Freedom Struggle:Uprisings between 1757 to 1856

       Revolt of 1857 was not an isolated incident. In fact it was the culmination of long list of revolts which took place during the first hundred years of colonial rule i.e. from Battle of Plassey in 1757 to the Revolt of 1857. During this period there was hardly a year when the colonial rule did not face a rebellion. The revolts were mostly led by traditional leaders of the society like deposed rulers, erstwhile zamindars and religious leaders while the heavily burdened peasantry and ruined artisans provided the mass base. Although most of these revolts were a localized affair many of these involved larger areas and populace. These uprisings took place all over the country and followed the trajectory of the colonial expansion. This shows that colonial rule in India did not had a smooth passage but was strongly contested by the Indian society. Some of these rebellions were as under:

• Sanyasi Rebellion led by sanyasis or ascetics took place in Bengal in 1763 and continued up to 1800. The revolt was made famous by the novel “Anandmath” written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1882.
• Chuar uprising in Midnapore district of Bengal which took place from 1766 to 1772 and again from 1795 to 1816. In its second phase it was led by Durjan Singh, ex-zamindar of Raipur.
• Peasants of Rangpur and Dinajpur distiricts in Bengal revolted in January-Februrary, 1783. Durjoy Narayan was an important leader of this revolt.
• Paiks, a military class in Orissa were annoyed due to taking away of their rent free lands. An earlier attempt to revolt failed in 1804. However, the revolt broke out in 1817 under the leadership of Bakshi Jagabandhu, the erstwhile commander of the forces of Raja of Khurda. The revolt also received support from common peasantry.
• Kols, a tribe of Chhotanagpur region also revolted against the British during 1831-32. Taking away of their autonomy and entry of Government officials and moneylenders in the system were the main causes of revolt.
• Raja of Vijaynagar revolted against the British in 1794 against the payment of dues.
• Poligars were landed gentry of South India who revolted against the British in 1799-1802. Their rebellions are also known as First Poligar War (1799) and Second Poligar War (1800-1802).
• Velu Thampi was Diwan of Travancore who organized a revolt against the British in 1809.
• Peasants of Mysore revolted in 1830-31 against exorbitant rent demands.
• Kutch rebellion led by the Chiefs of Suarashtra continued from 1816-1832 in some form or the other.
• Kolis of Gujarat also rose in revolt in 1824 which continued up to 1849.
• Bhils concentrated in Maharashtra and Gujarat revolted against the British during 1818-1831.
• In 1816 the people of Bareilly people revolted against imposition of a municipal tax to pay for the police force to protect the citizens.
• People of Benaras organised a hartal (strike) in 1810 over the issue of house tax. This received wide spread support and British were forced to withdraw it in 1811.

      These revolts failed to overthrow the British Rule in India but widespread nature of these revolts was an indication of the oppressive and destructive policies followed by the colonial rule. It also indicated the intention of the Indian society to counter these policies and the foreign rule.  These rebellions culminated in the great uprising of 1857 which had a much wider spread and involved multiple sections of the society.