UPSC Prelims Facts
UPSC Civil Services• Modern Indian History• Tribal and Peasant Movements• UPSC Prelims Facts
# UPSC PRELIMS FACTS — QUICK REVISION
## TRIBAL
KHASI
→ 1829–33
→ TIROT SINGH
→ KHASI HILLS
→ AUTONOMY.
KOL
→ 1831–32
→ BUDHU BHAGAT
→ CHOTANAGPUR
→ LAND/OUTSIDERS.
SANTHAL
→ 1855–56
→ SIDHU-KANHU
→ SANTHAL PARGANA
→ ANTI-EXPLOITATION.
MUNDA
→ 1899–1900
→ BIRSA
→ CHOTANAGPUR
→ CUSTOMARY LAND.
BASTAR
→ 1910
→ LOCAL LEADERS
→ FOREST RIGHTS.
TANA BHAGAT
→ 1914
→ JATRA ORAON
→ CHOTANAGPUR
→ REFORM.
RAMPA
→ 1922–24
→ ALLURI
→ ANDHRA
→ FOREST + FORCED LABOUR.
HERAKA
→ JADONANG/GAIDINLIU
→ NAGA-MANIPUR
→ AUTONOMY.
==================================================
## PEASANT
INDIGO
→ 1859–60
→ BENGAL
→ PLANTER COERCION.
PABNA
→ 1873–76
→ BENGAL
→ RENT/TENANCY.
DECCAN
→ 1875
→ MAHARASHTRA
→ DEBT/MONEYLENDERS.
CHAMPARAN
→ 1917
→ GANDHI + SHUKLA
→ BIHAR
→ INDIGO/TINKATHIA.
KHEDA
→ 1918
→ GANDHI + PATEL
→ GUJARAT
→ REVENUE.
AWADH
→ 1920–22
→ BABA RAMCHANDRA
→ UP
→ RENT/TENANCY.
EKA
→ 1921–22
→ MADARI PASI
→ UP
→ RENT.
BARDOLI
→ 1928
→ PATEL
→ GUJARAT
→ REVENUE.
BIHAR KISAN SABHA
→ 1929
→ SAHAJANAND
→ BIHAR
→ ANTI-ZAMINDARI.
AIKS
→ 1936
→ SAHAJANAND/RANGA
→ ALL INDIA.
TEBHAGA
→ 1946–47
→ KONAR/LEFT
→ BENGAL
→ TWO-THIRDS.
TELANGANA
→ 1946–51
→ SUNDARAYYA/COMMUNISTS
→ TELANGANA
→ LANDLORDISM.
==================================================
## IMPORTANT ACTS
1793
→ Permanent Settlement.
1860
→ Indigo Commission.
1879
→ Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act.
1885
→ Bengal Tenancy Act.
1904
→ Cooperative Credit Societies Act.
1908
→ Chotanagpur Tenancy Act.
1927
→ Indian Forest Act.
1935
→ Excluded/Partially Excluded Areas.
==================================================
## ORGANISATIONS
OUDH KISAN SABHA
→ BABA RAMCHANDRA.
BIHAR KISAN SABHA
→ SAHAJANAND.
AIKS
→ 1936
→ NATIONAL KISAN ORGANISATION.
BENGAL KISAN SABHA
→ TEBHAGA.
CPI
→ 1925
→ LEFT/CLASS AGRARIAN POLITICS.
CSP
→ 1934
→ SOCIALIST CURRENT.
==================================================
## MOST IMPORTANT MATCHES
TIROT → KHASI.
SIDHU-KANHU → SANTHAL.
BIRSA → MUNDA.
ALLURI → RAMPA.
SHUKLA → CHAMPARAN.
PATEL → BARDOLI.
RAMCHANDRA → AWADH.
MADARI PASI → EKA.
SAHAJANAND → BIHAR KISAN SABHA.
KONAR → TEBHAGA.
SUNDARAYYA → TELANGANA.
==================================================
## MOST IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS
INDIGO REVOLT:
> Bengal, 1859–60.
