CHAPTER-II

PEASANT MOVEMENT IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: A PRE- INDEPENDENCE VIEW

PRE-COLONIAL CONDITION OF PEASANTRY

How the institution of State in India evolved through history

has remained an unresolved question. The vast expanse of the land

and the intermixture of people moving within the sub-continent

and others coming from other lands make the problem complex

and challenging at the same time. But the emergence of Kingship

as a state form early in various parts of ancient India could not

be questioned. Our history and myths are replete with goings on

around this institution.

There used to be a centralised administration and the unquestioned

supremacy of which was accepted by the peo;:>le but the actual

area of control did not have any defined boundaries. Traditio~ and tNa.n

customs were the deciding factors of rules and rituals rather 1.Jegal

norms.) maintained by the State. The whole life style seemed to

be decided by destiny resulting into lack of any attempt to change

the world around. The tremendous faith of the people in religion

which was consolidated by state patronage and its offshoot plurality

of gods and goddesses in Hinduism as well as pre-Aryan communities

turned the society into an inactive one. Study of scriptures and

religious texts in the name of 'vidya' which was not in contradiction

with the then existing social system continued unabated making

the region under study a fertile ground for Sanskrit learning. Thus

the mode of education itself worked as a 'pattern maintenance'

44

device. Higher learning remained the province of high castes and

the lower castes submitted to their command; this latter mainfested

into their (lower caste$1) overall impotence in every sphere of life.

Agriculture was the mainstay of the majority of the people

of the area since times immemorial. In other words land being the

principal source of production of material means of subsis tance,

man depended on it for his existence. Among the food crops cui tivated

in this area rice, wheat and sugar:cane were the main. Dyes were

also cultivated - probably indigo. The Buddhist literature throws

a good measure of light on the system of land cultivation under

the Buddhist monasteries which owned considerable land as a result

of gifts. These religious institutions h3.d thus to carry on their own

agricultural activities. The Buddhist Sanghas had come to own large

landed properties some of which they directly cultivated and some

they got cultivated by others on profitable terms. The Sangha would

ordinarily arrange to have the cultivation of its land undertaken

1 by the professional peasants on the basis of sharing of the produce.

LAND TENURIAL SYSTEM

Ownership of the J and in the early period has been a grea..t

topic of debate amon3 historians_, and thus_, on the basis of historical

reco:-ds it is difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion so far the

land ownership is concerned. There is one view which holds that

the king was the sole owner of land.2

Dealing with .o.grarian system of

Mughal India Irfan Habib also writes that "No little influence on

this debate (owner of the soil) has been commanded by ·the evidence

1 See, B hagwati Sharan Varma, Socio-Religious, Economic and Literacy conditions of Biharl329 A.D to 2000 A.D(Delhi,l962)p.l51.

2 See, S.K. Maity, Economic Life of Northern India in the Gupta period(Calcutta,l957)pp.2 5=31.

45 :

of the European travellers ... who declare without a single voice

of dissent, that the proprietorship of land was vested with the king

~ alone",·

So far the cui tiv a tion of land is concerned it may be said

that two systems of land cultivation were prevailing during the

13th century; either it was cultivated by the o-.vner of the land

himself directly by employing his own labourers and equipment

or the owners gave the land to ·.)ther to cui tivate on the terms

of sharing the produce. Thus the his tory of share cropping goes

at least as far back as to 13th century. There are evidence which

indicate the existence of privately held land. Possess::ion coupled

with clear ti tie appears to have been necessary for ownership of

land. Title might have been legalised by the grant of a royal charter.

The grants of land enti tied the donee to the taxes which were

previously paid by the tenants to the ruler. Such grants were not

completely unconditional. The donee was forbidden to admit new

tenants on the donated land for obtaining extra taxes. Secondly,

although the donee became the new owner as a result of the grant,

he did not hao~e the right to destroy the prepetuity of the grant

by reselling this land or donating it to somebody else.4

Thus despite the

fact that there are contrary evidences regarding the ownership of

land ·~t i' most convincing that in the historical epoch there was

individual or communal control over cultivable land. Since in the

later period the administration developed in the form of kingship,

the individual ownership of land essentially became the basis of

3 Irfan Habib, Agrarian System of Mughal India,1556-1707(!3ombay, 1963), p.lll.

4 See, Bhagawati Sharan Verma, n.l,pp.15~158. See also,

A.L. Basham,The Wo_,pderthat was India(London,1954)pp.l09-110

. : 46 ;

5 the roytwari holdings resulting into the development of tenancy.

The right of revenue collection conferred by the ruler resulted

in rack-renting the land:holders for their own gains by changing

the holder from year to year in order to secure enlarged revenue.

One could trace the origin of the zamindari khalis tenure in a grant

(by kings). When the connection of a chief or individual was with

a limited land, over which he acquired hereditary right, he always

0 6 tried to covert this privilege into personal pr;perty.

During the Muslim period changes in the land onwership/control

were purely based on money economy. And during this period we

find some clear authentic evidences of peasant proprietorship over

land but "··· were the European travellers correct in the assumption

that the peasants could not be proprietors?" q_uestions Irfan Habib.

He further says that "··· We have Aurangazeb's farman to Muhammad

Hashimin which the terms malik and arbab-i-zamin(land owners)

are clearly used for ordinary cultivators or peasants".7

The system of revenue

farming spread rapidly, the reason for which was the everfighting

characteristic of the rulers who w~nt on conquering new kingdoms

and settled them for fixed revenue either with the old rulers or

with their superior officers. But in spite of all these the concurrent,

5 See, D.C.Sircar(ed) Land System and Fedualism in Ancient India(Calcutta,1966) pp 11-13.

6 See, Radhakamal Mukherjee, Land Problems of India(London, 1933), p. 29. See also,B.H.Baden-Powell,Land System of British India: Being a manual of the land tenure and of the systems of land-revenue administration prevalent in the several provinces.(London,1972) pp 55-87.

7 Irfan Habib, !)·1 p.ll3.

47 :

hereditary, permanent and long established rights of the khudkast

8 ryots were not usurped.

The peasants of Mughal -times enjoyed a right ~ch the

British India conferred on some sections of the peasants in some

Provinces only by special tenancy legislation viz., the permanent

and hereditary right of occupancy. In certain circumstances this

right could be considered proprietory in nature. But a proprietor

must be a free agent and he must possess the right of free alienation.

Since the peasant could not legally abandon his land, he was really

a near-serf. If, therefore, the king was not the owner of the soil

neither was the peasant. There wen different rights over the land

and its produce, andnot one exclusive right of property.9

However, throughout a very long period of changes in political

control_, there was a lack of any sincere attempt to change or remodel

the prevailing land tenure system. The efforts of the rulers were

confined to the realization of fixed amount of land revenue. This

resulted in course of time, m the multiplication of rights in land,

one superimposed upon another. The tenantry was sunk in wr-etchedness

and poverty and was being continously exploited by a host of unscrupulous

10 revenue agents.

Marx attempted to explain the situation through 'As.iatic

mode of production' when he came to believe that the fundamental

reality of the Asiatic mode of production was not state property i71

:/land, centralised hydraulic works or a political despotism, but

8 Gyaneshwar Ojha, Land Problems and Land Reforms(New Delhi, not dated), pp.3(}.35.

9 lrfan Habib, n.3, p.ll8.

10 lbid,p.32.

48 :

the 'tribal or communal property' of land in self-sustaining villages,

combining crafts and agricul ture.11

But "the subsequent theoretical and historical confusions

point unmistakably to the whole notion of 'self sustaining village'

and its 'communal property' as the basic empirical fault in Marx's

construction". 12 Marx founded his belief in the palingenesis of rural

communities and their egalitarian property systems entirely on

his study of India as reported by English administrators after the

conquest of the sub-contintent by Britain. In fact there is

no historical evidence that communal property ~ver ex is ted in either

Mughal or post-Mughal India. 13 Tillage was always individual in early

modern epoch.

The notion of Indian villages being egalitarian is also far

from general reality as they were sharply divided into castes and

the c.o~oossession of landed property that did exist was confined

to superior castes who exploited lower castes as tenant cultivators

on it. However, Marx also referred to the existence of slavery and

the caste system as contaminating Indian villages, but he did not

attach -...uch importance to these 'contaminations' of what he "described

as 'inoffensive social organisms'. Thus he,notes Anderson,"virtually

11 Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte', Marx and Engles, Selected Works, Vol. I(Moscow,l962)pp334-40

12 Perry Anderson, Lineages of the Absolutist State(London, 1979)p.487.

13 See, Daniel Thorner, 'Marx on India and the Asia tic Mode of Production', Contributions to Indian Sociology,December, 1966, p.57.

49 :

ignored the whole massive structure of the Hindu caste system

- the central social mechanism of class stratification in traditional

India altogether. His subsequent account of these self-sufficient

village communities are effectively innocent of any reference to

...... 14 1 L •

Hegel was far more conscious of the brutal omnipre;)ence

of caste inequality and exploitation than Marx. He tranquilly affirmed

that equality in civil life is something absolutely impossible and

that this principle leads us to put up with variety of occupations

and distinctions of the classes tqwhich they are entrusted. However,

he could not contain his revulsion against the Indian caste system

iri'vhich the individual beongs to such as class by birth and is bound

. f l"f 15 to 1 t or 1 e.

The caste system rendered Indian villages one of the most

extreme negations of 'inoffensive' social inequality anywhere in

the world. Furthermore, the rural villages of India were never in

any real sense detached from the state above them, or isolated

from its control. Imperial monopoly of land in Mughal India was

enforced by a fiscal system which extracted heavy taxes from the

peasantry to the state. Payments were mostly made in terms of

cash or in commercial crops which were subsequently resold by

the state. Administratively, Indian villages were always subordinated

to the central state through its appointment of their headmen.

