928)

After 5-6 months of solid peasant resistance and government confiscations, a Bombay Government inquiry by Maxwell-Broomfield reduced the increase to 6.03%; confiscated lands and cattle were restored.

The women of Bardoli conferred the title "Sardar" on Patel (alternative tradition: Gandhi). Patel emerged as a national leader.

For details, see the Civil Disobedience Movement article.

§7 — All India Kisan Sabha (1936)

All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS, April 1936)

The All India Kisan Sabha was founded at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress (April 1936), marking the formal entry of organised peasant politics into the national mainstream.

Founders

• Swami Sahajanand Saraswati — President; Bihar peasant leader; founder of Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929).
• N.G. Ranga — General Secretary; Andhra peasant leader.
• Indulal Yagnik.
• E.M.S. Namboodiripad.
• Yusuf Mehrally.

Manifesto: Kisan Manifesto

The Kisan Manifesto (released in August 1936 at Faizpur Congress) demanded:

• Abolition of zamindari without compensation.
• 50% reduction in land revenue.
• Moratorium on debts.
• Abolition of feudal dues, begar, abwabs.
• Living wage for agricultural workers.
• Right to organise (kisan unions).

Faizpur Session (December 1936)

The first INC session held in a village (Faizpur, Maharashtra), Pres: Jawaharlal Nehru. The Kisan Sabha members were prominent. Congress's Election Manifesto for 1937 Provincial Elections incorporated agrarian reform.

Influence on Congress Ministries (1937-39)

The Congress provincial ministries (1937-39) introduced agrarian legislation under AIKS pressure:

• UP Tenancy Act 1939.
• Bihar Tenancy Act 1938.
• Bombay Tenancy Act 1939.
• Madras Estates Land Act amendments.

Split (1942)

AIKS split during WWII over Communist (CPI) and Congress Socialist Party support for the war effort. Sahajanand and the CPI fraction supported war (after 1941 Soviet entry); Congress and Congress Socialists supported Quit India (1942). After 1942, AIKS became increasingly aligned with the CPI.

§8 — Tebhaga Movement 1946-47

Tebhaga Movement 1946-47

Background

In Bengal, bargadars (sharecroppers) traditionally surrendered 50% of the harvest to the jotedar (landowner). The Bengal Famine of 1943 had killed 3 million; the Floud Commission of 1940 had recommended a two-thirds (tebhaga) share for sharecroppers — but no government had implemented it.

Movement (September 1946 – February 1947)

Led by the Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabha (CPI-affiliated), the slogan was "Tebhaga chaai" ("we want two-thirds"). The movement:

• Spread across 19 districts — Dinajpur, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Jessore, Khulna, 24 Parganas, Midnapore, Bankura.
• Took the form of bargadars seizing the harvest and depositing the jotedar's share (one-third) at their own threshing floors.
• Mass participation — over 6 million bargadars involved at peak.
• Strong women's participation — Bina Guha, Manikuntala Sen, Ila Mitra (Krishak Pranadi), Bimala Gupta, Maleka Bibi led actions.

Key Action: Nachole, Naogaon (1949)

Even after partition, the movement continued in East Pakistan. The Nachole uprising (Naogaon district, January 1950) led by Ila Mitra (a Bengali Hindu CPI activist among Santhal tribals) was suppressed by the East Pakistan government with extreme brutality — Ila Mitra was tortured (her testimony became internationally famous).

Outcome

• Bengal Bargadars Temporary Regulation Bill (January 1947) conceded the two-thirds principle but provincial elections and Partition disrupted implementation.
• The principle was finally implemented in West Bengal under Operation Barga (1978) by the Left Front government.
• Tebhaga is significant for its left-wing organisation, women's participation, and cross-religious unity (Hindu and Muslim sharecroppers united against jotedars regardless of religion).

§9 — Telangana Armed Struggle 1946–51

Telangana Armed Struggle 1946-51

Background

The Telangana region of Hyderabad State under the Nizam was the most feudal area of India in the 1940s:

• Deshmukh-Deshpande system — village-level revenue collectors had become large landlords, often controlling thousands of acres.
• Vetti — forced labour by Dalits and tribals.
• Bhagela — bonded labour for life.
• Razakar terror — Qasim Razvi's militia attacked villages.

Andhra Mahasabha and CPI

The Andhra Mahasabha (founded 1930) under Madapati Hanumantha Rao initially worked for Telugu cultural rights but radicalised by the 1940s under CPI influence. Leaders: P. Sundarayya, Ravi Narayan Reddy, Chandra Rajeswara Rao, Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Maqdoom Mohiuddin.

Armed Struggle (July 1946 – October 1951)

The struggle began on 4 July 1946 at Kadavendi village (Janagaon, Warangal) when villagers attacked Doddi Komaraiah, a deshmukh's henchman, who was killed. The CPI launched armed resistance. By 1948, the movement controlled about 3,000 villages and 16,000 sq. miles, established "village soviets" (gram raj), distributed about 1 million acres of land to peasants, abolished vetti and bhagela.

Indian Army's Role (1948-51)

After Operation Polo (September 1948) ended the Nizam's rule, the Indian Army turned against the Communist guerrillas. From late 1948 to 1951, intense suppression: an estimated 4,000 communists and peasants killed, 10,000 imprisoned. The CPI's Andhra Committee (Sundarayya, Rajeswara Rao) wanted to continue armed struggle; the central CPI leadership (Ranadive then Dange) prevailed on suspension.

Withdrawal (October 1951)

The CPI formally withdrew the armed struggle on 21 October 1951. The CPI accepted parliamentary politics (subsequently winning major Telangana representation in the 1952 first general elections).

Significance

• The most significant Communist armed peasant struggle in 20th-century India.
• Inspiration for later Naxalite movements (1967 onwards).
• Forced agrarian reform in Andhra/Telangana — Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act 1950 abolished jagirs and limited tenancy exploitation.
• Historiographically iconic (P. Sundarayya's Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons remains a canonical text).

§10 — Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions