Get here the summary, questions, answers, textbook solutions, extras, and pdf of Chapter 3 “Resistance and Rebellion: Characteristics and Analysis” of the West Bengal Board (WBBSE) Class 10 (Madhyamik) History (Social Science) textbook. However, the given notes/solutions should only be used for references and should be modified/changed according to needs.
Summary: There were several tribal revolts against British rule in the century following 1857. The Indian Forest Act, passed by the British government in 1865, authorised the appropriation of all forested land. Traditional ways of life for tribal people were drastically changed, in large part because of imperialist ideas. The high land revenue hurt the tribal peasants a lot, and in the end, it caused them to be kicked off their land. More than any other group in India, the tribal people of various regions rose up in violent revolt.
Chuar tribesmen in the Midnapore district resorted to violence. In Dhalbhum and Manbhum, where life was hard, the East India Company raised the rate of land tax. There was a revolt led by the Rajas of Dhalbhum, Kaliapur, Dholka, and Barabhum in the year 1768. Unfortunately, this unsettling state of affairs persisted all the way through the nineteenth century.
The Raja of Singbhum officially recognised the British government’s authority in 1820. In 1832–1833, members of the restless Kol tribe in Chotanagpur rebelled against the agreement they had just signed. Around a thousand landowners were either murdered or had their homes destroyed. It quickly reached Singhbhum, Ranchi, Hazaribagh, and western Manbhum. After a massive military operation, the Kols were defeated and peace was restored.
Revenue experiments by the East India Company sparked the 1855 Santhal Revolt. The santhal peasants were denied the right to land ownership by the zamindars. There was a santhal uprising led by Sidhu and Kanhu. By doing so, they proclaimed independence from the East India Company. After years of military efforts, the situation was finally under control in 1856. A new administrative division, Santhal Pargana, was thus established.
Birsa Munda was the leader of the Munda Revolt that swept through Ranchi in 1899–1900. When the British tried to limit the Mundas’ access to forest and agricultural goods, the indigenous people of the area rose up in rebellion. Birsa Munda was put in jail after his group’s revolt shook the British Empire to its core. So, as part of a set of steps meant to make the Mundas happy, the British got rid of “Beth begari.”
In response to the British government’s repressive taxation, a group of Sannyasis and a large number of Fakirs (Muslim mendicants) rose up in rebellion. The British ban on going on pilgrimages to religious sites was a direct cause of the revolt. Bhabani Pathak and Devi Chaudhurani were at the helm of the Sannyasi Rebellion. Majnu Shah’s and Chirag Ali’s Fakirs were also a problem for the East India Company. However, the leadership proved incompetent, and the company’s army easily defeated them.
In India, Syed Ahmed Barelvi spearheaded the Wahabi movement. Titu Mir spearheaded the Wahabi Movement in Bengal. He got the peasants in the area to fight against the zamindars, moneylenders, and indigo farmers who were taking advantage of them. There had never been an armed uprising by Bengal’s rural populace until now. With their lives on the line, Titu and his comrades fought bravely against the British and ultimately lost.
The Farazi Movement, which was led by Haji Shariatullah, began as an Islamic revivalist movement but turned into a fight for independence from the British and the return of Muslim rule in India. Following his father’s passing, Shariatullah’s son, Dudu Miyan, assumed control. He rallied the peasants to fight back against the zamindars’ and indigo farmers’ oppression. He was arrested for helping to set up a rival government, and then he spent some time in jail.
In 1859, Bishnu Charan Biswas and Digambar Biswas led the Indigo Revolt in the Nadia district. The British planters had the ryots grow indigo without paying them a living wage from the very beginning. The commoners vowed to stop growing indigo. The educated Bengali middle class supported the Indigo Rebellion, which was a big deal in history. That caused an irreparable setback for Bengal’s indigo plantation.
In 1870, the poor peasants of the Pabna district of East Bengal rose up in opposition to the Zamindars’ oppression of them. Ishan Chandra Ray and Khoodi Mollah were two of the revolt’s most prominent leaders. To counter the immediate demand of the Zamindars, an agrarian league was established in 1874. The Bengal Tenancy Act, passed in 1885, greatly shielded the ryots’ rights.
Very short questions and answers
1. When did the Rangpur peasant uprising occur?
Answer: In 1783, farmers in Rangpur rose up against the government. The Rangpur Rebellion was led by Nuruluddin.
2. Who was Debi Singh?
Answer: Rangpur’s ijaradar was named Debi Singh.
3. By whom was the Ijaradari system introduced?
Answer: The ijaradari system was introduced by Warren Hastings.
4. Who was Sui Munda?
Answer: The Kol Rebellion was headed by Sui Munda.
5. In which year did the Kol Rebellion take place?
Answer: During the year 1831, the Kol Rebellion occurred.
6. Who were the Santhals?
Answer: Santhals were a tribe that lived in the Damin-i-Koh region between Bhagalpur and Rajmahal. They were good people who worked hard and didn’t cause any trouble.
7. When and against whom did the Rangpur Rebellion break out?
Answer: Against Debi Singh, the ijaradar of Rangpur, a rebellion broke out in 1783.
8. Who were the Bhils?
Answer: The Bhils were an indigenous people with a stronghold in the region of Khandesh in the Western Ghats.
9. Name the leaders of the Sannyasi Rebellion.
Answer: The Sannyasi Rebellion was led by Bhabani Pathak and Devi Choudhurani.
10. Where did the Wahabi Movement begin?
Answer: It was in Arabia that the Wahabi movement began.
11. Who founded the Wahabi Movement in India?
Answer: Syed Ahmed started the Wahabi movement in India.
12. Who founded the Farazi Movement?
Answer: Haji Shariatullah started the Farazi Movement.
13. Who wrote “Anandamath”?
Answer: “Anandamath” was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, a renowned Bengali writer.
14. Who was Karam Shah?
Answer: Karam Shah was a member of the Pagal Panthi, a semi-religious group that sided with the tenants in their fight against the zamindars.
15. When was the Indigo Commission set up?
Answer: In 1860, the Indigo Commission was formed.
16. Who initiated the Indigo Rebellion?
Answer: Bishnucharan Biswas and Digambar Biswas were the original instigators of the Indigo Rebellion.
Short questions and answers
1. Write a brief description of the shifting cultivation.
Answer: In shifting cultivation, trees are selectively cut and burned at different times. After the first monsoon rains, seeds are planted in the ashes, and the crop is usually picked between October and November. After a few years of farming, these areas are abandoned and given another 12–18 years to regenerate as forest.
2. Who are the adivasis?
Answer: India is home to a sizable indigenous tribal population. These people tend to congregate in communities or groups. They live in close harmony with and depend upon their natural surroundings. People in this society are very cautious about damaging the environment. Together, they have amassed a large landholding. The term “adivasi” is used to describe these people.
3. What triggered the Pabna Rebellion?
Answer: There was significant resistance throughout much of East Bengal in the 1870s. At the heart of this widespread uprising was Pabna. The local zamindars violated the ryots’ right to occupy their land. Act X of 1859 gave an Occupancy Right to renters who lived on a piece of property for at least 12 years and always paid their rent. Still, the zamindars tried different things to take away the ryots’ rights to live there. Nonpayment of rent was another common reason for peasants being forced off their land. A revolt erupted in Pabna in response to the zamindars’ unfair demand.
4. What are the different categories of forest under the 1878 Act? What is a “Reserved Forest”?
Answer: Forests were classified as either “Reserved,” “Protected,” or “Village” under the 1878 Act.
‘Reserved forests’ were the most economically valuable and sustainable areas to cut down. There was a complete prohibition on hunting, grazing, and any other use of the land in these protected forests. In these protected forests, it was against the law to hunt, graze, or use the land in any other way. The villagers were forbidden to ever cut down a tree or use any part of these forests for themselves.
5. What impact did the Forest Act have on the villagers?
Answer: Many rural communities in the country were hit hard by the Forest Act. The people were forbidden from engaging in their normal activities, such as gathering food and building materials, tending to livestock, and pursuing other forms of subsistence, such as hunting and fishing.
6. Why did the Sannyasi and Fakir Rebellion fail?
Answer: Several factors contributed to the failure of the Sannyasi and Fakir Rebellion, some of which were:
i. The rebels failed because their leaders lacked experience.
ii. They were unable to effectively unite to fight the British because of communication breakdowns.
iii. The area of the uprising was relatively small.
iv. The rebels did not enjoy support from every socioeconomic group.
7. What were the goals of the Wahabi movement?
Answer: The Wahabi Movement sought to achieve the following goals.
i. The Wahabi Movement’s goals were primarily religious at first. In other words, Syed Ahmed wanted to turn the “Unholy Land” (Dar-Al-Harb) into the “Holy Land” (Dar-Al-Islam) (Land of Islam).
ii. The economic goal of the movement was to end the peasantry’s subjugation to the capitalist system.
iii. The uprising evolved into an anti-imperialist struggle that sought to expel the British from India.
8. Discuss the Indigo Commission.
Answer: In 1860, an inquiry board called the Indigo Commission was established to hear the complaints of indigo farmers. It admitted and criticised the practice of indigo slave labour. It was decreed in an official order that the indigo factory owners could not force the farmers to grow indigo on their land, but that the farmers could do so if they so desired. During its investigation, the Indigo Commission heard from 134 witnesses. These included 15 government workers and Christian missionaries, 21 planters, 13 zamindars, and 77 ryots.
9. How did the indigo planters torture the indigo cultivators?
Answer: The British indigo planters were extremely cruel to the indigo farmers. The planters used a wide variety of abusive tactics. The planters hired people called “lathials” to do all kinds of cruel things, like beating up peasants, burning down their homes, and taking their belongings by force. Their crops and fruit trees were ruined, and their livestock were stolen. The indigo factories were illegal holding facilities where peasants were beaten and imprisoned. Women from the peasant class were among those kidnapped, and their children were not spared either.
10. What role did Christian missionaries play in the Indigo Rebellion?
Answer: Christian missionaries from Europe had a significant impact on the outcome of the Indigo Rebellion. They were on the side of the indigo farmers. Through newspaper articles, they spoke out against the indigo planters’ oppression and tyranny. It’s worth noting that Christian missionary James Long acknowledged indigo farmers’ violent actions. Because they believed that a solid Christian education was the only thing that could lift the peasants out of their abject poverty, Christian missionaries placed a premium on providing free public education to the masses.importance
Long questions and answers
1. Give an account of the 1783 Rangpur Uprising. What is the Rangpur Uprising?
Answer: The ryots of Bengal endured unimaginable hardships as a result of the land settlement introduced by the English East India Company after 1765. The ryots were subjected to exorbitant taxation at the hands of Purnea district ijaradar Debi Singh and his sub-ijaradar Hariram. The zamindars and the commoners were both exploited. The moneylenders took advantage of the peasants because they bought their rice for a low price. The peasantry of both the Hindu and Muslim faiths rose up in 1783 to oppose Debi Singh. Protests quickly spread to the neighbouring provinces of Dinajpur and Cooch Behar. The rebellious farmers have proclaimed Dirji Narayan to be their new nawab. All of Debi Singh’s government officials were expelled by the rebels. However, the British put down the revolt brutally. After realising the ijaradari system was futile, the company started considering alternative methods of collecting land revenue.
Even though the Rangpur uprising didn’t last long, it taught future peasant insurgents a very important lesson. The nature of the company’s oppression was laid bare before the peasants in the wake of the uprising. The peasant uprising brought to light the injustices of the lease system to the attention of the British government. It made the British try new ways to make money, which led to the building of the permanent settlement.
2. What factors led to the Munda Uprising.
Answer: Following were the factors that led to the Munda Uprising:
i. The Mundas were an ancient tribal people who considered all land to be communally owned. However, during the 19th century, colonial rulers imposed a new set of agrarian relations on them.
ii. It was at this time that the Jagirdars and Thikadars began employing Mundas in their fields. They were subjected to beth begari, or forced, unpaid labour.
iii. British rule established a new method of collecting land revenue and actively welcomed missionaries into the Munda regions. The Mundas took their case to court, where they were cheated by their lawyers.
