Bihar: 1857 and the freedom movement

The Revolt of 1857 in Bihar began on 12 June 1857, and its most famous rebel was Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur. Bihar was later the scene of Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha (1917), the Kisan Sabha peasant movement, protests against the Simon Commission and the Quit India Movement of 1942.

The Revolt of 1857 in Bihar

• The Bihar Revolt started on June 12, 1857, at the headquarters of the 32nd Infantry Regiment in Deoghar (now in Jharkhand).
• British officers Sergeant Dr Grant and Lieutenant Norman Leslie participated in the uprising, which was eventually put an end to by McDonald.
• A mutiny was initiated in Patna on July 3, 1857, under the leadership of bookseller Pir Ali. During this event, British opium trader Dr Lyell was killed.
• Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur was the most famous rebel, commanding a group of 4000 troops.
• Kunwar Singh was nearly eighty years old and in failing health when he took up arms. He harried British forces for nearly a year and remained invincible until the end.
• In his last battle on 23 April 1858 near Jagdishpur, the troops under the control of the East India Company were completely defeated.

Champaran Satyagraha

• Rajkumar Shukla and Raam Lal Shah invited Mahatma Gandhi to investigate the Tinkathia system, which required peasants to cultivate indigo on 3/20 of their total land.
• This was Gandhi’s first Satyagraha Movement, beginning in 1917. It is also referred to as the first Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Key participants included Dr Rajendra Prasad, Brajkishore Prasad, Acharya Kriplani, Dr Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Mahadeo Desai, C. F. Andrews, H. S. Pollock, Raj Kishore Prasad, Ram Navami Prasad, Shambhu Sharan, and Dharnidhar Prasad.
• The movement led to the establishment of the Champaran Committee to investigate atrocities. Gandhi served on the committee and convinced authorities to abolish the Tinkathia system and pay peasants 25% compensation.

Peasant Movements and Political Organizations

• Swami Sahajanand Saraswati founded the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha in 1929. This replaced the Kisan Sabha formed in 1922 by Mohammad Zubair and Srikrishna Singh.
• In 1936, the All India Kisan Sabha was formed in Lucknow, with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati becoming its President.
• The Hindi weekly 'Hunkar', published in 1940 by Pandit Yamuna Karjee and Rahul Sanskrityayan, chronicled the peasant uprising in Bihar.
• Dharnidhar Prasad and Shah Mohammad Zubair introduced the non-cooperation resolution at the Bihar Congress meeting in August 1920, presided over by Dr Rajendra Prasad.
• In February 1922, M.K. Gandhi formally opened the 'Bihar National College' and the building it was housed in, 'Bihar Vidyapeeth'.
• Mohammad Zubair and Sri Krishna Singh organised the Kisan Sabha in Munger in 1922.
• Anugrah Narayan Sinha called an all-party meeting to boycott the Simon Commission; when it reached Patna on 12 December 1928, it was met with 'Simon go back' slogans.

Political Developments and Party Formation

• The Government of India Act, 1935 introduced provincial autonomy and dual administration.
• Sri Krishna Singh refused to form a government despite Congress having a majority in the legislative council. Consequently, Mohammad Yunus, leader of the independent candidates, formed the government, becoming the first Prime Minister of Bihar of a minority government.
• On 20 July 1937, Sri Krishna Singh formed the cabinet. Sri Ramdayalu Singh and Prof. Abdul Bari served as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Council, respectively.
• Sri Krishna Singh resigned after the British declared India’s participation in the Second World War.
• Rambriksh Benipuri, Ramanand Mishra, and Ganga Sharan Sinha established the Bihar Socialist Party in 1931.
• Jai Prakash Narayan called a conference at Anjuman Islamia Hall in Patna in 1934, leading to the establishment of the Bihar Congress Socialist Party. The first president was Archarya Narendra Dev, who appointed Jai Prakash Narayan as general-secretary.

Quit India Movement in Bihar

• The Quit India Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942. The plan of action was drafted on July 31, 1942, by the Bihar Congress Committee chaired by Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
• W. G. Archer, the District Magistrate of Patna, arrested Rajendra Prasad, who was sent to Bankipur jail. Other arrested leaders included Phulan Prasad Verma, Shrikrishna Sinha, and Anugraha Narayan Sinha.
• Advocate General Baldeva Sahay resigned in protest against government repression.
• On August 11, 1942, students marched to hoist the national flag on the Patna secretariat. Thirteen to fourteen rounds were fired, killing seven students: Umakant Sinha, Ramanand Singh, Jagatpati Kumar, Satish Prasad Jha, Devipada Choudhary, Rajendra Singh, and Ram Govind Singh.
• A complete strike occurred in Patna on August 12. Agitators uprooted railway lines, damaged telegraph and telephone wires, and burnt police stations.
• That evening a meeting organised by Jagat Narayan Lal decided to cripple the government machinery.
• Jayaprakash Narayan escaped from Hazaribagh jail and formed the 'Azad Dasta' in the jungles of Nepal, harassing the British through sabotage and guerrilla warfare.
• Parallel governments were established for some time in districts like Chapra and Bhagalpur. Women actively participated by holding rallies, hoisting flags, and staging sit-ins.