Deccan Riots
The districts of the Deccan region of western India were heavily taxed under the Ryotwari system. These moneylenders were mostly Marwaris or Gujaratis and the conditions worsened with the fall of cotton prices after the end of the American Civil War (1865), Secondly, the government’s decision to increase land revenue by 50 per cent in 1867, and thirdly, a series of crop failures.
This social boycott quickly spread to the villages of Pune, Ahmednagar, Sholapur and Satara. The movement continued for 2 months and spread in 30 villages. The social boycott quickly turned into an agrarian rebellion, with systematic attacks on the homes and shops of moneylenders. As a remedial measure, the Deccan Agricultural relief Act was passed in 1879. Moreover, this time, the modern nationalist intellectuals of Maharashtra supported the interests of the farmers. In 1879, the Farmers Relief Act was passed, which ensured that farmers could not be arrested and imprisoned if they could not pay their debts.
Various Peasants Movement And Uprisings After 1857
Many peasants and tribal movements after 1857 played an immense role in India’s struggle for freedom. The condition of the Indian peasant gradually worsened during the 17th and 18th centuries. The main cause of Indian peasants and the tribal uprising was the colonial economic policies which affect the transformation of the agrarian structure, the ruin of the handicrafts leading to overcrowding of land, the new land revenue system; and the colonial administrative and judicial system.
Peasants in zamindar areas faced high rents, illegal logging, arbitrary evictions and unpaid work. In Ryotwari districts, the government collected massive revenue from the land. Burdened farmers, who feared losing their only source of livelihood, often turned to a local moneylender, taking full advantage of the hardships of the past, charging high interest on the money lent to them. Gradually, over large areas, the real peasants became volunteer, proportional and landless workers, and the peasants often resisted exploitation and soon realized that their real enemy was the colonial state. Sometimes desperate peasants turned to criminals to escape unbearable conditions.