The Sanyasi Revolt: Meaning, Causes, and Key Figures of the Uprising

• The disastrous famine of 1770 and the harsh economic order of the British compelled a group of *sanyasis* in Eastern India to fight the British yoke.
• Originally peasants, even some evicted from land, these *sanyasis* were joined by a large number of dispossessed small *zamindars*, disbanded soldiers and rural poor.
• They raided Company factories and the treasuries, and fought the Company’s forces.
• It was only after a prolonged action that Warren Hastings could subdue the *sanyasis*.
• Equal participation of Hindus and Muslims characterised the uprisings, sometimes referred to as the Fakir Rebellion.
• Majnum Shah (or Majnu Shah), Chirag Ali, Musa Shah, Bhawani Pathak and Debi Chaudhurani were important leaders.
• Debi Chaudhurani’s participation recognises the women’s role in early resistances against the British.
• *Anandamath*, a semi-historical novel by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, is based on the Sanyasi Revolt.
• Bankim Chandra also wrote a novel, *Devi Chaudhurani*, as he saw the importance of women too taking up the struggle against an alien rule that posed a threat to traditional Indian values.