Question

Describe the blue rebellion and Champaran movement

Answer 1

In March 1859, thousands of ryots in Bengal refused to grow indigo. This was known as the 'Blue rebellion'. The farmers refused to pay rent to the planters. They attacked the indigo factories with weapons and their womenfolk attacked with pots and pans.

The revolt started from Nadia where Bishnucharan Biswas and Digambar Biswas first led the rebellion against the planters. It spread rapidly in Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Pabna, Khulna, Narail, etc. Some indigo planters were given a public trial and executed. The indigo depots were burned down. Many planters fled to avoid being caught. The zamindars were also targets of the rebellious peasants.

The revolt was ruthlessly suppressed. Large forces of police and military, backed by the British Government and the zamindars, mercilessly slaughtered a number of peasants. In spite of this, the revolt was fairly popular, involving almost the whole of Bengal. The Biswas brothers of Nadia, Kader Molla of Pabna, Rafique Mondal of Malda were popular leaders. Even some of the zamindars supported the revolt, the most important of whom was Ramratan Mullick of Narail.

Champaran movement :-
There have been a number of movements by the indigo planters of Champaran, in protest against their mistreatment at the hands of British landowners. However, the most famous of these was in 1917, when Mahatma Gandhi became a figurehead for this suffering of the indigo planters.