All over the co~ntry, the top groupsin the village were co-beneficiaries

14 Perry Anderson, n.12, p. 4 88.

15 S<~e, Hegel, The Philosophy of History(New York,1956)pp.l51-61

50 :

in the system of exploitation. In every village the bottom layers

were untouchables squeezed tight against the margin of subsistence.

The extra-village exploitation \I'JCLs sanctioned by military force

whereas intravillage exploitation by the caste system and the religious

. 16 sanctJons.

Thus the Indian peasantry, far from being indifferent to

Mughal rule above them, eventually rose in great jacqueries against

· · 17 Th h h . d b . h f h h Its oppression. oug t ere Is no ou t m t e act t at as t e

degree of alienation from land increases, the peasant becomes more

militant and the frequency of agrarian conflict increases, during

medieval period we find the burden of land revenue to be the principal

f . . 18 Ab cause o peasant upnsmgs. out coli ec tion of land revenue,

lrfan Habib writes, "Non-payment of revenue was deemed equivalent

to rebellion. While eviction was not unknown as a punishmt~nt, the

more usual methods seem to have been imprisonment and torture

of the headmen, followed by the masscare of the adult male population

and enslavement of women and children.19

Habib 'las accounted the peasant

uprisings as the force behind the rise of Marathas, Satnamis and

jats.

During medieval period caste system had considerably influenced

the peasant revolts. Itfan Habib observes, "The ties of caste to

act collectively in the defence of their interests ...• In the Jat revolt

16 See lrfan Habib, n.3, pp.32 8-38.

17 Ibid, pp.388-89.

18 See Irf an habib, "The Peasants in Indian His tory", Indian History Congress, Presidential Address(Kurukshetra,19&2)pp.57-8

19 Irfan Habib, The Cambridge Economic History of India,Vol.I (Delhi,-1984) p.2 40.

51

we have perhaps the clearest instance of how an essentially peasant

rebellion proceeded along caste line.2 0

But these revol ts_,by and large

remained localised phenomenon. "The peasants might fuel a zamind3.r's

revolt(Marathas); they might rise in a locality (the Doab); or as

a caste (Jats) or as a sect(Satnamis,Sikhs), but they failed to attain

a recognition of any common objectives that transcended parochial

1. "ts"21 lml •

THE CASE OF DARBIANGA

During this period the region under study was relatively

free from any upsurge or movement for ameliorating the conditions

of the peasantry. The regulating factor inthe society was the strong

informal control i.e tradition, customs, religion, rituals etc. In fact

there was complete lack of consciousness of exploitation among

the peasants. However, the degree of exploitation was also at lower

ebb because the estate of Darbhanga, which was later identified

as the principal exploitating agent, was itself in a very weak condition.

The ancestors of Darbhanga Maharaja belonged to Khandavala family".22

Thus the Maharajas were originally outsiders for the region. During

1775-1807 when Madhava Singh was the Raja of Darbhanga, the

prestige of the state had suffered a great deal. Financial condition

of the Raj was very bad. So much so that "not only the authority

of Madhava Singh was set at naught but his request also could

2 0 Irfan Habib, n.l8, p. 330.

21 Ibid, p.61

22 Gosain Shankarsan Upadhyaya of Khandava family had received the grant of village Khandava in Madhya Pradesh who later began to be called as Thakur in that region as he was having landed property. Sripati Thakur, grand-father of the founder of the Darbhanga estate Mahesh Thakur received some favours from the Bharajatiya Rajputs of Mithila and came to be

settled at Bhawar. For details of the history of Darbhanaa Raj, see Chapter I. b

53 :

not prevent an ordinary peon of the Adalat from arresting his

.. 23 managers •••

The condition of the Raj improved after 1812 when Ang1o-Nepalese

war broke out. The then Maharaja Chhatra Singh rendered his services

to the government at the time of war. The condition of Raj gradually

got consolidated during the regime of Maheshwar Singh and Lakshmeshwar

Singh or say from the mid of 19th century. Before that the position

of the tenant was that a tenant had a right to occupancy only so

long as he paid the rent without any right to property or transferrable

possession. Further the property of a tenant alongwith his land

could be auctioned {for the payment of rent or) against any money

decree.2 4

This regulation was in operation during the reign of Maharaja

Lakshmeshwar Singh who took full advantage of it and thus the

financial condition of the Raj improved tremendously.

COLONIAL STAGE

The East India Company introduced some definite form of

land-tenure in different parts of India but the suffering of the poor

peasantry continued unabated or rather increased. All over South

India and some parts of Bombay there prevailed the system of

land-tenure known as Ryotwari system under which the peasants

paid their land tax directly to the state. Whereas in north India

the predominant system of land tenure was called the Mahalwari

system whereby mahals or estates were created in the inhabited

parts of the country, and the proprietors of a mahal were made

responsible in their property for the payment of the sum assessed

23 Jata Shankar Jha, Biography of an Indian Patriot-Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh of Darbhanga(Patna,l972)p.5

2 4 The recovery of arrears of Rent and Revenue Regulations 1799, Bengal Regulation 7 of 1799, Section15(7),National Archives of India (New Delhi).

: 54 :

25 by the Government on the Mahal.

Thus the estates were the intermediaries which collected

rent on behalf of the government. These estates were vested with

tremendous powers. "The use of term 'landlords' in the case of

'zamindars', (often referred to by the name 'intermediaries' or

'middlemen', as they are the link between the farmer and the state

over the payment of land tax), writes Charles Battleheim, has often

been contested on the grounds that the land ultimately belonged

to the state. For a long time this was merely a legal fiction. In

fact all the powers which are really those of a landlord had been

ceded to the zamindars"26 The zamindari form of land settlement was

introduced mainly in the Province of Bengal. On land-tenure system

introduced by the East India Company, Rama Krishna Mukherjee

says that it "brought the collection of land-revenues into systematic

order while keeping the way open to increase land- tax whenever

demanded. The only exception to this arrangement was in the areas

under the permanent zamindari settlement of land according to

which the collection of land-revenues was permanently vested in

a number of landlords created ... out of the previous revenue farmers

• and loyal agents(baniyas and gomosthas) of the Company and its

officials. Thereby the revenue demand of the government was fixed

permanently.. The landlords were made in all essentials free to

27 collect legally or illegally, as much as they liked from the peasantry.

It was so high by the end of nineteenth century that according

to the estimate of Radhakamal Mukherjee the peasants were paying

" 30 times more to the zamindars than their due

2 5 Ramakrishna Mukherjee, The Rise and fall of the East India Company: A Sociological Appraisal(London, 1974),p.409.

2 6 Charles B a ttel heim, India Independen t(London, 196 8)p.2 0.

2 7 Ramakrishna Mukherjee, n.2 5, pp.407- 8.

55 :

for the collection of revenue".2 8

In 1859 the Recovery of Land Rent(Bengal) Act was passed~

This Act for the first time mentioned the right of the ryots which

was not made explicity clear in the earlier provision. "Every raiyat

who had cultivated orheld land for a period of twelve years acquired

a right of occupancy in the land so cultivated.. or held by him so

long as he paid the rent''.29

Section 21 of the same provided some

safe:guards to the interests of the tenants. According to it an occupancy

raiyat could not be ejected except for arrears of rent and otherwise

than in execution of a decree or orders of a court. However, this

Act gave the ryots occupancy rights but did not give him right

to transfer these rights. Further there was no mention of the "non-

occupancy" and "under-ryots".

The differentiation between occupancy, non-occupancy and

under-ryots was made in 1885. Central Act 8 of 1885 divided the

ryots into the above three categories. Section 5 of the Act provided

that eviction of the occupancy ryots could take place on certain

grounds through a decree from the competent court. According

to Section 11 the occupancy ryot could transfer his occupancy right

like any other immovable property(with the consent of the landlord).

Though Section 65 of the Act made the provisions that the occupancy

ryot was not liable to ejection for arrears of rent, but his holdings

was liable to sale in execution of a decree for the rent thereof.

In effect the ryot could not transfer his land but the landlord could

sell his holdings for the realisation of rent.

2 8 Radha Kamal Mukherjee, n.6 p.305.

2=J The recovery of Rents(Bengal) Act, 1859, Central Act 10 of 1859,(National Archives of India,New Delhi).

: 56 :-

Sir (direct) management was introduced in 1866 in some parts of

s the Darbhanga estate. Under the sir system five head Tet}!ldars

and sixteen naib Tehsildars were appointed under the immediate

control of the Asstt.M3.nagemr Mr. Lelwhellin of Darbhanga estate.

But soon it was discovered that the system was not better so far

as the rents and collections were concerned. The traditional and

illegal manner of collecting rent continued. The Tehsildars and

nai·b Tehsildars soon became known in the district for their oppression.

In 1870 Major Money took over the charge of Asstt.Manager of

Darbhanga estate and the 'Tehsildari System' was replaced by the

'circle system'. Under this sytem the estate was divided into a

number of circles and they were placed under circle officers, designated

30 as sub-managers.

