CHAPTER 2. CIVIL REBELLIONS AND 

 TRIBAL UPRISINGS

The Revolt of 1857 was the most dramatic instance of traditional India’s struggle against foreign rule. But it was no sudden occurrence. It was the culmination of a century long tradition of fierce popular resistance to British domination. 

The establishment of British power in India was a prolonged process of piecemeal conquest and consolidation and the colonization of the economy and society. This process produced discontent, resentment and resistance at every stage. This popular resistance took three broad forms: civil rebellions, tribal uprisings and peasant movements. We will discuss the first two 

in this chapter. 

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The series of civil rebellions, which run like a thread through the first 100 years of British rule, were often led by Deposed rajas and nawabs or their descendants, uprooted and impoverished zamindars, landlords and poligars (landed military magnates in South India), and ex-retainers and officials of the conquered Indian states. The backbone of the rebellions, their mass base and striking power came from the rack-rented peasants, ruined artisans and demobilized soldiers. These sudden, localized revolts often took place because of local grievances although for short periods they acquired a broad sweep, involving armed bands of a few hundreds to several thousands. The major cause of all these civil rebellions taken as a whole was the rapid changes the British introduced in the economy, administration and land revenue system. These changes led to the disruption of the agrarian society, causing prolonged and widespread suffering among its constituents Above all, the colonial policy of intensifying demands for land revenue and extracting as large an amount as possible and extracting as large an amount as possible produced upheaval in Indian villages. In Bengal, for example, in less than thirty years land revenue collection was raised to nearly double the amount collected under the Mughals. The pattern was repeated in other us of the country as British rule spread. And aggravating the unhappiness of the farmers was the fact that not even a part of the enhanced revenue was spent on the development of agriculture or the welfare of the cultivator. 

Thousands of zamindars and poligars lost control over their land and its revenues either due to the extinction of their rights by the colonial state or by the forced sale of their rights over land because of their inability to meet the exorbitant land revenue demanded. The proud zamindars and poligars resented this loss even more when they were displaced by rank outsiders —government officials and the new men of money — merchants and moneylenders. Thus they, as also the old chiefs, who had lost their principalities, had personal scores to settle with the new rulers. 

Peasants and artisans, as we have seen earlier, had their own reasons to rise up in arms and side with the traditional elite. 

Increasing demands for land revenue were forcing large numbers of peasants into growing indebtedness or into selling their lands. 

The new landlords, bereft of any traditional paternalism towards their tenants, pushed up rents to ruinous heights and evicted them in the case of non-payment. The economic decline of the peasantry was reflected in twelve major and numerous minor famines from 1770 to 1857. 

The new courts and legal system gave a further fillip to the dispossessors of land and encouraged the rich to oppress the poor. Flogging, torture and jailing of the cultivators for arrears of rent or land revenue or interest on debt were quite common. The ordinary people were also hard hit by the prevalence of corruption at the lower levels of the police, judiciary and general administration. The petty officials enriched themselves freely at the cost of the poor. The police looted, oppressed and tortured the common people at will. William Edwards, a British official, wrote in 1859 that the police were ‘a scourge to the people’ and  that ‘their oppression and exactions form one of the chief grounds of dissatisfaction with our government.’ 

The ruin of Indian handicraft industries, as a result of the imposition of free trade in India and levy of discriminatory tariffs against Indian goods in Britain, pauperized millions of artisans. The misery of the artisans was further compounded by the disappearance of their traditional patrons and buyers, the princes, chieftains, and zamindars. 

The scholarly and priestly classes were also active in inciting hatred and rebellion against foreign rule. The traditional rulers and ruling elite had financially supported scholars, religious preachers, priests, pandits and maulvis and men of arts and literature. With the coming of the British and the ruin of the traditional landed and bureaucratic elite, this patronage came to an end, and all those who had depended on it were impoverished. 

Another major cause of the rebellions was the very foreign character of British rule. Like any other people, the Indian people too felt humiliated at being under a foreigner’s heel. This feeling of hurt pride inspired efforts to expel the foreigner from their 

lands. 

The civil rebellions began as British rule was established in Bengal and Bihar, arid they occurred in area after area as it was incorporated into colonial rule. There was hardly a year without armed opposition or a decade without a major armed rebellion in one part of the country or the other. From 1763 to 1856, there were more than forty major rebellions apart from hundreds of minor ones.

