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| Sanyasi rebellion studyiq.com |
Above image: The Sanyasi rebellion of Bengal(1770 CE) is another forgotten chapter of India' freedom struggle history against the early English company in Bengal. Hindu Sadhus led and encouraged the citizens to fight against the oppressive tax system of the British as their policies impacted the economy to the extent of causing famines........
The Sanyasi Rebellion of the late eighteenth century occupies a complex and contested place in Indian history. Often romanticised through Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s celebrated novel Anandamath (1872), the uprising has long been portrayed as an early nationalist resistance against British rule. However, modern historians argue that the rebellion, which unfolded roughly between 1760 and 1800, was driven less by patriotism and more by economic and administrative conflicts arising from the expansion of the East India Company’s authority in Bengal. A more historically accurate term, many suggest, is the Fakir–Sanyasi Rebellion, as both Hindu and Muslim monastic groups participated in it.
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| Fakir-Sanyasi Revolt,facebook.com |
The rebellion involved primarily the Dashnami Naga Sanyasis—ascetic warrior-monks associated with akharas that functioned as religious centres as well as training grounds—and Madariya Sufi fakirs. These groups had long enjoyed privileges under Mughal rule, including free movement, the right to collect alms, and the imposition of customary levies during pilgrimages and trade journeys. Many of the Naga sanyasis were also traders based in Varanasi, using North Bengal as a commercial corridor linking India and Nepal. Over time, they accumulated land, wealth, and local influence. The fakirs, who had migrated from Persia and settled across eastern India, were similarly powerful, engaging in money-lending and commanding popular followings.
Fakir-Sanyasi revolt, dailyasianage.com
The causes of the rebellion lay in the disruptive changes introduced by the East India Company after it obtained the dewani (revenue-collecting rights) of Bengal in 1765. The Company sought to regulate taxation, curb armed movements, and abolish the levies imposed by monastic groups. Governor General Warren Hastings took a particularly firm stance against these practices. For the sanyasis and fakirs, these measures threatened their economic interests, mobility, and traditional authority, leading to armed resistance.
The rebellion spread across large parts of Bengal and Bihar and persisted for over three decades, marked by raids on Company treasuries and clashes with British forces. Yet historians like Jamini Ghosh caution against viewing it as India’s first freedom struggle. Nationalism, as understood today, was absent; loyalties were local, and motivations were largely material rather than ideological.
Despite this, the Sanyasi Rebellion had lasting impacts. It exposed the vulnerabilities of early colonial rule, influenced later peasant and tribal uprisings, and entered popular memory through literature and folklore. While its historical reality differs from its literary depiction, the rebellion remains a significant episode in understanding resistance to colonial restructuring in eighteenth-century India.
But in the British India History, The Sanyasi-Fakir protests against the Early English Company's atrocities between 1763 to 1880 are not well articulated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannyasi_rebellion
