Paika Rebellion

From Left to Right: Krutibas Patsani, Madhab Chandra Routray, Bakshi Jagabandhu, Jayi Rajaguru, and Pindiki Bahubalendra

The Paikas were the traditional militia of Odisha. They served as warriors and were charged with policing functions during peacetime. The Paikas 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 Paikas. The attitude of the company to the Paikas 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 Paikas 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 Paikas for their military service to the state.) Within a short period of time the name of Paika has already been forgotten. But still now where the Paikas 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 Paikas under their control for a pretty long period, unless the Paika community is ruined completely the British rule cannot run smoothly."[3]

The Paika rebellion had several social, economic and political reasons. The Paikas 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 paikas 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 Paikas, but the plot was soon discovered and the Raja's territory confiscated.[4]

The Paika was led by Bakshi Jagabandhu, 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 Paikas 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, paikrays’zamindars and the common people of Odisha participating in it. The zamindars of Karipur, Mrichpur, Golra, Balarampur, Budnakera and Rupasa supported the Paikas. 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]

Discontent over the policies of the company was simmering in Odisha when, in March 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 Paikas 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 Paikas, forcing them to retreat to Cuttack, suffering heavy losses, and Faris himself was killed by the Paikas. Another force sent to Puri under Captain Wellington, however, faced little opposition, and on 9 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 18 April. 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 paikas 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 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]

In May 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 Paikas 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 her freedom struggle by Tapanga in 1827 and the Banapur Rebellion of 1835.[9] Other major violent uprisings against the British was followed by two separate Kandha uprisings under Dora Bisoi and Chakra Bisoi, Kol rebellion, the Sambalpur uprising led by Veer Surendra Sai and Gond Sardars, Bhuyan uprising under Dharanidhar Naik, etc. The revenue policies of the company in Odisha, which was a major cause of hardship to the people, remained unchanged. In October 2017, the government of India recognise Paika revolt as first war of independence earlier it was Revolt of 1857. [10]

The Paika Rebellion Memorial will be built by the Union Ministry of Culture over ten acres of land near Barunei Hills. Its foundation stone was laid by President of India on 7 December 2019.

• Paika akhada