After the defeat of Nawab Sirajuddaula in the Battle of Plassey, the British ruled the Indian subcontinent for the next nearly 200 years. However, these two long centuries were not smooth for them to rule as they faced numerous revolts against their oppression and persecution.
One of them is the Chakma Rebellion that took place between 1777 and 1787. It was a glorious anti-British movement after which the Chakmas regained their autonomy.
Background of the Rebellion
Before the British period the Chakmas were an autonomous nation meaning that they had internal Independence and their own system of governance.
During the independent Sultanate period, during the Mughal regime and during the next independent Nawabi regime, the relation between the Sultans, the and the Nawabs of the subcontinent was congenial to Chakma Raja (King). The Chakma Kings used to pay a limited amount of revenue as a sign of submission to the rulers. It should be noted that the Chakmas used to pay their revenue through commodities as back then coins were not in circulation among them. In return of the revenue, the rulers completely refrained from interfering into the internal issues of the Chakma kingdom. Hence, the Chakmas were in full autonomy. But this pleasant scenario immediately changed after the triumph of the British East India Company.
As the british gradually became the actual leader of the politics of then India,they occupied Mir Qasim as the new Nawab of Bengal. In return, Mir Qasim gave the English the Burdwan, Midinipore and Chittagong regions. Consequently, both Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts came under British rule.
As aformentioned, during the rule of the Sultanate, the Mughal and the Nawab, the rate of tax imposed on the Chakmas was very limited. But the English began to increase the rate of revenue since 1761. They didn’t stop there. They also started interfering with the internal affairs of the Chakma people.
Around 1772 , the English forced the Chakmas to pay revenue through the currency and took different steps to introduce a currency-based economy in the CHT region. This resulted in creating numerous difficulties in the social, cultural and economical life of the Chakmas.
Gradually, the Chakma people became disgusted with the British rule. A mass dissatisfaction grew among them after British had increased the rate of revenue again in 1777. They even appointed 'Udadar' (contracted leaseholders) to collect the tax.
At that time, the king of Chakmas was 'Joan Baksh' (aka 'Jan Baksh) and his chief naib was 'Ronu Khan'. The latter was entrusted with the responsibility of collecting revenue.
In 1777, as the English increased the rate of revenue, it became impossible for Ronu Khan to collect it any more. Yet still the English pressurized him to collect revenue at the fixed rate. At this time, Ronu Khan found it necessary to rebel against the English instead of pressurizing the subjects to earn more revenue.
In April of 1777, with the permission of King, he declared revolt. Ronu Khan hoisted the flag of independence and expelled the loyal employees of the English and the English from the low-lying areas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In return, the English authorities repeatedly sent troops to the CHT to suppress the rebellion of Ronu Khan, but each time their operation failed miserably. In order to deal with a large number of English soldiers and modern weapons, Runu Khan fought the guerrilla system. In each war, the English soldiers were defeated by the Chakma army. Especially in the year 1780, a large-scale English expedition was completely failed. The adverse geographical environment of the CHT, the unlimited courage of the Chakmas and the tactics of Runu Khan altogether defeated the British and the CHT eventually became British East India Company's 'Vietnam'.
As the forces went in vain, the English eventually resorted to strategic action. Failing to defeat the Chakmas at the battlefield, they decided to destroy them economically.
People of Chittagong Hill Tracts used to import salt, fish, dried fish, iron products, potteries etc. from Chittagong. So, in 1781 he English imposed economic sanctions on the CHT and completely stopped supplying these goods and strictly imposed the blockade on the area.
For a while, the English thought they won the battle but all of their plans became unsuccessful as Runu Khan agitatedly imposed a counter-economic blockade on them.
At that time, after land revenue, salt business was the second major source of income for them. The main location of salt production was in Chittagong, and all of the fuel wood for this salt production came from the CHT. So, Ronu Khan stopped supplying the fuel wood!
Salt business was a huge source of income and it almost completely stopped.
It was a terrible catastrophe for the British economy as their very own tactic backfired at them. In order to destory the chakmas' , they got their own economy vulnerable.
Desperate this time, the British decided to send troops to capture the CHT again. But again it was a disaster for them. Their two large group of army, sent in 1782 and 1785, were destroyed by the Chakmas.
The British faced severe military and economic losses due to the failure and the economic blockade imposed by the Chakmas. The English authorities realized that there was no way to get rid of the war without accepting defeat. In 1787, they signed a peace agreement with then Chakma King.
According to the contract,
(1) The British acknowledged the internal independence of the Chakmas in exchange for a fixed revenue.
(2) The method of payment of revenue through the currency was reimplemented. 300 mounds cotton was fixed as the annual revenue.
(3) The English agreed to stop immigration in the Chittagong Hill Tracts from the plain land.
(4) To protect the Chakma King from the attack of Arakan's warships, the British committed to help the Chakmas.
Through the signing of this agreement, the long 10-year Chakma rebellion ended. The English breathed with relief, while the Chakmas regained their full internal independence and autonomy.
Reference : Jum Journal
Written by Neeti Chakma
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