question_answer

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:

A ryot petitions

This is an example of a petition from a ryot of the village of Mirajgaon, Taluka Karjat, to the Collector, Ahmednagar. Deccan Riots Commission:

The sowkars (sahukars) have of late begun to oppress us. As we cannot earn enough to defray our household expenses, we are actually forced to beg of them to provide us with money, clothes and grain,, which we obtain from them not without great difficulty, nor without their compelling us to enter into hard conditions in the, bond. Moreover the, necessary clothes and grain are not sold to us at cash rates?

The prices asked from us are generally twenty-five or fifty per cent more than demanded from customers making ready money payments ... The produce of our fields is also taken by the sowkars, who at the time of removing it assure us that it will be credited to our account, but they do not actually make any mention of it in the accounts. They also refuse to pass us any receipts for the produce so removed by them.

(a) What kind of injustice was experienced by the ryots?

(b) Why was the harvest taken away by the money lenders and why was it not credited to the peasant's account?

(c) Give details on the commission that investigated petitions and grievances of the concerned people.

Or

Ordinary life in extraordinary times

What happened in cities during the months of Revolt? How did people live, through those months of tumult? How was normal life affected? Reports from different cities tell us about the breakdown in routine activities. Read these reports from the Delhi Urdu Akhbar, 14 June 1857:

The same thing is true far vegetables and saag (spinach). People have been found to complain that even kaddu (pumpkin) and baingan (brinjal) cannot be found in the bazaars. Potatoes and arvi (yam) when available are of stale and rotten variety, stored from before by farsighted kunjras (vegetable growers). From the gardens inside the city some I produce does reach a few places but the poor and the middle class can only lick their lips and watch them (as they are earmarked for the select)

.....There is something else that needs attention which is causing a lot of damage to the people which is that the water - carriers have stopped filling water. Poor Shurfas (gentility) are seen carrying water in pails on their shoulders and only then the necessary household tasks such as cooking, etc. can take place. The halalkhors (righteous) have become haramkhors (corrupt), many mohallas have not been able to earn for several days and if this situation continues then decay, death and disease will combine together to spoil the city's air and an epidemic will spread all over the city? and even to areas adjacent and around.

(a) Explain what happened in Delhi city during the months of the 1857 Revolt?

(b) How did people live through those months of tumult?

(c) How did the routine activities disturb the people?

 

Answer:

(1) The ryots were to bear double injustice from sahukars as well as revenue collectors. In the deccan region, the ryotwari system of revenue collection was adopted whereby ryots had to pay revenue to collectors on fixed intervals. But in cases of poor harvest the ryots could not pay revenue and even run the house hold so they had to borrow money and kind from the sahukars, who exploited them by charging; high and even manipulating the accounts.

(2) In the cases of poor harvest ryots had to borrow money from the sahukars and sometimes buy clothes and grains from the shop. But they had to pay a very high price and even the interest rate was very high... Therefore Sahukars used to keep on adding money to the borrower?s account and in the times of good harvest they took most of the harvest for the repayment.

But the sahukars used to manipulate the accounts and they did not add that the grains they had taken from the ryots in order to keep the ryots perpetually in debt. Most of the times they did not give the receipts tor the grains they had taken.

(3) Revolts started erupting in deccan by the ryots against sahukars in 1875. Worried by the memories of 1857, the Government of India set up a commission of inquiry to investigate in cases of riots. The commission submitted a report in parliament in 1878.

The commission held enquiries in the districts where the riots spread, recorded statements of ryots, sahukars and eyewitnesses, compiled statistical data on revenue rates, prices and interest rates in different regions, and collated the reports sent by district collectors.

Or

(1) Delhi was the main center of revolt of 1857. Bahadur Shah Jafar was declared as emperor of India and there was a lot of political action in Delhi during the revolt. Thus the routine life of people was disturbed during this war time.

(2) People had to face lot of difficulties during this time. Most of the revolt was being carried out by sepoys and princely states but peasants in some places also took part in the revolt. This resulted in hue and cry for grains and vegetables. The condition of poor and middle class was all the more worse because they could not get vegetables from the gardens inside the city and they were siphoned off by elites only.

The city was not cleaned for months and the reporter fears that there might be outbreak of Mahamari due to deaths, rotten vegetables and polluted air.

(3) There was a total halt in the daily activities of Delhi people. The vegetables and grains which used to come from outside Delhi and gardens outside was disrupted therefore prices soared up and the local people could not find the vegetables of daily use such brinjal, sang etc.

Some people left their daily activities such as water - fillers stopped filling the water and gentility had to do the work.

Many households did not get wages because the economic activities were at halt.