Later Peasant Movements: Kisan Sabha, Eka, Mappila Revolt and Bardoli Satyagraha

At a Glance

• UP Kisan Sabha February 1918
• Awadh Kisan Sabha October 1920
• Eka Late 1921 to March 1922
• Bardoli 1928, led by Vallabhbhai Patel
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Press, Education, Peasants and Workers

Where Does It Fit?

This is the eighth topic of the category on the press, education, peasants and workers. The previous topic covered early peasant movements. This topic covers the Kisan Sabha, Eka, Mappila and Bardoli movements. The next topic covers the All India Kisan Sabha and peasant activity in the 1930s and 1940s. Previous topic: Early Peasant Movements: Indigo Revolt, Pabna Leagues and Deccan Riots.

How Did the Kisan Sabha Movement Begin?

The peasant movements of the twentieth century were deeply influenced by, and had a marked impact on, the national freedom struggle. After the 1857 revolt the Awadh taluqdars regained their lands, which strengthened their hold over the agrarian society of the province. Most cultivators suffered high rents, summary evictions (bedakhali), illegal levies, and renewal fees or nazrana. The First World War raised the prices of food and necessities, worsening the lot of the UP peasants.

Mainly through the efforts of Home Rule activists, kisan sabhas were organised in the United Provinces. The United Provinces Kisan Sabha was set up in February 1918 by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi, supported by Madan Mohan Malaviya, and by June 1919 it had 450 branches. Other leaders included Jhinguri Singh, Durgapal Singh and Baba Ramchandra. In June 1920 Baba Ramchandra urged Nehru to visit the villages, and in these visits Nehru developed close contact with villagers. The Home Rule League is in Home Rule League Movement.

In October 1920 the Awadh Kisan Sabha came into being because of differences in nationalist ranks. It asked the kisans to refuse to till bedakhali land, not to give hari and begar, forms of unpaid labour, to boycott those who did not accept these conditions and to settle disputes through panchayats. In January 1921 the pattern changed from mass meetings to the looting of bazaars, houses and granaries and clashes with the police, mainly in Rae Bareli, Faizabad and Sultanpur. The movement declined, partly through government repression and partly because the Awadh Rent (Amendment) Act was passed.

What Was the Eka Movement?

Towards the end of 1921 peasant discontent resurfaced in some northern districts of the United Provinces, Hardoi, Bahraich and Sitapur. The issues were rents 50 per cent higher than recorded rates, oppression by the thikadars in charge of revenue collection, and the practice of share-rents. The meetings of the Eka, or Unity, movement included a symbolic religious ritual in which the assembled peasants vowed to pay only the recorded rent but pay it on time, not to leave when evicted, to refuse forced labour, to give no help to criminals and to abide by panchayat decisions. Local leadership came from Madari Pasi and other low-caste leaders and many small zamindars. By March 1922 severe repression had ended the movement. The national setting is in Spread of the Movement and People’s Response.

What Was the Mappila Revolt?

The Mappilas were Muslim tenants in Malabar, where most landlords were Hindu. They had expressed resentment at the oppression of the landlords in the nineteenth century as well. Their grievances were lack of security of tenure, high rents, renewal fees and other exactions. They were encouraged by the demand of the local Congress body for legislation to regulate tenant-landlord relations, and their movement soon merged with the Khilafat agitation. Leaders of the Khilafat-Khilafat Committee Congress approval Special session at Calcutta, September 1920 Nagpur session…">Non-Cooperation Movement, including Gandhi, Shaukat Ali and Maulana Azad, addressed Mappila meetings, and after the leaders’ arrest the leadership passed to local Mappila leaders.

Things took a turn for the worse in August 1921, when the arrest of a respected priest leader, Ali Musaliar, set off large-scale riots. At first the targets were symbols of British authority, courts, police stations, treasuries and offices, and unpopular landlords (jenmies, mostly Hindus). But once the British declared martial law and repression began in earnest, the character of the rebellion changed: many Hindus were seen by the Mappilas as helping the authorities, and what began as an anti-government and anti-landlord affair took on communal overtones. The communalisation completed the isolation of the Mappilas from the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation Movement, and by December 1921 all resistance had stopped. The movement is in The Khilafat Issue and Its Link With Non-Cooperation.

What Was the Bardoli Satyagraha?

The Bardoli taluqa in Surat district had been highly politicised since Gandhi’s arrival on the national scene. The movement began when the authorities decided to raise the land revenue by 30 per cent. Congress leaders quickly protested, and a Bardoli Inquiry Committee found the rise unjustified. Vallabhbhai Patel was called to lead the movement, and the women of Bardoli gave him the title Sardar. The source dates the start to 1926; the movement is widely recorded as having taken place in 1928, the year used here and in earlier topics.

By August 1928 great tension had built up, with the prospect of a railway strike in Bombay, and Gandhi came to Bardoli in case of an emergency. The government sought a graceful withdrawal. It set the condition that the enhanced rent first be paid by all occupants, which was not actually done, and then a committee found the rise unjustified and recommended an increase of only 6.03 per cent. As an analytical point, these movements show how peasant causes joined the national struggle: the Kisan Sabhas and Bardoli worked with Congress workers and used satyagraha and boycott methods, while the Mappila revolt shows how a peasant struggle could be turned into communal conflict by repression and by the religious divide between tenants and landlords. The next phase is in All India Kisan Sabha and Peasant Activity in the 1930s and 1940s.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Kisan Sabhas Founders and years are Prelims facts
• Mappila revolt A frequently asked case of agrarian and communal mix
• Bardoli The origin of the title Sardar

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the All India Kisan Sabha and peasant activity in the 1930s and 1940s. Next topic: All India Kisan Sabha and Peasant Activity in the 1930s and 1940s.

Key People and Terms

• Bedakhali Summary eviction of tenants
• Nazrana A fee demanded by landlords
• Eka The unity movement of 1921-22
• Jenmies Landlords of Malabar
• Chhavanis Workers’ camps set up by Patel
• Sardar Title given to Patel by the women of Bardoli

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the link between peasant movements and nationalism. These points add depth.

• Kisan Sabhas Home Rule activists and Nehru
• Mappila Agrarian to communal
• Bardoli Successful satyagraha