History

Second Phase: 1915 – 1923

In 1916, war fund contributions were further imposed on the peasants who lead to renewed dissatisfaction. It was in 1916 that Bhoop Singh alias Vijai Singh Pathik arrived in Bijolia and organized the peasants under the Bijolia Kisan Panchayat to oppose payments to the war fund and other taxes. Petitions were sent to the Maharana, and stories of the agitation started receiving publicity in various newspapers. Partially because of the negative publicity in the press, the Maharana appointed a commission of inquiry, which found the peasants’ grievances to be genuine and recommended the abolition of some taxes and begar (unpaid or forced labor). But the Maharana failed to act on the report and the oppression as well as the movement led by Pathik continued.

After the failure of the inquiry to yield results, Pathik advised peasants to cultivate unirrigated lands which were subject to lower taxes. In February 1920, the Maharana appointed another commission of inquiry which also reached the same conclusions as the earlier commission. Other jagirdars feared that the Maharana’s intervention would result in a chain reaction, and influenced the Maharana to not act on the commission’s report. Leaders of the Bijolia movement attempted to obtain the support of the Indian National Congress (INC). In December 1919, Pathik succeeded in putting a resolution before the INC in support of the Bijolia peasants, but the resolution failed, largely because the INC leadership disfavored agitation in the princely states. Nonetheless, these efforts attracted the attention of national leaders towards the Bijolia movement and the movement obtained the support of some of the leaders.

Meanwhile, the peasant movement of Bijolia continued to get increased publicity and began to spread to other Jagirs such as Begun, Parsoli, and Bhinder. In December 1921, the Mewar State Resident reported: The unrest is now spreading to Bhinder, an estate under the darbar management, where the cultivators are refusing the pay revenue. The situation in Bijolia and in the neighbouring thikanas of Parsoli, Begun and Basi has distinctly deteriorated. There is a general refusal to pay revenue. There is threat of violence if any attempt is made to collect revenue or to enforce official orders. An atmosphere of discontent is being created and the movement is spreading.

This compelled the Agent to the Governor General to visit the various Jagirs of Mewar and direct the Jagirdar and Mewar State to conclude an agreement with the peasants. Finally, the Bijolia Agreement was signed on 11 February 1922. The agreement brought about the following changes: reduction in amount of talwar bandhi, no taxes when there was no cultivation, reduction in chatoond tax and land revenue, etc.

Key Points:

1. During 1915, the second phase of Bijolia Peasant Movement started when Sadhu Sitaram invited Vijay Singh Pathikto assume the leadership of the movement. He established Vidya Pracharni Sabha at Bijolia and under this Sabha he started a library, a school, and a Akhara.
2. Pathik also published posts on Bijoliya Movement in the paper “Pratap”.
3. Manikya Lal Verma who was a Jagir employee was highly impressed by the activities of Pathik and he resigned from the service to work among the peasants.
4. In August 1918, the no-rent campaign was started with non co-operation movement. However, Maharana was adamant to crush the movement and all the main activities including Manik Lai Verma and Sadhu Sita Ram Das were arrested. Vijay Singh Pathik went underground and guided the movement.
5. Rajasthan Sewa Sangh and the Rajputana Madhya Bharat Sabha also extended their support to the movement, which brought the movement to the national scene.
6. On the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, Madan Mohan Malviya tried to persuade the Maharana. However, all the efforts failed and movement intensified by June 1920.
7. The Kisan Panchayat began to run a parallel government through its leaders and volunteers. The peasants refused to obey the orders of the Thikana. They also refused to pay the land revenue, cesses and begar and decided to boycott the court and police of the Thikana.
8. In 1922, the Government of India appointed a high power committee that also included the Agent to Governor-General in Rajputana, Robert Holland. After a long discussion an agreement was reached, which introduced much needed judicial, police and Jail reforms.