Pariksha SaathiLesson 3 of 10 · Rajasthan General Knowledge
Modern Rajasthan: 1857, Peasant and Tribal Movements and the Praja Mandals
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From Maratha raids to British protection
After Aurangzeb's death in 1707 the Rajput states were weakened by succession disputes and fell prey to Maratha chiefs such as the Sindhias and Holkars and to Pindari bands. Amir Khan, a Pindari leader, was made Nawab of Tonk with British backing in 1817, which is why Tonk was the only Muslim-ruled state of Rajputana. Worn out, the rulers turned to the East India Company under Governor-General Lord Hastings, whose agent Charles Metcalfe negotiated the treaties.
The treaties of 1817-18
In one round of subsidiary treaties almost every Rajput state accepted British protection, giving up an independent foreign policy and agreeing to pay tribute. Karauli signed first (November 1817), followed within months by Kota, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Jaipur and the rest; Sirohi was the last, in 1823. In 1818 Daulat Rao Sindhia ceded Ajmer to the British, and Ajmer-Merwara became directly ruled British territory in the middle of the princely states. The Rajputana Agency was run by an Agent to the Governor-General (AGG), with headquarters at Ajmer and a summer seat at Mount Abu. Mayo College was founded at Ajmer in 1875 to educate the sons of the princes.
The revolt of 1857
Rajputana had six British cantonments: Nasirabad, Neemuch, Deoli, Beawar, Erinpura and Kherwara. The revolt in the region began at Nasirabad, near Ajmer, on 28 May 1857, and Neemuch rose on 3 June. In Marwar, Thakur Kushal Singh Champawat of Auwa gathered discontented nobles and the rebel soldiers of the Jodhpur Legion from Erinpura; his men defeated the Jodhpur state forces and, in September 1857, killed Captain Monk Mason, the Political Agent at Jodhpur. At Kota the state's troops rose on 15 October 1857 under Lala Jaidayal and Mehrab Khan, killed the Political Agent Major Burton and held the city for about six months until British forces retook it in March 1858. Tantia Tope's forces moved through Rajasthan in 1858. Most rulers stayed loyal to the British, so the revolt here was led by soldiers and local thakurs rather than by princes.
Peasant movements
In the jagirs (thikanas) peasants paid many cesses (lag-bag) besides land revenue and did forced labour (begar). The Bijolia movement in Mewar, begun in 1897, is often called the longest non-violent peasant movement in India: its leaders included Sadhu Sitaram Das, then from 1916 Vijay Singh Pathik, who set up the Upermal Panch Board, and later Manikya Lal Verma, and it ended only in 1941 when the Mewar government met most demands. In nearby Begun (Chittorgarh), Ramnarayan Choudhary led a movement from 1921, and the 1923 agreement with the thakur was dismissed by the state as a 'Bolshevik settlement'. In Bundi, Pandit Nainuram Sharma led the peasants, and on 2 April 1923 police firing at Dabi killed Nanak Bhil as he sang a flag song. At Neemuchana in Alwar state, firing on a peasant gathering on 14 May 1925 killed many, and Gandhi compared it to Jallianwala Bagh.
Tribal movements of the south
Govind Guru, born in 1858 in a Banjara family at Bansia in Dungarpur, founded the Samp Sabha in 1883 and spread the Bhagat movement among the Bhils, asking them to give up liquor and meat and to resist begar. On 17 November 1913 British-led troops fired on thousands of his followers gathered on Mangarh hill in Banswara, on the Rajasthan-Gujarat border; local accounts put the dead at about 1,500, and Mangarh is called the Jallianwala of the tribals. In 1921 Motilal Tejawat of Koliyari (Jhadol, Udaipur) launched the Eki (unity) movement of Bhils and Garasias at Matrikundiya in Chittorgarh against forced labour and heavy taxes, with a charter of demands called the Mewar Pukar. On 7 March 1922 troops fired on a large gathering of his followers at Neemda.
Political awakening and the Praja Mandals
Early nationalists included Kesari Singh Barhath, whose Dingal verses 'Chetavani ra Chungatya' (1903) persuaded Maharana Fateh Singh of Mewar to stay away from Curzon's Delhi Darbar, Arjun Lal Sethi of Jaipur and Rao Gopal Singh of Kharwa. From the 1930s Praja Mandals (people's associations) in each state demanded civil liberties and responsible government under the rulers: Jaipur (1931, later led by Jamnalal Bajaj and Hiralal Shastri), Bikaner (1936), Mewar (24 April 1938, Manikya Lal Verma) and the Marwar Lok Parishad (1938, Jai Narayan Vyas) were the leading ones. The Haripura session of the Congress in 1938 asked the people of the princely states to organise their own movements, and many Praja Mandals date from that year.
Towards one state
At independence Rajputana consisted of 19 princely states, 3 chiefships (Lawa, Kushalgarh and Neemrana) and the British-ruled province of Ajmer-Merwara. The States Ministry under Sardar Patel, with V.P. Menon as secretary, held that only states with an annual revenue of at least one crore rupees and a population of at least ten lakh could stand alone; only Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Udaipur qualified. The rest had to merge, and the process ran in seven stages from 18 March 1948 to 1 November 1956, a span of 8 years, 7 months and 14 days.
Key facts
- Treaties of 1817-18: Karauli first (November 1817), Sirohi last (1823); Sindhia ceded Ajmer to the British in 1818.
- Tonk: the only Muslim-ruled state of Rajputana; Pindari leader Amir Khan became its Nawab in 1817.
- 1857: Nasirabad first (28 May), Neemuch (3 June), Auwa (Kushal Singh Champawat, Monk Mason killed), Kota (15 October, Major Burton killed).
- Six cantonments of Rajputana in 1857: Nasirabad, Neemuch, Deoli, Beawar, Erinpura and Kherwara.
- Bijolia (1897-1941): Sadhu Sitaram Das, Vijay Singh Pathik (Upermal Panch Board), then Manikya Lal Verma.
- Begun from 1921 (Ramnarayan Choudhary, 'Bolshevik settlement' 1923); Bundi: Nanak Bhil killed at Dabi on 2 April 1923.
- Govind Guru: Samp Sabha 1883, Bhagat movement; Mangarh massacre 17 November 1913 (Banswara).
- Motilal Tejawat: Eki movement from Matrikundiya in 1921, demands called the Mewar Pukar; Neemda firing 7 March 1922.
- Praja Mandals: Jaipur 1931, Bikaner 1936, Mewar 1938 (Manikya Lal Verma), Marwar Lok Parishad 1938 (Jai Narayan Vyas).
- At independence: 19 princely states, 3 chiefships (Lawa, Kushalgarh, Neemrana) and Ajmer-Merwara.
Quick revision
Treaties 1817-18 (Karauli first, Sirohi last 1823); Ajmer ceded 1818, AGG at Ajmer; 1857 began at Nasirabad 28 May, Auwa (Kushal Singh), Kota (Major Burton killed); Bijolia 1897-1941 (Sitaram Das, Pathik, Manikya Lal Verma); Begun 1921; Dabi 1923 (Nanak Bhil); Neemuchana 1925; Govind Guru, Samp Sabha 1883, Mangarh 17 Nov 1913; Eki movement 1921 (Tejawat); Praja Mandals from 1931; 19 states, 3 chiefships.