3. Discuss the Munda Uprising’s significance.
Answer: The significance of the uprising was as follows:
i. The British had to adopt some reformatory policies for Muslims. The practice of Beth begari was discontinued.
ii. Birsa was eventually revered as a deity by the Mundas, and his legacy as a prophet for the gods endured in their minds.
iii. The Oraons’ Tana Bhagat Movement in Chotanagpur was bolstered by their recollection of the Munda Revolt.
iv. While the Munda Revolt as a whole may have been unsuccessful, Birsha Munda’s initiative was not without lasting effects for the Munda people.
4. Why was the Kol Rebellion a failure?
Answer: Here are some of the problems with the Kol Rebellion:
i. The Kol Rebellion never had a truly effective leader. Poor leaders like Buddhu Bhagat and Joa Bhagat, for example, mean this uprising didn’t last very long.
ii. To be successful, the rebellion needed to spread beyond the Kol tribe’s limited territory. But this did not happen, and the movement suffered as a result.
iii. The educated and the intellectuals in society did not back the Kol Revolt. Therefore, the uprising lacked proper planning and organisation.
iv. There was a major communication breakdown between the dispersed members of the Kol tribe. As a result, the rebels were unable to muster sufficient support to succeed.
v. The Kols did not have access to the financial backing, military hardware, or ammunition necessary to mount a successful uprising. As a result, the strength of the uprising was always compromised.
vi. When it came to munitions and weaponry, the British were far superior. They were also very well organised, with cutting-edge means of communication to ensure that no one got left in the dark. The shattered spine of the Kol Revolt was caused by the brutality of British rulers.
5. Discuss the Kol Revolution.
Answer: The 1831 Kol Rebellion is a prime example of the ferocity with which primitive tribes would defend their independence from outsiders. The Raja of Chotanagpur leased several villages to the Muslims and the Sikhs at the expense of the Kols, thereby stripping them of their ancestral rights and sparking the uprising. Buddhu Bhagat, Joa Bhagat, and Jhindrai Manki were instrumental in spreading the uprising to the neighbouring districts of Singbhum, Manbhum, and Hazaribagh. The Kols burned down the homes of the ijaradars, landlords, mahajans, grain merchants, and English officials and slaughtered their inhabitants. Outsiders, or “dikus,” were warned to leave Chotanagpur or be killed by the rebels. The rebellion was put down by the British in 1833 after thousands of tribal people were killed. As a result of the Kol Rebellion, the British government rethought its administrative structure and began taking a different approach toward the tribal people.
6. What was the importance of the Chuar Rebellion?
Answer: During the early years of British rule in India, a people group known as the Chuar lived in what is now the northwest corner of the Midnapore district and the southwest corner of the Bankura district. During the latter half of the 18th century, they rebelled against British rule. The significance of this uprising, or the effects of it, can be discussed in the following ways:
i. The British government initiated acts of cruelty and torture against the Chuar tribe in an effort to subdue the Chuar Revolt. They took Durjan Singh into custody after killing Rani Shiromoni.
ii. As one of the first uprisings against British rule, the Chuar Revolt was significant. It was the rebellion of the supposedly backward and illiterate Chuars that paved the way for subsequent uprisings in the following century.
iii. Contrary to popular belief, the Chuar Revolt was not a movement directed against the Indian zamindars. The zamindars and the peasants came together in this uprising.
iv. The British government altered the legal system to impose severe restrictions on the Chuar people. The Chuars were subdued by the creation of a separate district named Jungalmahal’ in the area surrounding the city of Bishnupur.
7. Why was shifting cultivation prohibited by the foresters?
Answer: Foresters prohibited the use of shifting cultivation for the following reasons:
i. In the opinion of European foresters, timber trees needed for making railway sleepers could not be grown on land currently used for Jhum cultivation.
ii. The government’s ability to calculate and collect taxes was likewise hampered by the effects of fluctuating cultivation.
iii. It was also possible for the fire to spread and consume the forest’s valuable timber trees whenever one was set ablaze.
8. What impact did the Forest Act of 1878 have on the lives of the villagers?
Answer: The villagers’ daily routines were altered as a result of the Forest Act of 1878 in the following ways:
i. Cutting down trees for firewood, hunting, fishing, and gathering fruits as a community are now all illegal activities for the villagers.
ii. The ban on grazing and shifting (jhum) agriculture was very bad for a lot of people.
iii. Governments’ ban on shifting cultivation has resulted in widespread forced relocation. Some people rebelled against the government, while others were forced to change careers.
iv. After being unable to gather wood for fires, the women who had previously done so became very concerned.
