Aim
The aim of this article is to describe the resistance
movements in Bengal during British
Period.
Contents described in this Article
- Introduction
- Fakir-Sannyasi Resistance
- Movement of Titu Mir
- Faraizi Movement
- The Indigo Rebellion
- Pabna Unrest
- Partition of Bengal
- Chittagong Armoury Raid
- Conclusion
Introduction
During the rule of the emperor Aurangzeb (reigned 1658–1707), the English East India Company was permitted to establish its base at Calcutta (Kolkata). The British gained strength in the region as the Mughal empire weakened. In 1757, by winning the Battle of Plassey defeating the Mughal nawab Sirāj-ud-Dawlah, the East India Company emerged as the dominant political power in Bengal and Bengal lost it’s independence completely. After Sepoy Mutiny 1857, the British government dissolving the company and taking direct control of India. After several movements finally in 1947, India became independent and two separate Countries have been created named Pakistan & India. In between 1757-1947 many resistance movement was happened in Bengal. Some were totally for independence or some were for injustice to farmers. Here we are going to discuss some the major and important movements of Bengal.
Fakir-Sannyasi Resistance
v
It is an armed resistance of the combined body
of muslim fakirs (sufis) and hindu sannyasis (yogis) against the dominance of
the english east india company in bengal.
v
This resistance began in 1760 and continued for
more than four decades.
v
The most striking point in this prolonged
resistance of the mendicants is the cause behind the movement. The reason is
still left obscure. It seems that the regulations of the east india company
seriously disturbed the ways of life of the muslim fakirs and hindu sannyasis
thereby pushing them to make common cause and to take resort to armed
resistance. Both the groups of mendicants lived on alms provided by their
followers mostly in the villages. The company rulers, who little understood the
religious institutions of the country, took their alms collection drive for
unauthorised impositions on the village people. The government thus issued
decrees banning collection of alms by the organised groups like the fakirs and
sannyasis. In response, they started a resistance movement against the company
rulers.
v
The Fakir-Sannyasi Resistance movement was
organised and led by Majnu Shah, a sufi saint of Madaria sect. He succeeded
Shah Sultan Hasan Suriya Burhana to the leadership of the Bihar based Madaria
sufi order in the mid-eighteenth century. He had his lieutenants in the persons
of the sufis like Musa Shah, Cherag Ali Shah, Paragal Shah, Sobhan Shah, Karim
Shah etc. Bhabani Pathak, a Bhojpuri Brahmin, who had discourse with Majnu Shah
and also had communication with a petty zamindar Devi Chaudhurani, led the sannyasi
rebels.
v
The resistance movement got ready support from
the peasantry for their religious attachment to the mendicants and also having
been hard pressed under the new land revenue policy of the company government.
v
The Fakir resistance began in nebulous form in
1760 and gathered momentum in 1763. Their main target was the Company kuthi,
revenue kacharis of zamindars loyal to the Company rulers, and the houses of
their officials. The rebels used swords, spear and lances, gun, fire throwing
device, hawai and even revolving cannons.
v
Their operations were mainly of guerilla nature.
In most cases they attacked the Company personnel and their establishments in
surprise. In regular operations and in specific battle there was often
assemblage of five to six thousand fakir-sannyasis. The number of fakirs and
sannyasis rose to around fifty thousand or more in 1770s. The rebels had their
intelligence agents in the persons of the villagers who earlier transpired to
them the movement of the Company troops.
v
The rebels attacked the commercial kuthi of the
company at Bakerganj (1763) and kept the factory chief Calley confined for some
days, and plundered the kuthi. In the same year they surprised Dhaka kuthi
while its English supervisor Ralph Lester evacuated. However, Captain Grant
subsequently recovered the factory. The same year, the rebels attacked company
kuthi at Rampur Boalia in Rajshahi, captured the factory chief Bennette who was
sent to Patna as captive, where he was killed.
