The Act of 1859, provided Ryots with immunity from eviction. Landlords enhanced rent through the imposition of a variety of always (cesses).
The attempts of zamindars to annihilate the tenants newly gal, acquired occupancy rights and convert them into tenants at Will, through forcibly written agreement resulted in harassment and atrocities that were vehemently opposed by peasants under the leadership of Ishan Chandra Roy and Sambhunath Pal, etc.
In 1873, peasants of Yusufshahi Pargana of Pabna organized an Agrarian League, which raised funds to mitigate ad litigation expenses and held mass meetings to which villagers were called by sounding of buffalo horns, drums, etc. Peasants Red did not object to a hike in rent.
In fact, the Agrarian League founded in Yusufshahi Pargana in Pabna district in 1873 spread very fast and they wanted to become Queens’ Ryots for securing redressal of their grievances. Pabna uprising is the rarest example, where peasants did not defy colonial authority and as a matter of fact, wanted to become Ryots of the queen. Pabna rebellion is a landmark since it brought about a change in the perception of the individual rights of zamindar and peasants respectively.
Attempts were made to paint the movement with communal colour since the majority of peasant activists were Muslims and Pabna has a 70% Muslim population. However, such attempts are diluted by the fact that two of their prominent leaders were Hindus, Ishan Chandra Roy (landlord) and Shambhu Nath Pal (village headman) while Khodi Mulla (Jotedar) was a Muslim.
DECCAN RIOTS/MARATHA PEASANTS UPRISING, 1875
The riots were the direct outcome of the exploitative nature of Ryotwari System and over assessment associated with it. The cotton boom of the 1860s was abruptly cut short by a fall in prices due to the end of the American Civil War (1861-65). This widened with the sharp rise in revenue by the government. In 1867, the government raised the revenue by 50%. This further increased the distress among the cultivators since the end of the American Civil War in 1864, causing huge decline in cotton export
The overall result of such changes was that the farmer became a debtor cultivator. Government recovered its debt by resorting to a mortgage of land. The moneylender, who charged high interest on loans (25-50%) recovered their debt by all moral, immoral, legal, and illegal means. The increase in the transfer of holdings from peasants to moneylenders set the stage for class conflict with landless, dislocated debtor-cultivator (Kunbis) comprising the majority of the village on one side and village moneylenders (Vanis) comprising of Marwari and Gujarati moneylenders on the other side.
REASON OF RIOTS
The trouble started in village Kardeh in Senur Taluka in December 1874, when a Marwari moneylender, Kalooram obtained a decree of eviction against Baba Saheb Deshmukh, a cultivator in debt to him for 150. This further polarised the class/caste differences between the Vanis and Kunbis. Cultivators of Kardeh village decided to boycott moneylenders socially and economically, which forced the latter to leave the village.
Soon the passive resistance spread to other villages of Poona and Ahmednagar and turned violent on 12th May. 1875. Peasants gathered in Supa in Bhimthadi Taluka on the bazaar day and began a systematic attack on the moneylenders’ houses and shops. The riot took the form of the forcible seizure of debt bonds.
The government had to rush police and army to control the situation and the uprising was completely suppressed (1875). The government appointed the Deccan Riot Commission to investigate the causes/course of the uprising and the Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act, of 1879, was passed. It provided some limited protection to better-off peasants through strengthening judicial procedures and remedies.