SEBA Board Solution Class 10 History Chapter 3 Anti-British Rising and Peasant Revolts in Assam
SEBA Board Solution Class 10 History Chapter 3 Anti-British Rising and Peasant Revolts in Assam full exercise Solution by Computer Sir. Here in this page we have provided SEBA – The Board Of Secondary Education, Assam Class 10 History Chapter 3 all Question Answer Solution.
SEBA Board Solution Class 10 History Chapter 3: Overview
Board |
SEBA / Assam State Board |
Class |
10 |
Subject |
History |
Chapter Number |
3 |
Chapter Name |
Anti-British Rising and Peasant Revolts in Assam |
Topic |
Solution |
Very short answer type questions :
1.) After the establishment of the British rule in Assam how did the system of revenue collection change?
Answer – After the establishment of British rule in Assam, the new government emphasised and put more priorities on the tax collection systems. Before the British government, there was no revenue collection in cash
2.) In which year did Moffat Mills come to Assam?
Answer – Moffat mills arrived in Assam in the Year 1853
3.) Who were the Keyas ?
Answer – The marwaris who had immigrated to Assam were referred to as the Keyas. They mainly depended on interest as their source of income and were also called as the mahajans.
4.) Who led the revolt of 1857 in Assam?
Answer – In 1857, the revolt in Assam was led by Maniram Barbhandar Barua.
5.) Which Ahom Prince did the rebels of Assam want to re-install on the throne in the revolt of 1857?
Answer – Kandarpeswar Singha was the Ahom Prince whom the rebels wanted to re-install on the throne in the rebel of 1857.
6.) Who was the Bengali Muktiyar who helped Maniram Dewan?
Answer – The Bengali Muktiyar known to have helped Maniram Dewan was Madhu Mallik
7.) Who was hanged along with Maniram Dewan?
Answer – Maniram Dewan was hanged along with Piyoli Barua.
8.) Who tried the case of Maniram Dewan?
Answer – Maniram Dewan’s case was tried by Captain Charles Holroyd
9.) Mention two causes of the failure of the revolt of 1857 in Assam.
Answer – Two main causes of failure of revolt of 1857 in Assam, were –
- Maniram Dewan’s supporters who were actually responsible for the revolt were restricted to only Sibsagar and Jorhat. He hardly received any support from other parts of Assam, like Kamrup, Nowgaon or Gauhati. Also, the revels were far less in number in comparison to the British.
- The timing of the uprising during the revolt was not proper to an extent to possibly create an impact. This eventually led to the fact that, even after other preparations were made, the British were ahead in terms of defence methodology and could counteract the revolt, turning it into a failure.
10). In which years were the Stamp tax and Income tax implemented?
Answer – In the year 1858 Stamp Tax was implemented while Income Tax was implemented in 1860
11.) Write two causes of the pitiable condition of the peasants of Assam during the British rule.
Answer – The conditions of the peasants of Assam was most pitiful during the British rule, due the following two main causes –
- Between the Year 1854 and 1870, tax or revenue collection was drastically increased by the British government by ten times. Further, no steps were taken by the foreign government to improve agriculture, cultivation or irrigation methods, thereby leading to almost no increase in yields.
- The British Government did not consider any exemption of tax payment for farmers during crises situations like natural disasters, epidemics or family crises. This caused tremendous misery among the peasants.
12.) Who was Lieutenant Singer?
Answer – Lieutenant Singer was Assistant Commissioner, who had been sent by Deputy Commissioner of Nowgaon, Herbert Sconce for holding the angry peasants who had gathered at Raij Mels from October 15th 1861 for five days. He had come to meet the angry people, but was eventually killed by them, being hit on his head by bamboo stick.
13.) When did the Phulaguri Dhawa take place?
Answer – On October 18, 1861, Phulagari Dhawa took place.
14.) When did the peasant revolt of Rangia take place?
Answer – On 24th December 1893, the Revolt of Rangia took place
15.) Where is Lachima located?