v
By 1767 the attack of the rebels intensified in
Rangpur, Rajshahi, Kuch Bihar, Jalpaiguri and Comilla. To check the activities
of the rebels in North Bengal an English army was sent to Rangpur in 1767 under
Captain De Mackenzee. Meanwhile the rebels defeated an English contingent sent
by Barwel, the resident of Maldah, under the command of Myrtle who was killed
by the rebels. At the approach of Captain De Mackenze with his army the rebels
retracted towards Nepal.
v
During 1768-70 fakir-sannyasi raids mainly
continued in Saran (Bihar), Benares, Purnia, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi,
Comilla and Chittagong districts. An army under Feltham suddenly attacked the
fakir-sannyasis in 1771 on way to Ghoraghat and Govindganj in Rangpur, where
they sustained a defeat and were dispersed.
v
In 1772 Majnu Shah raided the establishments of
the Company in the Rangpur, Rajshahi and Bogra districts. The rebels conducted
extensive raids in Purnia, Burdwan, Kumarkhali, Jessore, Mymensingh, Sylhet,
Dhaka, Midnapore, Birbhum, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra, Jalpaiguri in 1773.
Fakir-Sannyasi raids got intensified in 1776 in the districts of Bogra,
Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Chittagong.
v
During the period between 1777 and 1781 the
fakir-sannyasi raids mainly continued in Bogra, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Chittagong,
Sylhet and Mymensingh areas. The activities of the rebels took a serious turn
in Alapsingh pargana of Mymensingh in 1782. After a severe battle at Pukhuria
Majnu Shah receded into the Madhupur jungle with his followers.
v
In 1785 he proceeded towards Mahasthangarh and
was defeated in a battle. In the following year, Majnu Shah planned
simultaneous attack in eastern Bengal under himself and in North Bengal area
under his lieutenant Musa Shah.
v
In a battle against the Company army under
Lieutenant Brenan in Kaleswar area (8 December 1786) Majnu Shah lost a large
number of his followers, and some of his wounded followers were carried to
Mewat.
v
After 1786 Majnu Shah is not seen to lead any
expedition. It appears that he himself was wounded in the battle at Kaleswar
and died on 26 January 1788.
v
After the death of Majnu Shah his able
lieutenants like Musa Shah, Cherag Ali Shah, Paragal Shah, Sobhan Shah, Madar
Baksh, Jari Shah, Karim Shah, Kripanath, Rowshan Shah, Anup Narayan and Sri
Nibash continued the revolt till the closing of the year 1800 and even upto
1812 AD. But after the death of Majnu Shah the movement was gradually losing
its direction and dynamics. By the late 1790s, the revolt began to be subsided
only to wither away in the form of stray resistance in the subsequent decade.
Movement of Titu Mir
v
Titu Mir (1782-1831) a peasant leader who
resisted the oppression of the local zamindars and European indigo planters on
the peasantry with ultimate object of liberating the country from British
domination. He was a leader of the tariqah-i-muhammadiya in Bengal, and his
movement initially aimed at socio-religious reforms, elimination of the
practice of shirk (pantheism) and bidat (innovation) in the Muslim society and
at inspiring the Muslims to follow Islamic principles in their day to day life.
His real name was Saiyid Mir Nisar Ali.
v
He is ranked 11 in the greatest person of Bengal
according to BBC.
v
Titu Mir went on a pilgrimage to Makka in 1822
and came in close contact with the great Islamic reformer and revolutionary
leader Saiyid Ahmad of Bareilly who inspired him to free his fellow countrymen
from un-Islamic practices and foreign domination.
v
On his return from Makka in 1827, Titu Mir
started preaching among the Muslims in the districts of 24 Parganas and Nadia.
He advised them to refrain from practising xirk and bidaat and inspired them,
especially the weavers and peasants, to follow the Islamic way of life. But
soon he was in conflict with the Hindu zamindar Krishnadeva Rai of Purha for
his sectarian attitude towards the Muslims and for imposing illegal taxes on
them. Titu Mir happened to be in conflict with other landlords like
Kaliprasanna Mukhopadhyay of Gobardanga, Rajnarayan of Taragonia, Gauri Prasad
Chowdhury of Nagpur and Devanath Rai of Gobra-govindpur for their oppression on
the peasantry.
v To
face the situation and to give protection to the peasants Titu Mir formed a
Mujahid force and trained them in lathi (bamboo stick) and other indigenous
arms. His disciple and nephew, Ghulam Masum was made commander of the force.
v The
increasing strength of Titu Mir alarmed the zamindars who however attempted to
take united stand and to involve the English in their fight against him. Being
instigated by the zamindar of Gobardanga, Davis, the English kuthial (factor)
of Mollahati, advanced with his force against Titu Mir, but was beaten back.
