The Indian Government as well as the Odisha state Government have agreed to reconsider the historical event which should be called the first war of Independence against the British: both have stressed on incorporating the Paika Bidroh (Paika Rebellion) of 1817 in present day Odisha as the first war of independence in the textbooks. Incidentally, both the political parties who were in coalition some years back in Odisha state i.e. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of the Chief Minister Naveen Patanaik and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to contest the next Lok Sabha (LS) and Assembly elections in 2019 against each other claiming credit to do justice to the historical event.
Both are trying to woo the voters on the much charged emotional issue. CM Patnaik, the son of the Modern Architect of Odisha and former CM Biju Patnaik (March 1916- April 1997) established BJD in December 1997. He has been the Chief Minister of Odisha since March 2004. Till date India has been celebrating 1857 as the year of the first war of independence since the Hindu Mahasabha leader Barrister Vinayak Damodar Savarkar had written his most celebrated book, “The War of Independence 1857” in 1909. Of course, even when India was celebrating 150 years of the first war of independence in 2007, the Shiromani Akali Dal, an ally of BJP, did claim in the Indian Parliament that the Anglo- Sikh war of 1846 be considered the first war of independence. A section of historians in Kerala also disputed it by claiming Attingal Revolt of 1721 against the English East India Company be considered the first war of independence of India !
Claims and counter claims would continue to prop up, but we need to dig out “the truth hiding in half of writing history” as suggested by American writer Joss Whedon. “Nearly about 200 years back in 1817, the fire of freedom struggle was enkindled at Khurda. The rebellion broke out in March 1817 when nearly 400 Khandhas of Ghumusar in Ganjam marched towards Khurda protesting against the British while the Paikas, Daleis and Dalbeheras of Khurda joined them immediately. The rebels under the leadership of military chief of King of Khurda Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mahapatra burnt many Government buildings forcing the officials to flee. A British Commander was killed during a fight at Gangapada. Khurda King Mukund Dev II joined the Paikas to revolt against the British rule and went to Pipli and Puri to capture these two places. As the rebellion was widespread, it was beyond the power of the British authorities to control it. So martial law was proclaimed in Khurda. Despite this, the rebellion spread like wildfire to Gop, Tiran, Kanika and Kujang but it was quelled down. Buxi Jagabandhu tried to stir up the insurrection in the Baleswar district as he was in touch with the Bhosle king of Nagpur but all proved abortive,” according to Samarendra Baliarsingh, an Oriya writer.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the function to honour the descendents of the Paika Revolt warriors. Even the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee was also invited to grace the bicentenary celebration of the revolt. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to consider the Paika Bidroh of 1817 as the first war of Independence so that the people of India appreciate, in correct perspective, the events that led to the Indian freedom struggle and our historic independence from foreign rule.
The Government of India as well as the Odisha Government take extra pain to popularize the Paika Bidroh. Paikas were essentially the peasant militias of the Gajapati rulers of Odisha who rendered military service to the king during times of war while taking up cultivation during times of peace. Rulers of Khurda were traditionally the custodians of Jagannath Temple and ruled as the deputy of Lord Jagannath on earth. They symbolised the political and cultural freedom of the people of Odisha. The British, having established their sway over Bengal Province and Madras Province to the north and south of Odisha, occupied it in 1803.
“The Odisha government has claimed Paikavidroha (1817) as the country's first war of Independence. This claim has been made not only because it predates the Sepoy Mutiny by 40 years, but also for its territorial spread, nature of popular mobilisation that had transcended barriers of caste, class and creed, and its organisational aspect. A claim of this nature on the occasion of the bicentenary celebrations of the Paikavidroha has spurred the social imaginary of historians, social scientists and practitioners of cultural studies. The spirit of contestation, with which the present politics of remembering 1817 vs 1857 has been couched, also provokes critical consideration of certain interrelated aspects of anti-colonial resistance in Odisha,” records Chandi Prasad Nanda, a Professor of History in Ravenshaw University, Cuttack.
Describing the Paika Bidroh Nanda adds: “Similarly,adivasis, peasants, outcastes, paikas, andmalangis (salt manufacturers) were mobilised during the course of the movement. Apart from the dissatisfaction of the paikas with the new revenue and territorial policies, the introduction of the colonial currency system that insisted on revenue payment in silver currency instead of the hitherto prevalent practice of cowrie, along with the British policy on salt, spelt untold economic hardship for the adivasis, outcastes, dispossessed peasantry and other marginalised groups.”
The BJD and the BJP, currently Odisha’s top two political players, are playing the Paika card to the hilt, knowing that it can swing polls in their favour. The Paiks, as the members of the Paika community are popularly known, constitute a sizeable portion of the state’s 4.19 crore population. Most of the Paiks come under the other backward classes (OBCs) and the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) that constitute around 40 per cent of the population. The tribals, who constitute 22 per cent of the population, were also associated with the revolt. Paiks and the tribals constitute 60 per cent of odisha’s population.
The BJP-led Modi government allocated Rs. 200 crore in the Union budget for the bicentenary celebration of the event. In addition, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced that the rebellion would be included in history books in 2018 as the country’s first war of Independence, virtually replacing the 1857 sepoy mutiny. Not to be left behind, the BJD government in the state has started celebrating the bicentenary of the Paika rebellion across the country by sanctioning Rs. 50 crore. The move, the BJD and the BJP hope, would help them fetch more votes in 2019 Assembly and LS polls.
Next Column: De-recognition of Maharaja Pratap Singh Gaekwad
(The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail: [email protected] )