Answer – Lachima is a place located in the Bajali region.
16.) When did the peasant revolt of Lachima take place?
Answer – On 21st January 1894 the revolt of Lachima took place.
17.) When did the peasant revolt of Patharughat take place?
Answer – On January 28th 1894, the revolt of Patharughat took place.
18.) Who led the Jaintia revolt in 1861?
Answer – Ukian Nonbah is known to have led the revolt of Jaintia in 1861.
19.) Who led the revolt of the ethnic tribes of North Cachar in 1881?
Answer – Sambhudhan Kachari led the revolt of the ethnic tribes of North Cachar in 1881.
20.) Who punished Tikendrajit with the death sentence?
Answer – Tikendrajit was punished with death sentence by the British force.
21.) In which year was J.W Quinton murdered?
Answer – In the year 1890, J.W.Quinton was murdered.
Long answer type questions :
1.) Discuss in brief the causes of the revolt of 1857-58.
Answer – The main causes of the revolt of 1857 – 58, which was part of the Sepoy mutiny, can be mentioned as follows : –
- Introduction of Land Revenue / Tax system – Land revenue or tax system was increased manifolds after the British rule was established in Assam. The collection was made in cash, which was not the case earlier. This had brought misery and deep resentment among the peasants throughout Assam.
- Spread of Epidemics – Epidemics like Cholera and measles further crippled the people in Upper Assam and as a result, several villages were wiped out, but there was no assistance from the British Government, in any way.
- Lakheraj land confiscation – There was reassessment of the excess untaxed Lakheraj land in upper Assam, and these were confiscated by the British Government, consequently the Brahmins Purohits turned against teh British and joined the revolt in 1857.
- Problem of Unemployment – The British Government had brought in outsiders like the Bengalis from Srihatta in Bengal, and Marwaris from Western India and delegated them with responsibilities like tax collection. Earlier, this was a job that was done by the Assamese aristocrats like Phukan, Barua, Rajkhowa, who were called the Maujadars. They now turned against the British and joined the revolt.
- Resentment amongst the Aristocratic families – The British had abolished slavery, which had caused a severe blow to the aristocrats who now suffered a lot due to lack of labourers, servants in their estates, having led a luxurious life in the past. Now, they were left with the only option of working on their own. However, abolishing slavery by the British was also not for the benefit of the lower class, as their only motive was to utilise them as labourers in the tea gardens.
2.) Discuss the role of Maniram Dewan in the revolt of 1857-58 in Assam.
Answer – Maniram Barbhandar Barua, popularly known as Maniram Dewanwas one of the main architects of the revolt of 1857 – 58 in Assam. His main aim was throwing out the British rule and reinstate the Ahom monarchy with the grandson ( Kandarpeswar Singha) of former King Purandar Singha, as the king.
He went to Calcutta to meet the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal and file a petition requesting a portion of Upper Assam be allotted to the royal Ahom family, but was denied the opportunity to meet the Governor.
While in Calcutta, Maniram Dewan met Madhu Mallik, a Bengali Muktiyar, together they drew plans of drive out the British Government from Assam. They were helped by Piyoli Barua, Dutiram Barua, Bahadur Gaonburha, Phormud Ali, Mayaram Nazir and other such elites of Assam who had accepted their plans. Maniram Dewan planned to bring arms and ammunitions from Calcutta and the Ahom Prince Kandarpeswar Sinha would lead the soldiers in Assam. His secret letters to the Ahom royal dynasty carried information regarding the plans against the British. Indian soldiers from Dibrugarh and Golaghat were also to be contacted for the revolt to be initiated.
However, as destiny would have it, unfortunately most of his letters were unfolded by Principal Assistant Captain Holroyd (in charge of Sibsagar district) during first half of September 1857, wherein his conspiracy against the British Government was evident and Maniram Deewan was arrested from Calcutta. All his supporters and team mates like Piyoli Barua were also arrested along with the Ahom prince Kandarpeswar Singha.