The zamindar of Gobra-govindpur was killed in a conflict with Titu Mir.
Alexander, the collector of Barasat, advanced against Titu Mir with the daroga
of Bashirhat, and sustained a severe defeat in the hands of Titu Mir. By this
time Titu Mir filed a complain to the government of east india company against
the oppression of the zamindars, but to no result.
v Titu
Mir built a strong fort with bamboo poles at Narkelbaria in October 1831,
recruited mujahids and gave them military training. The number of Mujahids soon
rose to nearly five thousand.
v
Having completed his military preparation
Titu Mir declared himself Badshah (king) and urged upon the people to
participate in jihad (sacred war) against the British. He soon established his
control over the districts of 24 Parganas, Nadia and Faridpur. Titu Mir
demanded tax from the zamindars of Taki and Gobardanga who implored protection
of the English.
v
An English contingent was sent from Calcutta.
But the combined forces of the zamindars and the English sustained severe
defeat in the hands of the mujahids (troops).
v
Lord William Bentinck sent a regular army
against Titu Mir under Lieutenant Colonel Stewart consisting of 100 cavalry,
300 native infantry and artillery with two cannons. The English launched attack
on the mujahids on 14 November 1831. The mujahids with traditional weapons
failed to resist the English army equipped with modern arms, and took shelter
inside the bamboo fort. The English opened fire and totally destroyed the fort.
There was heavy casualty on the side of the mujahids. Titu Mir along with many
of his followers fell in the battle (19 November 1831). The mujahids numbering
350 including their commander Ghulam Masum were captured. Ghulam Masum was
sentenced to death, and 140 captives were sentenced to imprisonment on
different terms.
Faraizi Movement
v
Faraizi Movement nineteenth century religious
reform movement launched by Haji Shariatullah. The term Faraizi is derived from
'farz' meaning obligatory duties enjoined by Allah. The Faraizis are,
therefore, those who aim at enforcing the obligatory religious duties. The
exponent of the movement, Haji Shariatullah, however, interpreted the term in a
broader sense to include all religious duties enjoined by the Quran as well as
by the Sunnah of the Prophet (Sm). Shariatullah made a pilgrimage to Makkah,
stayed there for 20 years and studied religious doctrines under Shaikh Tahir
Sombal, an authority of Hanafi School. Returning home he launched a movement to
make the Bengal Muslims follow the true canons of Islam. For historical reasons
the Muslims of Bengal had been following many indigenous customs, rituals and
ceremonies which were far from the principles of Islam. Most Bengal Muslims did
not even follow the fundamentals of Islam.
v
Haji Shariatullah regarded British rule in
Bengal as injurious to the religious life of the Muslims. In pursuance of the
Hanafi law he opined that the absence of a lawfully appointed Muslim caliph or
representative administrator in Bengal deprived the Muslims of the privilege of
holding congregational prayers.
v
To the Faraizis, Friday congregation was
unjustified in a non-Muslim stale like Bengal.
v
The Faraizi movement spread with extraordinary
rapidity in the districts of Dhaka, Faridpur, Bakerganj, Mymensingh, Tippera
(Comilla), Chittagong and Noakhali as well as to the province of Assam.
v
The movement, however, gained the greatest
momentum in those places where the Muslim peasantries were depressed under the
oppressive domination of Hindu zamindars and European indigo planters.
