Sannyasi movement is an 18th century revolt by
Hindu monks. Academics and politicians that came to power after 1947
purposefully hid such small but vital rebellions by not publishing them.
The Sannyasi rebellion of the 18th century AD
culminated as a reaction of Indian monks against exploitation by the East India
Company’s regime in particular against its restriction on free movement to
places of pilgrimage.
Monks in India organized themselves into armed units and
fortified themselves in their mutts (Hindu monasteries). They produced firearms
and prepared themselves for battle.
Sannyasis led a revolt against the British and were joined
by the public.
They attacked the residences and treasuries of the company.
There was a long struggle spearheaded by the monks, along with armed peasants
and soldiers discharged from the army of the Nawab of Murshidabad.
Silk weavers of Bengal who had been made slaves for British merchants
at below subsistence level wages, too, joined the struggle.
The movement had leaders like Manju Shah and Bhahani Pathak;
all these members gave the movement large canvas.
The rebel warriors took on, in the style of guerilla
warfare, Indian landlords and moneylenders who had been fleeing the public.
Despite great examples of personal bravery and sacrifice,
the rebels lost.
Nevertheless, Warren Hastings, Governor General of the
Company, had to carry on a long operation before the movement could be quelled.
Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee vividly
delineates the story of the Sannyasi Movement in Ananda Matha through imaginary
characters.
Bibliography
The Sannyasi Rebellion (1977), Asi Nath Chandra – Ratna Prakashan
Kolkata
Peasants and Monks in British India (1996) R William Pinch –
University of California Press California
Encyclopedia of Hinduism Volume IX page 227 - IHRF