9. What motivated the colonial government to pass the Indian Forest Act?
Answer: The Indian Forest Service was founded in 1864. The Indian Forest Act, originally enacted in 1865 and revised in 1878. The reason behind the Indian Forest Act
i. The construction of English ships would be impossible without a steady supply of timber. What’s more, imperial power couldn’t be safeguarded and sustained without ships.
ii. A new market for wood was established in the 1850s, when the use of railroads became widespread. The Indian colonial government saw railroads as crucial to colonial internal administration, colonial trade, and the efficient movement of company troops.
iii. Locomotives required wood as a fuel source, and wooden sleepers were necessary for laying railway lines.
iv. The colonial government took precautions to ensure that Adivasi and other peasant users would not fell trees for their own benefit, to sell for profit, to provide for their livestock, etc.
10. Describe the Sannyasi and Fakir Rebellion.
Answer: During the Sannyasi and Fakir Rebellion, Hindu saints and Muslim monks rose up in protest against the British tax system and the coercion of lease holders. Sannyasis and fakirs rebelled against the despotic policy of the East India Company.
Sannyasi mendicants of the Dasnami sect have a history of violence. The districts of Dinajpur, Rangpur, Malda, and Dacca were hit particularly hard as word of their uprising spread. Due to political instability, anarchy, and economic oppression, landless ryots, zamindars, and unemployed artisans came together to form the sannyasi rebel movement. The uprising was led by Bhabani Pathak and Devi Chaudhurani. The rebels’ main stronghold was the city of Mahasthangarh. Dr. N K Sinha makes the observation that starving peasants swelled the ranks of the insurgents.
Army forces employed by the company put down the uprising of Sannyasis and Fakirs. The inexperience of the rebel leaders led to their eventual defeat. Because of communication problems, they were unable to effectively coordinate their attacks on the British.
11. Explain the Wahabi Movement in Bengal.
Answer: The Wahabi Movement in India can trace its roots back to Syed Ahmed Barelvi. The goals of his movement included expelling the British from the country and reviving the prophet’s teachings. Mir Nisar Ali, also known as Titu Mir, led the movement in Bengal. He adhered to the Wahabi ideal of Islamic reform. In Titu Mir’s mind, success meant seeing the British government eliminated and Muslim rule installed in its place. His secondary objective was to rally the underprivileged Hindu and Muslim peasants to resist the zamindars who levied unfair taxes on the Wahabis.
Titu Mir was the one who spearheaded the revolt in Barasat. His campaign’s nerve centre was the town of Narkelberia, located in the city of Barasat. Fortified by a bamboo grove he had his followers construct, he organised them (Banser Kella). Law enforcement was alarmed by reports of looting, murder, arson, and the slaughter of cows. At the zamindar Krishnadeva Ray’s residence, Titu Mir and three hundred of his followers launched an attack. He anointed himself Badshah and founded an alternative government in Narkelberia. British authorities dispatched a large force, which destroyed Titu Mir’s bamboo stronghold. They killed Titu Mir and locked up his followers. They executed a large number of them by hanging them.
12. Examine the causes of the Indigo Revolt,
Answer: The Indigo Revolt was the first major uprising in India’s history of organised political movement. As early as the turn of the nineteenth century, indigo had become the cornerstone of a successful commercial agricultural sector. When the export of indigo proved profitable, many European planters set up shop in various parts of Bengal. The uprising was aimed at the British planters who were behaving like feudal lords in the state.
The causes of the rebellion were as follows:
i. In spite of the fact that the cost of food and other agricultural goods doubled, planters paid their ryots pitiful wages.
ii. The planters exploited the cultivators, who were compelled to grow indigo on harsh conditions.
iii. While indigo was being cultivated, the best arable land was being used by indigo planters, causing a dramatic drop in food crop production.
iv. When the indigo farmers wanted to expand their plantations, they had to force the locals out of their homes, so they could build new ones. The planters didn’t think twice about hiring gang men to torch the peasants’ homes.
v. Women from the peasant class were frequently kidnapped, along with their children and other relatives.
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