Politico-Religious Movements  were on the verge in the 18th and 19th centuries.Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the East India Company’s political dominance grew, and by the end of the eighteenth century, the British had emerged as the dominant force in India. As the Company developed political clout, it became necessary to institute and enforce policies concerning land income, peace and order, and the establishment of an administration. The implementation of such measures caused upheaval in Indian society and resulted in changes. Furthermore, the Company’s major goal was to use India’s riches for the growth of England. People’s socio-cultural, economic, and political lives were disrupted as a result of these upheavals.

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In this article, we will understand the Politico-Religious Movements in the 18th and 19th Centuries. All these dimensions are important for competitive examinations like IAS,IPS,IFS etc. Considering this, the Testbook provides the best quality notes for UPSC Exams. Study major topics of Indian Polity from the perspective of UPSC Exams. 

Causes of Popular Resistance Movements

• Politico-Religious Movements was the outcome of the exploitation which was symbolised by British rule, whose policies had damaged Indians’ rights, status, and economic position.
• The displaced ruling classes, peasantry, and tribals led the protests and resistance. The people of Banaras revolted after Warren Hastings attacked the city and imprisoned King Chet Singh in order to satisfy his unlawful demand for money and an army.
• When the British sought to take away their military and land rights in the Madras Presidency, the Poligars revolted. Interference with religious rituals was another reason for these populist uprisings.
• These revolts were frequently anti-Christian. This was owing to the British’s socio-religious reforms, which were unpopular with the population.
• In several previous rebellions, religious disagreements between the ruler and oppressed classes became the immediate cause of the revolt.
• This occurred during the Malabar Mappila Rebellion. The Muslim peasantry struggled against Hindu landowners and moneylenders in this area.

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Social base of the rebellions

• Political religious movements such as the Faqir and Sanyasi uprisings were led by religious mendicants whose religious rituals were incomprehensible to the British.
• At a time when the newly developed urban elite was reaping the benefits of British control, it was the traditional sectors of society whose lives had been drastically altered for the worse who revolted.
• Civil rebellions were frequently led by overthrown kings or their descendants, uprooted and destitute zamindars, landowners and poligars, and ex-retainers and officials of defeated Indian States.
• The rack-rented peasants, devastated artisans, and demobilised soldiers provided the backbone of the rebellions, as well as their mass base and striking force.

Nature of Politico-Religious Movements

• Politico-Religious Movements included methods of expressing their defiance to their captors were violence and robbery.
• The exploited and lower classes frequently fought their exploiters. They were Britishers, zamindars, revenue collectors, and other rich persons and organisations.
• The Santhal Rebellion saw widespread violence, including the burning of moneylenders’ accounts and government buildings, as well as the punishment of their exploiters. We learned about the British land policy in a prior session.
• The goal was to collect as much money from the peasants and tribal people as possible. This produced such uproar among the peasants and tribals that they began to voice their animosity toward the British.
• It is critical to understand that these popular resistance groups tried to restore ancient institutions and relationships that had been destroyed by the British.
• Each socioeconomic group had its own motivations for speaking out against the colonial powers.
• Displaced zamindars and rulers, for example, wished to reclaim their lands and estates.
• Similarly, tribal communities revolted because they did not want traders and moneylenders interfering with their life.

The Faqir and Sanyasi Rebellions (1770–1820s):

• The introduction of British dominance over Bengal after 1757 resulted in an increase in land income and peasant exploitation.
• The Bengal famine of 1770 inspired an uprising by peasants whose estates had been stolen, displaced zamindars, discharged troops, and the impoverished.
• The Sanyasis and Fakirs joined them. In Bengal, the Faqirs were a group of travelling Muslim religious mendicants. Bhawani Pathak and a lady, Devi Choudhurani, were two well-known Hindu leaders who backed them.
• They raided English industries, seizing commodities, cash, weapons, and ammunition. Maznoom Shah was a major leader among them. They were eventually subdued by the British in the beginning of the nineteenth century.
• The Sanyasi Uprisings occurred in Bengal between the years 1770 and 1820. Following the catastrophic famine of 1770 in Bengal, which produced extreme disorder and misery, the Sanyasis rose in revolt.
• The immediate reason for the insurrection, however, was British restrictions on pilgrims visiting sacred spots among both Hindus and Muslims.

