Theme 7Part A · The British conquest
Resistance before 1857
1763 to 1856 · deposed rulers, peasants and tribes against Company rule
The British conquest was resisted all through the century before 1857. This theme groups the risings into three kinds, civil rebellions, peasant and religious movements and tribal uprisings, and places each on the map. Learn them by region: that is how they are remembered best.
Event 11763 to 1830s
Civil rebellions: deposed rulers and their followers
The first resistance came from those who had lost most when the Company took over: deposed rulers, zamindars and poligars, and the soldiers and retainers who had served them. These risings were local and led by the old ruling class, but they drew in peasants who hated the new revenue demands.
Swipe the map sideways to see all of it.
Bengal's Sanyasi and Fakir rebellion (1763 to 1800), against the Company's restrictions on pilgrimage and its revenue; Raja Chait Singh of Benares (1781); the Paika rebellion in Odisha under Bakshi Jagabandhu (1817); Gomdhar Konwar's Ahom revolt (1828) and U Tirot Sing's Khasi uprising (1829 to 1833) in the northeast.
The Poligar wars in Tamil country: Veerapandya Kattabomman of Panchalankurichi, hanged in 1799, and the Marudu brothers of Sivaganga (1801). Pazhassi Raja in Wayanad (1793 to 1805). Velu Thampi Dalawa of Travancore (1808 to 1809), with his Kundara proclamation. Rani Chennamma of Kittur (1824) and her follower Sangolli Rayanna (1829 to 1830).
At Vellore, where Tipu's family was held, sepoys rose in July 1806 against new rules on dress that forbade caste marks and beards and required a new turban. About 100 Europeans were killed before the revolt was crushed. It was a small rehearsal of 1857.
Event 21783 to 1872
Peasant and religious movements
In eastern and northern India the deepest anger was among peasants squeezed by zamindars, indigo planters and moneylenders. Several movements began as religious reform and turned against landlords and the British together.
Swipe the map sideways to see all of it.
The Rangpur rising (1783) against the revenue farmer Debi Singh; the Pagal Panthis of Mymensingh (1825 to 1833); the Faraizi movement of Haji Shariatullah and his son Dudu Miyan in Faridpur, which told peasants not to pay illegal cesses; and Titu Mir's bamboo fort at Narkelberia (1831).
Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli led the Tariqah i Muhammadiya, centred at Patna, first against the Sikhs in the northwest, where he was killed at Balakot (1831), and then against the British. Its network was broken by a series of trials in the 1860s.
Moplah outbreaks among Muslim tenants in Malabar against Hindu landlords and the British (1836 to 1854). The Kuka (Namdhari) movement of Baba Ram Singh in Punjab, begun as Sikh reform; 66 Kukas were blown from guns at Malerkotla in 1872 and Ram Singh was exiled to Rangoon.
Event 31766 to 1856
Tribal uprisings and the Santhal hul
For the tribes, British rule meant something specific: outsiders (the dikus) taking their land, forest laws closing the jungle, and moneylenders and police in villages that had governed themselves. Their revolts were the most violent and the most stubborn.
Swipe the map sideways to see all of it.
The Chuars of Jangal Mahal (1766 to 1772, 1798); the Ho of Singhbhum (1820 to 1837); the Kol uprising of Chota Nagpur under Buddho Bhagat (1831 to 1832); the Khonds of Ghumsur under Chakra Bisoi (1837 to 1856), against British attempts to end the meriah sacrifice and their taxes.
The Bhils of Khandesh (1818 to 1831) and the Kolis of the Sahyadri, who had lost their old place in Maratha forts; the Ramosis under Chittur Singh and Umaji Naik (1822 to 1829); the Khasis and the Singphos in the northeast.
On 30 June 1855 about 10,000 Santhals gathered at Bhognadih and, led by the brothers Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, declared their own rule. They attacked moneylenders, zamindars and police across the Damin i Koh in the Rajmahal hills. Martial law and the army crushed them by early 1856; perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 Santhals were killed. The Santhal Parganas district was then created with its own laws.
