Introduction:
The revolt of 1857 was one of the major incident happened in Indian freedom movement which united the Indian people against the British exploitation in India. This revolt not only caused on the aspect of military cause but also on the economic perspective also. Lord Bentinck introduce Bengal land leasing act by this act many of the agricultural lands came under the British east India company rule and these land owners were pushed to poverty. This incident in start of 19th century caused many drought in the country and deeply affected the Indian economy. This were the reasons which showed the people anger in 1857 revolt by the Indian people against the British company rule.
Agrarian Uprising and Rural Society: The 1857 Rebellion:
The contradiction within the rural society of the first half of the nineteenth century came out in the open with the revolts of the summer of 1857. The sepoy revolt of May 1857 proved to be a catalyst in laying open the crisis of the old feudal order whose rulers made a last attempt to defend their threatened power and authority. However, it would perhaps not be accurate to state that this alliance of different rulers was responsible for the mobilisation of the agrarian population (comprising peasants, tribe’s, pastoralists etc) against the British regime. Neither were agrarian struggles a new and unique feature of the mid-nineteenth century. Thus the agrarian uprisings after this period also had significant differences with those of the pre-period of 1857 .
Though the agrarian disturbances during the great rebellion spawned through many parts of the country, their focal area was north and central India that had been annexed and put under direct British rule in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Thus Punjab was annexed in 1848, the Central Provinces in 1854 and Awadh and its neighbouring territories around 1856.
But within this there were a multitude of mini-rebellions that were varied in their nature and form and provided the substantive mass base of what came to be known as the Revolt of 1857. Amongst the best known revolts was that led by Kunwar Singh, the bankrupt 80-year old Raja of Arrah in Shahbad.
However the rapidly changing nature of rural revolts and the multiple nature of contradictions that unfolded were evident in other areas like Palamau where tribal Chero jagirdars got the support of Bogtah people in their fight against the Thakur who seen as a close associate of the British. The Cheros provided support to the Ranchi sepoy insurgents who fled to the area and were joined by the Bogtahs who considered the Thakur bigger enemies than the Cheros who were the agents of the Thakur and their direct exploiters. The nature of attacks was once again the symbols of British powers.
But not all rebellions were strategic alliance between the ruling classes and the peasants. In fact in many the conflicts between different segments in the rural society came out in the open. Rebellion were often initiated by the poorest people within the peasants. The Mewatti Movement of 1857 thus saw a direct attack on the villages of the Jats, Ahirs and Brahmins by the Meo rebels. The Jats were seen as having benefited the most from the canal irrigation policy of the British.
The agrarian uprisings of 1857 should thus be seen in relation to several dialectical processes that were unleashed through a protracted phase of colonial expansion. The rebels succumbed not only to the military might of the British, but also the weight of the internal crisis in the older feudal order. By the same measure the failure of the uprisings of the sepoys, rulers and peasantry also proved to be a threshold in the consolidation of colonial rule with the end of the Company rule.
The establishment of the Crown rule in 1858 facilitated the integration of Indian agrarian economy into the world capitalist system and all administrative and political reordering of the rural society was done towards this end. The commercialisation of agriculture especially in the cotton boom of the 1860s in western and central India or the continued monopoly trade over indigo cultivation and trade in eastern India led to the Deccan riots (1875) or the indigo cultivators strike (1860). Both these movements led to the establishment of the Deccan Riots and Indigo Commissions and showed that the British state was forced to negotiate the demands of the peasants to maintain the stability of its rule. The consolidation of land settlements and the takeover of forests led to a series of uprising amongst the Munda’s and Santhals in Bihar especially under Birsa Munda who was finally arrested in 1895. The peasants of Punjab also protested against tenancy laws and revenue assessments in the last decade of the nineteenth century and forced the British to pass a law against land alienation.
Aftermath of the revolt:
Fundamental changes were made to ensure that uniform civil laws applied to all these estates and that these laws were in consonance with the laws of all government owned territories. This new situation also led to new forms of protest in these areas as seen in the Pabna Uprisings (1873) where the peasants against the zamindars for not giving them their legitimate tenancy rights as prescribed by the law of 1859. It also resulted in the formation of several associations to follow legal recourse. In other instances like the Bastar uprising (1910) the Maria tribe’s vented their protests against the forest laws by articulating their against the Raja and his failure to fulfil his customary role.
Conclusion:
Thus the rebellion of 1857 proved to be a watershed for both the Empire and the uprisings that followed. The empire consolidated its hold and established a civil administration which was qualitatively different from the old feudal state. This naturally structured the uprisings that entered into a phase of modern politics. Thus the rebellion of 1857 was also a moment that divided pre-modern movements from modern ones.
Thus the rebellion of 1857 proved to be a watershed for both the Empire and the uprisings that followed. The empire consolidated its hold and established a civil administration which was qualitatively different from the old feudal state. This naturally structured the uprisings that entered into a phase of modern politics. Thus the rebellion of 1857 was also a moment that divided pre-modern movements from modern ones.