Maniram Deewan was sent to Alipore jail Calcutta for about two and half months, later imprisoned in Jorhat, finally hanged along with Piyoli Barua on 26th February 1858.
3.) Discuss the reasons why the revolt of 1857-58 failed in Assam.
Answer – The revolt of 1857 – 58, in Assam failed because of the following reason s-
- Maniram Deewan and his associates were restricted to the districts of Jorhat and Sibsagar, while there was no support for him in Kamrup, Gauhati and Nowgaon. Further the number of people involved in Assam were not many.
- Maniram Deewan, who was the main person planning the conspiracy against the British was far from the scene or location of the revolt, since he was in Calcutta when the events took place. He had planned about the revolt through his letters to the royal family and his team mates. As such he was unavailable for taking crucial decisions as and when required.
- Maniram Deewan and his supporters did not include all classes of the society in the revolt and never attempted to unite people against the British. Infact, the middle class of Assam, in the districts of Gauhati and Nowgaon were opposed to the revolt.
- The rebels did not succeed in maintaining secrecy of their plans and therefore the British learned about their entire plot, consequentially leading to the arrest of Maniram Deewan and his supporters.
- There was acute shortage of weapons, arms and ammunition with the rebels in Assam. Maniram Deewan had planned to bring them from Calcutta but unfortunately, his plans were revealed and he was arrested.
4.) Discuss the importance of the revolt of 1857 in Assam.
Answer – Revolt of 1857, which was the first such revolution for India’s struggle for freedom against the British rule began at Meerut in Northern India. In Assam, Maniram Deewan, wanted to organise the rebellion at that moment and reinstate the Royal Ahom family, but did not succeed. However, inspite of its failure, the revolt of 1857 had a certain historical significance and taught the following lessons for the coming years of freedom struggle –
- Another revolt quickly followed the revolt of 1857 as a consequence known as the peasant revolt, which is certainly inspired by the revolt of 1857.
- Hindu and Muslim communities united themselves in Assam and came together against the British, a feeling of nationalism grew in the society.
- Indian National Freedom Movement, which followed the revolt of 1857, was inspired by the freedom fighters like Maniram Deewan and his supporters.
- The revolt of 1857 was historically the first Freedom struggle of India against the British rule.
5.) Write a note on the Phulaguri Dhawa.
Answer – The harsh British economic policies and taxation system had made life of the peasants in Assam miserable. The first revolt by the peasants against the economic policies of the British was the Phulaguri Dhawa. Phulaguri, a small village near Nowgaon inhabited by Tiwa community, and was known for poppy cultivation.
British government began to sell opium, which was extracted from poppy seeds, but decided to put a complete ban on poppy cultivation in 1861. However, sell of opium by the British continued. The economic condition of the peasants of the Tiwa community, who were involved with poppy cultivation was adversely impacted, which infuriated and agitated them against the British.
News had even spread, that the British government would impose ban on cultivation of The Tamul paan of Assam, which further angered the peasants.
On 17th September 1861, when information of banning poppy cultivation spread more than 1500 peasants from various villages gathered in Phulaguri, thereby organising a Raij Mel, opposing the decision of the government. It was decided at the Raij Mel, to submit a petition to the Deputy Commissioner, Herbert Sconce, for removal of ban on poppy cultivation and not to fix taxation on Tamul paan.
Herbert Sconce misbehaved with the peasants and did not accept the petition. Another Raij Mel was organised for five consecutive days from 15th October, to protest against this. On the first day, 1000 peasants armed with bamboo sticks had gathered, with the public increasing by the day, as the protest progressed. On 18th October, there were 4000 people all armed with bamboo sticks and minds filled with anger.
