Important Keywords:
- Peasant
- Begar
- Fiji
- Indentured labourer
- Oudh Kisan Sabha
- Non-Cooperation movement
Peasant:
Agricultural laborers or farmers are known as peasants.
Begar:
Begar was one kind of forced labor that was practiced during British time. In this system, laborers were forced to provide free services in place of debt repayment or other causes.
Fiji:
Fiji is an island country that is located in the South Pacific.
Indentured laborer:
An indentured laborer is a form of contract labor that was common in the British colony.
Oudh Kisan Sabha:
Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up in October 1920 by Baba Ramchandra.
Non-Cooperation movement:
Non-Cooperation movement was started by Indian National Congress ( INC) under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1920-22. It aims to achieve self-government or swaraj.
Brief About Baba Ramchandra:
The original name of Baba Ramchandra was Shridhar Balwant.
He was born in 1875 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
He died in 1950 in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
He was from a poor Brahmin family, however his wife Jaggiya was from Schedule Caste.
He also worked as an Indentured laborer in Fiji. He used the "Ram Lila" drama to unite the agricultural labor against the suppressing landlords in Fiji.
He returned to India in 1915.
Work and achievements of Baba Ramchandra:
Formation of Oudh Kisan Sabha:
As we know, he worked as an indentured laborer in Fiji, therefore he knew the feeling of peasants and labor.
He united the farmers of Oudh to fight against the landlord and Zamindar for their abusive policies from 1920 to 1930.
He formed Oudh Kisan Sabha in 1920 and made three demands namely -
- Abolish Begar.
- Reduction of land rents and demand for the security of land tenure
- Socially boycott oppressive landlords
In the Awadh region, more than 300 "Oudh Kisan Sabha" branches were set up within a month.
Influencing National Leader:
He also brought Pandit Nehru to Pratapgarh to support the cause of the peasant's movement and integrated the peasant's movement into the national movement.
Association with Non-Cooperation Movement:
He also associated with Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi in the Non-cooperation movement and associated the peasants to make it a mass movement.
Famous Peasant leader:
Due to his popularity amongst peasants, Britishers put him in Pratapgarh Jail. About 50 thousands of farmers surrounded Pratapgarh Jain and the government was forced to release him from jail.
Try to solve the following questions:
- Analyze the achievements of Baba Ramchandra as a Peasant leader. ( UPPSC General Studies-V(5) Mains Solutions 2023)
- एक किसान नेता के रूप में बाबा रामचंद्र की उपलब्धियों का विश्लेषण कीजिए। ( UPPSC General Studies-V(5) Mains Solutions 2023)
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon