Paika Rebellion & why its 'omission' in NCERT books has triggered political slugfest in Odisha

Indian Express

4 days ago

Former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday (July 22) expressed concern over the 'omission' of the Paika Rebellion from the latest Class VIII history textbook of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), calling it a 'huge dishonour' to the brave Paikas.
Who were the Paikas? Why did they rebel against the British? And how is the alleged omission of the rebellion from history textbooks a politically sensitive issue in Odisha?
Throughout the 19th century, rural India was alive with discontent that periodically manifested itself in the form of armed resistance against old inequities and new hardships alike. The latter was primarily the result of military expansion of the British East India Company, which disrupted existing social relations in peasant and tribal communities.
The Paika Rebellion, also known as the Paika Bidroha, was one such uprising.
The Paikas (pronounced 'paiko', literally 'foot soldiers') were a class of military retainers who had been recruited from various social groups by the Gajapati rulers of Odisha since the 16th century. They would render martial services to the king in return for hereditary rent-free land (nish-kar jagirs) which they would cultivate during peacetime.
In 1803, Colonel Harcourt marched virtually unchallenged from Madras to Puri, and faced only feeble Maratha opposition onward to Cuttack. Harcourt had made an agreement with Mukunda Deva II, for free passage through Khurda in return for compensation of Rs 1 lakh and four parganas — Lembai, Rahanga, Surai and Chabiskud — which had been under Maratha control since 1760.
When the Company did not fulfil these conditions, Jayee Rajguru, the custodian of the king marched to Cuttack with around 2,000 armed Paikas in order to pressurise the British. Although Harcourt paid a sum of Rs 40,000, he refused to give Khurda the four parganas. Rajguru subsequently conspired to overthrow the British, but was caught before the revolt could materialise.
The Company subsequently took away the king's lands, dethroned him, razed the fort at Barunei, and arrested Rajguru, who was convicted for waging war against the British government and executed on December 6, 1806. The king was banished to Puri.
The end of native rule in Odisha marked the beginning of the decline of the Paikas' power and prestige. Apart from losing political patronage, the Paikas, who previously enjoyed rent-free land, suffered due to new land revenue settlements introduced by the Company which drove Odia proprietors to ruin. Many were forced to transfer land to Bengali absentee landlords, often for a pittance.
The British also changed the currency system, demanding revenue payments in rupees, which increased pressure on dispossessed, marginal tribals. These sections had to cope with greater demands from landlords, who now had to pay taxes in silver.
The British control over salt — which had pre-1803-4 origins, but was extended to coastal Odisha in 1814 — also led to rising hardship for the people in the hills. There is evidence of raids on boats of salt agents near Puri during this period.
Their hereditary rent-free land being taken away, along with a host of other economic difficulties, eventually led to a full-scale revolt against British rule.
The rebellion
In March 1817, some 400 Kondhs equipped with traditional arms marched from Ghumusar towards Khurda. They were joined by an army of Paikas led by Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mahapatra Bhramarabar Ray, the former commander-in-chief of the king of Khurda and the erstwhile holder of the lucrative Rodanga estate.
The rebels attacked the police station of Banpur, burnt government quarters, killed policemen, looted the government treasury, and proceeded towards Khurda. The Paikas fought bloody battles at several places over the next few months, and killed several British officials.
The Company army gradually crushed the revolt. Bakshi Jagabandhu escaped to the jungles, and remained on the run till 1825, when he finally surrendered to the British under negotiated terms.
Invoking Paikas today
The Paikas and their rebellion have long been used to invoke Odia sub-nationalism.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha in 2017, the 200th anniversary of the rebellion, demanded that the Centre declare the Paika Bidroha as the 'first war of independence', given it was launched four decades before the Mutiny of 1857.
While this demand was not accepted, then Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha in 2021, said that rebellion would be included in Class VIII history textbooks, framing it as 'one of the beginnings of popular uprisings against the British in India'.
In fact, the BJP too has the Paika Rebellion to strengthen its position in coastal Odisha. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitated more than 200 descendants of Paika warriors in Bhubaneswar. In 2019, then President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone of the Paika Memorial at Barunei foothills. After BJP came to power in Odisha last year, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced that the Paika Academy and Paika Memorial would be established expeditiously at Barunei near Khurda.
Amid the latest controversy, BJP ministers in Odisha have accused Patnaik of misleading people by making false claims. The NCERT has already clarified that 'regional resistances' like the Paika Rebellion will be handled in the second volume of the textbook, expected to be released in September-October.