Deccan Riots

The ryots of Deccan region of western India suffered heavy taxation under the Ryotwari system. Here again the peasants found themselves trapped in a vicious network with the moneylender as the exploiter and the main beneficiary. These moneylenders were mostly outsiders—Marwaris or Gujaratis. The conditions had worsened due to a crash in cotton prices after the end of the American Civil War in 1864, the Government’s decision to raise the land revenue by 50% in 1867, and a succession of bad harvests.

In 1874, the growing tension between the moneylenders and the peasants resulted in a social boycott movement

organised by the ryots against the “outsider” moneylenders. The ryots refused to buy from their shops. No peasant would cultivate their fields. The barbers, washermen, shoemakers would not serve them. This social boycott spread rapidly to the villages of Poona, Ahmednagar, Sholapur and Satara. Soon the social boycott was transformed into agrarian riots with systematic attacks on the moneylenders’ houses and shops. The debt bonds and deeds were seized and publicly burnt. The Government succeeded in repressing the movement.

As a conciliatory measure, the Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act was passed in 1879.

This time also, the modern nationalist intelligentsia of Maharashtra supported the peasants’ cause.