v
The landlords levied many abwabs over and above
normal rent and such abwabs were illegal in the eyes of law. Many abwabs were
of religious nature, such as, cesses on Kali Puja, Durga Puja etc. Shariatullah
objected to this practice and directed his disciples not to pay these illegal
cesses to the landlords. The landlords had even imposed ban on the slaughter of
cow, especially on the occasion of Eid-ul Azha. The Farizis ordered their
peasant followers not to adhere to such a ban. All these contributed to strained
relations between the Faraizies and the landlords who were almost all Hindus.
v
The offended landlords launched a propaganda
campaign with the British officials, implicating the Faraizis with rebellious
mood. In 1837, they accused Shariatullah of attempting to set up a kingdom of
his own like that of Titu Mir. They also brought numerous lawsuits against the
Faraizis in which they gained active co-operation of the European indigo
planters. Shariatullah was more than once in the custody of the police for
allegedly occasioning agrarian disturbances in Faridpur.
v
On the death of Haji Shariatullah in 1840 his
only son Muhsinuddin Ahmad alias Dudu Miyan was acclaimed the head of the
Faraizi movement. It was under his leadership that the Faraizi movement assumed
agrarian character. He organised the oppressed peasantry against the oppressive
landlords. In retaliation, the landlords and indigo planters tried to contain
Dudu Miyan by instituting false cases against him. But he became so popular
with the peasantry that in the cases, courts seldom found a witness against
Dudu Miyan.
v
The initial victories of Dudu Miyan captured the
imagination of the masses and his prestige rose high in their esteem. These
incidents also gave added impetus to the spread of the Faraizi movement and
drew to its fold not only numerous Muslims who so far stood aloof but also the
Hindus and native Christians who sought Dudu Miyan's protection against the
oppressive landlords.
v
Dudu Miyan divided the Faraizi settlement into
small units of 300 to 500 families and appointed a Gaon or ward Khalifah over
each unit. Ten or more such units were grouped together into a circle or Gird,
which was put under a Superintendent Khalifah. The Superintendent Khalifah was
provided with a peon and a piyadah or guard, who was sent to and fro
maintaining contact with the Gaon Khalifaha on the one hand, and with the Ustad
on the other. The Uparastha Khalifahs were advisers to the Ustad and remained
in his company at Bahadurpur, the headquarters of the Faraizi movement.
v
The Gaon Khalifah acted as a community leader
whose duty was to spread religious education, enforce religious duties,
maintain a prayer-hall, look after the morals and administer justice in consultation
with elders. He was also required to maintain a Maktab for teaching the Quran
and elementary lessons to the children.
v
The Superintendent Khalifahs main functions were
to supervise the activities of the Gaon Khalifahs, look after the welfare of
the Faraizis of his Gird, preach the fundamentals of religion and above all, to
sit as a Court of Appeal against the decisions of the Gaon Khalifahs, if any.
In such cases, he heard the appeal sitting in a council of the Khalifahs of his
Gird. In all matters, religious as well as political, the decision of Dudu
Miyan was final and as the Ustad he also acted as the final Court of Appeal.
v
James Wise testifies that the Panchayets of
Eastern Bengal exercised great influence on the people and in Faraizi villages,
it was exceedingly rare that any case of violence or assault committed within
the area found its way to the regular courts. According to him Dudu Miyan
settled disputes, administered summary justice and punished any Hindu, Muslim
or Christian who dared to bring a suit for recovery of debt in the adjoining
Munsif's Court instead of referring the case to his arbitration.
v
Dudu Miyan died in 1862 and before his death he
had appointed a board of guardians to look after his minor sons, Ghiyasuddin
Haydar and Abdul Gafur alias Naya Miyan who succeeded him successively. The
board, with great difficulty, kept the dwindling movement from falling to
pieces. It was not until Naya Miyan attained maturity that it regained some of
its lost strength.
v
Nabinchandra Sen, the then sub-divisional
officer of Madaripur, thought it prudent to enter into an alliance of mutual
help with the Faraizi leaders, who, in their turn, showed a spirit of
co-operation towards the government.
v
On the death of Naya Miyan in 1884, the third
and the youngest son of Dudu Miyan, Syeduddin Ahmad was acclaimed leader by the
Faraizis. During his time, the conflict of the Faraizis with the Taiyunis, another
reformist group reached the climax and religious debates between the two
schools had become a commonplace occurrence in Eastern Bengal.
