ANANDMATH & BANKIM CHANDRA CHATTOPADHYAY-I

 When I was young, perhaps when I was in Matriculation, I read Bankim Chandra Chattopdhyaya’s Anandmath  in Telugu. Even at that young age the novel which came as a serial in some Telugu weekly; probably Andhra Patrika or Andhra Prabha, I don’t remember which; had fascinated me. That was over 55 years ago and I vaguely recollect what I read.

These days despite Bankim Chandra being a terrific writer of Bengali, one who gave the national song Vande Mataram to the country, hardly anyone read about him or even a gist of his work.

Time and development does many things to people and one of them is to shrink their vision to a limited circle. Only books have the power to smash that barrier, but book reading has come down with time and w

ith the advent of the internet, book reading has almost been extinguished among students unless they are class books.

So, I thought I should write a gist of Anandmath for those who are interested in it. However, when I wrote the background, I found that it had stretched quite long, so I decided to write about the novel in the next part. 

The book Anandmath is based on the Bengal Sanyasi rebellion. It is surprising that Sanyasis rebelled against the British in Bengal. How and why did that happen? And who were those Sanyasis?

For that we need to look at the political events in Bengal (which comprised the current states of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa)  at that time. After the Battle of Plassey that took place between Sirajuddaulah, the Nawab of Bengal, and the English in 1757, the English emerged victorious (Of course through their time-tested policy of treachery by bribing Mir Jafar, the Nawabs commander in chief as well as the Jagat Seths who were the bankers of Bengal).

However, at that point of time it was the East India Company that was governing Bengal and not England. Therefore it is unfair to accuse all Englishmen of perfidy.

After the war, the English made Mir Jafar, the Nawab of Bengal who in turn gave them vast amounts of money as war reparations and bribes. That amount is supposed to have aggregated to  Rs 3 crores and in the late 18^th century that is a huge fortune. The annual revenue of the Bengal province at that time would be less than the amount so spent and Mir Jafar presented the amount from the accumulated treasury of Bengal which left the government penniless and in trouble. Mir Jafar later realized what he did, but the English wanted more which he resisted. Then Mir Jafar was deposed by the English and Mir Qasim his son in law was made the Nawab. 

Later Mir Qasim too realised the terrible position he and the Bengal province were in. Then he in alliance with the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (who was blinded by the Rohillas) and Shujah Uddaulah of Awadh fought the battle of Buxar in 1764 with the English in which the English were completely victorious. After the battle, the Mughal emperor Shah Alam was forced to grant the Diwani (or the right to levy and collect taxes) of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to the English.    

At that time most of the revenue from the provinces came from levying of land revenue, as trading was minimal and the farmer had to bear the brunt of taxation.

The East India Company promptly doubled the land taxation, and again in the next year hiked it by another 10%. With that, the peasants were crushed and left penniless. The policies of the East India Company finally resulted in the great Bengal famine in 1770 when 1 million people died out of hunger. This finally led the Sanyasi rebellion to turn violent. This was simmering earlier but when Warren Hastings became the Governor General of Bengal violence broke out.

Now who were these sanyasis? They were the “Dasnami Sanyasis” who were supposed to have been founded by the 4 great disciples of Sankaracharya. They first initiated 10 disciples, thus the name Dasnami. In North India and Benares they were known as Gosai’s. Some of them are Naga Sadhu’s who went about naked. These 10 orders were distributed among the 4 maths established by Sankaracharya.

Surprisingly the Dasnami sanyasis played a role as mercenary soldiers on behalf of the regional powers. They were very successful as mercenaries and some regional powers entrusted them with civil and military administration which increased their power and resources. They began to act as semi-independent chiefs and warlords. They also got hold of large amounts of rent-free land and grew powerful. They even branched off into trade and money lending.

The sanyasis would travel to North Bengal to visit shrines and sights of pilgrimage there. During their travel, it was customary for them to collect a sizeable amount as alms from the local landlords.

When the Bengal famine arrived due to the English wrong policies, the landlords were in no position to pay the traveling Sanyasis. Warren Hastings put a ban on their entry into Bengal and severely restricted their movements within the state. This disrupted the activities of the sanyasis which they were following for a long time.

Then in the year 1771, 150 Sanyasis were killed by the British without much reason. This triggered a rebellion by the Sanyasis. They engaged with the British in guerrilla warfare and knew the terrain like the back of their hand due to their frequent travels to the province by foot. They were extremely mobile and could disappear within moments if necessary. Hastings kept on sending his best men to curb the revolt but to no avail. In 1771 they suffered a major defeat in the hands of the major Felham but recovered fast.

The sanyasis operated in Malda, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Cooch Behar and other parts of eastern Bengal by using the rivers Ganga, Kosi and Gandak. Rivers Brahmaputra, Teesta and Mahananda helped them to communicate with Assam and Bhutan.

The revenue of Bengal was collected by the English, but the law of the land had to be maintained by Mir Jafar before he was deposed.  

During the Bengal famine which set in 1770 food became expensive. Many people started begging but after some time none was ready to give them alms because they were pressed and people began to starve. They sold their cattle, their ploughs, and whatever they owned to feed themselves. Then they sold their sons, daughters, and even wives. They fed on leaves, grass, and weeds to quench their hunger. Some fed on dogs, mice, and cats. Many died of starvation and diseases. In this miserable condition, peasants have turned into robbers due to hunger.

In 1772 the Sanyasis defeated a company of sepoys and killed its Commander Captain Thomas. In 1773, they had other victories. Many encounters took place between the Sanyasis and the British took place in Western Bengal and Bihar but the British were unable to check the Sanyasis. They then probably joined the Marathas.

Side by side with the Sanyasis were the  Muslin Faqirs who organized themselves in the pattern of Hindu sanyasis and sometimes united against the Company’s force.

Warren Hastings describes most of the sanyasis to be naked and comprised of all castes. He says the sanyasis moved in bands from 2000 onwards up to 10000 people obstructing the British. Despite 4 battalions of the army being engaged against the sanyasis, it could not stop them and even the taxes could not be collected by the British.