Lying hidden in the archives of the Indian independence movement are many forgotten tales of valor and courage. One such movement was the “Paika Bidroha“. Also called the Paika Rebellion, this was led by the “Paikas” in the present-day state of Odisha. This revolt captured the imagination of the common people of the state, spreading like wildfire across the countryside, sweeping away – even if for just a few months – the oppressive rule of the colonialists. Who were the Paikas? What triggered the revolt and who were its leaders? Did the rebellion achieve its objectives? Let’s find out!
Kalinga Before the British
Kalinga has always been at the crossroads of history from time immemorial. The Mauryan empire, under Ashoka, forcefully annexed the Kalinga kingdom in one of the bloodiest battles in Indian history. Kalinga’s fortunes were to rise during the medieval period when the Gajapati empire was founded. Ruling from Cuttack, the Gajapati kings controlled an empire between the Gangetic and Kaveri delta. While the administrative, cultural and military policies of the Gajapati kings will be covered in a separate blog, what is of interest here is the Paika system that formed the backbone of the Odia army.
The Paikas
The Paikas were the foot soldiers of the Odia army. By profession the Paikas were agriculturists, tending to the land and growing crop along the fertile rivers of the region. During times of war, the Paikas would step into a military role. Group of Paikas from one locality would join together and form a Dala. The Dala formed the lowest level in the Odia military hierarchy. In times of peace, the Dala acted as a local police force for the King.
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| The Paika system was not unique to Odisha. The Ahom kings had a similar system, and they formed the backbone of the Ahom army in their fight against Aurangzeb’s Mughal forces. Read the blog on Battle of Saraighat for more details. |
A big advantage with the Paika model was the availability of a well disciplined military force in times of need. In return for their military service, the Paikas were given land and cultivation rights. Growing crops in peace time helped with the food security of the state. The genius of this model is evident – availability of troops in times of war without having to spend any money to sustain the troops in time of peace.
From the Marathas to the British
As the power of the Gajapati kings waned, their land was taken over first by the Vijayanagara empire and later by the Golconda Sultanate. The Gajapati dynasty line died out and a related family, the Bhoi, established a small kingdom around the region of Khurda. Present day Bhubaneswar is part of Khurda district and the Bhoi king had administrative control over this province.
While the Bhois were settling down around Khurda, the Marathas arrived on the scene. Very soon, the Bhois found themselves vassals of the Peshwa. The second Anglo-Maratha war in 1803 ended Maratha rule over Odisha and the land moved under direct control of the British East India Company (BEIC).
Throughout all this, the Paika system remained untouched. The Paikas remained a formidable militia entirely loyal to the Bhoi king and ready to step into any military adventure on behalf of their ruler.
Earliest signs of Rebellion
When the British were fighting against the Peshwa during the war of 1803, they had formed an alliance with the Bhoi king, Mukunda Deva II. Khurda and the neighboring areas formed the passageway for the British army to move from Calcutta to the Deccan and if Mukunda Deva had opposed the British it would have made matters difficult to them.
Now Mukunda Deva had his own reasons to enter into a treaty with the BEIC. The Marathas had ruled over Odisha ruthlessly taking much of the fertile lands away from the Bhois and extracting huge taxes. The British, Mukunda Deva thought, would help take revenge against the Marathas and once the BEIC won the war he could get his territory back.
As it turned out, the British did win against the Marathas. But they had no intention of keeping their pre-war agreements. Dejected at the turn of events, Mukunda Deva got his Paika army to raid villages in British territory. This soon led to open war with the British – a war that Mukunda Deva had no chance of winning. In a short time, he was imprisoned in Puri while his Prime Minister, Jaykrishna Rajguru, was sentenced to death. The small rebellion had been crushed even before it could start. But, unknown to the British, this rebellion had sowed the seeds for the Paika Bidroha.
Causes of the Bidroha
As we already saw, tension had been brewing between native Odia people and the British by the early 19th century. With Mukunda Deva imprisoned, the British rolled out a series of administrative reforms that was to make matters worse.
The Paikas as a military force were a danger to the British
Grain of Salt
Odisha has a long coastline and a major occupation of the population along the seashore was making salt from sea water. From time immemorial, salt was extracted all along the coast and exported both within the country and overseas. Until the arrival of the British, salt was a cheap commodity within Odisha. Things changed completely after the British conquest.
A commodity as basic as salt was transformed by the British into a tool of oppression.
A salt monopoly was established, and all salt manufacturing and distribution would now need the British approval. And, of course, the approvals would come only with the payment of a huge sum. Merchants had to now increase the price of salt and eventually the production was cut down artificially to force people to purchase at a higher price. A commodity as basic as salt was transformed by the British into a tool of oppression.
