Author:

Tarana Tabassum Sweety
Lecturer
Epartment of Business and Aministration
Presidency University.
Dhaka,Bangladesh

Email:sweetydu22@gmail.com

Abstract: On June 23, 1757, Sirajuddaula, the last sovereign Nawab of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, was defeated by the British East India Company in the battle of Plassey. Subsequently, the British governed this land for nearly two hundred years. Over time, the freedom loving people of this country launched various large and small uprisings against British colonial rule. The Fakir-Sannyasi rebellion was the first armed resistance movement against British oppression and this rebellion continued for 38 years, from 1763 to 1800, shaking the foundation of the British government. No other peasant revolt had taken place for so long during the colonial period like that rebellion. Warren Hastings was the first to call the revolt “a monastic revolt”, and he also called it “a professional harassment and robbery of the nomads of Hindustan (gypsies of Hindustan)”, called them “bandits and robbers”. He called the monks the nomadic community of Hindustan. Later, the British historian Sir William Hunter first referred to this rebellion as the peasant revolt. William Hunter was the historian and chief collector of the British rule in India, and he claimed “Fakirs were not professional bandit robbers from outside” as mentioned by Warren Hastings. They started a rebellion to avoid being exploited by the British rulers. In fact, to escape from the British rule, the Fakir and Sannyasi started a rebellion. This article aims to unearth the reasons of what factors compelled the Fakirs and Sannyasis to rise against the British authorities, and what defensive measures did the British enforce to subdue them.

Key Words: Armed Resistance, British Colonial Rule, Pilgrimage, Rebellion, Suppression etc.