Blue Rebellion and After

India officially known as the Republic of India is a country in South Asia and is the seventh-largest country by area and second-largest by population. It is surrounded by oceans on three sides and shares its border with countries like Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean. India is a country of rich cultural and historical heritage. Due to its vast coastline, it became a prominent place for trade. By the early 18th century several European countries established coastal posts including the British East India Company. It controlled the sea and with the advancement in military training and technology, it increased its control over the subcontinent. Slowly it started to get a hold of the country and within some years India was under the control of the British empire. But after a few years, there was a retaliation within India and the fight for independence.

Indigo Plantation and Blue Rebellion

Indigo plantation was started in the year 1777 when Louis Bonnaud introduced it in Bengal. He started indigo cultivation at Saldana near Hooghly. Due to the political conditions as the nawabs were under the control of the  East India Company indigo became very profitable due to the enormous demand for blue dye in Europe. Some Indigo planters convinced other peasants to switch to indigo instead of the traditional food grains, they provided loans to help them with the plantation expense. 

The conditions of the farmers were not at all good as the planters paid only a fraction of the market price to the farmers and the interest rate of the provided loans was very high this trapped the farmers in a debt cycle and mostly all the farmers remained in-dept till their last breath  .with the passing of plantation act in 1833 the planters had absolute right over the farmers and the farmers did not have any free will. Even the zamindars took the side of planters as they enjoyed the benefits of indigo plantations. Due to this unfair treatment, the farmers resorted to protests which later came to be known as the Blue Rebellion.

It started in the villages of Champaran and Chaugacha villages in the Krishnanagar district in Bengal. The first revolves led by Bishnucharan and Digambar Biswas against the planters in 1959. This revolt did not stop at one single location but spread rapidly to various places like Burdwan, Pabna, Khulna, and many more places. This revolt even took a violent turn in many places. A lot of indigo depot was burnt down. Many planters fled to avoid being involved in the protest. This soon turned against the Zamindars.

Unlike the rest of the protests which took place in pre-independent India, this was not uniformly practiced in all the areas. The resistance and technique varied from place to place. The first revolt led by Bishnucharan and Digambar was a violent and armed conflict against the planters. But it was mostly passive and non-violent. Some historians even claim that Gandhi adopted the Non Violence policy after seeing the success of this non-violent movement. 

This revolt was successful to an extent as it forced the British government to appoint the Indigo Commission consisting of 5 members W, S Seton Karr, and R. Temple represented the British Government, Chandramohan Chatterjee as a representative of the Zamindars, and J.Sale represented the Christian Missionaries and finally, the European Planters were represented by W.F. Ferguson in 1860 who after hearing the testimony of more than a hundred people including farmers, planters, Zamindars ryots they finally gave their report in august 1860. They thought that the indigo plantation system in itself was ridden and it was the main reason why the planters were taking advantage of the farmers. After reviewing the suggestions it passed the Indigo Act in 1862 having the sole goal of putting an end to the repression of indigo farmers. 

Sample Questions 

Question 1: Why was the Indigo plantation more popular in those times?

Answer: 

Due to the political conditions as the nawabs were under the control of the  East India Company indigo became very profitable due to the enormous demand for blue dye in Europe.

Question 2: What was the nature of this revolt?

Answer: 

Unlike the rest of the protests which took place in pre-independent India, this was not uniformly practised in all the areas. The resistance and technique varied from place to place. The first revolt led by Bishnucharan and Digamber was a violent and armed conflict against the planters. But it was mostly passive and non-violent .

Questions 3: Was the Blue Rebellion successful. Explain?

Answer: 

This revolt was successful to an extent as it forced the British government to appoint the Indigo Commission in 1860 and after reviewing the suggestions it passed the Indigo Act in 1862 having the sole goal of putting an end to the repression of indigo farmers.