The mass insurrection against the British administration began in the coastal belt two decades prior to the First War of Independence in 1857 and nearly a century ahead of the Civil Disobedience Movement that began in 1930.
Peasant uprisings, which the British called “Koots”, that broke out against the East India Company in the coastal belt during 1830-31, reached the stage of an armed struggle in 1837.
The revolt by peasants was not related to the freedom movement, though, but against the high land revenue (tax) assessment and the absence of a lucrative market for farm produce. But it did motivate people to join the freedom movement after 1850, say researchers.
Shaping consciousness
In an article titled ‘A Peasant Uprising in South Canara’, published by the Indian History Congress, its author N. Shyam Bhat said that the farmers fought against the British, but not on the political grounds. “... Political consciousness of the peasants had to be shaped from above. It came gradually under the impact of the nationalist movement. The intelligentsia acted as a catalyst in bringing radical ideas to them.”
“The peasants were mainly agitated over the company for introducing a system that mandated that taxes should be paid only in cash and not in kind,” said Prabhakara Neerumarga, principal of MAPS Evening College, Mangaluru, who obtained his Ph.D from Mangalore University for his thesis titled ‘1837 Ryot Movement – A Historical Study’. “As farmers were not familiar and comfortable with cash transactions, the new rule gave scope for the birth of middlemen who exploited them.”
As the Dakshina Kannada District Gazetteer puts it, the uprisings, which began in Bellare in the last week of March, 1837, spread to Sullia, Puttur, Bantwal, Kumble, Kasaragod, and finally Mangalore (now Mangaluru), the headquarters of the then Canara District.
Quoting Lewin’s and Cotton’s reports, Peter Wilson Prabhakar, author, researcher and a retired professor of history, said that in a fight against the British troops in Puttur on March 30, 1837, the peasants fought back.
British flag lowered
The gazetteer says that the revolutionaries lowered the British flag at Bavutagudda, now in the heart of Mangaluru, on April 5, 1837, and hoisted their own flag. It had made the then Collector in Mangalore, Lurve, summon British soldiers from Bombay, Dharwad, Belgaum, and Harihara to suppress the revolt, which was short-lived. Some leaders captured by the British soldiers were later hanged, a few were put under life imprisonment, and some deported.
The peasants had captured Mangalore for 13 days, according to Mr. Neerumarga, who is also the author of the Kannada book ‘Mangalura Kranti’. They had ransacked the administrative offices under the Company in Mangaluru, Puttur, and Sullia. “The two armed struggles did not have leaders. They were a mass movement against the British,” Mr. Prabhakar said.
The impact of the first freedom struggle in 1857 even reflected in the coastal belt, with some people who revolted against the British in 1858 making Darshani Gudda, in Supa taluk of Uttara Kannada (which was part of the then Canara District), a centre of their activity or launch pad.
The British divided the Canara District, which was under the Bombay Presidency, on April 16, 1862, as North Canara and South Canara, retaining North Canara under Bombay Presidency and bringing South Canara under the Madras Presidency. Some historians believe that it was to curb the continued revolts against the Company, especially in the North Canara region. (Udupi district was carved out of Dakshina Kannada on August 25, 1997).
Salt Satyagraha
Another major milestone in the freedom movement in the belt was the Salt Satyagraha of 1930. It took place in Ankola, Mangalore, Padubidri, Kundapura, Malpe, Mulki, and Kasaragod, said Mr. Prabhakar.
According to the Uttara Kannada District Gazetteer, a mass procession at Ankola on April 13, 1930, had attracted people from the princely Mysore area, Hubli, Belgaum, Mangalore and the like. Many volunteers came by foot. The coastal belt actively took part in the freedom struggle later in the 1940 individual civil disobedience movement, the Quit India Movement in 1941, and in the celebration of Independence on Nehru Maidan in 1947, said Mr. Prabhakar.
(This is the third in a series on how the freedom movement panned out in various parts of Karnataka)