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Wahabi Movement

• Syed Ahmed of Rai Bareilly created an Islamic revivalist movement influenced by the teachings of Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Wahab (1703-87) and Delhi’s Shah WaliUllah.
• Syed Ahmed criticised Western influences on Islam and called for a return to genuine Islam and society.
• Syed Ahmed was named Imam (desired leader), and a nationwide organisation with a complex secret code for operating under spiritual vice-regents (khalifas) was established, with Sithana in the northwestern tribal belt designated as the base of operations.
• Its main office in India was in Patna, but it also maintained missions in Hyderabad, Madras, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bombay.
• A Zehad was launched against the Sikh kingdom of Punjab because Dar-Ul-Harb (the country of kafirs) was to be changed into Dar-Ul-Islam (the land of islam).
• In 1849, the British defeated the Sikh king and incorporated the Punjab under the East India Company’s domain.
• The Wahabi’s assaults were only directed at India’s dominion.

Polygar Rebellions (Kurnool, 1799-1805)

• Polygars were offshoots of the Vijaynagar Administration’s Nayankara system. The Polygars, like the North Indian Rajputs, were given land in exchange for military service when called upon.
• The poligars of Tirunelveli District rose out in open revolt in September 1799, during the first Polygar War.
• A column of Company troops was quickly dispatched against them, and poligars in other districts of the south were warned not to join the insurrection. Kattabomma Nayak of Panchalamkurichi was regarded as the rebellion’s key leader.
• Despite his early success in eluding arrest, he was subsequently apprehended in Pudukkottai and publicly hung in front of other Polygars as a warning.
• At Panchalankurichi, Subramania Pillai, a close companion of Kattabomma Nayak, was publicly hanged and his head was put on a pike.
• Another rebel commander, Soundra Pandian Nayak, was cruelly murdered by having his skull smashed against a village wall.
• Given the scale of involvement, the Second Polygar War of 1800-01 is sometimes known as the “South Indian Rebellion.”
• It was led by a confederacy that included Sivaganga’s Marudu Pandian, Dundigal’s Gopala Nayak, Malabar’s Kerala Verma, and Mysore’s Krishnappa Nayak and Dhoondaji.
• When a band of Polygar troops bombed the united forces of the poligars, the uprising erupted.

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Ramosi Uprising (1822, 1825-26)

• Under the leadership of Chittur Singh, the Ramosis, who served in the lowest ranks of the Maratha army and police, revolted in Satara in 1822 in protest at high land revenue assessments and brutal collection techniques.
• Ramos pillaged the areas surrounding Satara and assaulted the forts.
• They revolted again in 1825-26, this time under the banner of Umaji, due to severe starvation and poverty in Pune. They devastated the Deccan for three years.
• Finally, the British government appeased them not only by pardoning their crimes, but also by providing them with land grants and enlisting their services in the Hill Police.

The Indigo Rebellion (1859-1862):

• The British devised a variety of strategies to boost their earnings. They also began meddling with the people’s fundamental means of subsistence. Not only did they bring new crops, but they also introduced new agricultural practises.
• The zamindars and peasants were put under a lot of pressure to pay hefty taxes and produce commercial crops. Indigo was one such commercial crop.
• The requirements of the English fabric markets dictated indigo planting.
• Farmers producing indigo were dissatisfied for three reasons: they were paid extremely low rates for growing indigo; it was not profitable since it was grown at the same time as food crops; and there was a loss of soil fertility as a result of planting indigo.
• As a result, food supplies have decreased. The peasants suffered at the hands of the traders and middlemen who they relied on to sell their commodities, often at extremely cheap prices.
• They aided the zamindars in maintaining their power and resolving their administrative issues.
• In Bengal, peasants started a campaign against indigo planting. Peasants from both Hindu and Muslim communities went on strike and filed lawsuits against the planters.
• The press and missionaries both backed them up. In November 1860, the government issued instructions declaring it illegal to force raiyats to plant indigo. This was the insurgents’ first win.

