THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY September 19, 1959

Politics in Orissa—III The Feudatory States F G Bailey ALL the Orissa Feudatory States coastal plains (some of whom had the Raj families, although even In with Patna and Kalahandi of" been leading figures in the Utkal these cases agrarian unrest may the Chattisgarh States were merged Union Movement) supported. A have been the root of the trouble. Into Orissa on January 1st 1948, few of them seem to have sympa­ Others were Adibasi risings against except Saraikella and Kharsawan thized with the aims of the Con­ Hindu settlers. Hindu colonists, which were allotted to Bihar, and gress: a few tried to remain outside particularly of the mercantile class­ the transfer was confirmed in 1956 the struggle: most were active sym­ es, were merciless exploiters of the by the States Reorganization Com­ pathizers of the British tribal population, and from time to mission. Mayurbhanj, a Bengal time nemesis overtook them. These State, acceded one year later. Against Feudal Privileges risings were not usually attacks on When the first Civil Disobedience In the beginning the relationship the Raja, but directly on the colo­ Movement failed, it seemed to between the rulers of the Feudatory nists, and they took place in Bri­ many of the Congress workers that States and the middle-class intelli­ tish administered areas as well as gentsia of the coast, which organi­ Independence alone was too intan­ in the Feudatory States. Although zed and led the Independence Move­ gible and too remote an end to the agitations initiated by the Con­ ment, was amicable: in the end it appeal to the ordinary man. Na­ gress Socialist Party were against came, literally in some cases, to tionalism needed water from the the rulers of the States, many of open warfare. It closed apparently parish pump. Consequently energy the Adibasi risings (in Nilgiri in in the defeat of the ruling class in was turned, in some cases to con­ 1947) were against the Congress the Feudatory States. structive work, and in others to­ agitators themselves and in support wards identifying the Congress not of the Raja. In the ten years that followed only with agrarian reform but even The 1937-42 agitations in the Independence, the Raj families— with particular grievances in parti­ Feudatory States were led not by some of them at least—entered cular places. Most of these grie the Congress under that name, but politics, and once again the middle- vances were against the rights and by organizations called Prajaman- class leadership of the coast found privileges of the landlords and dals. The Congress advised and itself ranged against them, this Zemindars and against the abuse trained the leaders of these move­ time within the framework of a of these privileges. representative democracy. In one ments, and in some cases provided As the Independence Movement men from their own ranks to direct way this was the same fight carried developed and became more force­ on in a different arena: the prota­ the tight. The Frajamandals in the ful and aggressive, the Congress of different States were connected with gonists were the same. But 'he the coastal districts turned its at­ the States Peoples' Conference which objectives were different. tention to the neighbouring Feuda­ Emerging Conflict had been convened first in 1031 by tory States. It had two aims: one a graduate from Dhenkanal State, In the early years middle-class was to subvert the authority of the and which was closely associated political leaders of the coast recei­ Rajas who were regarded as the with the Congress. ved both the patronage and the supporters of the British; the other active help of some important Raj was to bring about social and agra­ Parallel Government Institutions families. In those days the coastal rian reform and ultimately to estab­ The movement began in earnest intelligentsia concerned itself with lish some form of representative in 1937 when the Orissa States two objects: social reform and the government in the Feudatory States. Peoples Conference was convened in union of Oriya-speaking peoples At different periods, and by differ­ Cuttack. In 1938 the Congress or­ under a single administration. To ent members of the Congress, their ganized a States Enquiry Com­ both these causes some of the Rajas work in the Feudatory States was mittee and in the following year lent their aid. They subscribed to regarded sometimes as an integral published its report, detailing the the building of schools and hospi­ part of the struggle for Indepen­ excesses of the rulers and the bur­ tals. They supported the demand dence, sometimes more as an effort dens to which their people were for a university in Orissa. They to bring about reforms in the name subjected. Demands were made presided at meetings of the Utkal of justice and human rights and not upon the rulers, in some cases for (Orissa) Union Conference and solely as one step further on the the complete abdication of their signed the frequent memorials road to Independence. powers, in others for reform, in which were sent to the Government particular the abolition of various of India about the rights and grie­ Prajamandal Agitation 1937-42 services which the people were ex­ vances of Oriyas. There had been sporadic agra­ pected to perform for members of the ruling house and other privileged In the second decade of the twen­ rian unrest in many of the Feuda­ persons. 'No tax' campaigns were tieth century, politics in the coast tory States (though by no means organized, people were urged to re­ began to shape into the more defi- in all) for some years. But not all fuse their services, meetings and nite form of the Independence the rebellions were against the processions were held. The agita­ Movement. " This, oh the whole, exactions of the Rajas and their tors worked towards two comple­ neither the Rajas of the Feudatory administrators. Some were spark­ mentary ends: the first to subvert States nor the Zemindars of the ed off by dynastic quarrels within 1297 September 19, 1959 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

