The Indigo Rebellion was about:

Explanation

## Page 17 The Indigo Revolt began from Govindpur village in Nadia district of Bengal. Under the leadership of two former employees of an indigo planter—Digambar Biswas and Vishnu Biswas (Vishnucharan Biswas)—the peasants united there and stopped cultivating indigo. This was the most widespread and militant revolt in the history of indigo movements in terms of demands. The Indigo Revolt of Bengal was the peasants’ direct struggle against exploitation. The cultivators of Bengal who wanted to grow rice in their fields were forced by European indigo planters to cultivate indigo. Those who refused indigo cultivation had to face the oppressive machinery of the planters. In March 1859, thousands of raiyats in Bengal refused to cultivate indigo. As the revolt spread, the raiyats also refused to pay rent to the planters. By 1860, the indigo movement spread to Nadia, Pabna, Khulna, Dhaka, Malda, Dinajpur, etc. Due to the unity of the peasants, by 1860 almost all indigo factories in Bengal were closed. The intellectual class of Bengal expressed support for this revolt through newspaper articles and public meetings. The editor of “Hindu Patriot,” Harishchandra Mukherjee, played a special role in it. The atrocities of indigo planters were vividly portrayed by Dinabandhu Mitra in his play “Neel Darpan.”