Displaced peasants and demobilized soldiers of Bengal led by religious monks and dispossessed zamindars were the first to rise up in the Sanyasi rebellion, made famous by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in his novel Anand Math, that lasted from1763 to 1800. It was followed by the Chuar uprising which covered five districts of Bengal and Bihar from 1766 to 1772 and then, again, from 1795 to 1816. Other major rebellions in Eastern India were those of Rangpur and Dinajpur, 1783; Bishnupur and Birbhum, 1799; Orissa zamindars, 1804-17; and Sambalpur, 1827-40. 

 The pattern was repeated in other us of the country as British rule spread. And aggravating the unhappiness of the farmers was the fact that not even a part of the enhanced revenue was spent on the development of agriculture or the welfare of the cultivator. 

Thousands of zamindars and poligars lost control over their 

land and its revenues either due to the extinction of their rights 

by the colonial state or by the forced sale of their rights over land 

because of their inability to meet the exorbitant land revenue 

demanded. The proud zamindars and poligars resented this loss 

even more when they were displaced by rank outsiders —

government officials and the new men of money — merchants 

and moneylenders. Thus they, as also the old chiefs, who had 

lost their principalities, had personal scores to settle with the 

new rulers. 

Peasants and artisans, as we have seen earlier, had their 

own reasons to rise up in arms and side with the traditional elite. 

Increasing demands for land revenue were forcing large numbers 

of peasants into growing indebtedness or into selling their lands. 

The new landlords, bereft of any traditional paternalism towards 

their tenants, pushed up rents to ruinous heights and evicted 

them in the case of non-payment. The economic decline of the 

peasantry was reflected in twelve major and numerous minor 

famines from 1770 to 1857. 

The new courts and legal system gave a further fillip to the 

dispossessors of land and encouraged the rich to oppress the 

poor. Flogging, torture and jailing of the cultivators for arrears of 

rent or land revenue or interest on debt were quite common. The 

ordinary people were also hard hit by the prevalence of 

corruption at the lower levels of the police, judiciary and general 

administration. The petty officials enriched themselves freely at 

the cost of the poor. The police looted, oppressed and tortured 

the common people at will. William Edwards, a British official, 

wrote in 1859 that the police were ‘a scourge to the people’ and  that ‘their oppression and exactions form one of the chief 

grounds of dissatisfaction with our government.’ 

The ruin of Indian handicraft industries, as a result of the 

imposition of free trade in India and levy of discriminatory tariffs 

against Indian goods in Britain, pauperized millions of artisans. 

The misery of the artisans was further compounded by the 

disappearance of their traditional patrons and buyers, the 

princes, chieftains, and zamindars. 

The scholarly and priestly classes were also active in 

inciting hatred and rebellion against foreign rule. The traditional 

rulers and ruling elite had financially supported scholars, 

religious preachers, priests, pandits and maulvis and men of arts 

and literature. With the coming of the British and the ruin of the 

traditional landed and bureaucratic elite, this patronage came to 

an end, and all those who had depended on it were impoverished. 

Another major cause of the rebellions was the very foreign 

character of British rule. Like any other people, the Indian people 

too felt humiliated at being under a foreigner’s heel. This feeling 

of hurt pride inspired efforts to expel the foreigner from their 

lands. 

The civil rebellions began as British rule was established in 

Bengal and Bihar, arid they occurred in area after area as it was 

incorporated into colonial rule. There was hardly a year without 

armed opposition or a decade without a major armed rebellion in 

one part of the country or the other. From 1763 to 1856, there 

were more than forty major rebellions apart from hundreds of 

minor ones.

Displaced peasants and demobilized soldiers of Bengal led 

by religious monks and dispossessed zamindars were the first to 

rise up in the Sanyasi rebellion, made famous by Bankim 

Chandra Chatterjee in his novel Anand Math, that lasted from 

1763 to 1800. It was followed by the Chuar uprising which 

covered five districts of Bengal and Bihar from 1766 to 1772 and 

then, again, from 1795 to 1816. Other major rebellions in 

Eastern India were those of Rangpur and Dinajpur, 1783; 

Bishnupur and Birbhum, 1799; Orissa zamindars, 1804-17; and 

Sambalpur, 1827-40.