CHAMPARAN:
> Bihar, 1917.
KHEDA:
> 1918 + revenue distress.
BARDOLI:
> 1928 + revenue enhancement.
PABNA:
> Rent/tenancy.
DECCAN:
> Debt/moneylenders.
TEBHAGA:
> Two-thirds share.
TELANGANA:
> Landlordism + Communist struggle.
MUNDA:
> Customary tribal land.
RAMPA:
> Forest + forced labour.
==================================================
## ULTRA-FAST CHRONOLOGY
1793 → Permanent Settlement.
1829 → Khasi.
1831 → Kol.
1855 → Santhal.
1859 → Indigo.
1875 → Deccan.
1899 → Munda.
1910 → Bastar.
1917 → Champaran.
1918 → Kheda.
1920 → Awadh.
1921 → Eka.
1922 → Rampa.
1928 → Bardoli.
1936 → AIKS.
1946 → Tebhaga + Telangana.
==================================================
## PRELIMS FORMULA
> YEAR + REGION + LEADER + CAUSE + DEMAND + ORGANISATION + RESPONSE.
FINAL:
> Most Prelims questions can be solved by distinguishing movements through their region, chronology, leader and single defining grievance.
UPSC PRELIMS FACTS
Tribal and Peasant Movements — Colonial India
==================================================
- CORE PRELIMS APPROACH
For Prelims, focus on:
MOVEMENT
→ YEAR
→ REGION
→ LEADER
→ IMMEDIATE CAUSE
→ DEMAND/CHARACTER
→ ORGANISATION
→ BRITISH RESPONSE.
==================================================
2. TRIBAL MOVEMENTS — FACTS
KHASI RESISTANCE
- Period: 1829–33.
- Region: Khasi Hills.
- Leader: Tirot Singh.
- Main issue: British territorial expansion and interference.
- Character: Defence of Khasi autonomy.
- Important distinction: Early tribal resistance, not a peasant rent movement.
KOL UPRISING
- Period: 1831–32.
- Region: Chotanagpur.
- Important leader: Budhu Bhagat.
- Main issues:
- Land alienation.
- Outsider/Diku intrusion.
- Colonial intervention.
- Character: Tribal resistance.
SANThAL HUL
- Period: 1855–56.
- Region: Santhal Pargana.
- Leaders: Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu.
- Other important leaders: Chand and Bhairav.
- Main targets:
- Moneylenders.
- Zamindars.
- Colonial officials.
- Character: Tribal + agrarian + anti-colonial.
- British response: Creation of Santhal Pargana as a distinct administrative area.
MUNDA ULGULAN
- Period: 1899–1900.
- Region: Chotanagpur.
- Leader: Birsa Munda.
- Main issues:
- Land alienation.
- Diku exploitation.
- Erosion of customary land rights.
- Key concept: Khuntkatti.
- Character:
- Tribal.
- Agrarian.
- Religious.
- Anti-colonial.
BASTAR REBELLION
- Year: 1910.
- Region: Bastar.
- Leadership: Multiple/local leaders.
- Main issue: Colonial forest policies and restrictions on customary forest use.
- Character: Forest-based tribal resistance.
BHAGAT/BHIL MOVEMENT
- Important leader: Govind Guru.
- Region: Bhil areas of Rajasthan-Gujarat borderlands.
- Main themes:
TANA BHAGAT MOVEMENT
- Began: 1914.
- Region: Chotanagpur.
- Leader: Jatra Oraon.
- Community: Oraon.
- Main themes:
- Religious reform.
- Social reform.
- Community discipline.
- Resistance to exploitation.
- Later interacted with Gandhian nationalism.
RAMPA REBELLION
- Period: 1922–24.
- Region: Rampa Agency, Andhra.
- Leader: Alluri Sitarama Raju.
- Main issues:
- Forest restrictions.
- Loss of customary rights.
- Forced labour.
- Colonial interference.
- Character: Armed tribal + anti-colonial resistance.
HERAKA / ZELIANGRONG MOVEMENT
- Region: Naga-Manipur/Zeliangrong region.
