The English appointed Col.
Harcot and Mr. Melvil the administrators of the Cuttack Division. Their first
job was to extract allegiance of numerous small kings or Zamindars in whichever
ways possible. In 1804, they snatched the management of the Puri Temple from
the hand of the King Mukunda Dev-II, as they had their eyes on the vast landed
property and other incomes of the temple. Puri was made capital of Orissa till 1816,
after which it was transferred to Cuttack.
From the times the Kings of
Orissa were sovereign powers, the custom of "Paikas" was well-established
as a mechanism of defence - should the occasion so arise. The Paikas were farmers
during peace and formidable mercenaries during war. They enjoyed a vast
agricultural land in return for their military service. Such lands were available
to these mercenaries from Jaleshwar (in Baleshwar) to Puri. They were of 3
categories; such as (i) Prahari (ii) Banua and (iii) Bhenkias.
Praharies were the initial
defendants whose job was to watch with swords in their hands. Banuas were adept
archers and shooters with country guns. Dhenkias were the swordsmen, far The
Oriya Paika numerous in strength - who fought in the warfronts. Because of
their highly evolved skill, the kings of Utkal were independent for a long
time, even when a single empire did not exist. It is a matter of great regret
that no king or any other martial man did try to organize these forces into a single
unity that could have safe-guarded the safety of a large Orissan Empire, before
or during the English occupation. Had this happened, Orissa would have never
been exploited by the Muslims, Marhattas or the English. Also the question of the
ill reputations of a poor state (inspite of its vast forest and mineral
resources) would have not arisen at all.
The Paikas functioned as
farmers and also "Police" during peace-time. The number of crimes was
far less in Orissa due to their dutifulness as a naturalized police force. A
dishonest English man, Major Fletcher by name, was appointed to manage the
estate of King Mukunda Dev. He snatched away the Jagir land of the Paikas. They
were deprived of the land they hereditarily enjoyed for generations. Repeated
land settlements, new currency policy and deprivation of people of their rights
to manufacture salt from sea-water were some of the measures which ruined the
means of livelihood of people. The Paikas had now two roads to choose; the
first, to sulk in silence and die of starvation and the second, to fight. Borne
of martial tribes, their natural instinct drove them in the road to armed
confrontation.
Buxi Jagabandhu Vidyadhar
Mahapatra Bhramarbar Ray was the General of King Mukund Dev. When the Paikas
revolted, Buxi Jagabandhu was their natural leader. In March of 1817, about 400
Kandha tribals of Ghumusar area came marching towards Khurda. The Paikas of
Khurda joined them. They first attacked the police station of Banpur and burnt
all government quarters. They also killed 100 men and looted fifteen thousand
rupees from the government treasury. When they were marching towards Khurda,
people from adjoining villages joined with them in great numbers. All
government officials fled Khurda which was completely devastated.
On receiving this information
at Cuttack, two platoons of soldiers were sent, one each to Khurda and Pipili.
On the 1st of April, 1817 the Collector of Cuttack marched towards Khurda with
60 Sepoys. When they were at Gangaparha, on their way to Khurda, the Paikas
intercepted them with grenade attacks. The Collector fled to Balakati and was
trying to escape at night from there. He was attacked by the Paikas. Bruised by
them, he escaped to Cuttack losing his tents, ammunitions and elephants to the
Paikas.
The dispatch sent to Khurda was
defeated and their leader was killed by the Paikas. The dispatch sent to Pipili
was defeated too. The police station at Pipili was looted. On the 9th April, fifty
of the soldiers sent to Puri were ordered to march to Khurda. On reaching
Khurda they promulgated martial law. On the same date, a gang of Paikas reached
Puri and burnt the government quarters along with the Puri Court. Unable to
resist this attack, the English fled to Cuttack on 18.04.1817. Gajapati Mukund
Dev also co-operated with the Paikas. The Pandas of the temple announced that
the English rule had been thwarted and the Gajapati's reign had been restored.
The entire south Orissa was now under the control of the Baghis.
Subsequently, with possibly
fresh dispatches there was another fight between the English forces and Paikas
in Puri. The Paikas lost in this fight. Mukunda Dev was captured when he was
trying to flee. After this, the Paikas avoided frontal attack and resorted to Guerilla
warfare, hiding in forests. When the Paika captured Sarang-garh of Cuttack, the
Kings of Kanika and Kujanga had co-operated with them. Narayan Paramguru and Bamadev
Pattajyotish were the leaders of the Paikas of Kanika and Kujanga. Hence the
English marched towards Kujanga in September, 1817.
They first occupied Paradip and
then went to Nuagarh. About 2000 Paikas fought bravely against them, but lost.
The King of Kujanga surrendered and was imprisoned in the Barabati Fort for one
year. Paramguru and Pattajyotish were banished to the Andamans. English
soldiers from Pipili reached Gopa and defeated the Paikas. Karunakar Sardar,
their leader was arrested and imprisoned. Sporadic resistances at other places were
also quelled. Paikas went underground and kept their resistance alive from jungles.
In the year 1818, the English recruited a special force to search and kill or
arrest them. This continued till 1826. In the absence of any short of Logistic Support,
Gorilla welfare had to cease some day and so it did.
Mukunda Dev, who was captured while fleeing, was
kept in prison where he died soon in the month of November, 1817. From the
month of May, 1817, two Judges were appointed to try the offenders of the
Paiks' Rebellion. History has not kept the account of the numerous Paiks and
their leaders who were hanged, imprisoned or deported. The Britishers occupied
Orissa in 1803. The Paikas rose in revolt against them in 1817. They could not
have succeeded with the dire lack support from the public whose back bone was
broken under long exploitations. Yet, History must correct itself to record the
Paikas' Rebellion (1817-26) as the First War of Indian Independence which was
fought 40 years before the Sepoys' Rebellion (1857).
Prof.
N.R. Mohanty NIT, Rourkela.
Courtesy Orissa Review
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon