Which is known in history as the 'Nil Rebellion'.
So let's know closely about the interesting stories related to the Nile rebellion.
British officers left jobs for Indian indigo
The first purpose of the British coming to India was to promote their colonialism. They also included different types of farming here. They used to force Indian farmers to cultivate it according to the needs of Europe.
By the end of the 18th century, the East India Company started emphasizing the cultivation of opium and indigo. In Britain indigo was used for printing etc.
As the demand for indigo started increasing, the company started taking concrete steps to increase the cultivation of indigo in India. Indigo cultivation was spreading rapidly in Bengal as well as in Bihar. India's indigo had dominated the markets around the world. Especially the high quality which was in the indigo of Bengal of India was not in the indigo of any other country.
Till the year 1788, the share of Indian indigo in the indigo imported by Britain was only 30 percent. Wherein around 1810, the share of Indian indigo in the indigo imported by Britain had increased by 95 percent.
In view of the increasing business of indigo, the company's officials and business agents started investing more money in the production of indigo. There came a time when many British officers left their jobs for the sake of Neil's business. He took to land on lease and planted indigo plantations himself.
For this, the British government also had their support. Those who did not have money to grow indigo. The company and the bank were also ready to give them loans.
Indian farmers were tortured for growing indigo
The British needed laborers along with Indian farmers for cultivation in their indigo plantations. In such a situation, the British started cultivating indigo in two ways. The first plantation owners themselves would produce indigo by employing laborers in their lands. For this, the zamindars were forced to give their land on lease.
The second plantation owners would settle with the ryots. For this, he got the farmers to sign the contract. Then those farmers used to get a cash loan at the low-interest rates to grow indigo. The ryots who took these loans had to cultivate indigo on 25 percent of their land.
Planters would make arrangements for seeds, etc., but farmers had to take care of everything from preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, and taking care of it.
When the crop was handed over to the planter after harvesting, the same cycle of loans, etc. would start again. This caused great trouble for the farmers. There was also a compulsion in front of them that at the time indigo was cultivated. Paddy was also cultivated at the same time. In such a situation, the plantation owners were also facing a lot of difficulties in getting laborers.
There came a time when farmers started being beaten up for indigo production. They were forced to cultivate indigo. They were always buried under debt.
Farmers had to cultivate indigo on their most fertile land, but there was also a problem with the cultivation of indigo in that its roots were very deep. She would take away all the strength of the soil. Because of this, after the harvesting of indigo, paddy could not be cultivated there.
In view of all these troubles, the farmers of Bengal started taking pride in revolting against British rule.
Nile rebellion started again
In 1859, thousands of ryots of Bengal refused to cultivate indigo. First of all this rebellion started in September 1858 in Govindpur village of Nadia district of Bengal. Which was led by the local leaders Digambar Vishwas and Vishnu Vishwas.
Under his leadership, the farmers there refused to cultivate indigo. Soon this revolt spread to many areas of Bengal like Malda, Dhaka, and Pavana in 1860. By 1860, this revolt had caused an earthquake in the whole of Bengal.
This rebellion got a lot of strength from the solidarity of the farmers. As the rebellion progressed, the ryots refused to pay the rent to the planters. The farmers did not stop here, till yesterday, weapons in the fields were used to attack indigo factories. Along with men, women also jumped into this rebellion.
The working classes also carried out a social boycott on the plantation owners. When an agent went to collect rent, he would be beaten up and driven away.
The farmers took an oath that neither they would cultivate indigo nor would they sit silent because of the fear of the planters. Their rebellion got more strength when the forced zamindars there also decided to support them.
When the British government got scared
The indigo farmers continued the rebellion continuously. They had an apprehension that the British government would support them in their struggles. One of the reasons behind this was that after the revolt of 1857, the British officers had become completely conscious. They did not want to slack off in any kind of agitation.
In such a situation, the British government started getting scared of this growing indigo movement of Indian farmers. He wanted to quell this rebellion by any means.
It is said that the solidarity of the farmers had done that work that the officers had to travel from place to place on cold nights.
Further, the magistrate issued notice that the ryots would not be compelled to accept Neel's contract. After this announcement, the news spread among the people that Queen Victoria has issued a decree not to cultivate indigo. The situation was getting worse.
The government took a tough decision and...
As the rebellion intensified. The educated people of Calcutta also started supporting these poor farmers. Groups of journalists and writers started moving towards these Nile cities. The writers started writing openly about the atrocities being committed on the farmers by the plantation owners.
The matter had become so bad that the army had to be deployed to protect the plantation owners. A Nile Commission was formed to investigate the matter further. This commission found the plantation owners guilty. He also criticized his bad behavior.
Along with this, the commission also said that the cultivation of indigo is a loss-making deal for the farmers belonging to the ryots. After fulfilling the previous contracts, the farmer will not grow indigo for the plantation owners. It depends on his wish.
After the decision taken in this rebellion, the production of indigo in Bengal became a monarchy. The British started paying attention to the Bihar farmers. The farmers there too were facing the same problems.
In such a situation, a farmer met Mahatma Gandhi. He asked them to take cognizance of the plight of the indigo farmers of Bihar. It was only after this that in 1917, Mahatma Gandhi started the Champaran movement against the indigo plantations.
So this was the interesting story of the Nile rebellion by the Indian farmers against the British, in which the British government had to bow down due to the solidarity of the farmers. Perhaps that is why the Nile rebellion is considered an important contribution to the Indian freedom struggle.