v
He was bestowed the title of Khan Bahadur by the
government. In 1905, on the question of the partition of Bengal, he lent
support to Nawab Salimullah in favour of partition, but he died in 1906.
v
Khan Bahadur Syeduddin was succeeded by his eldest
son Rashiduddin Ahmad alias Badshah Miyan.
v
During the early years of his leadership,
Badshah Miyan maintained the policy of co-operation towards the government. But
the annulment of the partition of Bengal made him anti-British and he took part
in the khilafat and non-cooperation Movements.
v
Soon after the establishment of Pakistan he
summoned a conference of the Faraizis at Narayanganj and declared Pakistan as
Dar-ul-Islam and gave permission to his followers to hold the congregational
prayers of Jum'ah and Eid.
The Indigo Rebellion
v
The Indigo revolt (or Nil bidroha) was a
peasant movement and subsequent uprising of indigo farmers against the indigo
planters that arose in Chaugacha village of Nadia in Bengal in 1859. Indigo
planting in Bengal dated back to 1777 when Louis Bonnard, a Frenchman
introduced it to the Indians. He was the first indigo planter of Bengal. He
started cultivation at Taldanga and Goalpara near Chandannagar (Hooghly). With
the Nawabs of Bengal under British power, 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).
v
The Indigo revolt (or Nil bidroha) was a peasant
movement and subsequent uprising of indigo farmers against the indigo planters
that arose in Chaugacha village of Nadia in Bengal in 1859.
v
The British adopted many ways through which they
could increase their profits. They also started interfering with the basic
means of livelihood of the people. Not only did they introduce new crops, they
also brought new techniques of farming. Heavy pressure was put on the zamindars
and peasants to pay high taxes and grow commercial crops. One such commercial
crop was Indigo. The cultivation of indigo was determined by the needs of the
English cloth markets. The discontent of the farmers growing indigo was mainly
for three reasons:
•
They were paid very low prices for growing
indigo;
•
Indigo was not lucrative as it was planted at
the same time as food crops;
•
And loss of fertility of the soil because of
planting indigo.
v
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. Even the zamindars
sided with the planters. Under this severe oppression, the farmers resorted to
revolt.
v
The revolt started from the villages of -
Gobindapur and Chaugacha in Krishnanagar, Nadia district, where Bishnucharan
Biswas and Digambar Biswas first led the rebellion against the planters in
Bengal ,1859. It spread rapidly in Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Pabna,
Khulna, and Narail. 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.
v
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. British police
mercilessly hanged great leader of indigo rebels Biswanath Sardar alias Bishe
Dakat in Assannagar, Nadia after a show trial. Some historians opined that he
was the first martyr of indigo revolt in undivided Bengal.
v
The Biswas brothers of Nadia, Kader Molla of
Pabna, and 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. The historian Jogesh Chandra Bagal describes the revolt as a
non-violent revolution and gives this as a reason why the indigo revolt was a
success compared to the Sepoy Revolt.
v
R.C. Majumdar in "History of Bengal"
goes so far as to call it a forerunner of the non-violent passive resistance
later successfully adopted by Gandhi.
v
The revolt had a strong effect on the
government, which immediately appointed the "Indigo Commission" in
1860. In the commission report, E. W. L. Tower noted that "not a chest of Indigo
reached England without being stained with human blood". Finally, the
British government formed the Indigo Commissionin 1860 due to Nawab Abdul
Latif’s initiative with the goal of putting an end to the repressions of indigo
planters by creating the Indigo Act 1862.
v
Dinabandhu Mitra's 1860 play Nil Darpan is based
on the revolt (was published from Dhaka) . It was translated into English by
Michael Madhusudan Dutta and published by Rev. James Long. It attracted much
attention in England, where the people were stunned at the savagery of their
countrymen. The British Government sent Rev. Long to a mock trial and punished
him with imprisonment and fine. Kaliprasanna Sinha paid the fine of Rs 1000 for
him. The play was the first play to be staged commercially in the National
Theatre in Kolkata.
