After 1857, “the peasants emerged as the main force in agrarian movements.”

Answer:

After the Revolt of 1857, agrarian protest in India increasingly became centred on peasants rather than dispossessed rulers or sepoys. The colonial agrarian order, with high revenue demand, landlordism, moneylender exploitation and commercial crop pressure, made peasants the principal force in rural resistance.

Peasant-Centred Agrarian Movements

• The Indigo Revolt of 1859-60 was led by raiyats against European planters who forced indigo cultivation on oppressive terms.
• The Pabna movement in Bengal reflected tenant resistance against zamindari enhancement of rent and illegal cesses.
• The Deccan Riots of 1875 were directed against moneylenders and debt bondage in ryotwari regions.
• Later peasant mobilisation in Awadh, Bihar and other regions also showed the growing centrality of cultivators.

Nature of Peasant Assertion

• Peasants generally fought for customary rights, fair rents, protection from eviction and relief from debt.
• Their movements were more organised than earlier spontaneous uprisings in some regions, especially where the press, intelligentsia or local leaders gave support.
• These struggles exposed the exploitative nature of colonial agrarian policy.

However, peasant movements were often local and did not always possess a clear nationalist ideology. Yet, as Ranajit Guha and later historians emphasised, peasant resistance had its own political significance. Therefore, after 1857, peasants increasingly became the major force in agrarian movements, even if their struggles were initially local and economic in form.