Lieutenant Singer, Assistant to Commissioner Sconce was sent to enquire about the objectives of the peasants in the meeting. Inspite of being told the purpose of their visit by the peasant by their representative Jati Kalita, he ordered the peasants to leave and asked his sepoys to seize their bamboo sticks. In the ensuing scuffle over the bamboo sticks, one of the peasants struck Singer on his head and he fell on the ground instantaneously. It was said that Singer died on the spot. The peasants further joined the attack and his corpse was dumped in the Kollong river. The officers and sepoys who had accompanied Lieutenant Singer fled for their lives. This incident in history is referred to as the Phulaguri Dhawa.
6.) Discuss the peasant revolt of North Kamrup in 1894.
Answer – On January 21, 1884, the Moujadars of Lachima and Holiram Mishra were beaten off severely by the peasants while collecting revenue from the, This marked the peasant revolt of North Kamrup.
The main causes of the revolt were that the peasants and people at large from Rangia, Nalbari, Lachima , Bajali organised Raij Mel in Panegaon Sapori, to protest against the increased revenue of the British government.
Event – The infuriated, enraged and angry peasants killed Lachima’s moujadars, and the British rest camp was surrounded. On the following day, 59 rebel peasants were arrested and imprisoned by Deputy Commissioner McCabe. Later, around 6000 people signed a document requesting release of the peasants on January 25, 1884, to which McCabe refused. Finally, the matter was taken up by the Calcutta High Court, which reduced the punishment of the peasants and the rebel came to an end.
7.) Give an account of the peasant revolt of Patharughat in 1894.
Answer – In Mangaldoi circle of Darrang district, the Patharughat peasant revolt began in 1894. Raij Mels were organised by the peasants from Kalaigaon, Mangaldi, Sipajhar of Mangaldoi circle and Patharughat tehsil in protest against the increased tax collection by the British government. Decision for a three day public assembly was taken from January 25 – 28, by the peasants for the protest.
Deputy Commissioner J.D.Anderson and Police Superintendent J.R.Berington arrived at Patharughat on January 27, 1894 along with their force of police and military men to stop the massive public gathering. J.R.Berington ordered that the properties of the peasants refusing to pay taxes should be confiscated by the military and police. He was surrounded by the angry peasants around 200 in number when he had gone in search of revenue. However, he managed to escape and briefed the incident to the Deputy Commissioner in the rest camp.
Later, around 2000 peasants and public marched towards the rest camp armed with sticks, stones and pebbles. Deputy Commissioner Anderson advised the peasants to return, from the rest camp, but they refused. Immediately, force was implemented by order of the Commissioner, the police and military tried to disperse the crowd, but sticks were used, stones and pebbles were hurled by the peasants. These circumstances eventually led to direct the Deputy Commissioner order the Police Commissioner and his forces to open firing at the peasants who had gathered and become unruly.
As per the unofficial reports around 140 were killed during the firing and more than 150 people were injured but as official reports would have it, only 15 people were told to be killed and 37 injured. The 1894 peasant revolt came to be known as the Pitharughat Revolt.
8.) Write a note on the Jaintia revolt against the British in 1850.
Answer – Jaintia Kingdom was captured by the British in the Year 1835 from Jaintia King Rajendra Singha.
Following the capture, the British started prohibiting community fishing and collecting firewood which was a very common way of their living. Furthermore, they had imposed prohibition of weapons, which they had been carrying for generations as religious and social practices. The British government also implemented several other taxes, including the house tax that the tribal people had never paid before in cash. These factors went against the sentiments of the ethnic hill tribe and they were agitated.
Implementation of the house tax was taken most seriously and led the Jaintia people raise the banner of revolt against the Tehsildar of Jowai.
The Jaintia people convened village meetings with Dolois and Sardars and started planning a revolt against the British government. The revolt of the Jaintias was led by Ukiang Nonbah. They had gathered near Jowai and proposed to throw out the British government and re-establish their own rights. They attacked the British camp in Jowai, unexpectedly on January 17, 1862 and blocked two vital roads connecting Jowai – Cherapunji and Cherapunji – Jayntipur.
