Landlords, Tenants and Agrarian Relations: Revisiting a Peasant Uprising in Colonial Assam

This article re-examines the social history of a widely discussed peasant uprising in colonial Assam. Drawing on extensive archival sources, the article examines how peasants who came under increasing taxation reacted to the revenue enhancement. The article explores the role played by the Assamese landlords in giving leadership to the peasant dissatisfaction. It shows how the landlords' specific interest has been masked by the existing historiography. The article unfolds the complex layers of social interests which came to play their critical role in creating the events of 1894.