Abstract: To lead the peasants, often dubbed as exploited, politically segregated, economically unorganized class is not an easy task at all. It seems like a herculean task when we talk about the question of peasant mobilization within colonial framework due to numerous objective as well as subjective reasons. Colonial Odisha (Orissa) being a part of colonized Indian subcontinent bore identical symptoms of colonial exploitation and gradual pauperization of rural gentry in post 1803 period, the year of British occupation of Odisha. The faulty administrative policies of colonial masters, territorial dismemberment of Odisha as well as prolonged exploitation of masses gradually created indigestion. Failed with traditional methods of protest to snatch legitimate rights from a government based on western prototype of constitutionalism, the poor illiterate raiyats approached legal political avenue (representative government) , the best instruments in the hands of educated intelligentsia, to get their right fulfilled. The formation of Bihar and Orissa presidency coupled with the beginning of the process of Tenancy legislation in 1913 brought forth the question of raiyat’s interest within newly formed Legislative Assembly. Therefore this article has made an earnest effort to find out the answers of (I) why did raiyats of colonial Odisha want their representation within assembly? (ii) How was the Praja Pratinidhi sabha formed? (iii) Who were the leading figures behind peasants’ mobilization and what were their social bases? (iv)How far did the Praja Pratinidhi sabha help alleviating the problems?
Keywords: Leadership, mobilization, Praja, Pratinidhi, raiyat, sabha, tenancy.
Title: The Middle Class Intelligentsia and the Question of Peasant Leadership in Colonial Odisha: A Case Study of the Praja Pratinidhi Sabha (1912-13 AD)
Author: Amit Kumar Nayak
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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