Shell money gets shelved
From as far back as the 8th century CE, shells (called ‘Cowry’ or ‘Kaudi’) were used as the currency in Odisha. These shell were imported from Maldives and used by traders, kings and the local population. Land revenue was calculated and collected in cowry and an exchange rate between cowry and silver coins was enforced. The entire economy was based on the humble cowry.
In 1805, the British abolished the cowry system. Replacing it was the Calcutta rupee (also called the Sicca Rupee). A conversion rate between the cowry and the Sicca was proclaimed. All tax payments and exchange of commodities could now happen only with the British currency. Those who did not have Sicca rupee could pay in silver.
The new currency system destroyed the Odisha economy. The peasants, farmers and traders neither had silver, nor could they travel to Cuttack from their villages to exchange currency. Demand for rupee suddenly increased and that added to the shortage. Cowry to rupee conversion rate fluctuated widely and many businesses and ports had to shut down. A general misery prevailed over the entire state.
From landlords to landless
The British administrator of Khurda, Major Fletcher, disliked the Paika system. The Paikas as a military force, he believed, were a danger to the British and all steps had to be taken to reduce their influence and power. To achieve this, the British first declared that all land grants given to the Paikas were withdrawn. With the stroke of a pen, the Paikas who enjoyed immense power in the day to day affairs in Khurda lost their source of income. Many were pushed into poverty and their land estates and houses were taken over by the British.
Arrival of the new educated class
Arriving with the British in Odisha were the newly English-educated clerks of Indian origin from the Bengal presidency. These clerks stood out in stark contrast to the native people of Odisha. Since they were the backbone of the British administrative system, they were rewarded with land grants. And whose land was available to be distributed – the land that originally belonged to the Paikas.
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| The taxation on the ryots in 1815-16 was as high as twice the Jama of 1804-1805.It is now well known and generally admitted that previous to insurrection, Khurda was becoming strikingly depopulated. At least 5,000 to 6,000 families of ryots had deserted. The miserable remnants after dispossessing themselves of their little all, their clothes, furnitures, cooking utensils and sometimes even their wives and children existed of course in a state of desperate misery and irritation. |
There were also instances of high-handedness by these clerks. False documents were created to take over land and common people were pushed deep into poverty by aggressive taxation. When the new currency system was introduced, these clerks targeted the landlords who did not have Sicca rupees and extracted additional tax from them. Corruption prevailed and the clerks and middlemen came to be hated throughout the province.
The Leader
Jagabandhu Bidyadhara was the commander of the Paika forces in Khurda. By rank, Jagabandhu was second only to the King and had the honorary title of Buxi (or Bakshi) denoting his role as the commander-in-chief. And keeping with the local practice, he and his family were granted vast tracts of land and a large estate in return for their military service. When Major Fletcher took back the land grants from the Paikas, Buxi Jagabandhu was severely impacted. The loss of land dealt a severe blow to his power and prestige, but worse was yet to come.
K C Singh, the Dewan to the British collector at Cuttack, hatched a plan to take over Buxi’s ‘Killa Rorung‘ estate. Tax payments done by Buxi were secretly falsified in the official records and it was made to believe that Buxi had not paid any tax. Buxi’s protest against this injustice were not heeded to and he was told by the British to declare himself a pauper and appear before the judge in Calcutta if he wanted his property back. Humiliated, Buxi waited for his turn to avenge the insult.
By 1816, every other Paika in Khurda was economically devastated and they rallied under their commander, Buxi Jagabandhu. And it was not just the Paikas who came together to fight against the British and their agents. The common peasants, traders and villagers who were at the receiving end of the British administration joined hands. Nationalistic fervor swept through the countryside and all that was needed was a small spark to ignite the rebellion.
From a Spark to a Fire
In March 1817, the Khond tribals from the nearby area of Ghumsar rose in revolt against the British. Their King had been arrested and imprisoned by the British collector in Ganjam. Four hundred Khonds entered Khurda on their march to Ganjam to free their King. Sensing the opportunity, Buxa Jagabandhu instructed his Paika warriors to join hands with the Khonds and a general uprising began. The fuse had been lit, the Bidroha had begun!
Paika Bidroha
With Buxi Jagabandhu as their leader, the rebels set out to end the British rule and bring back the jailed Mukunda Deva. The first stop was Banpur where a brief fighting ensued. Buxi’s forces proved to be superior and the government offices were destroyed and the treasury looted. British officers and their Indian subordinates in Khurda fled towards Cuttack.