Administrative structure of the Darbhanga Raj

Maharaja of Darbhanga

Chief Manager (Assisted by the H.Qrs Staff)

Ass tt.M anager (to work in the Head Qr)

Circle Managers/Sub Managers (Assisted by Circle Office Staff)

Tehsildars

Patwaris, Peons and Barahils

In the early 2Oth century the whole estate of ',)arbhanga

was divided into 11 circles namely, Jalai,Radhika,Parihar,Jhanjhapur,

30 See. Jata Shankar 1h"l. n.? '3. pp.l12-13.

5~:

Dharampur, Darbhanga, Hayaghat, Kamtual, Parag, Kharagpur and

Naradigar. During that period, apart from ,lther, two forms of oppression

were reported viz, (a) co•l1;•ulsory enforcement of ryot's attendance

and, (b) demand of kurchas or salamis enforced by refusal to give

receipts or faraqs till they are paid. The peasants were being squeezed

by the agents of Darbhanga Raj. They were asked to pay for the

freedom of walking also. Even in dry season ferry charge was levied

by the men of Darbhanga Raj on the commuters who crossed the

dry river near the point where ferry used to ply during wet season. 31

e. H~:~after, the domain of exploitation could easily be assessed from

the point that during the said period two thousand four hundred

square miles was covered as the property of Rameshwar Singh,

the then Maharaja of Darbhanga. The Raj had three big palaces

in Darbhanga and residences in Muzaffarpur, Patna,Darjeeling, Calcutta,

Delhi, Shimla and other important cities. It had a fleet of Rolls

Royce cars, railway carriages and later acquired a ship to cross

the river Ganges and an airoplane.

Thus the chief sources of the zamindari's income were rent,

salami (which often amounted to several years' rent and was fixed

by the raj) imposed abwabs which were illegal but customarily

sanctioned additional dues leived on the tenant, money lending to

tenants a~ording~credit to meet social and religious obligations

and in l·~an period of agriculture cycle. This made the tenants hopelessly

indebted to zamindars. 32

31 Conference Papers, 1919-20, Govt of Bihar and Orissa,Raj Darbhanga Archives, File No.l45,hereafter referred to as OAF).

32 Ramashray Roy,'Conflict and Cooperations in the North Bihar Village', Journal of the Bihar Research Society, 1963, No.59, pp.298-303.

58 :

The area under study was marked by low investment on

account of building infrastructure resulting into utmost backwardness

of the region. lnspite of the fact that there was relatively high

rate of education, the people in general were indifferent towards

economic development. This was perhaps due to orthodox type of

education heavily loaded with religious tone. There was weak formal

control of administrative system but informal control mechanism

viz, tradition, custom, religious rituals etc, was a strong device

which worked as a regulating factor in the fabric of public life.

Socio-economic and political position of the individual was guided

by land and its produce, education and caste superiority. Thus zamindars,

who were by and large predominantly high caste, were at the top

in the social hierarchy. The whole structure ran roughly along the

following lines:

Social Hierarchy in Mad hub ani

1.

2.

3

4

Landlords

Locally dominant smalllandlords and big tenants

Middle and small tenants

'Dwarf' holders and landless

TENANT'S RIGHT MOVEMENT

High castes

High castes and upper rung of the middle castes viz Yadav & Baniyas

Middle castes

Low castes Harijans

Till the end of 19th century and the begining of 2Oth century

there was almost complete absence of any movement on part of

the peasants to change the world around, even though the conditions

were ripe enough. Bihar was formed in 1912. It was an attempt

: 59 :

in the direction of regional development but the general condition

of the mass remained the same. However, some high caste, middle

class and educated elites had opportunity t:) flourish because of

new avenues being opened. Administrative separation meant that

henceforth Biharis would suffer less from the competition of skilled

and educated Bengalis, who for generations had been radiating out

from Calcutta in search of careers. 33

During that time an+efore that there was a lack of leadership. wl-.o

Internal conditions could not generate strong leadership,..could spearhead

the movement to safeguard the interests of peasantry. Tenants'

rights movement first developed in 1919-2 0 under the leadership

and organizational skills of B ishu B haran Prasad. 34

He had adopted

th~ife style of a religious medicant under the name of Vidyanand.

Vidyanand soon turned to be a political activist. His activities

started in June 1919,when he participated in a meeting held at

Narar(a viii age in the northern part of the present Madhubani district)

and delivered forceful lectures on the rights of cui tivators and

on the need for establishment of schools to spread education among

33 Bishu B haran Prasad was by caste a Pachhima Kayastha. He hailed from the erstwhile Saran and modern Chhapra district of Bihar. He came from a well-to-do family. His fatherr had thirty five bighas of land.

34 See, Stephen Henningham, Protest and control in North Bihar: A study of conflict and continuity in a colonial Agrarian Society(Ph.D thesis, Australian National University, 197&, chp.ll 0) ( avail able in microfi~he form in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Mutti. New l)plhi).

35 the people.

60::

Narar meeting paved the way for mobilization of the people.

Vidyanand was also encouraged by the participation and response

of the people. After that meeting only he mobilised the inhabitants

of Narar and sent a petition to the L t.Governor of Bihar and Orissa.

The following complaints were lodged in the petition:

1 "Their landlord was denying them their customary right

to the fruits and tirrfKr of the trees grown on their holdings.

2 that they were being required to pay mutation fee when

their holdings changed hands,

3 that the landlord had injustly resumed some of their lands

and was holding them as bakast. 36

4 that they were being forced to supply labourers, ploughs

and carts for the cul tivationpf this (bakast) land.

5 that the ••.• well- to-do people of the village who had refused

to supply free assist:mce and utensils for the cultivation

of this(basket) land were being harassed by the institution

of false criminal and civil cases.

6 that customary grazing rights were denied them because

former grazing lands were being settled for cultivation;

and

35 Govt of Bihar. Fortnightly Reports for First Half of a Month 1/1919 and 8/192 0 (hereafter referred to as FRI and Fornightly Report for second half of a month as FR2 and Bihar State Archives, as BSA.

36 'Bakast' was the land under the direct control of the zamindar but in which, under certain legally defined conditions, occupancy tenancy rights could become established by paying rent in cash or kind by share-croppers.

61 :-

7 that even in these days of fearful s~arcity the 'amlas' obliged

the vendors of oil and ghee to give them free supply of

h d. . 37

t ese commo 1 ttes.

The above complaint which was formulated by Vidyanand

and sent through the dwellers of Nat"~ primarily referred to the

exploitation of the lower peas an try but the interests of the middle

peasantry, as mentioned in item 5, were also :July accommodated.

Thus it was a strong technique from mobilization point of view

to fight the exploiting zamindar. It helped bringing larger population

on common platform of struggle and instilled faith in the leadership

of Vidyanand who in turn getting encouraged from the public support

gradually extended his field of agitation. He mobilized the villagers

of Narar and other seventeen villages of the erstwhile Madhubani

Sa.bdivisioh to frame petitions ventilating their grievances. He even

had a meeting in Oct.l919 which was presided over by one Anirudh

Singh( ahigh caste) and attended by five thousand lower and suppressed

class tenants. He started movement in Rahika and Rajnagar circles

of the Darbhanga estate. He .even attempted to institutionalize

peasant activism by the creation of an extensive organization with

branches in every village.38

He did not lead the peasants to direct

con~rontation rather his redressal of grievances was through the

existing laws.

Ideologically Vidyanand had a leaning towards the policies

of the Indian National Congress. Might be for limited purposes,

he even tried to gain the support of Indian National Congress but

37 See, Hennongham, n.34 p.111.

38 Govt of Bihar Police Abstract, Bihar Special Branch,ll Oct.1919 and 1 Nov 1919 Nos 1680 and 1786, BSA.

: 62 J'

could not succeed in his venture. Though his focal point of activity

was the erstwhile Madhubani subdivision, he always tried to broaden

the geographical area of struggle including Supaul, Sonbarsa (parts

of present Saharsa district), Purena, Monghyr and Samastipur (all

districts). Once his meeting was attended by two thousand people

in Supual. People star ted con trib•J ting generously. In Darb hang a

peasants donated Rs. 8000 (eight thousand) to help finance the

campaign in defence of their rights. The Superintendent of Polic<.

of Darbhanga commented, after this incident, "That there is no

doubt that this man(Vidyanand) followed the footsteps of Gandh·,

and was inflaming the minds of the ryots against the Darbhanga

Raj as Gandhi did in Champaran against the peasants.39

The whole

administrative machinery of the Darbhanga Raj was soJ5haken by

the activity of Vidyanand that the Manager of Rahika circle of

Darb hang a Raj reported in March 192 0 that "At the end of the

year (1919) •.•• a peasant agitation was started in the circle by a

charlatan calling himself Swami Bidyanand, he had meetings instigating

ryots to rebel against landlords( who were predominantly high caste

people) and deny their authority, he very soon got a large following

as he promised them all their desires, thoug,h of course he could

f lfil f h. . II 40 not u any o 1s promises •

Vidyananda's support base was constituted of both Hindus

as well as Muslims. Since it was a movement directed against the

authority of Darbhanga Raj, which had a Brahmin ruler, a large

number of people from midj}t:~ and lower castes supported Vidyanand

39 Govt ofBihar, Police Abstract, Bihar Home Special Branch1

2 5 Oct, 19 19 No. 17 56 ,.B SA.

40 Annual Administrative Report, 1918-19, No.1326,DAF.

63 :.

in his move. By the beginning of 192 0 a slight improvement in the

economic situation together with a hostile attitude of the Indian

National Congress caused the decline of Vidyanand movement. Initially

the Congress had adopted a neutral stand as it neither supported

nor opposed Vidyanand. But with his growing popularity Congress

became hostile because Congress attempted to create a united

front drawn from a broad spectrum of society against the British

whereas Vidyanand was setting tenants against the landlord. Secondly,

the Indian N a tiona! Congress used to overcome its financial crisis

through generous contribution of princely states and Darbhanga

Maharaja was one of the biggest donors. Lakshmishwar Singh, the

then Maharaja of Darb hang a had written a letter to his principal

secretary, Vidyanand Jha, mentioning that "Representative institutions

on the lines laid down by the Congress are always and have always

been ••• against the landed interest, unless they are bound down

by proper safeguards. And I wish, if possible, to make myself sure

of these safeguards before comm1 tung myself unconditionally to

the whole of the plan of the Congress. 41

During this period itself the

Maharaja was requested by A.O Hume to contribute to the Congress

fund tothe tune of Rs.5000 annually. Perhaps when the Congress

made its stand clear that it won't go against zamindars the Maharaja

paid Pound 612, the equivalent of his princely subscription of Rs.10000

lt2 for 1892.

