Civil Uprisings : Kuka Movement: Origins, Goals, and Suppression
Kuka Movement founded by Bhagat Jawahar Mal and led by Baba Ram Singh. Explore its religious and political objectives, including the abolition of caste discrimination, rejection of British rule, and promotion of Swadeshi. Learn about the movement’s suppression and its impact on the Indian nationalist movement.
- Founded in 1840 by Bhagat Jawahar Mal (Sian Saheb) in western Punjab, with Baba Ram Singh as a major leader.
- After British annexation of Punjab, the movement shifted from religious to political objectives.
- Advocated abolition of caste discrimination among Sikhs, discouragement of meat and alcohol consumption, widow remarriage, intermarriages, and encouraging women's participation.
- Politically, the Kukas sought to remove British rule and restore Sikh governance over Punjab, promoting hand-woven clothes, and boycotting English laws, education, and products.
- Preceded the concepts of Swadeshi and non-cooperation later prominent in the Indian national movement.
- British efforts to suppress the movement intensified between 1863 and 1872.
- In 1872, Ram Singh was deported to Rangoon.