- Leader: Jadonang.
- Main themes:
- Religious revival.
- Cultural identity.
- Tribal autonomy.
- Resistance to colonial rule.
RANI GAIDINLIU
- Region: Naga-Manipur/Zeliangrong region.
- Associated with: Heraka movement.
- Continued resistance after Jadonang.
- Main themes:
- Tribal identity.
- Religious traditions.
- Political autonomy.
- Anti-colonial resistance.
LAXMAN NAIK
- Region: Koraput, Odisha.
- Associated with: Tribal participation in the national movement.
- Main themes:
- Tribal rights.
- Anti-colonial mobilisation.
==================================================
3. PEASANT MOVEMENTS — FACTS
INDIGO REVOLT
- Period: 1859–60.
- Region: Bengal.
- Main grievance: Coercive/unfavourable indigo cultivation.
- Leadership: Mainly local peasants.
- Main opponents: European indigo planters.
- Character: Peasant resistance.
- Important response: Indigo Commission, 1860.
PABNA AGRARIAN MOVEMENT
- Period: 1873–76.
- Region: Pabna, Bengal.
- Social base: Tenants.
- Main issues:
- Rent enhancement.
- Illegal exactions.
- Tenancy insecurity.
- Leadership: Local tenant organisers.
- Character: Organised tenant resistance.
DECCAN RIOTS
- Year: 1875.
- Region: Deccan, especially Maharashtra.
- Main issue: Rural indebtedness.
- Main targets: Moneylenders.
- Important action: Destruction/seizure of debt records.
- Leadership: Local peasants.
- British response: Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act, 1879.
CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA
- Year: 1917.
- Region: Champaran, Bihar.
- Leaders:
- Mahatma Gandhi.
- Raj Kumar Shukla.
- Main issue: Indigo cultivation under Tinkathia system.
- Character: Gandhian Satyagraha.
- Importance: Gandhi's first major Satyagraha in India.
KHEDA SATYAGRAHA
- Year: 1918.
- Region: Kheda, Gujarat.
- Leaders:
- Mahatma Gandhi.
- Vallabhbhai Patel.
- Main issue: Revenue demand amid crop failure/distress.
- Demand: Revenue remission/suspension.
- Method: Non-payment + Satyagraha.
AWADH PEASANT MOVEMENT
- Period: 1920–22.
- Region: Awadh, United Provinces.
- Leader: Baba Ramchandra.
- Organisation: Oudh Kisan Sabha.
- Main issues:
- High rent.
- Illegal cesses.
- Eviction.
- Taluqdar oppression.
- Character: Peasant + nationalist mobilisation.
EKA MOVEMENT
- Period: 1921–22.
- Region: United Provinces.
- Important leader: Madari Pasi.
- Main issues:
- High rents.
- Landlord exploitation.
- Tenancy grievances.
- Character: Localised peasant mobilisation.
BARDOLI SATYAGRAHA
- Year: 1928.
- Region: Bardoli, Gujarat.
- Leader: Vallabhbhai Patel.
- Main issue: Enhanced land revenue assessment.
- Method: Non-payment + non-violent resistance.
- Significance: Patel became popularly associated with the title "Sardar" after Bardoli.
BIHAR KISAN SABHA
- Founded: 1929.
- Leader: Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.
- Region: Bihar.
- Main issues:
- Zamindari.
- Rent.
- Tenancy.
- Agrarian exploitation.
- Character: Organised kisan politics.
ALL INDIA KISAN SABHA
- Founded: 1936.
- Important leaders:
- Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.
- N.G. Ranga.
- Character: National peasant organisation.
- Main demands:
- Rent reduction.
- Tenancy protection.
- Debt relief.
- Agrarian reform.
- Opposition to landlord exploitation.
TEBHAGA MOVEMENT
- Period: 1946–47.
- Region: Bengal.
- Social base: Sharecroppers/bargadars.
- Main demand: Two-thirds share of produce for cultivators.
- Important leader/organiser: Hare Krishna Konar.