Pabna Unrest
v
Pabna Peasant Uprising (1873–76) was a
resistance movement by the peasants ("Ryots") against the lords of
the lands in Bengal ("zamindars") in the Yusufshahi Pargana (now the
Sirajganj District, Bangladesh) in Pabna. It was led by Ishan Chandra Roy.
v
The Pabna was famous for growing jute in Bengal.
Pabna peasants were forced by the Zamindars to pay revenue taxes higher than
the legal limits. They were also being harsh and used methods of forcible
eviction, capturing the peasants physically and harassment of cultivators.
v
Act X of 1859 granted occupancy to the tenant
farmers but the zamindars resisted the peasants to acquire lands. This led
feeling of discontentment among the farmers of Yusufshahi Pargana.
v
The peasants formed an alliance in order to
oppose the oppressive demands of the landlords. They decided to unite and
resort legal methods through filing cases in the courts against the Zamindars.
This Anti Zamanidar sentiment spread rapidly all over Bengal. Peasants went on
strike and started a movement against the non-payment of rents.
v
Two remarkable features of their struggle were-
v
It was non communal in nature
v
Complete unity among peasants
v
As a result of this revolt, Bengal Tenancy Act
of 1885 was passed and the rights of the Zamindars as well as Tenants were
defined.
v
The Partition of Bengal in 1905, was made on 16
October by then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. Due to the high level of
political unrest generated by the partition, the eastern and western parts of
Bengal were reunited in 1911.
v
The province of Bengal had an area of
489,500sq.km and a population of over 80 million. Eastern Bengal was almost
isolated from the western part by geography and poor communications.
v
Lord Curzon planned to split Orissa and Bihar
and join fifteen eastern districts of Bengal with Assam. The eastern province
held a population of 31 million, most of which was Muslim, with its centre at
Dhaka. Once the Partition was completed Curzon pointed out that he thought of
the new province as Muslim. Lord Curzon's intention was to divide Bengalis, not
Hindus from Muslims. The Western districts formed the other province with
Orissa and Bihar. The union of western Bengal with Orissa and Bihar reduced the
speakers of the Bengali language to a minority. Muslims led by the Nawab
Sallimullah of Dhaka supported the partition and Hindus opposed it.
Partition of Bengal
v
The middle class of Bengal saw this as the
rupture of their dear motherland as well as a tactic to diminish their
authority. In the six-month period before the partition was to be effected the
Congress arranged meetings where petitions against the partition were collected
and given to impassive authorities. Surendranath Banerjee admitted that the
petitions were ineffective and as the date for the partition drew closer began
advocating tougher approaches such as boycotting British goods. He preferred to
label this move as "swadeshi" instead of boycott. The boycott was led
by the moderates but minor rebel groups also sprouted under its cause.
v
Banerjee believed that other targets ought to be
included. Government schools were spurned and on 16 October 1905, the day of
partition, schools and shops were blockaded. The demonstrators were cleared off
by units of the police and army. This was followed by violent confrontations.
v
The partition triggered radical nationalism.
Bengali Hindus were upset with their minority status in the new province. They
began an angry agitation, featuring terrorism, as younger members adopted the
use of bombings, shootings and assassinations in a blend of religious and
political feelings.
v
Although there were prominent Muslim speakers
the Muslims were indifferent to the movement. The British would have been
spared from many complications had they not split Bengal. With each case of
suppression, assertive nationalism increased in Bengal. Indian nationalism
would have been more liberal in the absence of this partition. Nationalists all
over India supported the Bengali cause and were shocked at the British
disregard for opinion and ostensible divide and rule strategy. The protest
spread to Bombay, Poona and Punjab.
v The
authorities not able to end the protest, assented to reversing the partition
and did so in 1911. King George announced in December 1911 that eastern Bengal
would be assimilated into the Bengal Presidency. Districts where Bengali was
spoken were once again unified, and Assam, Bihar and Orissa were separated. The
capital was shifted to New Delhi, clearly intended to provide the British
Empire with a stronger base.
v Muslims
of Bengal were shocked because they had seen the Muslim majority eastern Bengal
as an indicator of the government's enthusiasm for protecting Muslim interests.
