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HISTORY; CHAPTER-3
1.After the establishment of British rule in Assam how did the system of revenue
collection change?
Ans: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.In which year did Moffat Mills come to Assam?

Ans: In the year 1853,Moffat Mills came to Assam.

3.Who were the keyas?

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

4.Who led the revolt of 1857 in Assam?

Ans: Maniram Dewan.

5.Which ahom prince did the rebels of Assam want to re-install on the throne in the
revolt of 1857?
Ans:Kandarpeswar Singha.

6.Who were the Bengali Muktiyar who helped Maniram Dewan?

Ans:Madhu Mallik.

7.Who were hanged along with Maniram Dewan?

Ans:Piyoli Barua.

8.Who tried the case of Maniram Dewan?

Ans:Captain Holroyd.

10.In which years were the stamp tax and Income tax implemented?
Ans:Stamp Tax was implemented in the year 1858 and Income Tax was implemented in the year
1860.

11.Write two causes of the pitiable condition of the peasants of Assam during the British
rule.
Ans: i) Imposition of heavy taxes by the government.
ii) No exemption in taxes even during natural calamities like floods and epidemics.

12.Who was Lieutenant Singer?

Ans: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.When did the Phulaguri Dhawa take place?

Ans:1861.

14.When did the peasants' revolt of Rangia take place?

Ans:1893.

15.Where is Lachima located?

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

16.When did the peasants' revolt of Lachima take place?

Ans:1894.

17.When did the peasants' revolt of Patharughat take place?

Ans:1894.

18.Who led the jaintia revolt in 1861?

Ans:Ukiang Nonbah.
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19.Who led the revolt of the ethnic tribes of North Cachar in 1881?
Ans:Sambhudhan Kachari.

20.Who punished Tikendrajit with the death sentence?

Ans:The British punished Tikendrajit with the death sentence.

21.In which year was J.W Quinton murdered?

Ans: 1891.

Long Answers Type Questions:

1.Discuss in brief the causes of the revolt of 1857-58.

Ans: 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
inAssam 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
inUpper 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 theEast 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 the privileged social position and power of the aristocrats leading
discontent among them against the new administration of the East India Company.

2.Discuss the role of Maniram Dewan in the revolt of 1857-58 in Assam.

Ans: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.
Hehad 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 withPiyoli Barua at Jorhat.

5.Write a note on the Phulaguri Dhawa.

Ans:The Phulaguri Dhawa was the first flag of revolt by the exploited peasants in Assam
againstthe British policy of economic exploitation. Phulaguri was a village near Nagaon,
inhabited bythe Tiwa ethnic community who survived on the commercial cultivation of
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Opium. In 1861 the British government completely banned the cultivation of opium, which
adversely affected theeconomic condition of this community. During that time another news
was spread that thegovernment 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
theDeputy Commissioner requesting the removal of the ban on Poppy cultivation and not to
fix anytax 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
assistantcommissioner Lieutenant Singer to the meeting where he ordered his sepoys to
snatch awaythe bamboo sticks carried by the peasants. As a result of his order, the bamboo
sticks broke outand singer died on the spot. This incident of Phulaguri village has been
mentioned in the pagesof history as the Phulaguri Dhawa.

6.Discuss the peasant revolt of North Kamrup in 1894.

Ans: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.Give an account of the peasant revolt of Patharughat in 1894.

Ans:Right from the middle of January 1894, the peasants of Kalaigaon, Mangaldi, Sipajhar
ofMangoldoi 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 Superintendentof 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 thefiring 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 otherswere punished and the rest were released.