Why the Santhals rose
- LandSettled by the Santhals in the Rajmahal hills, then taxed ever more heavily
- DikusMoneylenders charged 50 to 500 per cent and took land and labour
- No justicePolice and courts sided with the outsiders
- HulSidhu and Kanhu proclaim Santhal rule
What made tribal revolts different
- Fought for land and forest, not to restore a king.
- Led by their own headmen and prophets, often with a millenarian promise of a new age.
- Directed at the dikus as much as at the British.
- Crushed with great force, but often won special laws for tribal areas afterwards.
Event 4the pattern
Why the early revolts failed
Over a hundred risings took place between Plassey and 1857, and the Company crushed every one. The same weaknesses recur, and they help explain 1857 as well.
Each was confined to one district or tribe, and the Company could deal with them one at a time.
Most wanted to restore an old ruler or old rights, not a new political order that others could join.
Bows, swords and matchlocks against disciplined infantry and artillery.
Zamindars, peasants and tribes often had grievances against each other as well as against the British.
| Years | Where | Leaders | Against | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanyasi and Fakir | 1763 to 1800 | north Bengal | Majnu Shah, Bhawani Pathak, Debi Chaudhurani | Company revenue and pilgrimage curbs |
| Poligar wars | 1799 to 1805 | Tamil country | Kattabomman, Marudu brothers | loss of poligar rights |
| Paika rebellion | 1817 | Khurda, Odisha | Bakshi Jagabandhu | loss of service land, revenue, salt |
| Kol uprising | 1831 to 1832 | Chota Nagpur | Buddho Bhagat | outsiders taking land |
| Faraizi | 1818 to 1860s | Faridpur | Shariatullah, Dudu Miyan | zamindars and illegal cesses |
| Santhal hul | 1855 to 1856 | Rajmahal hills | Sidhu and Kanhu | moneylenders, zamindars, police |
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandamath (1882), which contains Vande Mataram, is set in the Sanyasi rebellion.
Who's who16 people
People
Majnu Shah
Fakir leader
Led the Fakir rising in north Bengal.
Veerapandya Kattabomman
Poligar
Panchalankurichi; hanged in 1799.
Marudu brothers
Sivaganga
Issued the Tiruchirappalli proclamation (1801); executed.
Pazhassi Raja
Malabar
Kerala Varma; guerrilla war in Wayanad until 1805.
Velu Thampi Dalawa
Travancore
Kundara proclamation (1809).
Rani Chennamma
Kittur
Fought the Company in 1824 over the lapse of Kittur.
Bakshi Jagabandhu
Khurda
Led the Paika rebellion (1817).
U Tirot Sing
Khasi chief
Fought the British 1829 to 1833.
Haji Shariatullah
Faraizi
Founder of the Faraizi movement.
Dudu Miyan
Faraizi
Turned the movement against zamindars.
Titu Mir
Bengal
Built a bamboo fort at Narkelberia; killed in 1831.
Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli
Wahabi
Killed at Balakot (1831).
Baba Ram Singh
Kuka
Namdhari leader exiled to Rangoon.
Buddho Bhagat
Kol
Led the Kol uprising.
Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu
Santhal
Led the hul of 1855.
Chakra Bisoi
Khond
Led the Khond uprising.
Key terms9
Terms
- Poligar
- A military chief holding land in the Tamil country, from palaiyakkarar.
- Paika
- The traditional militia of Odisha, holding rent free land for service.
- Diku
- An outsider in the eyes of the tribes: moneylender, trader, landlord or official.
- Hul
- Santhali for rebellion; the Santhal uprising of 1855.
- Damin i Koh
- The Santhal settlement area in the Rajmahal hills.
- Faraizi
- Those who perform the faraiz (duties) of Islam; a reform movement in east Bengal.
- Wahabi movement
- The British name for Syed Ahmad's Tariqah i Muhammadiya.
- Kuka
- The Namdhari Sikh movement, named for its members' cries (kuk) in worship.
- Meriah
- Human sacrifice once practised by the Khonds, suppressed by the British.