- Political influence: Communist/Left.
- Character: Class-oriented peasant movement.
TELANGANA PEASANT STRUGGLE
- Period: 1946–51.
- Region: Telangana, Hyderabad State.
- Major leader: P. Sundarayya.
- Political influence: Communist.
- Main issues:
- Landlordism.
- Forced labour.
- Land rights.
- Character: Armed/class-based agrarian struggle.
- Important chronology point: It began before independence and continued after 1947.
WARLI STRUGGLE
- Period: 1940s.
- Region: Maharashtra.
- Important organiser: Godavari Parulekar.
- Social base: Warli tribal communities/agrarian labourers.
- Main issues:
- Forced labour.
- Landlord/contractor exploitation.
- Labour rights.
- Character: Tribal + agrarian + Left mobilisation.
==================================================
4. IMPORTANT ACTS — PRELIMS FACTS
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT
- Year: 1793.
- Associated with: Lord Cornwallis.
- Major region: Bengal, Bihar and parts of Odisha.
- Associated structure: Zamindari.
BENGAL RENT ACT
- Year: 1859.
- Purpose: Regulate landlord-tenant relations.
- Context: Agrarian/tenancy tensions in Bengal.
INDIGO COMMISSION
- Year: 1860.
- Context: Indigo Revolt.
- Nature: Commission, NOT an Act.
- Purpose: Investigate grievances of indigo cultivators.
INDIAN FOREST ACT
- Important years:
- Broad effect: Increasing/consolidated state control over forests.
- Significance: Major impact on customary forest use.
DECCAN AGRICULTURISTS RELIEF ACT
- Year: 1879.
- Context: Deccan Riots.
- Purpose: Relief to indebted agriculturists.
BENGAL TENANCY ACT
- Year: 1885.
- Context: Landlord-tenant conflict.
- Significance: Legal protection/regulation of tenancy relations.
LAND ACQUISITION ACT
- Year: 1894.
- Purpose: Compulsory acquisition of land for public purposes.
- Important: General land law, not specifically a peasant-protection law.
COOPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES ACT
- Year: 1904.
- Purpose: Rural cooperative credit.
- Objective: Reduce dependence on moneylenders.
CHOTANAGPUR TENANCY ACT
- Year: 1908.
- Region: Chotanagpur.
- Purpose: Protect certain tribal land/tenancy interests and restrict alienation.
- Connection: Munda agrarian resistance.
COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES ACT
- Year: 1912.
- Purpose: Expand cooperative organisation.
INDIAN FOREST ACT
- Year: 1927.
- Purpose: Consolidate forest laws.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT
- Year: 1935.
- Important tribal provision: Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas.
- Significance: Differentiated administration of tribal areas.
==================================================
5. ORGANISATIONS — PRELIMS FACTS
- Region: Awadh.
- Associated leader: Baba Ramchandra.
- Main concerns: Rent, tenancy and landlord oppression.
BIHAR PROVINCIAL KISAN SABHA
- Region: Bihar.
- Associated leader: Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.
- Main concern: Anti-zamindari/peasant rights.
- Founded: 1936.
- Important leaders: Sahajanand, N.G. Ranga and others.
- Character: National kisan organisation.
- Region: Bengal.
- Associated with: Left/Communist peasant mobilisation.
- Important connection: Tebhaga.
- Founded: 1934.
- Character: Socialist current within Congress.
- Important connection: Kisan mobilisation.
- Founded: 1925.
- Major agrarian connections:
- Tebhaga.
- Telangana.
- Kisan Sabha politics.
- Broad nationalist political organisation.
- Associated with:
- Champaran.
- Kheda.
- Bardoli.
- Important caution:
Congress and Kisan Sabha were not identical organisations.
==================================================
6. HIGH-YIELD LEADER → MOVEMENT
Govind Guru
→ Bhagat/Bhil.
Jatra Oraon
→ Tana Bhagat.
Raj Kumar Shukla
→ Champaran.
Gandhi
→ Champaran + Kheda.