1298 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY September 19, 1959 the authority of the Raja and the Different tactics were employed in The 1947 Conflict British, and the second to establish, different states, according to the The agitation in the Feudatory even before the first aim was achie­ inclinations of the Prajamandal lead­ States immediately before and after ved, parallel government institu­ ers, and some were more success­ Independence differed from the ear­ tions. In areas where the Praja­ ful than others. lier movement which took place be­ mandals gained control they set up Nor do the rulers seem to have fore the war. The same persons panchayats, heard cases, and fined cooperated with one another to took part in both struggles: the people, exactly as if they had be­ suppress the movements. Each ruler same demands for agrarian and come the government. fought the battle on his own, When constitutional reform were put for­ But government in the Feudatory parleys look place, they were usual­ ward. But this time bigger armies, States was more direct than in the ly between a leading Congressman so to speak, were in the field. British-administered territories, and from the coast (seeking, usually Both sides had reorganized. The the rulers, in defending themselves without success, to assume the role rulers had begun to combine in against the agitators, were not un­ of mediator), the Political Agent, a Union of the Eastern States, to duly bothered by the due and some­ and the ruler of the state concerned, include the Chota Nagpur States, times lengthy processes of law. Agi­ Nor was the movement wide­ the Orissa States, and some Chattis- tators found their work in the spread. Although there were Pra­ garh States. Their opponents worked states more perilous than in the jamandals throughout the hills, it at two levels. An Orissa and Ohat- British territories. In some of the was only (in the period before the tisgarh States Regional Council re­ states the movement collapsed. In Second World War) in some of the organized the Prajamandals in the others the people of the states fled Feudatory States which bordered on different Feudatory States and in large numbers to camps organized the coastal districts that the move­ directed their agitations, Veterans' for them in the British territories by ment made itself felt. British dis­ from the coast, now out of prison. the Congress. In Ranpur the Poli­ tricts provided a base and a train were available for the job. But tical Agent was murdered: and ing ground and a refuge when the the battle was also fought at the here and there the movement Raja reacted too strong y. higher level of diplomacy, between seems to have lust sight of its non­ the collectivity of rulers on the one violent intentions, and became some­ Concessions Withdrawn side, and the Government of Orissa. thing not very different from gue- In both its aims the agitation of backed by the Union Government rilla warfare. the period 1937-42 failed. No social on the other. The scalp of the strug­ reforms were brought about in the gle on the eve of Independence No Centralized Campaign states, none at least of any funda­ and afterwards was larger than it The agitation continued until mental importance, and when the had been before the war. It took 1939, when there seems to have agitation was suppressed in 1942, place between two relatively large been a period of compromise, the some rulers who had made conces­ integrated forces, and was no long­ agitations ceasing, and some of the sions to the agitators withdrew er an affair of piecemeal harass- rulers in the states most affected them again. Secondly, as a part of ment and counter - harassment, by the disturbances announcing con­ the struggle for Independence, the Eastern States Union stitutional reforms. The lull con­ agitations in the Feudatory States tinued for some time and then collapsed with the 'general failure The merging of the Feudatory was broken during the 1942 Move­ of the 'Quit India' Movement when States with Orissa had been advo­ ment, when violence broke out its leaders were interned. On the cated in the report of the Congress again in some of the states. But credit side the Congress gained States Enquiry Committee in 1939. it was short-lived. Most of those some experience of agitation in the and was no doubt in the minds of who had directed the movement Feudatory States, and recruited some of those who led the pre-war were arrested and gaoled as secu­ some men of those areas into Its Prajamandal agitations. But at that rity prisoners: other leaders became organization: and it was able to time the issue seemed remote; it fugitives and the agitation died make use both of the experience took second place to Independence. down. and the personnel when the strug­ By 1946, with the arrival of the This ended the first phase of gle was resumed after Indepen­ Cabinet. Mission, it was clear that direct hostility between the rulers dence. the British were about to