In 1917 when Gandhiji tried to emancipate indigo planters

it was clearly decided that the movement of tho~ Congress had no

41 Jatashankar Jha n.2 3, p.54.

lt2 Ibid, pp.56-60.

43 • desire to go up against the Maharaja of Darbhanga. Pr~.x to that also)

Maharaja of Darbhanga was w=.:itched suspiciously by the British

Government. In 1857 also when many zamindars of Bihar whose

interests were bound up with those of the English company, rendered

assistance to the latter in the suppression of the anti-British movement.

But the Com~pany's government was suspicious of some leading '-"

zamindars of Bihar of being, in some way or other, connected with

the movement. Some letters from the Magistrak of Tirhut to the

commissioner of Patna show that the Maharaja Darbhanga was

suspected of making preparations against the company. The reasons

for it were that he had maintained "a large number of upcountrymen

in his service" and a trench was being excavated round his palace

building. The Maharaja was prevented from digging the trench. 44

Maharaja Lakshmishwar Singh had also attended the session

of the Congress in 1896 held in Calcutta.45 It earned himsympathy of

the Congress.

The Vidyanand phenom=non at least had a definite consequence ') .,

in the sense that the circle manager of the Raj decided in a conference

to remedy five of the tenant's demands viz.,

1 They agreed that the village level staff should be paid more

so that they would have less to exact 'abJ.Jabs'. Currently

Patwaris and peons earned lower wage than coolies and

that was the cause of bribe.

2 They also decided that the mutation fee currently being

realised at the rate of 2 5 percent of the purchase price,

43 See, K.K. Datta,History of the Freedom Movement in Bihar, Vol.I (P atna, 19 57)p.2 44.

44 Ibid, p.69.

45 See. Jatashankar .1hr~. n.7 ~- n.h~-

65 :

should be reduced to around about ten percent.

3 The Raj should waive some of its claim concerning the use

of timber.

4 Tenants should be allowed to build houses on their holdings

without having their rent increased.

5 The low rates being given for the hiring of labour and of

ploughs should be increased. 46

EARLY COMMUNIST IDEAS IN THE KISAN SABHAS

Vidayanand gradually withdrew himself and the movement

could not continue. During 192 8-29 Communist workers and peasants'

associations had sprung up at various places and strikes of the labourers

h d ak I . . d "al 47 B h · a t en pace at some Important m ustn centres. ut t e region

under study remained by and large unaffected. Though the tenants

rights movement was organized on class basis, class consciousness

was throughout absent. Development of class cosciousness poses

different theoretical and practical question. "We cannot really speak

of class consciousness", writes George Lukas,"ln casej:>f these classes

(i.e peasant classes).. for a full consciousness of their situation

would reveal to them hopelessness of their particularist strivings

in the face of the inevitable course of events. Consciousness and

self interest then are mutually incompatible in this instance.48

However,

the potential for popular turbulence made possible the expansion

in influence of the Kisan Sabha( peasant association) movement.

From 1930 to 1934 local-level kisan sabhas had operated as front

46 Govt of Bihar,Conference Papers.l919-20,No.l45{DAF)

47 See K.K. Datta, n.43, Vol.II, pp.9-10.

48 George Lukacs, History and Class Consdousness(London, 1971) p.61.

:' 66 :

organizations for the Bihar Congress, but 1934 onwards, organized

into the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha they assumed an increasingly

independent stance.

Struggle over the bakast lands assumed the character of

a clash focussed within the landed interest and involving competing

vertical social alliances, moreover both vertical and horizontal

cleavages contributed to the development of bakast conflict.

By the beginning of 1935, Kisan Sabha was reported to be

already active in Patna and Gay a. 49

Kisan leaders Swami Sahjanand

was being wooed by all the political parties - the Nationalists,

the orthodox Congress and the Socialists. 50 The Sabha was particularly 4.--

strong ·in parts of the Shahbad especially Dumraon and Jamui of " 51

Monghyr. Violence also erupted in some areas. In Silao(Patna)

tenants had announced that they would forcibly cut the crops of

'khas'(zirat) land of the landlords. 52 It was observed by the government

that Kisan Sabha propaganda was encouraging the ryots to take

d. . 53 B 1937 . d f . d"ff. 1 to 1rect actlon. y zamm ars were acmg 1 teu ty m

collecting rent. Agrarian riots were reported from Jahanandab,

Monghyr and Patna. Murders and violent conflicts were reported

54 from Barahia, Sheikhpura, Jamui,Jahanahad, Kurth and Arwal. Slogans

49 Home Department Political File, hereafter referred to as HDF,l8.1.1935

50 HDF, 18.9.1934(BSA).

51 Bihar and Orissa Revenue Administrative Report,l935-36(BSA)

52 HDF, 18.6.1936(BSA)

53 HDF, 18.6.36,(BSA)

54 See, HDF, Nos.l8.11.37,18.12.37,18.1.38,18.2.38,18.3.38 & 18.5.38(BSA)

like, Lagan loge kaise, danda hamara zindabad" were heard during

55 bakast struggle. Ram Nandan Mishra complained that the "official

Congressgroup" was conniving with the police and zamindars in

the criminal provocation of Kisan Sabhaits.56

By the end of 1937,

the conflict between the Sabha and the Congress had become the

57 principal event in the political sphere.

During that time the existing provision of Jaw was being

guided by the Bihar Tenancy(Amendment) Act 1934 of which Section

26A had stipulated that an occupancy ryot shall have the power

to transfer his holdings together with the occupancy right therein

with the consent of the landlord. Section 260 provided for the payment

of a fixed rate of 'salami' (landlord's transfer fees) which was 8

percent of the consideration money at the time of 58 transfer.

Till 1936 the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) believed

. that the National Congress was the only political organization that

could speak in the name of masses. The Sabha also believed that

if the mass character of the Congress had any meaning the problem

of the peasantry had to form the core of its programme. If the

Congress wished to serve, at the same time, the interests of the

other classes, it might do so. But it might never do so at the cost

59 of the interests of the starving millions ·)f the peasantry. On the other

55 AICC File No. G98/1937-38(NMML)

56 Ibid.

57 HD F, 1 8.2 • 3 7(B SA)

58 The Bihar Tenancy (Amendment) Act 1934, Bihar and Orissa Act 8 of 1934(BSA)

59 Searchlight, 15 July,1936,p.3 (All newspapers refer to latest morning edition unless otherwise mentioned).

: 6 8 :

hand the BPKS in its manifesto made tht following demands:

1. The zamindari sys tern be abolished.

2. The agrarian debt be wiped off.

3. A system of land tenure be established which makes the

peasants owners of their holdings and taxes only those who

have income above a minimum necessary to keep them and

h 0 f

0

1° bl d d f 1° 0 6 0 t e1r am1 1es at a reasona e stan ar o 1vmg.

4. Gainful employment for the landless •

It further said that "these ·demands may not be possible

of realisation under the present system of government. Yet the

peasants if they are to give themselves from utte:r- ruin, must fight

for them secure them. The system of government must go, if it

stands in the way, as it undoubtedly does". This is how the struggle

of the peasantry was merged wi tr, tN-fight of Swaraj. Besides the

four basic demand:; mentioned above the BPKS formulated the following

immediate demands:

"1 Conferment on tenants of fixity of tenure and right of free

transfer of holdings and unrestricted use of their land and

its product.

2. Provision by legislation of free common pastures in every

village and free utilization by peasants of forest products.

3. Abolition of all sys terns of rent in kind(B haoli sys tern).

4. Exemption of all uneconomic holdings from rent and taxes.

60 However, the BPKs did not define the 'minimum necessary income' and the 'reasonable standard of living'.

69

5. Immunity from arrest and imprisonment as well as attachment

or sale of all minimum holdings, necessary for the maintenance

of the tenant and his family.

6. No certificate power t~andlord.

7. Stiffening of provisions of the Tenancy Acts regarding receipts

and of the Private Irrigation Act to prevent evasion by landlords,

as also of the association concerning illegal exactions, begar,

etc.

8. Cancellation of arrears of rent and reduction of rent and

canal rates.

9. Enactment of legislation cancelling all such provisions, debts

of the peasants as they are unable to pay without any hardship,

fixing rate of intere5t at 6 percent per annum and compound

interest be declared illegal.

10. Minimum living wage for agricultural workers be fixed.

11. Minimum price for Sugar cane on a s liding scale from 6

to 9 annas per maund.

12. Chaukidari tax be abolished.

13 0

Indirect taxes particularly duties on salt,ker"sone and matches

be abolished.

14. Provision for free and complusory education for boys and

girls be made.

15. Right of vote to every adult be granted.

16. Cheap and col'l!fortable third class railway travel.

17. Repeal of all anti-peasant, anti-labour and anti-national

laws, ordinances and regulations.

·: 70 :

18. Re-instatement of all peasants deprived of their land etc.

owing to their participation in the movement.

