restorative rebellions to drive out the British and restore earlier rulers and social relations

religious movements for the liberation of a region or an ethnic group so as to establish a new form of government

social banditry

terrorist vengeance, with ideas of meting out collective justice

Mass insurrections for the redress of particular grievances.

Three phases of Peasant Movements –

Historically, the peasant movements in pre-independence India can broadly be grouped in the following three distinct phases: the first phase was characterised by the absence of proper leadership, the second phase witnessed the rise of well organized peasant movements in which the congress party, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, took active part and the third phase was marked by the emergence of the class conscious peasant organizations. Its distinct features were that, during this period, peasant movements were led by people who gave priority to kisan problems in the struggle for national liberation.

Indigo Agitation of Bengal (1859 – 60) – the indigo agitation of Bengal 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 organized a powerful campaign in support of the rebellious peasants. The Government appointed an indigo commission to inquire into the problem of indigo cultivation. Based on its recommendations, the Government issued a notification in November 1860 that the ryots could not be compelled to grow indigo and that it would ensure that all disputes were settled by legal means.

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 organized 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 peasantry which led to the enactment of an act.

Bengal Tenancy Act (1885) – under the new law, the peasant was given occupancy rights if he had held land in the same village for 12 years, the practice of shifting was stopped and no eviction was possible except for misuse of land or breach of contract. Thus occupancy rights were made hereditary, yet they were not transferable. Further, the peasant was denied the right to sub- lease without the landlord’s consent. Limits on enhancement of rent were set aside, and the rent itself could now be increased by 12 percent by a contract out of court. Compensation for improvement in cases of eviction was provided. 

Evidently the complexities of the act gave ample opportunities for resort to law and it was the zamindar, not the tenant, who was an adept at going to the law court. A mere threat to do so was enough to persuade a recalcitrant tenant to agree to an increase.

Still there can be no denial of the gains made by the tenant, who had now secured his three F’s – fair rent, fixity of tenure and free sale of occupancy rights. Tenants – farmers did receive protection, though limited in scope. The importance of the new law, thus, lay primarily in its recognition of their rights, and in setting a precedent for future legislation.

Deccan Riots (1875) - excessive land revenue demand of the British facilitating exploitation of peasants by money lenders was responsible for the uprising in the Deccan. Social boycott of moneylenders by the peasants was later transformed into armed peasant revolt in the Poona and Ahmednagar districts of Maharashtra. The peasants forcibly seized from the moneylenders debt bonds, decrees and other documents and set them on fire. When the police failed to suppress the riots army help was sought to put down the riots. It was the appointment of a commission and the enactment of the Deccan Agriculturalist Relief Act of 1879 which prohibited the imprisonment of the peasants of the Maharashtra Deccan for failure to repay debts to the moneylenders.

Peasant unrest in Punjab (1890-1900)- It was the resentment of the peasants against the growing alienation of their lands to the moneylenders led to the assault and murder of moneylenders by the peasants. The government responded by the enactment of the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1902 which prohibited the transfer of lands from peasants to moneylenders and the mortgages for more than 20 years. 

 Moplah rebellion (1921) – Oppression and exploitation of the Muslim Moplah peasants of Malabar (Kerala) by the Hindu zamindars (Jemmis) and British government was the main cause of this revolt. Its major events were : outbreak of the rebellion in August 1921 (after a police raid on Tirurangadi masque in search of arms) and widespread attacks on police stations, public offices, communications and houses of oppressive landlords and moneylenders, total loss of control by the British over Ernad and Walluvanad taluks for several months, establishment of Republics at several places by the Moplahs under leaders like Kunhammad Haji, Kalathingal Mammad, Ali Musaliar, Sithi Koya Thangal etc. bloody suppression of the rebellion by the British, leaving 2337 rebels killed, 1650 wounded and more than 45000 as prisoners. At Podnur 66 Moplah prisoners were shut in a railway wagon and died of suffocation on 20th November 1921.

Assessment of Peasant Movement

Peasant revolts in India have been repressed more often than they succeeded. But that does not lessen their historical importance. Moreover, the success and failure of a movement can never be assessed in absolute terms.

The achievement of peasant revolts in India, if viewed in the context of their proximate aims, are not as unimpressive as they sometimes appear: each of the movements that we have examined was followed by some legislative or ameliorative measure, some legal reforms, some modification in the structure of land control always followed peasant resistance.

Until the new era of progressive land reforms began in India around 1949-50, most of these measures consisted only of minor adjustments in the social arrangements of land. They restored the balance, keeping the existing system going and did not involve any drastic changes such as redistribution of economic power and privilege.