'Raijmel': The Rebel Assembly of Assamese Peasants

Since time immemorial, the raijmels have been the part and parcel of the village life of Assam. The Assamese term "raij" indicates “people” and "mel" means “assembly”. The raijmels or people’s assemblies mostly acted as the local judiciary and solved the day-to-day minor offences/disputes, though, at times, raised other socio-cultural issues concerning the local areas. Generally, the raijmels were held in the premises of naamghars, masjids or sattras, but, sometimes, it was also organized in some popular spots of the locality. 

            From the early stage of colonial rule in Assam, the raijmels had been acting as the common political platform of the peasants where they could show their grievances against the issues such as high rates of revenue increase and burden of over-taxation. The whole idea of protest against exorbitant taxes was formulated at these raijmels and the people staged the protest. Earlier, the raijmels were also organized during the Ahom regime in order to protest over-taxation, but, it became stronger and more organized only in the colonial period, and thus, it took the most vital role in the colonial resistance movement staged by the peasants in different parts of Assam.  

           Soon after taking over the administration of Assam, the colonial rulers reformed and remodelled its economy. The revenue collection was demanded in the form of cash instead in kind. Under a traditional economy, yet to be monetized, the people obviously got harassed and went under a deep crisis. To the end of the 1860s, the colonial administration became too much revenue-hungry. The reason behind it was the huge deficit caused by the great revolt of 1857. Thus, a number of taxes were imposed upon the people including stamp duties, income tax, forest and grazing tax etc. As the economy of Assam was agri-based, the burden of over-taxation went directly to the peasants. The revenue increase and over-taxation generated discontentment among the peasants and inspired them to lead anti-colonial uprisings.  

The first anti-colonial peasant uprising took place in the Phulaguri region of Nowgong district in 1861. It is important to note here that the peasant movements in the other parts of India such as Moplah revolt, Santhal rebellion, Deccan riots and Indigo revolt, all were against the immediate oppressors like zamindars, revenue collectors, money lenders etc. and not against the colonial rulers. However, the peasants of Assam showed the first instance of grievance directly against the colonial rule. The peasants of Assam were already harassed by over-taxation under the reformed economy. In such a situation, poppy was banned by the government in 1860 which was a popular addiction item of the Assamese people and formed a large portion of agri-economy. The ban on poppy cultivation grew discontent among the peasants of Nowgong-Raha region, mostly populated by the tribes. On 17th September, 1861, some 1500 peasants marched to the District Court and demonstrated peacefully before the Magistrate by presenting a petition. The petition referred to the harm due to ban on poppy cultivation and prayed not to levy more taxes on betel-nut and betel-leaf orchards. The District Magistrate Sconce, who was very provocative and oppressive-minded, treated the demonstrators casually and was deaf to their grievances. Rather, he put some of their leaders in captivity for some hours and released them later on. A wide ranging raijmel was thereupon called on at Phulaguri, 12 kms away from Nowgong town in October to take the next step. The raijmel session lasted for five days so that peasants from distant villages could participate in it. Almost 1000 people assembled by 15th October, 500-600 of whom were armed with sticks. Though police came to disperse the gathering, they failed in front of the people’s resistance. By 17th October, nearly 3000 people gathered newly on the spot. The police tried again to break up the mel and arrested some leaders, but, people rescued them forcibly. The next day, Lieutenant Singer rushed to the spot with a police force, ordered them to disperse, and himself tried to seize the sticks from the peasants. Singer was beaten to death in the scuffling. The police force fled in panic. Hearing the news of Singar's death, the panicky District Magistrate took shelter in a safe place and sent a small armed troop to the spot. The troop fired on the crowd and this led to several deaths. Many others were punished with long term imprisonment and transportation. This episode of heroic resistance by the Phulaguri raijmel is still alive in the folk memory as the 'Phulaguri Dhawa'. Thus Phulaguri Dhawa opened a new chapter of people’s resistance to the colonial rule and led to a series of such outbreaks.

             In 1869, the revenue rates were made double without any consideration of the backward state of agriculture in Assam. As a result of it, many minor and major 'no-revenue' raijmels held in different areas of Kamrup and Darrang districts in the last decade of 19th century. Of them, Patharughat, Bajali, Govindapur, Hadira, Sarthebari, Rajkadamtal, Hajo-Dihina and many parts of Patidarang etc. are worth mentionable. 

               In 1892, William Ward, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, again increased the land revenue rate upto 70-80%. Following the 'no-revenue' trend, several major peasant uprisings took place in 1890s. The 'Patharughatar Ran' was the most prominent and tragic episode of the colonial peasant uprisings performed by raijmel. On 28th January, 1894, thousands of people gathered in Patharughat to protest the revenue enhancement. While the protest was going on, J.D. Anderson, the then Deputy Commissioner of Darrang district,  Mr. Barrington, Superintendent of Police and Mr. Remington, SDO, arrived at the spot along with a full police force. The peasants demanded relief from the overburden of taxes. But the authority cleared that under no circumstances, the tax would be reduced. The peasants present in the raijmel got furious and advanced to gherao the officials. Mr. Barrington ordered a fire upon the mob. In the counter attack, the peasants threw dolisopora (soil balls) and farmuti (branches of tree). Almost 140 people died and more than 150 wounded in the incident of Patharughat. The government documents hid the facts and figures of this tragic episode. The ‘Dalipuran’, a folk epic, composed by some unknown Narottam Das, acts as the people’s version and a primary source to the incident. The ‘Dalipuran’ has great significance from the perspective of oral history too.  