The British government under Brigadier General of Eastern Command G.D.Showers, was entrusted the responsibility to crush the rebel, following which violent clashes erupted between the British forces and the Jaintia people. Gradually as the British advanced with the attacks, the strength of the rebel Jaintia people was being weakened. A reward of Rs. 1000 was announced for anyone who could capture and produce the Jaintia leader Ukiang Nonbah, alive.
Finally, the British soldiers were able to capture Ukiang Nonbah and he was hanged in front of a large crowd in Jowai. Consequently, the spirits of the Jaintia people were dampened, they eventually surrendered, and by 1863, the jaintia revolt had come to an end.
9.) Write about the anti-British revolt of 1891 in Manipur under the leadership of Tikendrajit?
Answer – Manipur had been recognised as a native kingdom, under the British protection for many years, unlike Assam.
There was an internal dispute that had taken place for the throne within the royal family in 1890. Kulachandra, who received support of the Chief Commissioner of Assam, dethroned King Surachandra, and assumed power with the British support. When King Surachandra approached the British to explain the scenario, he was turned down and they accepted Kulachandra as the King.
The British then started putting pressure on Kulachandra to dismiss his Commander in chief (also known as Senapati) – Tikendrajit, because he was known for anti- British activities that were secretly taking place in Manipur.
Tikendrajit was very popular among the people of Manipur and was working to protect Manipur’s interests against the British government.
The Chief Commissioner of Assam, J.W.Quinton, and four other European officers were sent to Manipur to capture Tikendrajit, but they were all killed by the people of Manipur. Later, a large British force was sent to Manipur and Tikendrajit was arrested. He was finally hanged on charges of anti-British activities, and killing British officials.
King Kulachandra was exiled in September 1891, and a minor from the royal family, Churachandra was made the King of Manipur, by the British who then controlled the administration by their political agent. Manipur as a kingdom, was forced to pay Rs. 2.50 Lakh in compensation to the British government and an annual sum of Rs. 50,000 was also made mandatory. In this way, the kingdom of Manipur also had to accept British dominance.
Write Short Notes :
1.) The Revenue system implemented by the British in Assam.
Answer – The British government introduced a completely new revenue system. Prior to the British administration, revenue in terms of cash was not a practice. Land revenue and taxes for the peasants were increased manifolds, which alleviated the sorrow brought misery among the local population of Assam. The new and cruel revenue system also gave rise to the mahajan culture who thrived on interest income, since a section of the population always had to take interest bearing loans to meet the land revenues and other tax criteria of the British. The immigrant Marwaris from Western India and Bengali businessmen were these mahajans.
The British Government had brought in outsiders like the Bengalis from Srihatta, and Marwaris from Western India and delegated them with responsibilities like tax collection. Earlier, this was a job that was done by the Assamese aristocrats like Phukan, Barua, Rajkhowa, who were called the Maujadars. Thus the change in revenue system also had a social impact among the aristocrats of Assam.
The peasants and people across the society in Assam, were infuriated against the British by their implementation of the new revenue system, since this had instilled misery, sorrow and poverty among the people.
2.) Maniram Dewan.
Answer – Maniram Barbhandar Barua, popularly known as Maniram Dewanwas one of the main architects of the revolt of 1857 – 58 in Assam. His main aim was throwing out the British rule and reinstate the Ahom monarchy with the grandson ( Kandarpeswar Singha) of former King Purandar Singha, as the king.
He went to Calcutta to meet the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal and file a petition requesting a portion of Upper Assam be allotted to the royal Ahom family, but was denied the opportunity to meet the Governor.