They saw this as the government compromising Muslim interests for Hindu
protests and administrative ease.
v The
partition had not initially been supported by Muslim leaders. After the Muslim
majority province of Eastern Bengal and Assam had been created prominent
Muslims started seeing it as advantageous.
v
Muslims, especially in Eastern Bengal, had been
backward in the period of United Bengal. The Hindu protest against the
partition was seen as interference in a Muslim province. With the move of the
capital to a Mughal site, the British tried to satisfy Bengali Muslims who were
disappointed with losing hold of eastern Bengal.
v
In 1909, separate elections were established for
Muslims and Hindus. Before this, many members of both communities had advocated
national solidarity of all Bengalis. With separate electorates, distinctive
political communities developed, with their own political agendas. Muslims,
too, dominated the Legislature, due to their overall numerical strength of
roughly twenty two to twenty eight million. Nationally, Hindus and Muslims
began to demand the creation of two independent states, one to be formed in
majority Hindu and one in majority Muslim areas. The All-India Muslim League was
founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Decca (now in
Dhaka, Bangladesh), in 1906. Being a political party to secure the interests of
the Muslim in British India, the Muslim League played a decisive role behind
the creation of Pakistan in the Indian subcontinent.
Chittagong Armoury Raid
Chittagong armoury raid also known as the Chittagong
uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and
auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armoury in the Bengal Presidency of
British India (now in Bangladesh) by armed Indian independence fighters led by
Surya Sen.
v
Surya Sen, also called Surjya Sen (Bengali: সূর্য সেন, Surjo Sen) (22 March
1894 – 12 January 1934) was a Bengali revolutionary who was influential in the
Indian independence movement against British rule in India and is best known
for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid. Sen was a school teacher by
profession and was popularly known as Master Da ("da" is an honorific
suffix in Bengali language). He was influenced by the nationalist ideals in
1916 while he was a student of B.A. in Behrampore College. In 1918, he was selected
as president of the Indian National Congress's Chittagong branch.
v
Sen was known for recruiting a group of young
and passionate revolutionaries known as the Chittagong group including Anant
Singh, Ganesh Ghosh and Lokenath Baul, who fought against the British stationed
in Chittagong. He was an active participant in the Non-co-operation movement
and was later arrested and imprisoned for 2 years from 1926 to 1928 for his
revolutionary activities. A brilliant and inspirational organiser, Sen was fond
of saying "Humanism is a special virtue of the revolutionary."
v
As a The raiders were members of revolutionary
Indian Republican Army, who favoured armed uprisings as a means to achieve
India's independence from British colonial rule. They were inspired by the 1916
Easter Rising in Ireland. However, they were ideologically influenced more by
the Communists in Soviet Russia. Many of these raiders later became Communists.
The group included Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, Ambika Chakrobarty, Harigopal
Bal (Tegra), Ananta Singh, Anand Prasad Gupta, Tripura Sen, Bidhubhusan
Bhattacharya, Pritilata Waddedar, Kalpana Dutta, Himangshu Sen, Binod Bihari
Chowdhury, Subodh Roy, Monoranjan Bhattacharya.
v
Sen devised a plan to capture the two main
armouries in Chittagong, destroy the telegraph and telephone office, and take
as hostages members of the European Club, the majority of whom also to be
raided, while rail and communication lines were to be cut in order to sever
Chittagong from Calcutta. Imperial banks at Chittagong were to be looted to
gather money for further uprisings, and various jailed revolutionaries would be
freed.
v
The plan was put into action at 10 p.m. on 18
April 1930. The police armoury (in Police Line in Dampara) was captured by a
group of revolutionaries led by Ganesh Ghosh, while another group of ten men
led by Lokenath Bal took the Auxiliary Forces armoury (now the old Circuit
House). Some 65 people took part in the raid, undertaken in the name of Indian
Republican Army, Chittagong Branch. They failed to locate ammunition but did
succeed in cutting telephone and telegraph wires and disrupting train
movements.After the raids, the revolutionaries gathered outside the police
armoury, where Sen took a military salute, hoisted a national flag, and
proclaimed a Provisional Revolutionary Government. The revolutionaries left
Chittagong town before dawn and marched towards the Chittagong hill ranges,
looking for a safe place to hide.
v
A few of the members including Ganesh Ghosh, Ananta
Singh and the teenagers Ananda Gupta and Jeebon Ghoshal were elsewhere, and
almost captured at Feni railway station but managed to escape. Later they
stayed in hiding in a house in Chandannagar.After a few days, the police traced
some of the revolutionaries. They were surrounded by several thousand troops
while they took shelter in Jalalabad hills near Chittagong Cantonment on the
afternoon of 22 April 1930. Over 80 troops and 12 revolutionaries were killed
in the ensuing gunfight in the Battle of Jalalabad Hills. Sen dispersed his men
to neighbouring villages in small groups and thus some escaped. A few fled to
Calcutta while some were arrested. An intense crackdown on the resistance
ensued. Ananta Singh gave himself up in Calcutta coming away from his hiding
place in Chandannagar, to be close to the young teenagers captured and under
trial in Chittagong. A few months later, Police Commissioner Charles Tegart
surrounded their hideout and in the ensuing exchange of fire, Jiban Ghoshal was
killed.
v
Some of the revolutionaries managed to
reorganise. On 24 September 1932, Debi Prasad Gupta, Manoranjan Sen, Rajat Sen,
Swadesh Roy, Phanindra Nandi and Subodh Chaudhary led by Pritilata Waddedar, attacked
the Pahartali European Club, killing one woman and injuring several police
officials. However, the plan was not entirely successful. The revolutionaries
fled after the attack, but Pritilata, who got wounded, consumed cyanide to
evade arrest and killed herself. The police searched the rest of the
absconders. In Kalarpole encounter Deba Gupta, Manoranjan Sen, Rajat Sen and
Swadeshranjan Ray were killed while the other two, Subodh and Phani, were
wounded and arrested. During 1930–1932, 22 officials and 220 others were killed
by revolutionaries in separate incidents. Debi Prasad Gupta's brother was
sentenced to transportation for life. The Chittagong revolutionary group
suffered a fatal blow when Masterda Surya Sen was arrested on 16 February 1933
from Gairala village after a tip-off from an insider of the group. For the
reward money, jealousy, or both, Netra Sen told the British Government that
Surya Sen was at his house. But before Netra Sen was able to get his 10,000
rupee reward, he was assassinated by the revolutionaries.
v
Surya Sen along with Tarakeswar Dastidar were
hanged by the British Administration on 12 January 1934 after inhuman torture
in prison. His hands, legs were broken by torture. He was beaten up so cruelly,
his nails were plucked off. British enjoyed he bleeds till his last breath.
v
His last letter was written to his friends and
said:
"Death is knocking at my
door. My mind is flying away towards eternity. At such a pleasant, at such a
grave, at such a solemn moment, what shall I leave behind you? Only one thing,
that is my dream, a golden dream – the dream of free India. Never forget the
date, 18th of April, 1930, the day of the eastern Rebellion in Chittagong.
Write in red letters in the core of your hearts the names of the patriots who
have sacrificed their lives at the altar of India’s freedom."
Conclusion
The resistance movements in Bengal played a great role during British Period. The historians claims that the Indigo Rebellion was more successful than Sepoy Mutiny. Also the effort of Titu-Mir was an great effort. He showed the spirit to fight building a bamboo fort. Master Da Surya Sen also showed this type of spirit. Pritilata committed suicide to avoid became arrested. Anti movements of Partition of Bengal leads to create a separate political party for Muslims and also it was the main reason to create Pakistan and finally the Bengal was divided by religious popularity. This thing also initiated communal riots in these region. The Fakirs initiated the Guerilla War Tactics in this region. The Faraizis tried to save Muslims from Landlords and Indigo planters, also try to save their fundamental rules of religion. So every movements were played a great role during that time and even some of these have been impacting in present days in this Sub-Continent.