19. Adoption by the government of the following amongst other

measures for development of agriculture:-

a) Provision for adequate and extensive system of irrigation

and drainage;

b) provision for cheap manures, improved seeds, etc.

c) reorganisation of the agriculture department with

a view to make it serve the peasants;

d) control of prices of grains so as to prevent exploitation

by profiteers; and

e) reclc{mation of jungle waste and other lands for

61 agricultural purposes."

There was recession on the world plain. In Madhubani land

of the peasants were sold normally at Rs.5 a katha(2 0 kathas =

1 Bighe) and paddy Rs.1 a mound. In village Damodarpur of Madhubani

the selling price for 52 big has of land was Rs.2 50. Growing pau perisation

of the peasant, distress sale of land to the landlord and discontent

62 was rep or ted.

CONGRESS MINISTRY OF 1937 AND CONFLICT WITH KISAN SABHA

In 1937 Congress Ministry was formed in Bihar and with

that there was a new awakening among peasants. But soon they

61 Searchlight, 15 July,1936.

62 According to Bhogendra Jha, there was a general outcry among peasants.Land was gradually passing from the peasants to the landlords and the urban rich. The condition of suppressed peasant was very miserable. There was growing pauperisation nd discontenment among them. Sirmohan Jha informed that more than half of the output was being taxed and so there was a saying in Maithili: "Roplahun dhan pharal sipahi"(We had shown paddy but the cons tables have grown).

71

were disillusioned because landlords had captured the leadership.

Many landlords were chosen as Congress candidates in the election

63 because they contributed handsomely to the Congress fund. By

the end of 1937 the conflict between the Kisan Sabha and the Congress

64 had become the principal event in the political sphere.

In 1937 itself the elections of Congress committees were

held, in which many cases of misappropriation of funds were reported.

Kisan leader Ram Nandan Mishra complained, "Heads were broken,

riotous mobs were led to the· polling stations and inside the polling

rooms, lathis were displayed and in some cases used, arms were

collected under 'daris'(carpets) near polling stations, ballot papers

weretaken away, windows of polling rooms were smashed and papers

detroyed in fighting elections. Abuses and threats were very common.

The pity of this is that responsible officials of the Congress were

not free from such practice~· Violencf' Enquiry Committee of the

AICC also recalled that there is a widespread feeling among the

kisans... that those in power in the Congress have betrayed them

and have entered into alliances with reactionary and opportunist

elements. The general impression is that the Congress has not

implemented its programme of revolutionary social legislation because

of its doubdtfu1 facts. It was alleged that in selection of Congress

candidates in certain constituencies influential zamindars with no

history of Congress work behind them were preferred to those who

had fought and sacrificed for the Congrerss •• It was further alleged

that the Ministry has developed love of power and intolerence of

63 HDF, 18.2.37(BSA), See also,Shashi Shekar Jha, Political Eli ties inB ihar(Bombay, 1972 ).p.2 39.

64 HDF, 18.12.37 (BSA)

': :n :

criticism. Charges of nepotism... have also be~rfnade. The result

is that the whole atmosphere is surcharged with suspici on and

men in power are disturbed... We are not in position to say how

far the critic ism and suspicious are justified... some of it sterns

from malice, some from ignorance;but there is also straight-forward

d h . . . 65

an ones t cn tic1sm.

Thus primarily the prozamindar stand and associated with

the corrupt practices in elections to win, widened the gulf between

the kisan sabha and the Congress. A branch of communist Party

of India was formed in Bihar on 19 Oct.l939. In that organization

also Rahul Sankrityayana was the only notable peasant leader among

its founder-members. Many kisan sabha leaders, though appreciated

communist ideology, by and large remained in Congress party.66

But

the relationship between Kisab Sabhaits and the Congress latEr

got worsened. Around that time, the move for the restoration of

67 Bakast land was started by the government but it also did not

serve the purpose of lessening tension. That is why we find various

examples of Bakast land disputes.

65 Report of the Violence Enquiry Commi ttee,AICC Papers, File No.P-6/1939-40(NMML)

66 See, Arvind Narain Das, Agrarian Unrest and Socio-economic change in Bihar:1900-1980(Delhi 1983) p.69

67 Formula for the Resotration of Bakast Lands,1938.

Area sold up

Less than 6 acres 6 to 15 acres 15 to 30 acrers More than 30 acres

Source: The Indian Nation, 31

Reasonable quanity

All to the restored Half tothe restored A third to the res to red. A quarter to be restored.

July,l938(Quoted in Hennigham,n.34,p.32 5).

73 !

By 1939 Madhubani was engulfed by Bakast land disputes.

The two newspapers of Bihar,viz The Indian Nation and the Searchlight

were publishing articles against the peasant struggle because The

Indian Nation was owned by the Darbahanga Maharaja and so was

obviously committed to landed interest. In the thirties and forties

the Searchlight was the mouth piece of Congress. But it did not

suppress the news of the peasant interests and the connected movement.

BAKAST LAND DISPUTE-STRUGGLE AND COMPROMISE

In Nehra village (Darbhanga district) peasants were indiscriminately

fixed at by the zamindars.68

When a case was initiated the Kisans

adopted a tactics of not answering questions put to them in cross

examination on the ground that justice would not be meted to them

69 by the court. Ther were two cases: one against the zamindars

who were being prosecuted by the crown for alleged firing and

the other a counter -case against the kisans who were being tried

for alleged looting of grains belonging to the zamindars. It was

stated that two transfer petitions were moved on behalf of the

kisans; one in each case, but the sub-divisional officer rejected

one of the petitions on the ground that it was filed on behlaf of

the witnesses and sent the other petition to the collector. Following

the order the kisans refused to participate in the proceedings of

th·=court. To every question their reply was that justice would not

70 be meted to them. Babu Jamuna Karji, M.L.A, Pandit Ram Nandan

Mishra and Pandit Dhanraj Sharma(all Kisan Sabha leaders) watched

the proceedings. The other day of rally of the kisan w0:-kers of

6 8 Searchlight, 4 June, 1939. 69 Searchlight, 5 June,l939

70 See, Searchlight,6 June,l939.

: 74 :

the then Darbhanga district( of which Madhubani was a sub-division)

was organized in Laheriasarai(administrative headquarters of the

district) under the presidentship of Jamuna Karji. Dhanraj Sharma,

Ram Nandan Mishra and Awadhershwar Prasad Sinha(secretary,BPKS)

were also present.

In other parts of the district also Bakast land disputes were

going on viz., Raghopur,Dekuli Dham, Pandual,Bahera,Jagdishpur,

Naraynpur and Sibaram prominently figured in the list. Dhanraj

Sharma with20 kisans was arrested in Pandual.71

Thus Darbhanga had

become a nerve centre of Kisan Sabha. Yet before the 'Nucleas'

of the communist Party was formed by B hogendra Jha and someother

student leaders in the Madhubani district and they had started participating

in the peasant movement. But the l(isan sabha and the Congress

Socialist Party leaders were dominating the scene, e.g. in Pan dual

when the Raj amlas(agents) went to plough the disputed Pandual

farm Surya Narain Singh was leading the peasants. There was a

serious clash between the Raj almas and the local tenant. 72

Th!>ugh: the interventionpf the BPKS leaders some of the

disputes were settled. The long drawn agrarian dispute of Raghopur

was settled between Bahu Kaladhari Singh and Babu Krishnanand.

Singh(kins of Darbhanga Maharaja and local big landlords) and Babu

Jamuna Karjee, MLA( representative of the kisans) who was appointed

dictator by the kisan sabha to carry on the struggle at Raghopur.

The dispute had arisen about a year ago over hundreds of

Bighas of Bakast Lands which were held either as 'Mankhap' (teller

of such land was subject to pay a fixed quantity of crop irrespective

71 Searchlight, 30 June,l939.

72 HDF' 7 I 1939(BSA)

75 :

of the produce) or 'Batal'(Share-cropping) by the kisans of different

villages in the zamindari of Raghopur B abus on whose behlaf attempts

were made to dispossess the kisans of their lands which the latter

always resisted. The result was a crop of litigation. The dispute

took a serious turn at the time of harvesting of paddy crops w:::hen

Pandit Jamuna Karjee took charge of the struggle. The District

Magistrate of Darbhanga had to intervene. There were negotiations

for a compromise both independently and through the intervention

of the then District Magistrate, Mr.K.P.Sinha, who all along took

a sympathetic view of the situation, but nothing tangible could

come out. As litigation was increasing everyday, and as a very

large number of kisans and kisan workers were involved, the BPKS

had at last to intervene. It deputed Babu Awadheshwar Prasad Sinha,

Secretary,BPKS with authority to give permission to start Satyagraha

if necessary at Raghopur and Dekuli Dham, another place where

a long drawn Bakast struggle was going on in this district. Awadheshwar

Prasad Sinha after making necessary enquiry gave permission to

launch satyagarha formally both at Raghopur and Dekuli Dham

from the 5th of June 1939 and put Babu Jamuna Karjee and Ram

Nandan Mishra incharge of the struggle at both the places respectively.

When the situation worsened military pickets had to be posted at

both the places. In the meantime the government had also to intervene

and Pandit Radhunandan Pandey, Additional District magistrate

of Darbhanga was deputed to get both the disputes settled. At

his request satyagraha was suspended temporarily as he wanted

some time to de~ide the cases.

