Peasants Movement

National Peasant Movements (1–30)

The Indigo Revolt of 1859–60 occurred in:
a) Bihar
b) Maharashtra
c) Bengal
d) Punjab
✅ c) Bengal
👉 Indigo cultivators rebelled against European planters who forced them to grow indigo under exploitative contracts.
Who wrote the play Nil Darpan based on Indigo Revolt?
a) Bankim Chandra
b) Dinabandhu Mitra
c) Rabindranath Tagore
d) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
✅ b) Dinabandhu Mitra
👉 Nil Darpan exposed planter brutality and stirred nationalist sympathy.
The Pabna Peasant Uprising occurred in:
a) Orissa
b) Punjab
c) Eastern Bengal
d) Assam
✅ c) Eastern Bengal
👉 Peasants protested against excessive rent by zamindars during 1870s.
The Deccan Riots of 1875 were mainly against:
a) British officials
b) Zamindars
c) Moneylenders
d) Indigo planters
✅ c) Moneylenders
👉 Farmers in Maharashtra revolted due to oppressive debt and land seizure by moneylenders.
The Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act was passed in:
a) 1880
b) 1895
c) 1875
d) 1900
✅ c) 1875
👉 Passed after Deccan Riots to regulate moneylending and protect peasants.
The Moplah Rebellion (1921) took place in:
a) Bengal
b) Kerala
c) Tamil Nadu
d) Karnataka
✅ b) Kerala
👉 Muslim tenant farmers (Moplahs) rose against Hindu landlords in Malabar.
The Eka Movement was associated with:
a) Awadh
b) Telangana
c) Assam
d) Gujarat
✅ a) Awadh
👉 Led by Madari Pasi (1921–22), against rent and begari.
Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) was led by:
a) Jawaharlal Nehru
b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
c) Vallabhbhai Patel
d) Vinoba Bhave
✅ c) Vallabhbhai Patel
👉 Patel organized farmers against increased land tax in Gujarat.
Who gave the title "Sardar" to Vallabhbhai Patel?
a) Gandhi
b) Peasants of Bardoli
c) Nehru
d) Subhash Bose
✅ b) Peasants of Bardoli
👉 Honored his leadership in the Bardoli Satyagraha.
The Tebhaga Movement (1946–47) occurred in:
a) Maharashtra
b) Assam
c) Bengal
d) Orissa
✅ c) Bengal
👉 Sharecroppers demanded two-thirds of produce, instead of the usual half.
The Tebhaga Movement was led by:
a) Congress
b) Muslim League
c) CPI
d) Socialist Party
✅ c) CPI
👉 Organized by Bengal Kisan Sabha and CPI.
The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was founded in:
a) 1935
b) 1936
c) 1920
d) 1938
✅ b) 1936
👉 Established during the Lucknow Congress session.
The first president of All India Kisan Sabha was:
a) Indulal Yagnik
b) Sahajanand Saraswati
c) N G Ranga
d) Sardar Patel
✅ b) Sahajanand Saraswati
👉 A leading peasant leader from Bihar.
AIKS later aligned with which ideology?
a) Liberalism
b) Gandhianism
c) Communism
d) Fascism
✅ c) Communism
👉 Post-1939, many leaders joined the Communist Party of India.
Which movement involved forest satyagraha by peasants?
a) Tebhaga
b) Eka
c) Andhra movement
d) Central Provinces campaign
✅ d) Central Provinces campaign
👉 Peasants opposed colonial forest laws and restrictions.
The Deccan Riots demanded:
a) Land reforms
b) Lower rents
c) Debt cancellation
d) Zamindari abolition
✅ c) Debt cancellation
👉 Peasants destroyed bonds and attacked moneylenders.
The Moplah Rebellion coincided with:
a) Swadeshi
b) Khilafat-NCM
c) Salt Satyagraha
d) Quit India Movement
✅ b) Khilafat-NCM
👉 It took a communal turn during Khilafat agitation.
Why did Gandhi withdraw support from Moplah rebellion?
a) It failed
b) It was anti-Hindu
c) It turned violent
d) Planters were harmed
✅ c) It turned violent
👉 Gandhi disapproved of communal killings.
What emerged in rural areas during Quit India Movement?
a) Swadeshi committees
b) Zamindari courts
c) Parallel governments
d) Provincial Congress cabinets
✅ c) Parallel governments
👉 In Satara, Ballia, and Tamluk, people ran local administration.
"Tebhaga" literally means:
a) Sharecropping
b) Two-thirds
c) Peasant council
d) Land tax
✅ b) Two-thirds
👉 Bargadars demanded 2/3 of the produce instead of 1/2.
The Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha was formed in:
a) 1922
b) 1925
c) 1929
d) 1931
✅ c) 1929
👉 Under Sahajanand Saraswati’s leadership.
Who was a national-level kisan leader from South India?
a) Baba Ramchandra
b) Swami Sahajanand
c) N G Ranga
d) K Kamaraj
✅ c) N G Ranga
👉 A prominent Andhra leader and founder of Peasant Political Parties.
The All India Kisan Congress later became:
a) Congress Socialist Party
b) AIKS
c) Harijan Sabha
d) Indian Peasant Union
✅ b) AIKS
👉 Formally launched in 1936.
The Kisan Sabha movements demanded:
a) Complete independence
b) Zamindari abolition and tenancy rights
c) Separate electorates
d) Hindu code reforms
✅ b) Zamindari abolition and tenancy rights
👉 Focused on agrarian justice.
What was the impact of AIKS on Congress policies?
a) Delayed land reforms
b) Increased support to zamindars
c) Pressured Congress to address agrarian issues
d) No impact
✅ c) Pressured Congress to address agrarian issues
👉 Especially during 1937–42 provincial rule.
The Deccan Riots occurred in which state?
a) Bengal
b) Tamil Nadu
c) Maharashtra
d) UP
✅ c) Maharashtra
👉 Ahmednagar and Pune were major centers.
Post-1939, peasant movements became:
a) Less active
b) Apolitical
c) Left-leaning
d) Government-supported
✅ c) Left-leaning
👉 Under Communist and Socialist influence.
What were sharecroppers called in Bengal?
a) Adhiyars
b) Bargadars
c) Ryots
d) Jamindars
✅ b) Bargadars
👉 They worked land for a share of produce.
Which newspaper was started by Sahajanand Saraswati?
a) Hunkar
b) Harijan
c) Ganashakti
d) Kisan Sabha
✅ a) Hunkar
👉 Voice of agrarian socialism in Bihar.
When was Bihar Kisan Sabha formed?
a) 1925
b) 1926
c) 1927
d) 1929
✅ d) 1929
👉 It later merged with the national AIKS.