While in Calcutta, Maniram Dewan met Madhu Mallik, a Bengali Muktiyar, together they drew plans of drive out the British Government from Assam. They were helped by Piyoli Barua, Dutiram Barua, Bahadur Gaonburha, Phormud Ali, Mayaram Nazir and other such elites of Assam who had accepted their plans. Maniram Dewan planned to bring arms and ammunitions from Calcutta and the Ahom Prince Kandarpeswar Sinha would lead the soldiers in Assam. His secret letters to the Ahom royal dynasty carried information regarding the plans against the British. Indian soldiers from Dibrugarh and Golaghat were also to be contacted for the revolt to be initiated.
However, as destiny would have it, unfortunately most of his letters were unfolded by Principal Assistant Captain Holroyd (in charge of Sibsagar district) during first half of September 1857, wherein his conspiracy against the British Government was evident and Maniram Deewan was arrested from Calcutta. All his supporters and team mates like Piyoli Barua were also arrested along with the Ahom prince Kandarpeswar Singha.
Maniram Deewan was sent to Alipore jail Calcutta for about two and half months, later imprisoned in Jorhat, finally hanged along with Piyoli Barua on 26th February 1858.
3.) Phulaguri Dhawa.
Answer – The harsh British economic policies and taxation system had made life of the peasants in Assam miserable. The first revolt by the peasants against the economic policies of the British was the Phulaguri Dhawa. Phulaguri, a small village near Nowgaon inhabited by Tiwa community, and was known for poppy cultivation.
British government began to sell opium, which was extracted from poppy seeds, but decided to put a complete ban on poppy cultivation in 1861. However, sell of opium by the British continued. The economic condition of the peasants of the Tiwa community, who were involved with poppy cultivation was adversely impacted, which infuriated and agitated them against the British.
News had even spread, that the British government would impose ban on cultivation of The Tamul paan of Assam, which further angered the peasants.
On 17th September 1861, when information of banning poppy cultivation spread more than 1500 peasants from various villages gathered in Phulaguri, thereby organising a Raij Mel, opposing the decision of the government. It was decided at the Raij Mel, to submit a petition to the Deputy Commissioner, Herbert Sconce, for removal of ban on poppy cultivation and not to fix taxation on Tamul paan.
Herbert Sconce misbehaved with the peasants and did not accept the petition. Another Raij Mel was organised for five consecutive days from 15th October, to protest against this. On the first day, 1000 peasants armed with bamboo sticks had gathered, with the public increasing by the day, as the protest progressed. On 18th October, there were 4000 people all armed with bamboo sticks and minds filled with anger.
Lieutenant Singer, Assistant to Commissioner Sconce was sent to enquire about the objectives of the peasants in the meeting. Inspite of being told the purpose of their visit by the peasant by their representative Jati Kalita, he ordered the peasants to leave and asked his sepoys to seize their bamboo sticks. In the ensuing scuffle over the bamboo sticks, one of the peasants struck Singer on his head and he fell on the ground instantaneously. It was said that Singer died on the spot. The peasants further joined the attack and his corpse was dumped in the Kollong river. The officers and sepoys who had accompanied Lieutenant Singer fled for their lives. This incident in history is referred to as the Phulaguri Dhawa.
4.) Peasant revolt of Lachima.
Answer – On January 21, 1884, the Moujadars of Lachima and Holiram Mishra were beaten off severely by the peasants while collecting revenue from the, This marked the peasant revolt of Lachima in North Kamrup.
The main causes of the revolt were that the peasants and people at large from Rangia, Nalbari, Lachima , Bajali organised Raij Mel in Panegaon Sapori, to protest against the increased revenue of the British government.
Event – The infuriated, enraged and angry peasants killed Lachima’s moujadars, and the British rest camp was surrounded. On the following day, 59 rebel peasants were arrested and imprisoned by Deputy Commissioner McCabe. Later, around 6000 people signed a document requesting release of the peasants on January 25, 1884, to which McCabe refused. Finally, the matter was taken up by the Calcutta High Court, which reduced the punishment of the peasants and the rebel came to an end.
5.) Battle of Patharughat .
