Analyse the measures taken by the British to suppress the riots of Bombay-Deccan in 1875.
Analyse the measures taken by the British to suppress the riots of Bombay-Deccan in 1875.
The Deccan riots broke out in May 1875 when ryots, enraged by the exploitation of moneylenders (sahukars), attacked their houses, shops and above all the bonds and deeds of loans. The British reacted swiftly to restore order.
Measures to suppress the riots
- Deployment of force: the police and the army were sent into the affected villages of Poona, Ahmednagar and neighbouring districts to put down the disturbances.
- Arrests and trials: rioting ryots were captured, tried in courts and punished with imprisonment to deter further uprisings.
- Restoration of order: the movement was crushed after a few months once the armed forces re-established British authority.
Inquiry
- Alarmed by the scale of unrest, the Government of Bombay was pressed by the Government of India to set up a Deccan Riots Commission.
- The Commission investigated the causes, collected reports from district collectors, statements of ryots, sahukars and eyewitnesses, and presented its report to the British Parliament in 1878.
Marking Scheme
- 11 mark: the immediate cause — ryots attacked sahukars and destroyed loan bonds and deeds, prompting British action.
- 21 mark: suppression by force — deployment of police and army, arrest, trial and punishment of rioters to restore order.
- 31 mark: appointment of the Deccan Riots Commission (1878) to inquire into causes, whose report was presented to the British Parliament.
Hint
Split the answer into force (police and army, arrests, trials) used to crush the riots, and the follow-up Deccan Riots Commission of inquiry.
Quick Oral Answer
After ryots attacked moneylenders and burnt their bonds in 1875, the British sent in police and troops, arrested and tried the rioters to crush the revolt, and then appointed the Deccan Riots Commission to investigate its causes.
Analysis & Explanation
This question asks students to analyse the colonial state's response to a rural revolt, testing both factual recall and the ability to distinguish coercion from inquiry.
Concept
- The 1875 riots were directed not against the British directly but against moneylenders, whose bonds and deeds the ryots seized and burnt.
- The British response had two faces: immediate suppression by force, and a longer-term commission of inquiry.
Exam trap
- The question is specifically about the measures of suppression, so the focus must be on police and army action, arrests and trials. The Deccan Riots Commission and the later Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act (1879) are the follow-up, not the suppression itself — mention them briefly but do not make them the whole answer.
Real-world link
- The pattern of crushing a revolt with force and then appointing a commission to study its causes is a recurring feature of colonial governance, seen also after 1857, showing how the state combined repression with information-gathering.
Common Mistakes
- 1Confusing the Deccan riots of 1875 with the Revolt of 1857 or with the indigo rebellion of Bengal — keep the region (Bombay Deccan) and the target (moneylenders) clear.
- 2Writing only about the causes of the riots and forgetting the actual question, which is the British measures to suppress them.
- 3Treating the Deccan Riots Commission as a suppression measure rather than an inquiry that followed the use of force.
Interesting Facts
The riots began in the village of Supa, a market centre in Poona district, in May 1875, before spreading across the Deccan.
The Deccan Riots Commission's report, presented to the British Parliament in 1878, is a rich archival source historians still use to reconstruct rural indebtedness.
British anxiety was heightened because the memory of the 1857 revolt made any large rural uprising appear dangerous, driving both quick repression and careful inquiry.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Against whom were the Deccan riots of 1875 directed?
The riots were directed mainly against the moneylenders (sahukars), who were seen as exploiting the ryots through crushing debts. The peasants attacked their houses and shops and, most significantly, seized and burnt the bonds, deeds and account books that recorded their loans.
What was the Deccan Riots Commission?
It was a commission of inquiry set up on the insistence of the Government of India after the 1875 riots. It gathered reports from collectors, and statements from ryots and moneylenders, and presented its findings on the causes of the unrest to the British Parliament in 1878.