The dispute finally settled amicably. The terms of compromise

were signed by Kaladhari Singh and Krishnanand Singh on the one

hand and Jamuna Karjee _,the representative of kisans on the other,

Awadheshwar Prasad Sinha of BPKS and Kedar Nath Thakur of

Raghopur were also instrumental in the settlement. The following

were the terms of compromise:

1. The land whose possession was disputed, being about 12 5

to 130 bighas in area, in so far as they were Jands to.k4!l"'

out of the possession of a particular kisan and had been

settled with another kisan, those lands would revert to the

original kisans. The lands which had come into the possession

of the zamindars or the "Bahuasins"(daughter-in-laws of

zamindar famiJies)73

would be divided half and half between

the tenants and the landlords. In case of poor tenants who

could not do without getting back all the lands, Babu Jamuna

Karjee was authorised to restore all the lands to them after

consultation with the zamindars. The lands whose possession

was disputed was to be defined as I ands that came in to the

possession of landlords after First of Jeth 1345 Fasli (roughly

2 3 June 1939).

2 Pucca rent receipt would be granted to all tenants holding

'Mankhap' or 'Batai' -fands under the 'l~mdloras,zamindars

and 'Bahuasins'.

73 There was existing a strange practice in the house of zamindars according to which papers of the villages were offered to the daug~rs of zamindar families at the time of their marriage and all the rents and taxes were collected by them in their inlaws house. The practice was called 'Khonchi mein gaon'. Information about this was given to the researcher by Sri Mohan Jha, ex-district Council President and member of State Council of the Communist Party of India.

77 :.

3. Pucca receipts would be granted to the tenants who would

be given lands in terms of para (1) of this agreement.

4. Receipts would be issued for lands given to the labourers,

ploughmen and servants who had been given lands in consideration

of services rendered by them to the landlords but those

receipts would show that the lands for which they were

granted were service tenures.

5. B abu. Jam una Karjee would decide the question of arrears

of rent in respect of all 'Mankhap' lands and his decision,

on this point, would be binding on the landlords and the

tenants. Receipts would be granted only on payment of the

arrears of rent or any fair instalment in individual cases

as fixed by B abu Jamuna Karjee.

6. After the dispute had been settled in terms of the above

agreement all cases pending between the parties in criminal

courts would be withdrawn except the case of Bikan Khan

versus Mukund Mishra and other and the case of Bikaw Khan

versus Fazlur Rahman Khan and others(which were criminal

in nature). The last two cases were to be settled after Babu

Jamuna Karjee had settled the dispute in these cases and

his decision would be final. 74

In the atmosphere of the exploitations by the zamindars

this was a grand achievement for the toiling peasantry as it gave

considerable relief from the sufferings of longdrawn litigation in

court to them. Secondly they got some rights which were earlier

denied to them.

Apart from the Raghopur and Dekuli Dham Bakast land dispute,

the agrarian trouble in Padri Elaka of Darbhanga Raj in Samastipur

74 Seachlight. 20 June,l939.

: i8 i

subdivision involving about 5000 tenants and nearly 7000 acres of

land which had been going on for the last four years was similarly

settled by the kisan sabha leaders. 7 5

But the role of the Congress

Ministry was dubious. In view of the apprehension of agrarian trouble

during the harvesting season the Bihar Ministry had directed the

District officials to maintain the existing Tenancy Law which had

put the kissans in gross! y disadvantageous position.

The existing law was being governed by the Bihar Tenancy(Amendment)

Act, 1938 of which, though the Sectionll had granted the right

to peasants of transferring his land a:ncl. the occupancy right without

the consent of the landlords and section 13 had removed the transfer

fee payable to the landlord. 76

the zamindars could force the tenant

to sell his land for realisation of rent. Security of tenures at fair

rent and security of reaping the fruits of his labour were without

doubt the paramount needs of the Indian ryots. 77

CONGRESS AND THE BIHAR PEASANTRY

The Bihar Congress leaders' perception of the peasant problem

was conditioned by the socio-economic milieu to which they belonged.

The familes of the prominent Congress leaders such as Rajendra

Prasad, Srikrishna Sinha, Anugraha Narain Sinha while having small

zamindaris served estates such as Hathwa, Amawan, Tekari and

Deo, and were even loyal to them. Anugraha Narain Sinha was

a zamindar of some substance and Swami Sahjanand Saraswati

7"$.' Searchlight, 6 Oct.1939.

76 See,The Bihar Tenancy(Amendment)Act,1938 of Bihar Act 11 of 1938(NMML)

77 See, also P.C. Roy Choudhury ,Inside Bihar,(Calcutta, 1962 )pp.2 0-2 5.

_: 79

experienced great difficul ty1 m convincing the kisans that these

leaders could overcome their pro-zamindar background. 7 8

Also

most of these leaders started their careers as lawyers, whose clients

were mostly zamindars. Thus their secondary socialisations reinforced

their primary socialisations to inculcate sympathetic attitudes towards

the zamindars. The need for mass mobilisation for the nationlist

cause compelled them to understand and mouth kisan intrests.

The Bihar Congress made a modest start to look into the

problems of the peas an try and appointed an enquiry committee

79 m 1931, followed by another enquiry committee in 1936, but the reports

of these committees were never made public. The chief object

of the visit (by the Enquiry Committee of 1936) was to hearten

the Congress ranks and to prepare them for the coming Congress

election campaign. It was agreed by all subdivisional officers thatthe

speeches of the members of the Enquiry Committee were directed

to put the Congress party m a good light and there was no violent

attack on the zamindars as was usually the case with the meetings

of Swami Sahajanand. 80

Several zamindars told the collector that

the object of the Congress was to water down the impact by the

oratory of Swami Sahajanand and to show the zamindars that although·

the Congress was out to improve the condition of the tenants, they

were not a party to any attack on the zamindars. The committee

had issued an elaborate questionnarie for the collection of information

on the condition of the tenants. If they had consciously attempted

78 Swami Sahjanand Saraswati, Mera Jeevan Sangharsh(in Hindi) (New Delhi,1985) p.464.

79 Ibid, pp.376 and 475.

80 Letter from the Collector of Arrah to the Commissioner of Patna Division, HDF No.6/1936(BSA)

: 80 : :

to obtain answers to the questionnaire and tferify them on the

spot, they might have at least come to know and highlighted the

peasants grievances but the whole exercise was meant to be an

81 eyewash.

The compromising attitude of the Congress towards zamindar

becomes apparent from the letter of Ram Nandan Mishra to Rajendra

Prasad. He wrote: "The working committee advises Congress workers

and organizations to informt the peasant that withholding of rent

payment to the zamindars is contrary to Congress resolutions and

injurious to the best interests of the country. The working committee

assures the zamindars that the Congress movement is in no way

intended to attack their legal rights, and that even where the ryots

have grievances the Committee desires that redress be sought

byfrnutual consultation and arbitratee. ~ Rajendra Prasad even believed

that the agrarian problems could be solved by bringing about a

change of heart on the part of the zamindars. 83

Rajendra Prasad said,

"The kisan should maintain those relations with their landlords which

were earlier in existence. They should not hear anybody who told

them to stop payment of rent. They should not create any friction. 84 The

Congrerss tried to "induce the tenants and to desist from taking

forcible possession of Bakast lands. 85

Till 1930, Rajendra Prasad, who· led the Bihar Congress did

81 Letter from the Collector of Monghyr to Commissioner Bhagalpur HDF 4/9/1936(BSA)

~ All India Congress Committee File No.G-9 8,17.1.38,See also A. R.Desai,Peasant Struggle in lndia(Bombay.l979)p.342.

83 Rajendra Prasad's letter to Ramdayalu Sinha dated 7 Dec.l937 Rajendra Prasad papers, File No.3/37(NMML)

84 HDF, 34/193l(BSA)

85 HDF 18/8/37(BSA)

81 :

not make any attempt to study the problems of the peasantry in

depth, although he was a member of the Provincial Kisan Sabha

founded in 192 9. However,· the Congress leadership was convinced

of the fact that it was necessary to raise economic issues to mobilise

peasant movement into the national movement. The Karanchi Congress

had even formulated an economic programme which called for

a complete overhauling of the agrarian structure by providing

86 substantial relief to the lesser peasantry. The election manifesto of

Congress which was approved by the All India Congress Committee

on 22-2 3 Aug.1936 in Bombay promised "Land reform, reduction

of burdens on lands, war taxationpr rent, the scaling down of debts

and cheap credit facilities. 87

But because of internal composition

of the Congress these were not realised to the full satisfaction

of the peasantry. This is quite evident from the fact that the rural

indebtedness, increased at a faster rate after the aforesaid resolution

was passed by the Congress Commi ttee.(See table below).

Table

Rural Indebted ness

Year Assessed by Debt in Rupees

1911 Sir Edward Me legan 3000.

192 4 Sir M.L.Darling 6000

1930 Indian Central Banking 9000 Enquiry Committee

1935 Dr.Radhakamal Mukherjee 12 000

1938 E. V .S.M ani an, Agricultural Credit De par tmen t, Reserve Bank of India 18000

Source: M.B.Nanavati and J.J.Anjaria, The Indian Rural Problems, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, 1944,p.32.

86 See,Report of the 45th session of the INC held at Karanchi, 1931,p.4 A.R.Desai, Social Background of Indian Nationalism (Bombay, 1981) pp/327-45.

87 Pattabhi Sitaramayya,The History of the Indian National Congress Vol.II(Bombay, 1947) p.2 1.

~-::

The situation aggravated further by the speeches of Sardar

Vallabh Bhai Patel who had openly questioned the rights of the

Kisan Sabha to organize itself on class lines. 88

Nehru said, "The

Indian National Congress Movement is obviously not a labour or

proletarian movement. It is a bourgeois movement as its very name

implies, and its objective so far has been, not to change of the

social order, but political independence. 89

Even the government reports

viewed that the kisan movement in Bihar had not received much

practical assistance from Congress as many Congressmen were

landlords who did not like the demands of Kisan Sabha f_or agricultural

reforms. This was the reason behind friction between Kisan Sabha

and the Congress.90

Srikrishna Sinha assured the zamnidars that

it was not the intention of the government to trend upon their

(zamindar's) 'legitimate' rights. He wanted that they should get

h . 91

t e1r rent.

