Paik Rebellion

The Paik Rebellion also called the Paika Rebellion was an armed rebellion against the British East India Company's rule in Odisha in 1817. The Paiks rose in rebellion under their leader Bakshi Jagabandhu and, projecting Lord Jagannath as the symbol of Oriya unity, the rebellion quickly spread across most of Odisha before being ruthlessly put down by the company's forces.^[1]

Paiks

The Paiks were the traditional landed militia of Odisha. They served as warriors and were charged with policing functions during peacetime. The Paiks were organised into three ranks distinguished by their occupation and the weapons they wielded. These were the Paharis, the bearers of shields and the khanda sword, the Banuas who led distant expeditions and used matchlocks and the Dhenkiyas - archers who also performed different duties in Odisha armies.^[2] With the conquest of Odisha by the East India Company in 1803 and the dethronement of the Raja of Khurda began the fall of the power and prestige of the Paiks. The attitude of the company to the Paiks was expressed by Walter Ewer, on the commission that looked into the causes of the Rebellion, thus: "Now there is no need of assistance of Paiks at Khurda. It is dangerous to keep them in British armed forces. Thus they should be treated and dealt as common Ryots and land revenue and other taxes should be collected from them. They must be deprived of their former Jagir lands (rent free lands given to the Paiks for their military service to the state.) Within a short period of time the name of Paik has already been forgotten. But still now where the Paiks are living they have retained their previous aggressive nature. In order to break their poisonous teeth the British Police must be highly alert to keep the Paiks under their control for a pretty long period, unless the Paik community is ruined completely the British rule cannot run smoothly."^[3]

Causes of the rebellion

The Paik rebellion had several social, economic and political reasons. The Paiks were alienated by the British regime, who took over the hereditary rent-free lands granted to them after the conquest of Khurda. They were also subjected to extortion and oppression at the hands of the company government and its servants. Had conciliatory measures been adopted towards the Paiks from the beginning, it is possible that they would have become a source of strength to the company rule in Odisha.^[3] The extortionist land revenue policy of the company affected the peasants and the zamindars alike. A source of much consternation for the common people was the rise in prices of salt due to taxes imposed on it by the new government. The company also abolished the system of cowrie currency that had existed in Odisha prior to its conquest and required that taxes be paid in silver. This caused much popular hardship and discontent. In 1804 the Raja of Khurda planned a rebellion against the British in alliance with the Paiks, but the plot was soon discovered and the Raja's territory confiscated.^[4]

Leaders and participants

The Paiks were led by Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mohapatra Bhramarabar Ray, the former bakshi or commander of the forces of the Raja of Khurda. Jagabandhu's familial estate of Killa Rorang was taken over by the British in 1814, reducing him to penury. When the rebellion broke out in March 1817, the Paiks came together under his leadership. Raja Mukunda Deva, the last King of Khurda was another leader of the Indian rebels. The rebellion enjoyed widespread support in Oriya society with feudal chiefs, zamindars and the common people of Odisha participating in it. The zamindars of Karipur, Mrichpur, Golra, Balarampur, Budnakera and Rupasa supported the Paiks. While the revolt started from Banapur and Khurda, it quickly spread to other parts of Odisha such as Puri, Pipili and Cuttack and to several remote villages, including Kanika, Kujang and Pattamundai. The Rajas of Kanika, Kujang, Nayagarh and Ghumusur aided Jagabandhu and Dalabehera Mirhaidar Alli of Jadupur was an important Muslim rebel.^[5]

Course of the rebellion

Discontent over the policies of the company was simmering in Odisha when, in March of 1817, a 400-strong party of Kandhas crossed over into Khurda from the State of Ghumsur, openly declaring their rebellion against the company's rule. The Paiks under Jagbandhu joined them, looting and setting to fire the police station and post office at Banpur. The rebels then marched to Khurda itself, which the company abandoned, sacking the civil buildings and the treasury there. Another body of rebels captured Paragana Lembai, where they killed native officials of the company.^[3][6]

The company government, led by E. Impey, the magistrate at Cuttack, dispatched forces to quell the rebellion under Lieutenant Prideaure to Khurda and Lieutenant Faris to Pipli in the beginning of April. These met with sustained attacks from the Paiks, forcing them to retreat to Cuttack, suffering heavy losses, and Faris himself was killed by the Paiks. Another force sent to Puri under Captain Wellington, however, faced little opposition, and on 9th of April a force of 550 men was sent to Khurda. Three days later they took Khurda and declared martial law in the Khurda territory.^[3][6]

Even as the British managed to wrest control of Khurda, Puri itself fell to the insurgents led by Bakshi Jagabandhu, and the British were forced to retreat to Cuttack by April 18th. Cuttack remained cut off from the now rebel-held portions of southern Odisha, and therefore the British remained unaware of the fate of the force they had dispatched to Khurda. The force's successes in Khurda allowed the commanding officer, Captain Le Fevere, to pursue the insurgents into Puri. This British party defeated a thousand-strong but ill-equipped force of the Paiks as they marched to Puri, and they retook Puri and captured the Raja before he could escape from the town.^[3][6]

The uprising spread rapidly across Odisha, and there were several encounters between the British and Paik forces, including at Cuttack, where the latter were quickly put down. By May of 1817, the British managed to reestablish their authority over the entire province, but it was a long while before the tranquility finally returned to it.^[3][6]

Outcome and impact

In May of 1817, the British posted judges to Khurda to sentence the captured rebels. The rebels were awarded sentences of death, transportation and long-term imprisonment. Between 1818 and 1826, the company's forces undertook combing operations in the jungles of Khurda to capture and put to death rebels who had managed to escape. In these operations numerous Paiks were killed. Their leader, Jagabandhu, surrendered to the British in 1825 and lived as their prisoner in Cuttack until 1829, when he died.^[7] On capturing Puri, Jagabandhu had offered to reinstate Raja Mukunda Deva – whom the British had dethroned in 1804 and exiled to Puri – as the Raja of Khurda. Although he turned down the offer and asked for British assistance, he was arrested when the British retook the town and was imprisoned at Cuttack. The Raja died a British prisoner in November, 1817.

The East India Company also appointed a commission to inquire into the causes of the rebellion. The British set about reorienting their administration under the newly appointed Commissioner of Cuttack Robert Ker to ensure such a rebellion would not repeat itself. These attempts remained halfhearted at best, the British viewing Odisha largely as a convenient land link between their presidencies of Madras and Bengal.^[8] Odisha continued to be wracked by localised insurgencies including at Tapanga in 1827 and the Banapur Rebellion of 1835.^[9] The revenue policies of the company in Odisha, which was a major cause of hardship to the people, remained unchanged.^[10]

See also

• Paika akhada

References