Editing Content :: Admin Scraper

Chapter

Content type

Position

Value

The Khurda Uprising – A Case Study Much before the event of 1857, there had taken place another event of a similar nature at a place called Khurda in 1817. Here, it would be instructive for us to study that event and reflect on how resentment against the colonial policies of the British had been building up since the beginning of the 19 thcentury in different parts of the country. Khurda, a small kingdom built up in the late 16 thcentury in the south-eastern part of Orissa, was a populous and well-cultivated terrthory consisting of 105 garhs, 60 large and 1109 small villages at the beginning of the 19 century. Its king, Raja Birakishore Dev had to earlier give up the possession of four parganas, the superintendence of the Jagannath Temple and the administration of fourteen garjats (Princely States) to the Marathas under compulsion. His son and successor, Mukunda Dev II was greatly disturbed with this loss of fortune.Therefore,sensinganopportunityintheAnglo-Marathaconflict,hehadenteredinto negotiations with the British to get back his lost territories and the rights over the Jagannath Temple. But after the occupation of Orissa in 1803, the British showed no inclination to oblige him on either score. Consequently, in alliance with other feudatory chiefs of Orissa and secret support of the Marathas, he tried to assert his rights by force. This led to his deposition and annexation of his territories by the British. As a matter of consolation, he was only given the rights of management of the Jagannath Temple with a grant amounting to a mere one-tenth of the revenue of his former estate and his residence was fixed at Puri. This unfair settlement commenced an era of oppressive foreign rule in Orissa, which paved the way for a serious armed uprising in 1817. Soon after taking over Khurda, the British followed a policy of resuming service tenures. It bitterly affected the lives of the ex-militia of the state, the Paiks. The severity of the measure was compounded on account of an unreasonable increase in the demand of revenue and also the oppressive ways of its collection. Consequently, there was large scale desertion of people from Khurda between 1805 and 1817. Yet, the British went for a series of short-term settlements, each time increasing the demands, not recognising either the productive capacity of the land or the paying capacity of the ryots. No leniency was shown even in case of natural calamities, which Orissa was frequently prone to. Rather, lands of defaulters were sold off to scheming revenue officials or speculators from Bengal. The hereditary Military Commander of the deposed king, Jagabandhu Bidyadhar MahapatraBhramarabarRaiorBuxiJagabandhuashewaspopularlyknown,wasoneamong the dispossessed land-holders. He had in effect become a beggar, and for nearly two years survived on voluntary contributions from the people of Khurda before deciding to fight for their grievances as well as his own. Over the years, what had added to these grievances were (a) the introduction of sicca rupee (silver currency) in the region, (b) the insistence on payment of revenue in the new currency, (c) an unprecedented rise in the prices of food-stuffandsalt,whichhadbecomefar-fetchedfollowingtheintroductionofsaltmonopoly because of which the traditional salt makers of Orissa were deprived of making salt, and (d) the auction of local estates in Calcutta, which brought in absentee landlords from Bengal to Orissa. Besides, the insensitive and corrupt police system also made the situation worse for the armed uprising to take a sinister shape. The uprising was set off on 29 March 1817 as the Paiks attacked the police station and other government establishments at Banpur killing more than a hundred men and took away a large amount of government money. Soon its ripples spread in different directions with Khurda becoming its epicenter. The zamindars and ryots alike joined the Paiks with enthusiasm. Those who did not, were taken to task. A ‘no-rent campaign’ was also started. The British tried to dislodge the Paiks from their entrenched position but failed. On 14 April 1817, Buxi Jagabandhu, leading five to ten thousand Paiks and men of the Kandh tribe 62 OUR PASTS – III Reprint 2024-25