History : Peasant & Trade Union Movements

Easy Containment of New Areas of Conflict: In the Revolt of 1857, a major driving force had been popular resistance to the system of rule imposed on India by the British. Once British power had been destroyed in northern India by the army revolt, many popular grievances coalesced with explosive power. The defeat of the revolt left most of these grievances unresolved. As the imperial power consolidated its hold during the course of the next half a century, new areas of conflict emerged. These conflicts were, however, more easily contained by the state. Improvements in communications, the development of the machine gun and the expansion of the police and military, all these made it easier to crush popular insurgency before it could spread beyond a fairly local area. Conflicts therefore tended to remain localized and confined to particular grievances.

Types of Peasant Resistance: Some scholars have attempted to divide popular resistance into five types: (1) restorative rebellions to drive out the British and restore earlier rulers and social relations; (2) religious movements for the liberation of a region or an ethnic group so as to establish a new form of government; (3) social banditry; (4) terrorist vengeance, with ideas of meting out collective justice; (5) mass insurrections for the redress of particular grievances. Others see the chief areas of resistance as follows: (1) anti-European planter; (2) anti-landlord; (3) anti money lender; (4) anti-land tax bureaucracy; and (5) anti-forest officials.

Indigo Agitation of Bengal (1859-60)

• It was the result of the oppression and exploitation of the peasants of Bengal by the European monopolistic indigo planters.

• This was vividly portrayed by Dina Bandhu Mitra in his play Nil Darpan, enacted in 1869.

• Following this oppression the peasants refused to cultivate indigo and took to armed resistance against the planters.

• Bishnucharan Biswas and Digambar Biswas played a prominent role in this resistance.

• Further, the intelligentsia of Bengal organised a powerful campaign in support of the rebellious peasants. This led to the appointment of the Indigo Commission of 1869 by the government and removal of some of the abuses of indigo cultivation.

• This led to the appointment of the Indigo Commission of 1869 by the government and removal of some of the abuses of indigo cultivation.

Pabna Movement or Peasant Unrest in East Bengal (1872-76)

• In east Bengal the peasantry was oppressed by zamindars through frequent recourse to ejection, harassment, illegal seizure of property, arbitrary enhancement of rent and use of force.

• Consequently, the peasants organised no rent unions and launched armed attacks on the zamindars and their agents.

• Pabna district was the storm-centre of this movement, and hence the movement is known as the Pabna movement.

• The movement was suppressed only after armed intervention by the government.

• Later an enquiry committee was appointed to look into the complaints of the peasantry which led to the enactment of an act, known as the Bengal Tenancy Act (1885).

केन्द्रीय सशस्त्र पुलिस बल (सहायक कमांडेंट) के लिये स्टडी किट

Study Kit for Central Armed Police Forces(AC)

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