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History: What is 'Blue Rebillion?
Blue Rebellion
Late 18th Century was the time when British began industrialisation. As a result its cotton production expanded dramatically, creating an enormous demand for cloth dyes. While the demand for indigo increased, its existing supplies from the West Indies and America collapsed. Between 1783 and 1789 the production of indigo in the world fell almost half. Cloth dyers in Britain now began to look for new sources of indigo supply. The planters forced the ryots (cultivators) to sign a contract or an agreement also known as satta. At times they pressurised the village headmen to sign the contract on behalf of the ryots. Those who sign the contract got cash advances from the planters at low rates of interest to produce indigo. But the loan committed the ryot to cultivating indigo on at least 25 % of the area under his holding. The planters provided the seed and the drill, while the cultivators prepared the soil, sowed the seed and looked after the crop. When the crop was delivered to the planter after the harvest, a new loan was given to the ryot and the cycle started all over again. Soon, they realised that this was a harsh system. They did hard labour day and night and got very low prices for the indigo they produced. The other reason was that the planters usually pressurized the ryots to cultivate indigo on the best soils. But the ryots preferred to grow rice on these soils. Indigo had deep roots and it exhausted the soil rapidly. After an indigo harvest the land could not be used for rice cultivation.

The condition under which the indigo cultivators had to work was intensely oppressive. They became united and rebelled. They showed their anger in the following ways:
  • In March 1859 thousands of ryots in Bengal refused to grow indigo.
  • They also refused to pay rents to the planters, and attacked indigo factories armed with swords and spears, bows and arrows.
  • Women turned up to fight with pots, pans and kitchen implements.
  • People working for the planters socially boycotted, and the gomasthas – agents of planters – who came to collect rent were beaten up.
  • Ryots swore they would no longer take advances to sow indigo nor be bullied by the planters’ lathiyals – the lathi-wielding strongmen maintained by the planters.
  • In 1859, the indigo ryots had the support of the local zamindars and village headmen in their rebellion against the planters.
  • In villages, headmen mobilised the indigo peasants and fought pitched battles with the lathiyals.
  • In other places even the zamindars went around villages and urged them to resist the planters.
  • The indigo peasants expected the support of British government in their struggle against the planters.
When the news spread of a simmering revolt in the indigo districts, the Lieutenant Governor toured the region in the winter of 1859. The ryots saw the tour as a sign of government sympathy for their plight. In Barasat, the magistrate Ashley Eden issued a notice stating that ryots would not be compelled to accept indigo contracts. Word went around that Queen Victoria had declared that indigo need not be sown. Worried by the rebellion, the government brought in the military to protect the planters from assault, and set up the Indigo Commission to enquire into the system of indigo production. The Commission held the planters guilty, and criticised them for the coercive methods they used with indigo cultivators. The Commission asked the ryots to fulfil their existing contracts but also told them that they could refuse to produce indigo in future.

After the revolt, indigo production collapsed in Bengal. But the planters now shifted their operation to Bihar. With the discovery of synthetic dyes in the late nineteenth century their business was severely affected, but yet they managed to expand production. When Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa, a peasant from Bihar persuaded him visit Champaran and see the plight of the indigo cultivators there. Mahatma Gandhi’s visit in 1917 marked the beginning of the Champaran movement against the indigo planters.


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