Question

Short note on indigo rebellion of 1857

Answer 1

The Indigo revolt (or Nil vidroha) was apeasant movement and subsequent uprising of indigo farmers against the indigo planters that arose in Bengal in 1859.

Cause lead to revolt - Indigo planting in Bengal dated back to 1777. With expansion of British power in the Nawabs of Bengal, indigo planting became more and more commercially profitable because of the demand for blue dye in Europe. It was introduced in large parts of Burdwan, Bankura,Birbhum, North 24 Parganas, and Jessore(present Bangladesh). The indigo planters persuaded the peasants to plant indigo instead of food crops. They provided loans, called dadon, at a very high interest. Once a farmer took such loans he remained in debt for his whole life before passing it to his successors. The price paid by the planters was meagre, only 2.5% of the market price. The farmers could make no profit growing indigo. The farmers were totally unprotected from the indigo planters, who resorted to mortgages or destruction of their property if they were unwilling to obey them. Government rules favoured the planters. By an act in 1833, the planters were granted a free hand in oppression.[citation needed] Even the zamindarssided with the planters. Under this severe oppression, the farmers resorted to revolt.

Answer 2

In India there have been many rebellions before and after 1857 War of Independence. The celebrated English writer Vidiadhar S Naipaul refers to India as ‘Land of Million Mutinys’, his book title.





   Vidiadhar S Naipaul and his book

Indigo, famous Indian export

One among them is the rebellion of Indigo growers in March 1859. Indigo has been a cash crop, a famous export of India for many years.





                   Indigo dye Factory in Bengal, 1850s                                   Indigo Plant

Infact, India had the exclusive technology and monopoly in indigo trade till the blue coloured dye was chemically made in Europe, by Alfred Bob Buyer in 1902.

Forced to grow Indigo

In the 1800s, when the British had a threshing control over India’s economy, trade and its agrarian society, the British traders and rulers directly forced the farmers to grow indigo only repeatedly.

To meet the avarice of the traders, Indigo was heavily grown in crop rotation with rice and other crops, to keep the soil fertility and sustainability.

Farmers become bonded labourers

The British administrators bypassed the zamindars who knew the local system and directly threatened the farmers to grow only indigo. This led to a situation where the farmers became almost like bonded labourers to British administrators.

The Indigo Rebellion

This oppression continued for decades culminating in what is now referred to as indigo rebellion that occurred in Bengal, between 1859 and 1861, couple of years after 1857 War of Independence, which was ruthlessly crushed by the British.