Bihar-Specific Peasant Movements (31–50)

Champaran Satyagraha (1917) was related to:
a) Forest rights
b) Tinkathia indigo system
c) Tax hike
d) Cotton monopoly
✅ b) Tinkathia indigo system
👉 Peasants were forced to grow indigo on fixed portions of land.
Who led the Champaran Satyagraha?
a) Nehru
b) Gandhi
c) Rajendra Prasad
d) Vinoba Bhave
✅ b) Gandhi
👉 His first Satyagraha in India.
Who assisted Gandhi in Champaran?
a) Anugrah Narayan Sinha
b) Brajkishore Prasad
c) Rajendra Prasad
d) All of the above
✅ d) All of the above
👉 Local lawyers helped mobilize peasants.
What was the Tinkathia system?
a) Three-crop rotation
b) Rent hike
c) Forced indigo cultivation on 3/20th land
d) Forest tax
✅ c) Forced indigo cultivation on 3/20th land
Gandhi’s method in Champaran included:
a) Fasting
b) Strike
c) Volunteer inquiry and negotiation
d) Court boycott
✅ c) Volunteer inquiry and negotiation
👉 Peaceful inquiry created legal and moral pressure.
Outcome of Champaran Satyagraha:
a) Indigo export increased
b) Peasant union formed
c) System abolished and planters withdrew
d) Government repression
✅ c) System abolished and planters withdrew
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati was originally a:
a) Zamindar
b) Freedom fighter
c) Sadhu
d) Professor
✅ c) Sadhu
👉 A religious scholar who turned peasant leader.
Hunkar Andolan refers to:
a) 1942 Quit India protests
b) Socialist protests
c) Bihar peasant movement led by Sahajanand
d) Dalit protests
✅ c) Bihar peasant movement led by Sahajanand
AIKS was formed under which leader’s influence?
a) Sardar Patel
b) Sahajanand Saraswati
c) Baba Ramchandra
d) Nehru
✅ b) Sahajanand Saraswati
Backbone caste of Bihar peasant movement:
a) Brahmins
b) Rajputs
c) Middle peasant castes (Koeri, Kurmi)
d) Traders
✅ c) Middle peasant castes (Koeri, Kurmi)
Which leader later broke with Congress on agrarian issues?
a) Nehru
b) Sahajanand Saraswati
c) Rajendra Prasad
d) Vinoba Bhave
✅ b) Sahajanand Saraswati
👉 Felt Congress was slow on land reforms.
Bihar peasants in 1940s demanded:
a) Swadeshi shops
b) Separate electorates
c) Zamindari abolition
d) Caste quotas
✅ c) Zamindari abolition
Kisan unrest was strong in:
a) Patna
b) Champaran, Muzaffarpur
c) Gaya
d) Nalanda
✅ b) Champaran, Muzaffarpur
Bihar peasant movements combined:
a) Religious reform only
b) Anti-British but pro-zamindar
c) Anti-colonial and anti-feudal agendas
d) Industrial demands
✅ c) Anti-colonial and anti-feudal agendas
CPI’s role in 1940s Bihar:
a) Supported zamindars
b) Led peasant strikes and land seizure
c) Joined Congress
d) Banned kisan sabha
✅ b) Led peasant strikes and land seizure
Which paper voiced Bihar peasant issues?
a) Harijan
b) Hunkar
c) Samyukta
d) Lokmat
✅ b) Hunkar
Congress stand on zamindari abolition (1930s):
a) Fully opposed
b) Silent
c) Gradual support
d) Pro-zamindari
✅ c) Gradual support
Landless labourers often supported:
a) Congress moderates
b) Socialist leaders
c) Zamindars
d) Hindu Mahasabha
✅ b) Socialist leaders
Common theme in Bihar and Bengal movements:
a) Salt tax
b) Sharecroppers’ rights
c) Forest rights
d) Hill tribal issues
✅ b) Sharecroppers’ rights
Bihar’s peasant struggles influenced:
a) Temple reform
b) School expansion
c) Post-1950 land reform laws
d) Muslim League growth
✅ c) Post-1950 land reform laws