1.

After the establishment of British rule in Assam, the system of revenue collection was
changed to cash. Earlier, there was no system for the peasants to pay their taxes through cash.

2. 1853

3. Keyas were the immigrant Marwari Mahajans in Assam who thrived on interest by giving
loans to the people of Assam.

4. Maniram Dewan.

5. Kandarpeswar Singha.

6. Madhu Mallik.

7. Piyoli Barua.

8. Captain Holroyd.

10. Stamp Tax was implemented in the year 1858 and Income Tax was implemented in the year
1860.

11. i) Imposition of heavy taxes by the government.

ii) No exemption in taxes even during natural calamities like floods and epidemics.

12. Lieutenant Singer was the Assistant Commissioner of Nagaon during the time of Phulaguri
Dhawa in 1861. He died on the spot when a peasant hit him with his stick in the Phulaguri Raij
Mel.

13. 1861.

14. 1893.

15. Lachima is located in the Bajali region of North Kamrup district of Assam.

16. 1894.

17. 1894

18. Ukiang Nonbah.

19. Sambhudhan Kachari.

20. The British.

21. 1891.

Long Answers:

1. The causes of the revolt of 1857-58 were :

i) Defective land revenue system : A major factor for the outbreak of the revolt of 1857-58 in
Assam was the introduction of the new revenue system by which the method of revenue
collection was changed to cash. Earlier, there was no system for the peasants to pay their taxes
through cash.

ii) Spread of epidemics : The spread of cholera and measles took the form of an epidemic in
Upper Assam that devastated many villages in 1839, 1847 and 1852. Even during that time no
tax exemption was given to the peasants.

iii) Exemption of tea gardens from land revenue : In order to encourage the tea gardeners, the
land falling within the gardens was exempted from land revenue. As a result, the burden of
making up for this loss of revenue fell upon the poor peasants.

iv) Lack of employment : The aristocratic and feudal class people of the Ahom dynasty lacked
modern education and therefore could not find employment in the new administration of the
East India Company. They lost their posts and positions to the educated Bengali babus imported
from Bengal.

v) Abolition of slavery : The British government abolished slavery in Assam in 1843 and as a
result the Assamese aristocrats had to do all the manual labour work themselves. The abolition
of slavery ended privileged social position and power of the aristocrats leading discontent
among them against the the new administration of the East India Company.

2. Maniram Bhandar Baruah, popularly known as Maniram Dewan was the planner, adviser and
the organiser of the revolt of 1857-58 in Assam. The revolt was started in Assam to restore the
Ahom monarchy with Kandarpeswar Singha as the king.
When the Indian soldiers declared mutiny in Meerut, Maniram Dewan was in Calcutta. He
had gone there to file an application to the British government requesting that a portion of Upper
Assam be placed under the rule of a scion of the Ahom Royal family.
In Calcutta, Maniram Dewan met Madhu Malik, a Bengali Muktiyar and together they
hatched a conspiracy to drive the British out of Assam. They received the support of Assamese
elites like Bahadur Gaonburha, Phormud Ali, Piyoli Barua, Mayaram Nazir etc. It was decided
that Kandarpeswar Singha would lead the revolt, while Maniram Dewan would bring arms and
weapons to help them.
However, the British came to know about the rebellion as they intercepted many letters
written by Maniram Dewan wherein the conspiracy against the British government was clearly
mentioned. As a result, most of the leaders associated with the rebellion were arrested.
Maniram Dewan was also arrested from Calcutta and brought to Assam to face trial for his role
in organizing the rebellion. He was found guilty and hanged on 26 February 1858 along with
Piyoli Barua at Jorhat.

5. The Phulaguri Dhawa was the first flag of revolt by the exploited peasants in Assam against
the British policy of economic exploitation. Phulaguri was a village near Nagaon, inhabited by
the Tiwa ethnic community who survived on the commercial cultivation of Opium. In 1861 the
British government completely banned the cultivation of opium, which adversely affected the
economic condition of this community. During that time another news was spread that the
government would also impose tax on Tamul-paan.
As soon as the news of banning poppy cultivation spread, on 17 September 1861, more
than 1500 peasants from various places gathered in Phulaguri and organized a Raij Mel to
oppose this decision of the government. In the Raij Mel it was decided to submit a petition to the
Deputy Commissioner requesting the removal of the ban on Poppy cultivation and not to fix any
tax on Tamul-paan.
The Deputy Commissioner of Nagaon, Herbert Sconce, instead of showing any sympathy,
misbehaved with them. In protest, the public organized a Raij Mels at Phulaguri for five
consecutive days from 15 October, where on 18 October about 4000 people had gathered and
most of them were armed with bamboo sticks. Deputy Commissioner Sconce sent his assistant
commissioner Lieutenant Singer to the meeting where he ordered his sepoys to snatch away
the bamboo sticks carried by the peasants. As a result of his order, the bamboo sticks broke out
and singer died on the spot. This incident of Phulaguri village has been mentioned in the pages
of history as the Phulaguri Dhawa.

6. Even after the Phulaguri dhawa, peasant revolts continued to organize against the repressive
policies of the British government. In 1892, the Chief Commissioner of Assam increased the
land revenue by 100% and arranged strict measures for its collection. This created public outcry
and people started gathering in the Raij Mels to register their strong protest. The Raij Mels in
Barama in Bajali region and the biggest one at Panagaon Sapori were participated by a large
number of peasants from various places like Rangia, Nalbari, Dharmapur, Bajali, etc. of North
Kamrup. On 21st January 1894, the Moujadar and his Mondol who went out to collect tax, were
badly beaten by the people, as a result of which the Moujadar died. The Circle Officer of
Barpeta, Madhab Chandra Bordoloi, arrested 75 people and took them to his rest camp at
Lachima. However, he was compelled to release the arrested persons when around 3000
people surrounded the rest camp and threatened to burn it down. The very next day, the Deputy
Commissioner McCabe arrested 59 rebels and jailed them. Various types of punishments were
given to the arrested peasants for organizing the revolt against the British government.

7. Right from the middle of January 1894, the peasants of Kalaigaon, Mangaldi, Sipajhar of
Mangoldoi circle and Patharughat tehsil held Raij Mels to protest against the increased revenue
as well as its collection. After holding such public assemblies in their own areas, the peasants
were planning a huge public assembly for three days from January 26 to 28 at Patharighat. This
news reached the British authorities and to stop this huge gathering, the deputy commissioner
and superintendent of police reached Patharughat with police and military forces on 27 January.
They confiscated properties of those peasants who refused to pay revenue.
 This infuriated the peasants and about 200 of them surrounded the Police Superintendent,
J.R Berington who had gone there for the revenue collection. He somehow escaped from the
peasants and reached the Rest Camp. A few hours later around 2000 peasants armed with
sticks marched towards the Rest Camp. The Deputy Commissioner ordered the Superintendent
of Police to disperse the peasants by using force if necessary. The peasants retaliated the order
by waving their sticks and pelting pebbles and stones and came closer. Under such conditions
the Deputy Commissioner ordered the Superintendent of Police to open fire. As a result of the
firing around 140 peasants were killed and 150 were injured. On the other hand, the official
record showed that 15 peasants were killed and 37 were injured.
The peasant revolt of Patharughat was crushed with an iron hand by the British imperialist
government. They arrested 37 peasants for participating in the revolt, Aklu Sheikh and 6 others
were punished and the rest were released.