Gandhi had led the Champaran movement but it was mainly

an attempt on part of the Congress to link national politics with

the peasants' grievances• j . _,:' '-~ It was successful to an extent

that the peasantry participated in non-cooperation movement and

civil disoq.,"deience but such a training of pe~antry proved disastrous

even for the Congress when it came into power in July 1937. Utilisation

of the peasant force in the nationalist struggle was in fact directed

to their use in the interest of the Congress.

88 AICC Working Committee Proceedings Minutes, 19 36-3 8, AICC File No.te (NMML)

89 Jawaharlal Nehru, Autobiography(Bombay,l962)p.366.

90 HDF, 11/ 1/1937(BSA)

91 See, Bihar Legislature Assembly Debates, Vol.I, 1937 ,p.1805(BSA)

: 83 :

The Congress Ministry utterly failed to solve the bakast

problem. This was admitted by Rajendra Prasad also in his biography.

"There was one important matter", he wrote, " on which a settlement

could be reached and which caused some discontent among the

kisans. The land which the zamindars had purchased in auctions

in execution of court decree for the realisation of rent arrears

had accumulated with the zamindars and they did not want to settle

them on tenants for tilling; because under the law, even a temporary

settlement would have meant accrual of rights of tenancy of which

the tenant could not be deprived. The zamindars either cultivated

this land or let it be fallows ..•• the kisans resented this and the

government could not dopnything to help them; the trouble continued

as long as the Ministry lasted and the kisans blamed not only the

government but also me for this plight. 92

Thus in the initial stages, the relationship between the Bihar

Congress and the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha( which was championing

the cause of the peasantry till forties) was not of manifest hostility.

In fact in the beginning the Bihar Congress gave good support to

BPKS and during civil disobedience movement it raised many agrarian

. The h . 1 d. d . B . · h h · · 9 3 Issues. speec es were mam y Irec te aga1ns t ntis aut on ties.

However, in some cases Congress workers organised tenants against

the zamindars. For example, in Damapore Congress launched a

campaign against the zamindars who had at the time of Civil Disobedience

Movement, put their entire weight into the scales against the movement

and instructed their ryots to have nothing to do with it.94

The Congress at its Faizpur session in 1936 had felt the··

92 Rajendra Prasad, Autobiography,(Bombay,l957)p.459

93 HDF, 34/193l(BSA)

94 Collector of Patna to the Chief Secretary, 3 Dec.l93l,HDF 34/ 193l(BSA)

84 :'

importance of the problem of peasantry. But the conviction of

the Congress towards solving their problems was the removal of

British imperialistic exploitation and a radical change in the antiquated

and the repressive land tenure and revenue sys tern. It also felt

that the deepening crisis had made the burden on the peasantry

an intolerable one,95

and the following steps were considered necessary:

"1. Rent and revenue should be readjusted giving regard to present

conditions and there should be substantial reduction in both.

2. Agricultural incomes should be assessed to income tax like

all other incomes on a progressive scale subject to a prescribed

minimum.

3. Canal and other irrigation rates should be substantially lowered.

4. Uneconomic holdings should be exempted from rent or land

tax.

5. All f e.u.d.al dues and levies and forced labour should be abolished

and demands other than rent should be made illegal.

6. Fixity of tenure with heritable ri9ht along with the right

to build houses and plant trees should be provided for all

tenants.

7. An effort should be made to introduce cooperative farming.

8. The crushing burden of rural debt should be removed. Special

tribunals should be appointed to .([)quire into this and all

debts which are unconsciousable or beyond the capacity

of peasants to pay, should be liquidated. Meanwhile a moratorium

should be declared an<Jfs teps should be taken to provide cheap

credit facilities.

95 See, Rakesh Gupta, Bihar Peasantry and the Kisan Sabha,1936-1947 {New Delhi, 1982) pp.138-39.

85 :

9. Arrears of rent for previous years should generally be wiped

out.

10. Common pastures lands should be provided and the rights

of the people in tanks, wells, ponds, forests and the like

recognised and no encroa.'.:hment on these rights should

be permitted.

11. All arrears of rent should be recoverable in the same manner

as civil debts and not by ejectment.

12. There should be statutory provision for securing a livi:nt

wage and suitable working condition for agricultural labourers.

13. Peasant unions should be recognised.96

The Kisan Sabha had extended full support to the Congress

during the 1937 election.97

But latter the distance between the

kisan sabha and the Congress kept on increrasing. It made allegations

of oppre::ssion against the zamindars - Bipan Bihari Verma who

was secretary of the Provincial Congress Committee; member,

Central Legislature; President of Champaran District Committee

and Shyam Narain Singh( a Kuyrni zamindar) of Bind village in Patna

district who was an M.L. A. The effort of th•~ Kisan Sahh3 to d·~m·xratise

and radicalise the Ccngress98

completely failed. It also noted with

deep regret that ins?ite of the strict adh=r~nce in all its activities

t') all peaceful m=thods, charges ·)f implicit and overt violence

had been levelled against its work~rs. It also referred to the cases

of beating up of Upendra Thakur, a kisan -.vorker of Raghopur(Darbhanga)

by the men of zamindar while he was defending along with his

96 Pattabhi Sitara:nanyya, n.87 p.34

97 Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, n.78 p.481.

98 See Rakesh Gupta,n.95, p.145

86_ ... :

companions the bakast land on the actual possession of a kisan

of Nehra and a case in Darbhanga in which responsible peasant

workers were falsely charged with violence. The Sabha felt strongly

that such motivated move by the vested interests were due to the

fact that their foundations had been shaken by the then ongoing

99 peasant rnovement.

In the opinion of the Congress Socialist Party the problems

involved in the work of organising the kisan body were the following:

1. Since kisans were not homogenous, various conflicts were

found;

2. the unsympathetic attitude of the Congress leaders towards

the kisan sabha being organised independently of the Congress;

3. want of literature in booklet form on agrarian problems; and

4. some of the provincial parties kept themselves limited to

the activities of the Congress and fought shy of taking up

100 work among the peasantry.

The surface conflict between the Congress and the kisan

Sabha was not due to the ideological opposition of right and left

and also not due to power rivalry; rather it was a fight between

two classes of 'exploiters' and 'exploited' i.e between zamindars

and the ryots. lf Congress followed a policy of class reconciliation

in the national interest, why did it take side of a handful of zamindars

in supressing bakast struggle of kisans and thus alienating the majority?

This shows that the argument of class reconciliation was merely

ideological.

99 See HDF,259/1939(BSA)

100 See, Rakesh Gupta, n.9 5 p.l64.

: 8Z .:

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA: THE VANGUARDOFPEASANTRY

Though the Communist Party of India was formed in 192 5,

by 192 &-29 many peasant associations organised on communistic

line had sprung up at various places.101

But in Bihar BPKS was leading

the peasantry to get its genuine demands fulfilled. In Madhubani,

there was no communist party those days. We have already indicated

that the Communist party was formed in Bihar m Oct.1939 and

two months before that it had already been organised in Madhubani

by B hogendra Jha. Sri Mohan Jha, Chaturaran Mishra, Vishwanath

Lal Karna and S.R.Rizvi. Before that the great war had broken

out. During the Second World War itself, however, after the split

with the Congress Leadership had become apparent and both the

Congress Socialists and Forward Block leaders had deserted the

Kisan Sabha, the Communist party of India and its workers star ted

acquiring an important role in the organization. 102

By 1940 the Communist Party of. India though in its infant

stage, had become stable to sustain in Darbhanga district. Its upper

hand was established at the Bihar Students Conference at Darbhanga

on the 27th and 28th Apri1,1940.103

By 1941 in Gaya also the Proceedings

101 See ·Roger Stuart, The Formation of the Communist Party of India, 192 7-1937: The Dilema of the Indian Left.Ph.D. Thesis Australian National ·University(available in Microfische form in NMML). pp.7-15, See also n.43.pp.10-12

102 See Indradeep Sinha, Bihar Mein Communist Party ka Vikas (inHindi) (Patna not dated) p.3.

103 See K.K. Datta, n.43. pp.353- 54.

of Gaya District Students Federation were marked by differences

of views between non-Communist and Communist element.

During Quit India Movement in 1942 large number of people

succeeded in temporarily paralysing the government administrative

machinery and the excitement geilerated by this, stimulated the

poor to join in demonstration and attacks on government buildings

and property. Cases of looting were also reported. The largest chunk

of the people participating in the movement came from higher

castes. The leadershipo.swell as the followers were dominated by

them. There was almost complete lack of consciousness regarding

'national liberation' among lower castes. Obviously they were much

more concerned with their immediate needs and that was, their

liberation from the exploitation by the zamindars. The Report of

the Sub-divisional officer of Madhubani said, "Most of the Hindus

who took part in the movement were from the higher castes .••

(However) There were agitators from other castes also. Generally

people from lower castes or those belonging to the agricultural

labourer class did not take part in the movement at first. They

joined the movement in its later stage .•• to make something out

f · b 1 . " 1 04 Th f h D. . M . f o It y ootmg.... e report o t e Istnct . ag1strate o

Darbhanga was much more classified as it named some of the high

castes which played leading role '1.n the movement. The Report

said, "··· The movement has first entirely been led by the upper

castes principally Babhans, Rajpt!, Brahmins and Khatris, and the

masses did nothing. As the feelings of the masses .•• were inflamed

and promises of loot were held out, they also came in .•• " 105

104

105

Madhubani Sub-divisional Officer to the District Magistrate of Darbhanga 16 Dec.1942, HDF ,84/1942(BSA)

R.N.Lines, Darbhanga District Magistrate to the Chief Secretary of Bihar, 22 Dec. 1942 ,Ibid)

89 ~

During 1942-44 the movement kejst going on. The economic

situation of whole of North Bihar which was agriculture based worsened.

