Buxi Jagabandhu

In March 1817 a band of hill fighters crossed into Khurda, in Odisha. They burned a police station and a post office.

Local farmer-soldiers joined them. Their leader was a man whose family had lost its land. His name was Buxi Jagabandhu.

1Who was Buxi Jagabandhu?

Odisha was ruled for centuries by the Gajapati kings. Their capital in later years was Khurda. The kings kept a militia of farmer-soldiers called Paikas.

The Paikas held land free of rent. In return they fought when the king called. They stood in three ranks. The Prahari were guards with swords. The Banua were archers and marksmen. The Dhenkiya were the sword and shield men at the front.

Above them stood the Buxi. This was a title and a military rank. Only the Raja of Khurda ranked higher. In the family of Jagabandhu, the title passed down by inheritance.

His full name was Jagabandhu Bidyadhara Mohapatra Bhramarbara Raya. His family estate was at Killa Rorang. Some old pages spell it Rodanga. That estate would soon be his reason to rebel.

• Ruler: the Gajapati kings of Khurda.
• Paikas: peasant militia on rent-free land.
• Ranks: Prahari, Banua, Dhenkiya.
• Buxi: a hereditary rank, second to the Raja.
• Estate: Killa Rorang.

2Why did the Paikas lose patience?

The Company took over coastal Odisha in 1803. It dethroned the Raja of Khurda in 1804. The Raja was sent into exile at Puri. The Paikas lost their king and their patron.

One early storm came in 1804. Jayee Rajguru, the Raja’s chief adviser, led about 2,000 Paikas against the Company. The Company had not handed over some parganas as promised. He was arrested and executed in 1806.

The new rulers then changed the land system. The Paikas’ rent-free lands were taken away, and they were taxed. Jagabandhu’s own estate was seized in 1814. His family lost its income and its standing.

Daily life grew harder too. The Company took control of salt in 1814, and its price rose. The old cowrie shells were no longer accepted as money. Taxes had to be paid in silver. Many farmers could not find it.

• 1803: Company takes Odisha. 1804: Raja dethroned.
• Jayee Rajguru: led about 2,000 Paikas; executed 1806.
• Paikas lost their rent-free lands.
• Jagabandhu’s estate seized in 1814.
• Salt control and silver taxes; cowries abolished.

3How did the revolt of 1817 unfold?

In March 1817 a party of about 400 Kandha tribal fighters came from Ghumsur into Khurda. Paikas under Jagabandhu joined them. The rebels burned the police station and the post office at Banpur.

They then marched on Khurda. The Company had left it, and the rebels took the town. They plundered the treasury. The local magistrate in Cuttack sent officers and troops to the area. One officer, Lt Faris, was killed near Pipli.

In April, 550 men were sent to Khurda. They retook it a few days later and declared martial law. Puri, meanwhile, fell to the rebels. By 18 April the Company had pulled back to Cuttack.

The revolt had wide support. Some zamindars and rajas of Kanika, Kujang, Nayagarh and Ghumsur helped. A Muslim rebel, Dalabehera Mirhaidar Alli of Jadupur, also fought beside the Paikas. It was not a one-community rising.

• March 1817: Kandhas from Ghumsur enter Khurda.
• Targets: Banpur police station and post office.
• Rebels take Khurda and its treasury.
• Puri falls; Company retreats to Cuttack.
• Support from Kanika, Kujang, Nayagarh and Ghumsur.

4How did it end?

The Company struck back. Captain Le Fevere retook Puri and captured the Raja. By May 1817 the Company had restored its control. Judges at Khurda tried the rebels. Some were executed, some were sent across the sea, and some were jailed.

But the fighting did not stop at once. Rebels kept up raids from the jungles until about 1826. Jagabandhu was among them. He lived in hiding for years.

He finally surrendered in 1825. Accounts say he did so on negotiated terms. He was held as a prisoner at Cuttack. He died there in 1829. Some sources give the date as 24 January 1829.

The Company also set up an inquiry into the causes. Its remarks admitted that the land and tax changes had caused much misery. Robert Ker was then made Commissioner of Cuttack.

• Le Fevere retook Puri and captured the Raja.
• Company control restored by May 1817.
• Jungle raids continued to about 1826.
• Jagabandhu surrendered in 1825.
• Died a prisoner at Cuttack, 1829.

5How is he remembered?

For years the revolt was a local memory. Then Odisha pressed for wider fame. In October 2017 the state asked that it be recognised as the first war of independence.

The Union government gave a different answer in 2021. Its Culture Minister said the revolt could not be called the first war of independence. But he said it would be added to the NCERT Class VIII textbook. So it has a place in the national story.

Odisha has honoured Jagabandhu in its own ways. BJB College in Bhubaneswar carries his name. His statues stand at Bhubaneswar and Khordha. President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone of a Paika Rebellion Memorial near the Barunei Hills on 7 December 2019.

• October 2017: Odisha seeks first war of independence status.
• 2021: Centre says no, but adds it to NCERT Class VIII.
• BJB College, Bhubaneswar, is named after him.
• Memorial: Barunei Hills, stone laid 7 December 2019.
• Compare with Jayee Rajguru.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep the names, dates and places apart.

• The Paika revolt began in 1817, forty years before 1857.
• Jayee Rajguru came first, in 1804. Jagabandhu led in 1817.
• Buxi was a rank, not a first name.
• The estate was seized in 1814, three years before the revolt.
• The Centre did not accept it as the first war of independence.
• Jagabandhu surrendered in 1825. He was not killed in battle.
• Read about Kittur Chennamma.
• Read about Tilka Manjhi.