Pagal Panthi Movement (1825-1833)

• Pagal Panthi Revolt a peasant movement guided by religious mendicants called Pagal Panthis. It began as an anti-zamindar movement and eventually evolved into an anti-British movement.
• Northern Mymensingh, including Sherpur, differed from Bengal in a variety of ways. The hill tribes controlled its language, culture, and ethnic traits: the Garos, Hajangs, Dalus, Hudis, and Rajvangshies.
• Their primary religion was nature worship. Over time, Hindu and Muslim aspects were introduced into their society, and the area came to be populated by some Hindus and Muslims.
• For decades, the area served as a sanctuary for religious and political insurgents. This category included the Pagal Panthis.
• Karim Shah’s lessons were straightforward and straightforward. He taught that mankind was created by God. As a result, they are all equal and brothers to one another. As a result, his disciples referred to one another as ‘Bhai-Saheb.’
• Their behaviour and style of existence appeared weird and strange to the people who lived on the plains.
• People in the plains began to refer to Bhai-Sahebs as ‘Pagals’ (mad-caps), and Karim Shah and his followers’ actions and dissemination became known as the ‘Pagal Panthi Movement.’
• The Pagal Panthis’ views were established by combining the nonviolent parts of all religions and were congruent with the peasantry’s ancient faiths.

Faraizi Movement (1838-1848)

• Shariatullah Khan and Dadu Mian spearheaded the first ever no-tax movement against the British government.
• Their volunteer squad battled valiantly against an armed force of Indigo growers and zamindars. It drew together all of Bengal’s cultivators in opposition to the landowners’ oppression and unlawful extractions.
• The Faraizis were followers of Haji Shariat-Allah of Faridpur in Eastern Bengal, who created a Muslim sect.
• They pushed for extreme religious and social-political reforms. Dadu Mian (1819-60), Shariat- Allah’s son, assembled his supporters with the goal of driving the English out of Bengal.
• The tenants’ struggle against the Zamindars was also backed by the sect. The Faraizi uprising lasted from 1838 to 1857. The majority of the Faraizis embraced the wahhabi movement.

Kuka Revolt (1871 – 1871)

• Bhagat JawaharMal established the Kuka Movement in western Punjab in 1840. After him, Baba Ram Singh emerged as a key figure in the movement.
• After the British conquered Punjab, the movement shifted from a religious cleansing effort to a political one.
• Its primary ideas were the eradication of caste and other forms of discrimination among Sikhs, the prohibition of meat, alcohol, and narcotics, the acceptance of intermarriages, widow remarriage, and the encouragement of women to leave their isolation.
• In the year 1840, Bhagat JawaharMal began questioning. Sikhism’s teachings extol the virtues of simplicity and purity.
• However, as time passed, the beliefs were tainted by diverse ceremonies and unfounded assumptions. In several beliefs and customs, they differed from mainstream Sikhs.
• The “namdharis” were primarily motivated by the needless ornamentation associated with Sikhism.
• Bhagat JawaharMal, also known as Sian Sahib, began to reform Sikhism and change it for the better. He was completely opposed to the atrocities that were prevalent in the name of Sikhism.
• Following Sian Sahib, his pupil BALAK Singh carried on the tradition of preaching.
• The namdharis were devout followers of Guru Gobind Singh’s teachings and the Sikh sacred book, Adi Granth. Anyone who tampered with these sayings was deemed a Sikhism violation.

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Munda Rebellion (1899-1900)

• The Munda Rebellion was one of the most important and well-known rebellions that occurred after 1857.
• The Mundas have always had particular privileges as the first forest clearers that were not granted to the other tribes. Long before the British arrived, however, this land structure was being undermined by merchants and moneylenders.
• However, when the British arrived in these areas, they quickly contributed to destabilise the system by introducing contractors and dealers.
• These contractors wanted enslaved servants to help them with their projects. The Munda Rebellion arose from the dislocation of the Mundas at the hands of the British and their contractors.
• Birsa Munda, the revolt’s most noteworthy leader, was more aware than the others since he had received some education from the Missionaries.
• He urged his tribe’s members to continue the practise of worshipping holy woods. This strategy was critical in preventing the British from occupying their wastelands.
• Birsa Munda fought moneylenders/mahajans as well as English authorities to achieve this.
• Police stations, churches, and missionaries were among the targets of his wrath. Unfortunately, the insurgents were crushed, and Munda died shortly after in prison in 1900. His sacrifice, however, was not in vain.
• The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act of 1908 gave the people limited land ownership rights and prohibited the tribe’s bonded labour. Birsa Munda was the mastermind behind the Munda Rebellion and is still recognised today.

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