18-19th century Peasant Movements

1782-1831	Tintu Mirs movement	Mir Nathar Ali or Tintu Mir West Bengal	Against Hindu landlords who imposed beard-tax on Farazis(Arabs)
1825-35	Pagal Panthis Movement	Hajong and Garo tribes under Karam Shah and Tipu Shah	Against hike in rents Mymensingh district(now in Bangladesh)	Violently suppressed
1836-54	Moplah uprisings	Malabar	Against rise in revenue demand and reduction in field size
1859-60	Indigo revolt in Bengal	Digambar Biswas & Bishnu Biswas of Nadia district	Planters mostly Europeans forced local peasants to grow Indigo instead of more price paying like rice, forced to take advance sums, fraudulent contracts Intimidated peasants through kidnappings, illegal confinements, attacks on women and children	The movement organised a counter force against the planter attacks Gradually learned to use legal machinery Bengal intelligentsia supported through press, legal battles
1870-85	Pabna agrarian leagues	Yusufshahi Paragana of Patna district Supported by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, RC Dutt, Indian Association under Surendranath Banerjee	Eastern Bengal peasants unrest by oppressive practices of Zamindars Forced to pay high rents, evictions, seizure of cattle, land Costly litigations in courts	Formed an agrarian leagues to jointly resist the oppressive demands of zamindars Funds were raised to fight court cases Main struggle was legal resistance Govt promised legislation and accordingly Bengal Tenancy Act 1885 passed
1874	Deccan Riots	Peasants of Deccan region of West India Poona, Ahmednagar, Sholapur, Satara Supported by Maharashtra national intelligentsia	Heavy taxation under Ryotwari, raise by 50% in 1867 Exploitative money lenders - outsiders such as Marwaris/Gujaratis Crashes in cotton prices after American Civil War in 1864 Successive bad harvests	Social boycott movement of outside money lenders- no buying, cultivation, barbers, washer man, shoe man to them Systematic riots of moneylenders houses and shops - debt bonds and deeds seized Deccan Agriculturalists Relief Act 1879
1877-87	Ramosi uprisings	Ramosi peasants of Maharashtra by Wasuedeo Balwant Phadke	Against British failure to take up anti-famine measures

Peasants became main in agrarian movements fighting self for their demands
Specific target, mainly on economic problems, no nationalist/social/political programme
Limited territorial outreach, short term, limited objectives, lack of adequate understanding of colonialism.
Became well aware of legal system and legal rights
Teen Kathiya system - 3/20 land for cultivation of Indigo
Khurki system - British planters paying money to farmers by mortgaging lands and compelling them to sow Indigo

20th century Peasant Movements

1917	Champaran Satyagraha	Peasants of Champaran, Bihar led by Gandhi	Peasants- Indigo planters problems	Raj Kumar Shukla, Rajendra Prasad, JB Kripalani, Mazhar-ul-Haq, Narhari Parekh, Mahadeo Desai, Kasturba Gandhi
1918	Kheda Satyagraha	Peasants of Kheda, Gujarat led by Gandhi	Peasants-Remission of land revenue as it was drought	V Patel, Indulal Yagnik
1918-20	Kisan Sabha movement 1918 UP Kisan Sabha 1920 Awadh Kisan Sabha	UP Kisan Sabha by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Narayan Dwivedi. Others Jhinguri Singh, Durgapal Singh, Baba Ramchandra Support by M Mohan Malaviya	High rents, evictions, Illegal levies, renewal fees or nazrana by landlords World War I hiked the prices of food and other essentials	Refuse to till the bedakhali land , not to offer hari and begar(forms of unpaid labour), boycott Later looting of bazaars, houses, granaries, clashes with police Main centers- Rai Bareilly, Faizabad, Sultanpur Awadh Rent (Amendment) Act
1921-22	Eka/Unity Movement	Northern districts of United Provinces- Hardoi, Bahraich, Sitapur Madari Pasi and other low-caste leaders, small zamindars	High rents (50% higher than conventional) Oppression of Thikadars who are in charge of revenue collection	Severe repression by authorities brought the movement to end
1920-21	Mappila revolt 100 years	Mappilas(Muslim tenants) of Malabar region Ali Musaliar - respected priest	Tenants- Mappilas(Muslims) , Landlords - Hindus Lack of security of tenure, high rents, renewal fees, oppressive actions Jenmies(unpopular landlords)	Mappila movement in the due course merged with Khilafat movement and supported by Gandhi , Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad When Ali Musaliar arrested, large scale riots Soon turned into communal overtones
1926-30	Bardoli Satyagraha (Taluqa in Surat)	Vallabhai patel(given Sardar title for this movement) Bardoli Satyagraha Patrika Supported by Mehta brothers	Authorities declared to increase land revenue by 30% Great Depression in industrialized countries Influence of Civil Disobedience movement Kaliparaj peasants	Refuse payments until Govt appointed independent tribunal 13 chhavanis or worker camps organised KM Munshi and Lalji Naranji resigned from Bombay legislative council in support Govt committee- mere 6% percent only
1936	All India Kisan Sabha/Congress	Founded by Swami Sahjanand Saraswati as president and NG Ranga as general secretary		Indulal Yagnik periodical started
1936	Bakasht movnt	Bihar	Against Zamindar policies of occupancy rights
1946	Tebhaga movement	Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabha Centre- North Bengal Rajbanshis -low caste of tribal	Implement the recommendations of Flood commission of 2/3 or tebhaga to bargardars rented fro jotedars(land lords) Bargardars/bagchasi/adhyar- Share croppers	Slogan - "nij kahamare dhan tolo"- sharecroppers taking paddy to their own floor instead to jotedars
1946-48	Telangana Movement	Andhra Mahasabha and village sanghams	Biggest peasantry guerrilla war of modern Indian history Oppressive actions and policies of Nijam, deshmuks, jagirdars, doras(landlords)- vethi, illegal evictions, no civil liberties	Trigger- When Deshmukh murdered a village militant in Jangaon taluq of Nalgonda, Spread to Warangal and Khammam Routed the Razaqars - stormtroopers of Nijam

Provincial Peasant Movements

Kerala	Karshak Sangams	Marching of peasants to landlords to get their demands accepted
Andhra	Provincial Ryot Associations	NG Ranga - Indian Peasants Institute
Bihar	Provincial Kisan Conference	Sahjanand Saraswati, Karyanand Sharma, Yadunandan Sharma, Rahul Sankritiyan, Panchanan Sharma, Jamun Karjiti Provincial Kisan Sabha developed a rift with Congress over bakashat land
Punjab	Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha Kirti Kisan Party Congress and Akalis

Imp summary

Zamindari System

Permanent Settlements Act

Lord Cornwallis

Bengal, Bihar, Orissa

Zamindars owners and collects rents (1/11 to zamindars, 10/11 to British)

Ryotwari system

Thomas Munro[Hasting]

Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorg provinces

Peasants owners of land and directly pays rents to British (50% for drylands, 60% for irrigated lands)

Mahalwari system

William Bentick

Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley

Peasants ownership of land and Village committees collect rent from village(mahal) as unit

Jagirdari system- Land allocated to big feudal landlords

Thekadari or village-contracting system by which the planters gained zamindari rights over peasants in villages outside their plantations

*16 May 2021