- Bengal: First indigo revolts by farmers took place in Bengal.
Neel was cultivated in two ways – (i) Inhabited – It used to be cultivated on the land of planters with the help of workers. (ii) Raiyati – where the farmer used to cultivate indigo in his land. He would take some money in advance and then sell the entire crop at a predetermined price. By the middle of the 19th century, most of the European planters were interested in getting indigo cultivated by the farmers and forced the cultivation of indigo with the help of ethnic differences. In this system, if a farmer took some money in advance from the planter, he could not give it for generations. He had to sell indigo at a low price. The Nile Revolt started in 1859 AD. In 1860, it became more widespread because dissatisfaction against the Rent Act of 1959 also joined it. Canning wanted to favor the planters but the Secretary of India did not allow it. The planters started transferring their capital to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
- Patna: There was increasing discontent against the Rent Act of 1859 AD. In 1873, it emerged as a peasant uprising in Patna. The farmers also started a lawsuit against the revenue increase of zamindari by forming a union and they stopped paying rent in the villages. The government was forced to appoint a rent commission in 1869 AD and on its recommendation, the Bengal Tenancy Act was passed in 1885.
- Maharashtra and Gujarat: In Maharashtra too, there were agrarian revolts against the moneylenders. Here Marwaris and Gujarati moneylenders used to give money to the farmers on higher interest and their money established their suzerainty over the social reform movement in India as they decided in their favor from the courts. In 1875, this dissatisfaction of Kunbi farmers is known as Dakshin Nuisance, though some of its symptoms started appearing from 1871 AD. These disturbances were particularly against the Marwaris. The protests were led by the Patel of the villages. The government was forced to appoint a commission and in 1879, the South Act was passed, under which the process of transfer of land from farmers was stopped. Courts were empowered to reduce the rate of interest. Later, farmer moneylenders developed and cooperative institutions progressed. The agrarian movement moved towards Gujarat, so Maharashtra’s agitation movement was less in the national movement and Gujarati farmers became more active.
- Punjab: The peasant movement in Punjab developed by the end of the 19th century. According to English rules, the influence of moneylenders increased and farmers started keeping their land. This discontent increased the construction of canals in new settlements. In these new settlements (such as the Chenab Canal Settlement), the government gave land to farmers on certain conditions. Non-compliance with those conditions was accompanied by collective fines. This led to widespread corruption by the authorities. In 1909, Punjab organized an act and agitation under the leadership of Ajitsingh and Minto rejected the act passed by the provincial government.
- Champaran: After 1920 AD, the peasants’ movements were mostly against the zamindari exploitation, whose main goal was against the peasant system. After 1920, power was being challenged by non-violent satyagraha run by Gandhiji. This created the courage of the helpless farmers to agitate against the tyrannical system. In 1917, Gandhiji organized the peasants of Champaran and finally the Tinkathiya system, under which the best land of the farmers was taken away from them, was abolished and the growth of revenue from the farmers was also limited. The movement in Bardoli was started in 1922, but had to be postponed after Chauri-Chaura. In 1928, the Bardoli Autonomy was started again. Although this movement was in a very limited area, its success was significant. The Mumbai government increased the rent by 22 percent. A very organized movement took place under the leadership of Sardar Patel and eventually the government had to bow down. A commission was appointed and in 1929, the amount of increase was reduced from 22 percent to 6.
- Uttar Pradesh: The leaders of the national movement in Uttar Pradesh used to be absorbed in making the farmers active. The Kisan Sabha movement under the leadership of Baba Ramchandra was active in Rae Bareli, Faizabad, Sultanpur districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The ‘Eka’ movement in Hardoi district was influential. After the civil disobedience movement of 1930 AD, the peasant movement became more active. At this time there was a huge reduction in the value of agricultural produce from the worldwide mandi, which resulted in harmful to the farmers. The Talukdars kept the task of increasing revenue and evicting the farmers as before. At this time also, the movement was led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Baba Ramchandra. After 1931, this peasant movement was crushed by force. It was enough that the peasants became more radical and after the Congress came to power to save them from the atrocities of the landlords, they created some space which could protect the interests of the farmers. Bihar like Uttar Pradesh. The Kisan Sabha movement also became influential. National leaders took an active part in this and made the saliva national movement effective.
read alsoFactors of social movement
7. South India: The first Moplah rebellion in the South took place in August 1921 AD. Initially it was against the British government but later the Moplahs kept the struggle on the guerrilla method prevalent. At that time some Hindus must have been killed. After 1930 AD, the Moplahs supported the Muslim League and did not participate in the agrarian movement. In 1929, the Malabar Tenancy Act was passed, in which the interests of affluent farmers were protected and no attention was paid to the landless farmers who belonged to the lower castes. The Ryotwadi system was mostly prevalent in Madras province, but by the early 20th century a thriving farming class had developed which also used to do moneylending business. Zamindari system was also prevalent in some areas. Initially, the agrarian movement was confined to those zamindari areas. In 1920, the farmers participated in large numbers in the Non-cooperation movement in Guntur district. In the area of department agency in Andhra in 1922 A.D. The Koya tribe movement led by Ramaraju was for his traditional rights. In 1924, this movement was crushed. In 1928, Andhra Pradesh Rayat Sangh’s N.N. G. Established under the leadership of Ranga. It placed the demerits prevailing in zamindari areas before the government. The rich cultivators became more disgruntled as a result of the worldwide recession, as they produced commercial crops whose value had drastically decreased. This rich farming class stopped giving loans to ordinary farmers in their critical situation and then the farmers started a movement against moneylenders. Between 1933–35 AD, Kisan Sabhas were established in various provinces. The All India Kisan Sabha was established in the year 1936. The organization was under the control of socialists and communists and intellectuals from the very beginning. Although the number of members of this organization continued to increase, despite all that progress, the farmer could not become an important force in the Indian national movement. After independence and with the abolition of Zamindari, the farmer was recognized as a separate class and some relief. But even today the farmer of India is not given as much importance as he should be given on the basis of his work labor and number.