Peasant Movements (Colonial period) Very little is known about peasant movements and

peasant politics in Bengal other than what traditional historians have narrated about various
peasant movements from the fakir-sannyasi resistance and Faraizi-Wahhabi rebellions to the
tebhaga movement. Whenever peasants stage rebellions or take part in national uprisings and
movements (political or social), historians have taken notice of them and considered their
activities of historical significance.

There is little scope for writing the history of the region in the thrilling terms of revolutionary
peasant wars. Although a large number of peasants resorted to armed struggle against their
exploiters, most of the time these struggles were short-lived, sporadic and under the control of
non-peasant outsiders.

Peasants and Village Communities in East Bengal There are various definitions of the term
'peasant'. Eric Wolf's definition that peasants are cultivators, 'existentially involved' in
agriculture, taking 'autonomous decisions regarding the process of cultivation' appears
inadequate since it excludes landless labourers from the category of peasants. In Bengal landless
labourers always identify themselves as peasants vis-E0-vis landlords and other agents of
exploitation. Most importantly, if a group or groups from the cultivating classes regard
themselves as 'peasants' and have a genuine sense of belonging to or identification with the
category (peasants) for political purposes they should be regarded as peasants. They may be
classified as 'rich', 'middle' and 'poor' peasants. Broadly, the jotedars/taluqdars, raiyats and under-
raiyats respectively represent these three broad categories in Bengal.

Besides zamindars, other agents of exploitation in East Bengal, such as mahajans (moneylenders)
and bhadralok (middle class/professionals including lawyers and doctors) belonged to the Hindu
community while the bulk of the peasants were Muslims. The colonial government, because of
its indirect rule and distance from the masses, was hardly visible and perceived as exploiters by
the bulk of the peasantry. Consequently the peasants' politics was mostly about how to
circumscribe the power and authority of the zamindar-bhadralok-mahajan triumvirate during the
late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, during the first 100 odd years of British Raj, up to
the 1870s, the British colonial masters had been the main adversaries from the viewpoint of most
peasants. This was so because of the Government's promotion and protection of the zamindari
and indigo plantation interests, which directly and adversely affected the peasant interests.