               Another notable anti-colonial raijmel was held at Rangia tehsil on 24th December, 1893, to protest 100% increase in land revenue. It is said that the 'no revenue' trend started with the ransacking of Rangia bazaar by the local Kachari people. Some people related to looting of Rangia bazar were arrested. On 10th January, 1894, some 3000 people gheraoed the Rangia thana. They raised the slogan of not paying tax and forcefully tried to release their comrades. The Deputy Commissioner R.B. McCabe ordered to fire. The mob tried with sticks but could not withstand in front of guns and bayonets. The non-official record says that more than 50 people were killed and many others wounded. The police concealed the dead bodies of the peasants over night. The site has been preserved now as the Rangia Raijmel Memorial near the Rangia thana. After the Rangia incident, McCabe announced a ban on holding mels without permission from the District Authority, but, it went on actively in the neighbouring areas like Nalbari, Barama, Bajali etc.

               On January 21, 1894, a mouzadar and a mandal were severely assaulted near Lachima in Sarukhetri mouza of Kamrup district while forcibly collecting revenue. A few days later, the mouzadar died. 75 people were arrested in the connection but a mob forcefully released them. To put down the threatening attitude of the peasants, McCabe arrived at Lachima and the District Authority unleashed a spate of terror and barbarity among the people and kept them away from organizing any mels. Yet, many raijmels were organized and continued despite all strictness and ban order. India became independent in 1947. Things have changed but even today the mels have continued in many village areas of Assam.

             Thus, we see that the colonial authority tried to suppress the anti-colonial nature of the people’s movement, prior to the emergence of pan-Indian nationalism. The raijmels shifted the discontentment against alien rule from the royalty and aristocracy to the mass of the people of Assam. We learn from the study of the raijmels that the view of the emerging Assamese middle class towards these peasants' outbreaks was not only neglecting but condemning also. They felt disturbed from these outbreaks while trying to be close to the white sahabs. The famous Assamese magazine Jonaki (1889-1903) that played an important role in awakening the Assamese society made no mention of raijmels in its golden chapters, not even a word. Famous personalities like Gunabhiram Barua, rather, insulted and condemned the revolting peasants of Phulaguri in his article ‘Nagaya Drohilokor Charitra Barnan’. The missionaries, very dear to the Assamese chauvinists, critisized the Phulaguri Dhawa in tight words. Even today, the raijmels are a topic of less importance in the history of India's freedom struggle. The heritage of the raijmels and their abiding relevance in the anti-colonial movement can be discussed in the new lights of ‘history from below’. In doing so, we must shift our focus from the written documents to the oral traditions. The ballads and folklores composed upon these incidents will serve as the primary sources in this regard.

              A contrast between the middle class-led famous anti-colonial movements and the popular peasants' uprisings will show that the latter was not guided by any ‘great man’ or ideology, but by the ‘common people’ themselves. It also reveals that unlike the national movement, no privileged group emerged out of these outbreaks. Rather, it awakened the people about using power and protest against injustice. The concept of ‘Raijei Roja’ (people are the supreme of all) was emboldened by these raijmels. Thus, it helped in arousing and strengthening the people’s movement. The raijmels also carry the heritage of Hindu-Muslim unity in Assam. Both the Hindus and Muslims, tribals and non-tribals, assembled in one platform and fought putting their shoulder to shoulder for a common cause. It is remarkable that this common cause above all cultural, religious and linguistic plurality was economic. From this, we may draw the valuable conclusion that an overall economic agenda and not only linguistic nationalism as formulated by the Assamese chauvinists, can serve as the cementing force among the diverse ethnic groups of Assam.

Saurabh Saikia

Cotton University, Guwahati

Phone: 8486829296           

Bibliography 

Assamese 

1. Barman, Dwijen. Raijmel. Guwahati: Navayug.first edition, 2010.

2. Hussain, Tassaduk Amanul. Asomor Sankhipta Itihas.Guwahati: Banalata, first edition, 2016.

3. Das, Narottam. Dalipuran.

      

English 

1. Barua, S.L. A Comprehensive History of Assam. New Delhi: Munchiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. reprinted, 2015. 

2. Barman, Santo. The Raijmel. Guwahati:Spectrum, first publish 2005.

3. Guha, Amalendu. Planter Raj to Swaraj. Guwahati: Anwesha, Anwesha edition, 2016.

4. Goswami, Priyam. A History of Assam. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, first publish, 2012. 

5. Sarkar, Sumit. Modern India. Gurgaon: Macmillan, reprinted, 2013.