Key Locations of the Paika Bidroha. Click on image to see an enlarged version. Picture copyright: Let Us Discover India
An alarmed British collector at Cuttack ordered his troops to move towards Khurda. Another British detachment moved towards Pipli. The collector himself led the troops towards Khurda with the aim of defeating the rebellion on its home turf. Buxi’s troops though had other ideas. An elaborate plan was made and at Gangaparha, en route to Khurda, Buxi’s men attacked the collector. It was a rout for the British forces and the collector barely managed to escape back alive to Cuttack.
The Paikas, now joined by nearly every able fighting-fit man in the territory, pushed hard towards Puri. On April 9 1817, Buxi Jagabandhu and his men entered Puri defeating the remaining British forcers stationed there. Bells at the Jagannath Temple were rung and the Pandas at the temple announced to the devotees the fall of the British. In a matter of days, the Paikas had taken over South Orissa. The area between the Mahanadi in the north and Ganjam in the south were freed from the colonialists.
Loss of Puri
Buxi’s grand plans to have the King returned back to Khurda suffered a major blow when Mukunda Deva refused to join the rebellion. Just as swiftly as they had made progress, the Paikas lost their momentum. Buxi tried to rally other local kings around their cause, but none of them wanted to offend the British. With no King to rally around, the rebellion was destined to fail.
Meanwhile, the British regrouped their troops and launched a fresh offensive. With the majority of Buxi’s soldiers at Puri, Khurda was left unguarded and the British easily recaptured the area. Puri was next on the list. Fierce fighting broke out between the Paikas and the British and the Paikas had to eventually withdraw. Mukunda Deva, whose hesitation in joining the rebellion had ruined Buxi’s plans, tried to escape out of Puri but ended up getting caught again by the British.
The Bidroha had by now captured popular imagination and slowly spread northwards along the coastline to Gop, Paradeep and Pattamundai. The British salt tax policies had turned the common people against them.
Guerilla warfare
As the British brought in more and more troops, the tide of the battle started turning. In the face of overwhelming British superiority, Buxi and his men resorted to guerilla warfare. British police stations were attacked and treasuries ransacked whenever an opportunity arose.
This is now our plan, let us retire to the Jungles and find our abode there, the lands will then become waste and no revenue be collected
OJR, Vol. I8A, Translation of an “Ooria Chittao” written
(jointly) by Buxi Jagabandhu and Krushna Chandra Bidyadhar
By September/October 1817, the British had beaten back Buxi’s men on the coastal plains and the main towns and villages. Martial law was proclaimed throughout the province and those found guilty of the Bidroha were tried in military courts. Many were sentenced to death, while others were transported for life to the Andamans.
Buxi Surrenders
Guerilla attacks continued sporadically for the next 8 years. Buxi and his close associates were supported by the common people of Khurda with money and material. The British had raised a special unit to track down Buxi, but they never managed to track him down.
At long last, in 1825, with no end to the resistance in sight, the British offered a peace deal to Buxi promising him a monthly pension and a residence in Cuttack. On 25 May 1825, Buxi Jagabandhu and the last of the rebels surrendered to the British. The Bidroha had come to an end.
Conclusion
Did the Bidroha meet its desired outcome? Strictly speaking, no. In the early days of the revolt, the British suffered significant setbacks and saw the whole of south Odisha slip away from their control. But the moment Munkunda Deva refused to join hands with Buxi, the final outcome was clear. The British quickly rallied their troops and pushed back the rebels. Guerilla fighting only kept the battle alive for a longer duration, but Buxi Jagabandhu had to finally settle on a compromise with the British.
So then, what actually did the Paika Bidroha achieve? The Bidroha, as we have seen, was the outcome of many factors all of which had a direct impact on the economic and social conditions of the Odia people. The Paikas were directly affected when their land rights were revoked, but so were the traders, merchants, peasants and the salt pan workers. Rallying under the charismatic leadership of Buxi Jagabandhu and the military traditions of the Paikas, the entire population came out in revolt agains the British.
For the very first time a broad based alliance of people across all classes and professions took up arms against the colonialists. The Bidroha may have failed to meet its immediate goals, but it set out a template on which other revolutionary movements were to be based. It would take a 130 more years before the last of the colonialists were to leave Indian soil.
Further Reading
Many books, articles, research papers, plays and movies have dwelled into the Paika Bidroha. Few of the interesting articles that I found helpful have been listed here.
Dr P K Mishra’s PhD theses, “Political unrest in Orissa in the 19th century anti British anti feudal and Agrarian risings” has an excellent and detailed analysis of the Paika Bidroha (Chapter 1 of the thesis).
Odisha government publications have carried many articles on the Bidroha, the ones that I found helpful were:
Offering a very interesting perspective on the background to the Bidroha is an article by Akio Tanabe from the University of Tokyo in the International Journal of Asian Studies. You can look up an online version of the article here.