Answer – In Mangaldoi circle of Darrang district, the Patharughat peasant revolt began in 1894. Raij Mels were organised by the peasants from Kalaigaon, Mangaldi, Sipajhar of Mangaldoi circle and Patharughat tehsil in protest against the increased tax collection by the British government. Decision for a three day public assembly was taken from January 25 – 28, by the peasants for the protest.
Deputy Commissioner J.D.Anderson and Police Superintendent J.R.Berington arrived at Patharughat on January 27, 1894 along with their force of police and military men to stop the massive public gathering. J.R.Berington ordered that the properties of the peasants refusing to pay taxes should be confiscated by the military and police. He was surrounded by the angry peasants around 200 in number when he had gone in search of revenue. However, he managed to escape and briefed the incident to the Deputy Commissioner in the rest camp.
Later, around 2000 peasants and public marched towards the rest camp armed with sticks, stones and pebbles. Deputy Commissioner Anderson advised the peasants to return, from the rest camp, but they refused. Immediately, force was implemented by order of the Commissioner, the police and military tried to disperse the crowd, but sticks were used, stones and pebbles were hurled by the peasants. These circumstances eventually led to direct the Deputy Commissioner order the Police Commissioner and his forces to open firing at the peasants who had gathered and become unruly.
As per the unofficial reports around 140 were killed during the firing and more than 150 people were injured but as official reports would have it, only 15 people were told to be killed and 37 injured. The 1894 peasant revolt came to be known as the Pitharughat Revolt.
6.) Importance of peasant revolts in Assam.
Answer – The British government came to occupy Assam in the Year 1826, from the Ahom rulers who had been ruling over the Assamese people, following which they had imposed a number of taxes like stamp duties, income tax, land revenues licence tax, grazing tax etc. and many of these were collected in cash, which was not the case previously.
That was not all, since the imposition of these taxes, the revenue burden was increased manifolds to benefit the British tax collection.
This largely impacted the conditions of the peasants and the common people of Assam and they suffered from immense misery and sorrow and they could see no way out but to revolt against the British. The Raij Mels were organised at various parts of Assam on multiple occasions to raise the issue but they were not heard of, leaving revolt as the only option left to the peasants and public.
The peasant revolts played a great role in uniting the people of Assam, in the absence of any political organisation and a sense of Nationality had been inculcated in the society since the revolt of 1857, which was further strengthened against the British. The people were politically more aware of the situations and could understand the scenario. Even though the peasant revolts had failed, it was now an established fact among the people that expulsion of the British was the only way out of sorrow, misery and pain.
7.) Tikendrajit.
Answer – Manipur had been recognised as a native kingdom, under the British protection for many years, unlike Assam. Tikandrajit was the commander of Manipur and was known for his anti-British activities and enjoyed tremendous support from the people of Manipur.
There was an internal dispute that had taken place for the throne within the royal family in 1890. Kulachandra, who received support of the Chief Commissioner of Assam, dethroned King Surachandra, and assumed power with the British support. When King Surachandra approached the British to explain the scenario, he was turned down and they accepted Kulachandra as the King.
The British then started putting pressure on Kulachandra to dismiss his Commander in chief (also known as Senapati) – Tikendrajit, because he was known for anti- British activities that were secretly taking place in Manipur.
Tikendrajit was very popular among the people of Manipur and was working to protect Manipur’s interests against the British government.
The Chief Commissioner of Assam, J.W.Quinton, and four other European officers were sent to Manipur to capture Tikendrajit, but they were all killed by the people of Manipur.
Later, a large British force was sent to Manipur and Tikendrajit was arrested. He was finally hanged on charges of anti-British activities, and killing British officials.
King Kulachandra was exiled in September 1891, and a minor from the royal family, Churachandra was made the King of Manipur, by the British who then controlled the administration by their political agent. Manipur as a kingdom, was forced to pay Rs. 2.50 Lakh in compensation to the British government and an annual sum of Rs. 50,000 was also made mandatory. In this way, the kingdom of Manipur also had to accept British dominance.