Peasant Revolts under Crown

Peasant Revolts under Crown

(a) Indigo Revolt 1859-60

Before synthetic dyes were created, natural indigo dye was highly valued by cloth makers around the world. Many Europeans employed peasants to grow the indigo, which was processed into dye at the planters factories. The dye was then exported to Europe. The peasants were forced to grow the crop. The British planter gave the cultivator a cash advance to help pay for the rent of the land and other costs. This advance needed to be repaid with interest. The planters forced the peasant grow indigo, rather than food crops. At the end of the season, the planters paid the cultivators low prices for their indigo. Moreover, the small amount the peasant earned was not enough to pay back the cash advance with interest. So they fell into debt. However, the peasants again would be forced to enter into another contract to grow indigo. The peasants were never able to clear their debts. Debts were often passed from father to son.

The Indigo Revolt began in 1859. The rebellion began as a strike, as the peasants of a village in Bengal’s Nadia district refused to grow any more indigo. The movement quickly spread to the other indigo-growing districts of Bengal. The revolt then turned violent. The peasants, both Hindu and Muslim, participated in the revolt, and women—armed with pots and pans—fought alongside the men. Indian journalists in Calcutta wrote articles about the brutality of the planters. The 1860 play Nil Darpan (“Mirror of the Indigo”) by Dina Bandhu Mitra, did much to draw attention in India and Europe to the plight of the indigo growers.

(b) Deccan Riots 1875

Heavy taxation ruined agriculture. Famine deaths increased. The first recorded incident of rioting against the moneylenders in the Deccan was in May 1875, in Supa a village near Poona. Similar cases of riots were reported from close to 30 villages in Poona and Ahmadnagar. The rioting was directed mostly at the Gujarat moneylenders. Under British rule peasants were forced to pay revenue directly to the government. Also, under a new law moneylenders were allowed to attach the mortgaged land of the defaulters and auction it off. This resulted in a transfer of lands from the cultivators to the non-cultivating classes. Trapped in the vicious cycle of debt and unable to pay the outstanding amount the peasant was forced to abandon cultivation.