leave, and of the Feudatory States and the The first Period of agitation in that this was the time to stake out intelligentsia of the coastal dis­ the Feudatory States was an appen­ claims in the area of power left tricts, which formed and led the dage to the Independence Move vacant. The rulers of the Eastern Congress in Orissa. Neither side ment in the Orissa coast. The Con States Union were attempting to co-ordinated its activities efficiently. gress had within it a strong lean­ form a unit big enough to exist as The Prajamandals were guided by ing towards social reform, and it a separate state within the Indian the States Peoples Conference and was in the shape of social and agra­ Union. Such a state, although the Congress, and from time to rian reform that the movement was backward in every respect, had time directives about strategy and first launched in the states. While potential forest and mineral wealth. policy came down to them. But for it continued in this form, individual But, if the state came into exist­ each Feudatory State there was a Britons looked upon it not without ence, Orissa would consist only of separate Prajamandal, and the agi­ favour. But their sympathies the four coastal districts and some tation waxed and waned according vanished when the movement be­ enclaves in the hills, and it would be to the turn of fortune in each state came more overtly linked with Inde­ without the forest and mineral separately. There was no centra­ pendence, and when it moved fur­ wealth of the hill areas. Much of lized and organized campaign. ther in the direction of violence. the industrial belt now being deve- 1299 September 19, 1959 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY September 19, 1959 loped in northern Orissa lies in the jamandal organizations. In others ger put an end to conflict between former Feudatory State areas. To the Prajamandals set up parallel the middle-class and the aristo­ the leaders of the Congress it must governments in defiance of the cracy, or between feudalism on the have seemed that they were fight­ ruler. In other places Adibasis one side and representative institu­ ing for the very existence of their were deserting the Prajamandals tions combined with a bureaucracy Orissa as a viable State in the new and joining their own communal on the other, there is no question Indian Union, organizations'. (This account is but that feudalism and the aristo­ cracy have been annihilated. Diplomatic Contest drawn from History of the Freedom Movement in Orissa ed H K Maha- But the conflict was also between There were others concerned in tab, Cuttack, 1957, Vols IV and V.) this dispute besides the Orissa the hill and the coast, and it is this conflict which continued until Congress and the rulers. Nilgiri, the first state taken over by the Orissa Government in Nov­ very recently in the arena of demo­ The attitude of the British offi­ ember 1947, capitulated not because cratic politics. The history of the cials of the Political Department the Prajamandalists had won their ex-state areas from 1948 onwards varied, Some were out rightly hos­ battle with the ruler, but because will be analysed in a later article tile to the Congress arid encouraged the local Adibasis, taking advant­ on the rise of the Ganatantra Pari- the rulers to combat Congress age of the prevalent disorders (it is shad. But the events of this and moves, and to bring about an East­ alleged they were encouraged by the preceding article make it clear ern States Union, A few, gratefully the ruler) began to seize the proper­ why the conflict continued and why quoted by Congress writers, thought ty of Hindus in the area, and to the main opposition to the Congress that Princely rule was a vicious redress a long-standing economic has come from the hill area of anachronism and that it should be grievance by the most direct action. Orissa. abolished. Yet others respected the At this point the Orissa Govern­ rulers, but. thought that their Not Yet Integrated ment intervened and the Collector Orissa has not yet become a well- states should be merged with the of Balasore was ordered to take integrated and homogeneous social new Orissa, because the hill and over the administration of the or political unit. No member of the plain areas together formed a state. A month later the rulers of Oriya intelligentsia, of the coast natural economic unit. They also the remaining states capitulated certainly, would accept this state­ thought that the rulers should par­ and signed the Merger Document. ment as it stands, and so 1 will say ticipate in the new State politics On January 1st 1948 the Congress exactly what it means. It does not to provide some 'administrative ex­ Government or Orissa assumed mean that there are no issues over perience' and a 'stable right-wing responsibility for the Government which all Oriyas unite, whether element' to stiffen the Congress of all the former Feudatory States, they come from the hills or the Government, the members of which with the three exceptions noted coast; nor does it mean that these were regarded at best as socialists earlier. The rulers lost all their two areas have in common no so­ and revolutionaries, and at worst former powers, but retained some cial or cultural features. Nor does as irresponsible agitators. But, personal privileges. it contradict the obvious fact that whatever their views, by 1946 the Hill and Coast Orissa is under a uniform adminis­ British were a spent force and had There are many aspects to this tration, and that the hill and the no real