Sahajanand
→ Bihar Kisan Sabha + AIKS.
N.G. Ranga
→ Kisan politics + AIKS.
Hare Krishna Konar
→ Tebhaga.
P. Sundarayya
→ Telangana.
Godavari Parulekar
→ Warli.
==================================================
7. HIGH-YIELD MOVEMENT → DEMAND
End exploitation + community autonomy.
Forest rights + end forced labour.
Reform of indigo/Tinkathia system.
Rent reduction + tenant protection.
Revenue reduction/withdrawal.
Land + end forced labour + anti-landlordism.
==================================================
8. REGION → MOVEMENT FACTS
BENGAL
- Indigo Revolt.
- Pabna.
- Tebhaga.
BIHAR
- Champaran.
- Bihar Kisan Sabha.
GUJARAT
UNITED PROVINCES
CHOTANAGPUR
- Kol.
- Munda Ulgulan.
- Tana Bhagat.
SANTHAL PARGANA
MAHARASHTRA
ANDHRA
TELANGANA
NAGA-MANIPUR
- Heraka/Zeliangrong movement.
ODISHA
- Koraput tribal mobilisation.
==================================================
9. CHRONOLOGY — ULTRA HIGH YIELD
1793
→ Permanent Settlement.
1829–33
→ Khasi resistance.
1899–1900
→ Munda Ulgulan.
1929
→ Bihar Kisan Sabha.
1936
→ All India Kisan Sabha.
==================================================
10. MOST IMPORTANT PAIRS
1793
→ Permanent Settlement.
1860
→ Indigo Commission.
1879
→ Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act.
1885
→ Bengal Tenancy Act.
1904
→ Cooperative Credit Societies Act.
1908
→ Chotanagpur Tenancy Act.
1927
→ Indian Forest Act.
1935
→ Excluded/Partially Excluded Areas.
1936
→ All India Kisan Sabha.
==================================================
11. PRELIMS "MATCH THE FOLLOWING" SET
Sahajanand
→ Bihar Kisan Sabha.
Hare Krishna Konar
→ Tebhaga.
==================================================
12. IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS
INDIGO REVOLT vs CHAMPARAN
KHEDA vs BARDOLI
1928 + enhanced assessment.
PABNA vs AWADH
UP + taluqdars + rent/tenancy.
DECCAN vs TEBHAGA
MUNDA vs SANTHAL
Birsa + Chotanagpur + customary land.
Sidhu-Kanhu + Santhal Pargana + moneylender/zamindar exploitation.
RAMPA vs TELANGANA
Alluri + tribal forest rights.
Sundarayya/Communists + landlordism/class.
==================================================
13. TRIBAL vs PEASANT — PRELIMS DISTINCTION
- Land.
- Forest.
- Customary rights.
- Community autonomy.
- Cultural/religious identity.
- Rent.
- Revenue.
- Debt.
- Commercial crops.
- Tenancy.
- Sharecropping.
- Landlordism.
Telangana and Warli movements combine tribal and agrarian dimensions.
==================================================
14. GANDHIAN AGRARIAN MOVEMENTS
- Specific economic grievance.
- Mass mobilisation.
- Non-violent resistance.
- Satyagraha/collective non-payment.
- Link with nationalism.
CHAMPARAN → KHEDA → BARDOLI.
==================================================
15. LEFT AGRARIAN MOVEMENTS
Greater emphasis on class, landlordism, tenancy and structural agrarian change.
SAHAJANAND → AIKS → TEBHAGA → TELANGANA.
==================================================
16. PRELIMS REVISION TRAPS
- Santhal Hul → Birsa Munda.
- Munda Ulgulan → Santhal Pargana.
- Madari Pasi → Awadh movement as main leader.
Madari Pasi is especially associated with Eka.
- Chotanagpur Tenancy Act → 1912.
- Deccan Relief Act → 1875.
- Bengal Tenancy Act → 1859.
- Government of India Act 1935 → modern Fifth Schedule.
It provided Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas; the Fifth Schedule belongs to the Constitution of independent India.
- Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act 1949 → colonial.
==================================================
17. STATEMENT-BASED PRELIMS FACTS
STATEMENT 1
"All peasant movements were led by national political organisations."
Many were locally organised.
STATEMENT 2
"Tribal movements were always purely anti-colonial from the beginning."
Many began with specific land, forest, social or administrative grievances.
STATEMENT 3
"Every tribal movement had a single charismatic leader."
Several movements had collective/local leadership.
STATEMENT 4
"The Indigo Commission followed the Indigo Revolt."
STATEMENT 5
"The Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act followed the Deccan Riots."
STATEMENT 6
"The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act was associated with protection of tribal land interests."
STATEMENT 7
"The Government of India Act, 1935 created Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas."
STATEMENT 8
"Tebhaga was primarily a sharecroppers' movement."
STATEMENT 9
"Telangana was a Communist-led agrarian struggle."
STATEMENT 10
"Congress and All India Kisan Sabha were identical organisations."
==================================================
18. COMPLETE REVISION FRAMEWORK
AGRARIAN RESISTANCE
↓
┌────────────────┼────────────────┐
↓ ↓ ↓
LAND FOREST CREDIT
↓ ↓ ↓
MUNDA/TELANGANA BASTAR/RAMPA DECCAN
↓ ↓ ↓
TRIBAL TRIBAL PEASANT
↓
RENT/REVENUE
↓
PABNA/AWADH/KHEDA
↓
ORGANISATION
↓
KISAN SABHAS / AIKS
↓
LEFT INFLUENCE
↓
TEBHAGA/TELANGANA.
==================================================
19. FIVE MEMORY CLUSTERS
CLUSTER 1 — TRIBAL LAND
KOL
→ MUNDA
→ CHOTANAGPUR.
CLUSTER 2 — FOREST
CLUSTER 3 — RENT
CLUSTER 4 — REVENUE
CLUSTER 5 — CLASS
AIKS
→ TEBHAGA
→ TELANGANA.
==================================================
20. PRELIMS MASTER GRID
| Movement | Leader | Region | Key Fact |
|---|
| Khasi Resistance | Tirot Singh | Khasi Hills | Autonomy |
| Kol | Budhu Bhagat | Chotanagpur | Land/outsiders |
| Santhal Hul | Sidhu-Kanhu | Santhal Pargana | Anti-exploitation |
| Munda Ulgulan | Birsa Munda | Chotanagpur | Customary land |
| Indigo Revolt | Local leaders | Bengal | Indigo |
| Pabna | Local leaders | Bengal | Rent/tenancy |
| Deccan Riots | Local peasants | Maharashtra | Debt |
| Champaran | Gandhi/Shukla | Bihar | Indigo/Tinkathia |
| Kheda | Gandhi/Patel | Gujarat | Revenue |
| Awadh | Baba Ramchandra | UP | Rent |
| Eka | Madari Pasi | UP | Rent |
| Rampa | Alluri | Andhra | Forest |
| Bardoli | Patel | Gujarat | Revenue |
| Bihar Kisan Sabha | Sahajanand | Bihar | Anti-zamindari |
| AIKS | Sahajanand/Ranga | All India | Kisan organisation |
| Tebhaga | Konar/Left | Bengal | Two-thirds |
| Telangana | Sundarayya/Communists | Telangana | Landlordism |
| Warli | Godavari Parulekar | Maharashtra | Land/labour |
==================================================
21. FINAL 30-SECOND REVISION
SHUKLA/GANDHI
→ CHAMPARAN.
SAHAJANAND
→ BIHAR KISAN SABHA.
==================================================
22. FINAL UPSC PRELIMS FORMULA
- WHEN?
- WHERE?
- WHO?
- WHY?
- WHAT DEMAND?
- WHAT ORGANISATION?
- WHAT RESPONSE?
- WHAT DISTINGUISHES IT FROM SIMILAR MOVEMENTS?
YEAR + REGION + LEADER + GRIEVANCE + DEMAND + ORGANISATION + RESPONSE.