There was massive price rise coupled with seorci ty of essential

dobl do 0 106 T 1 ° d 1 dl lab e 1 e commo 1 ues. enant cu uvators an an ess ourers

comprised roughly 12 million 813 thousand population in comparison

with the thin 575 thousand population of non-cultivating proprietors

and cultivating owners, taken together(see Table).

TABLE

Category Population

Non-cultivating proprietors 199,966

Cultivating owners 37 5, 12 6

Tenant cultivators 8,842,429

Landless labourers 3,970,963

Source: R.A.E. Williams, Final Report on the Rent Settlements Operations(l937-1941), Patna 1943, pp.53-54. (Bihar State Archives,Patna)

The peasants had been coughing high rents as a result of

both private agreements as well as illegal enhancement.Judiciary,

the source of redressal, were being utilised as means to harass

the tenants. 107

106 The cost of a seer of rice was 12 annas to one rupee.(Lokyudha,. 7 Sept.l947).

107 Eg. Jang B ahadur Singh, a zamindar of Arrah district filed cases in a court against his Koeri(middle caste) tenants and so was the case in Darbhanga district where a number of cases were filed by the zamindars against the peasants. In the light of the above the Communist Party of India realised that if the movement has to succed, it will have to fight for the causes of the suffering peasantry. B hogendra Jha

appeared on the screen as the key leader. He had dual advantage of being a local leader and much more important than that was that he was recognised as a peasant leader in the district. He started fighting completely in the spirit of the line of Lenin and that was "complete e~:n~alitv_ f.f rights of peasants and abolition ot sert bondage".\See,V .. Lenm"To the Kural Poor",Collected Works, Vol.6,p.42 3.

In the mid-forties, when the Communist leadership was struggling

for the emancipation of peasantry from the yoke of zamindars,

the whole of north Bihar was a vic tim of 'natural calamity', the

endemic cholera spread in parts of Muzaffarpur, Champaran and

Darbhanga.108

The article of the CPI leader Janagnath Sarkar

throws some light on the miserable wretched conditions of the toiling

masses. He wrote, "Purchasing of rice is beyond(these peasants')

economic capacity. They are surviving by eating rotton grains or

sakarkand.109

These were also not available m sufficient quantity.

The prices of these commodites like that of rice had increased

by five to six times after the war. The life-expectancy of the poor

peas an try had decreased to a consider able extent. They should not

fight the disease to keep their souls and bodies alive.110

The scarcity

of food was blessed with drought and flood in Mad hub ani. Ill The

callous attitude of the Darbhanga Raj was evident from the fact

that on the one hand people were dying of hunger, the circle officer

of M adhubani spent Rs.4000 on 'Harikirtan' to please the God. On

which one Seetal Upadahyaya wrote a letter suggesting channelisation

112 of the fund to the welfare of poor lot.

Towards the end of British Raj the peasant str:uggle was

intensified in Mad hub ani Subdivision of Darb hang a District. Communist

108 Jagannath Sarkar, "Uttar Bihar Mein Haize ks Prakop",Lok Yuddha,(In Hindi),Bombay,2 ,July, 1944.

109 A type of cheap ground fruit commonly grown in sandy soil.

110 n.l08, p.4.

111 See Ramashish Singh, "M adhubani Barh aur Sooke ki Chapet mein" (In Hindi) Lok Yuddha,22 Oct.l944.

112 Lok Yuddha, 2 4 Oct,l944.

91 :

Party was in the fore-front of the struggle. It aired the clear slogan

for abolition of zamindari. "We did not allow it to remain on paper;

says Bhogendra Jha, "l myself led the movement." Bakast land

struggle in the hands of Communist Party was going on in Akali,

Salempur, Pokhrauni, Dhakjari and Adnhari. It will not be out of

place to mention here that in Darbhanga district a system of Mahanti

was prevalent. Under this system thousands of acres of land were

under the control of various Mahanthas spread out in all parts of

the district, for example, some of the Mahanthas were in Andhari,

Dhakjari, Pacharhi, Benwari etc. These lands were in the name

of 'Tha; kur'(the God) which adorned the small temple, in the vast

sprawling complex of the 'Mahanti'. These Mahanthas were known

for excesses on poor peasantry. Some of them were allegedly involved

in sexual scandals with the poor women of lower castes, revealed

Bhogendra Jha. People in general were afraid of Mahanthas because

of the fear of God.

Around that time there occured a clash between the kisans

of Simrahi and the zamindars of Parsa, Gamharia, Chhatauni and

other neighbouring villages on a disputed land on 2 8 Nov.l944. Peasants,

including large number of Muslim community, had gorwn paddy

crops on the disputed land. The zamindars wanted to cut away

the standing paddy crop grown by them. This was heavily resisted

by the peasants who were large· in number. They killed two men

of the zamindar on the spot and injured many others who were

of Hindu community. The zamindars gave it a communal colour.

When the communal hatred spread, a large mob collected and perpetuated

atrocities on the Muslim com:-nunity. The statement issued by

Surya Narain Singh reveals the magnitude of damage. He wrote,. > -_ ::·

:92

"Nearly three hundred houses have been blJXnt to ashes and property

worth rupees two lakh were looted away. The majority of the suffert.r'~

are Muslims. The zamindars have carried on this pillage and plunder

by giving a communal colour to the clash. The Kisans have left

the village and they have been rendered homeless ••• Taking advantage

of the Kisan's absence, the zamindars are cutting paddy crops

from the fields of the kisans. 113

Thus despite the fact that the approval of violent means

was not granted by the leadership, armed clashes between the men

of zamindars and the peasantry became a frequent phenomenon.

But the peasantry took up arms only in self defence. To counter

the armed peasantry zamindars started maintaining a contingent

of armed men in their regular pay, who fought on behalf of them.

In Salempur village of Madhubani subdivision some peasant workers

had 'iTown paddy on disputed land but the crop was forcibly harvested

by the musclemen of zamindar. However, forcible harvesting on

disputed land was banned by the Deputy Magistrate.114

In Pokhrauni

village in Madha.wapur police station, the zamindar Mahanth Ramkirpal

Das lodged false cases and after implicating some of the local

leaders got them arrested. Later with the help of the musclemen

he got the crop harvested. The Mahanth of Dhakjari with the help

of his men and with the connivW~e<-of the local police looted the

crop of the peasant.

By 1947 the Communist Party had intensified the peasant

struggle in an attempt to build class movement with a view to

113 Searchlight, 8Dec,l946.

114 Janyug(Bombay), 26 Dec, 1947.

keep it considerably free from caste influence. In Jan.l947, there

was a serious agrarian trouble in Andhari village in Benipathi police

station. The clash occurred between the agents of Andhari Mahanth

and some of his tenants for possession of some piece of lands which

the Mahanth claimed as his Bakast. By that time Bhogendra Jha

had already beceme the leader of agricultural labourers. And wherever

there was agrarian trouble, B hogendra Jha's name figured prominently

there. Danby, the manager of Darbhanga Raj chalked out a plan

to eliminate B hogendra Jha and during the clash in Andhari he was

hit on his head with iron weapons by the men of the Mahan th. He

was injured severely. Paltu Yadav and Sant Khatwe_, middle caste

agricultural labourers., were killed on the spot while they had covered

Bhogendra Jha to save him. Many others were also injured.115

Paltu Yadav

thus became the last martyr of British Raj in Bihar and first martyr

for the abolition of zamindari as well as that of the Communist

Party in Bihar, says B hogendra Jha. This was a turning point in

the Communist movement because the next year there was a great

conflagaration by various movements. e.g. anti-zamindari movement,

Bata~ari movement and Bakast movement. The focus of attention

of the Communist Party started diversifying so far as the problem

of the peasantry was concerned.

Thus this sketchy review vf the developments over a long

period up to the end of the British Raj reveals that ownership_, control

and actual cultivation of land had always resulted in the existence

115 Searchlight, 8 Jan.l947 and Janyug 2 8 Jan,l947,p.3.

: ~4(a) :

of an objective Schism between the interests of actual tillers of

land and those who lived by the toil of these tillers. The change

of political rulers did not mean any improvement in the conditions

of these toilers. Rather in most cases the existing exploitation

was further intensified by further demands by servants and agents

of the new rulers without meaningfully ending the earlier demands.

The caste system, though an emperical manifestation in a region

of the ideology of varna, had only meant that land could generally

be owned and controlled by men of the upper castes. But never

was the hierarchy exactly corresponding to the control of power

and land. The objective conflict of interests did not generally find

a correspondence in ideological consciousness. As we have noted

.even the prevalence ofa relatively high education in Sanskri tic religiotl.S

terms did not lead to any interest in economic development. In

the British period also we find contradictory developments in which

the interests of peasants are emphasised by the rulers of the upper

class men prove troublesome for the British and property rights

are flaunted when men of peasantry revolts against ultimate power.

In the early period peasant revolts were sporadic and with breaks

and starts. In the last phase of the British Raj the peasant interests

acquired. more and more an autonomous organisation and a self-consciousness.

In this growth the natimta.J. movement led by Indian National Congress,

a broad left-wing represented by Congress Socialist Party and the

consistent SoCialist movement ep\t.i:Pmised by the communists have

contributed in that order historically.