power to shape events one coast areas are to some extent eco­ way or the other. struggle: social and agrarian re­ form; the Independence of India; nomically necessary to one another. Both sides made appeals to the the contest of an old aristocracy 'Integration' is here used in the Union Government. The rulers with a middle-class; the creation of sense of 'organic solidarity' which who appealed for protection received a viable Orissa State in the Indian refers to the degree to which sub­ bland and unhelpful advice. The Union; and so forth. But they all groups within the whole depend Union, with one eye on the bigger exhibit the cleavage between the upon one another and are linked problem of Princely India, stood hill areas and the coastal plains. to one another by cross-cutting behind the Congress Government in The merger of 1948 put an end to social ties. Orissa, and the Orissa States in the an administrative division which A hypothetical example will make end capitulated after discussions had existed for a century and a this clear. The protagonists on with Sardar Patel, who visited half. But a merger, while it could each side of the struggle, the Raj Orissa in December 1947. change the holders of power, could families and the coastal middle- The Agitations not change the attitudes which had classes, were two entirely self-con­ become ingrained in the people both It is not easy to discover exactly tained groups. There were no ties of the hills and the coast. There of kinship between them. Nor were how extensive were the Prajaman- remained a legacy of suspicion on dalist agitations. Those I have there any ties arising from common the one side and contempt on the membership of, for instance, a pro­ interviewed on this subject have other. been interested parties and their fession. Had large numbers of the accounts conflict, Nor have I been The rulers were fighting to protect younger sons of Raj families be­ able to find any detailed written the institution which gave them come lawyers or teachers or doc­ account of what went on. The dis­ eminence and without a doubt they tors, then the absolute cleavage be­ orders seem to have been strongest lost the battle. Princely rule has tween the two groups might have in those states, neighbouring on gone, and the servants of the bureau­ been softened by the fact that cut­ the Regulation districts, which had cracy are busy rooting out the last ting across the cleavage was the been most affected in the period remnants of feudal institutions. common professional interest. In 1937-42. Some rulers handed the Hereditary unspecialized officials are other words, the degree to which government of their state to Pra- vanishing. In so far as the mer­ loyalties and obligations are dis- 1301 September 19, 1959 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

persed through different groups and class: and this class, with the in­ them. The only difference Is we categories, and not concentrated all creasing professional opportunities are punctual and most of us are in a single group, is also the degree in the hill areas becoming available honest. We also know something of integration of the whole society. both in industry and the services, about administration, and not many will spread over the whole of Had there been a large profes­ of them do Orissa. 'We are middle-class like sional middle class in the hills, then The present Coalition is a sign they are,' one ex-ruler said, 'no the ties of persons of this class that both sides are beginning to richer and no poorer than some of with their fellows of the coast might recognise their common interest. have made the conflict less bitter. The tighter and more comprehen­ sive the ties to the sub-group, whe­ ther this is a class or a region or even a village community, the lower is the degree of integration in the total society, and the weaker is the sense of responsibility to society at large. The cleavage between the hill peoples and the coast peoples, their attitudes of mutual disdain, and the struggle between the Rajas and the middle class politicians of the coast, are examples of that kind of localization of social ties, which are the negation of integra­ tion and the repudiation of a sense of responsibility towards a wider unit. In this sense Orissa is not integrated. Interdependence But. although the division between the hill and the coast is founded on more than a hundred years of history, and although it involves fundamental differences in demo­ graphy and natural resources, there is no reason to think that It is there for ever. Indeed the differences in natural resources of the two regions are a reason why they should be­ come more integrated. More and better opportunities for education in the hill areas will create an indi­ genous middle class and remove one of the fundamental differences between the two areas. The uni­ form administration of the two areas removes one of the main fac­ tors which in the past has main­ tained the cleavage between them. As the industries in the northern part of the hills come into produc­ tion and supply power and raw materials and goods to the rest of the State, the whole State, and not the industrial hill areas alone, will benefit and become more an organic unity. This cleavage between hill and coast will not last, so far at least as concerns politics, even another generation. The differences in ad­ ministration have gone. Aristo­ cratic institutions are vanishing. The ruling families, none so very rich or so very important, will be­ come absorbed into the middle- 1302