Deccan Riots
Encyclopedia
In May and June, 1875, peasants of Maharastra in some parts of Pune
, Satara
and Nagar districts revolted against increasing agrarian distress. The Deccan Riots of 1875 targeted conditions of debt peonage (kamiuti) to moneylenders. The rioters' specific purpose was to obtain and destroy the bonds, decrees, and other documents in the possession of the moneylenders.
As Indian agriculture was drawn into the world economy, credit, commerce, inequality and growth were interrelated. The cultivators' distress resulted from falling agricultural prices, heavy taxation, and a sense of political powerlessness. The commercialization of agriculture under British land revenue policies burdened small peasants by placing a premium on access to credit to finance productive investments in the land. Employing capital advanced by European merchants, local moneylenders obtained unlimited title to the property and labor of their debtors; it gave them the "power to utterly ruin and enslave the debtor." During the nineteenth century, they used this power to control peasant labour, and not their land, which was of little value without people to work it.
These changes in agriculture undermined the communal traditions which had been the basis of Indian village life. Access to common resources declined steadily because various forms of joint use were misunderstood by the British, access to the forests was restricted, and the British redefined the state's relationship to pastoral communities.
Vasudeo Balwant Phadke launched a violent campaign against British rule
in 1879, aiming to establish an Indian republic by driving them out. However, his insurrection met with limited success. Someone betrayed Phadke to claim a bounty offered by the British; he was arrested and deported to Aden, where he died of a hunger strike
in 1883.
Pune District
Pune District is situated in Maharashtra state of India. Pune city is the district headquarters. In the last census on 2001, the total population of the district was 7,232,555, making it the fourth most populous district in India . Urban population comprises 58.08% of the total population...
, Satara
Satara district
Satara District is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of 10,480 km² and a population of 2,808,994 of which 14.17% were urban . Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns include Wai, Karad, Koregaon, Koyananagar, Rahimatpur, Phaltan, Mahabaleshwar...
and Nagar districts revolted against increasing agrarian distress. The Deccan Riots of 1875 targeted conditions of debt peonage (kamiuti) to moneylenders. The rioters' specific purpose was to obtain and destroy the bonds, decrees, and other documents in the possession of the moneylenders.
As Indian agriculture was drawn into the world economy, credit, commerce, inequality and growth were interrelated. The cultivators' distress resulted from falling agricultural prices, heavy taxation, and a sense of political powerlessness. The commercialization of agriculture under British land revenue policies burdened small peasants by placing a premium on access to credit to finance productive investments in the land. Employing capital advanced by European merchants, local moneylenders obtained unlimited title to the property and labor of their debtors; it gave them the "power to utterly ruin and enslave the debtor." During the nineteenth century, they used this power to control peasant labour, and not their land, which was of little value without people to work it.
These changes in agriculture undermined the communal traditions which had been the basis of Indian village life. Access to common resources declined steadily because various forms of joint use were misunderstood by the British, access to the forests was restricted, and the British redefined the state's relationship to pastoral communities.
Vasudeo Balwant Phadke launched a violent campaign against British rule
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
in 1879, aiming to establish an Indian republic by driving them out. However, his insurrection met with limited success. Someone betrayed Phadke to claim a bounty offered by the British; he was arrested and deported to Aden, where he died of a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in 1883.
Literature
- Ravinder Kumar, "The Deccan Riots of 1875", The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Aug., 1965), pp. 613-635.
- David Hardiman, ed., Peasant Resistance in India 1858-1914, Oxford University Press, Delhi [etc.] (1992).
- Report of the Committee on the Riots in Poona and Ahmednagar, 1875, Bombay (1876).
- Neil Charlesworth, "The Myth of the Deccan Riots of 1875", Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 6, No. 4 (1972), pp. 401-421.
- Ira Klein, "Utilitarianism and Agrarian Progress in Western India", The Economic History Review, N. S., Vol. 18, No. 3 (1965), pp. 576-597.