Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mohapatra Bhramarbar Ray was the leader of the historic Paika Revolt
By Er Taraprasad Mishra
Jajpur, Octo 16 : Buxi Jagabandhu Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mohapatra Bhramarbar Ray was the leader of the historic Paika Revolt. He was the landlord of Rodhanga and was nominated as the ‘Senapati’ by the king of Khurda.
Infact the paikas of Khurda headed by Buxi raised their voice against heavy taxation and illegal encroachment of the tax free lands and restriction on salt by the British Rule. Apart from this, a conspiracy was made against him by Krushna Singh who recorded Buxi’s entire landed properties rights in his brother’s name.
This lead to a revolution and Buxi was sardar of the revolution. Due to charismatic personality and good organizing capacity, Buxi influenced the Paikas of nearby areas like Nayagarh, Daspalla, Boudh, Ranpur, Sergarh. Even the movement, spread over to Ganjam, Kandhamal, Harishpur and Khalikote.
With the assistance of Kandhas of Ghumusar and scheduled castes of Khalikote along with Paikas, the great Paika Revolt took a larger momentum which the British force feared to face. Buxi though short in height was strong and a great fighter and well adapt in horse-riding and axe-fighting and Guerilla-war.
Starting from the year of 1817 the great Paika revolt ended after a long period of 10 years. Pindki Bahubalendra of Daruthenga, Sadhucharan Mangaraj of Khurda and others like Ramachandra Samantasinghar, Dalbehera of Chiturupanchpalli Hari Mansingh, Dalbehera of Bhatpada Dinabandhu Samantaray and many more were the assistants of Sardar Buxi.
Being unable to catch Buxi, finally the British Govt. kept his family under house-arrest (Najar bandi) at Ganjam and with the help of the king of Nayagarh, Dewan Baraju Paikaray and Wazi Mohammed, they became able to arrest Buxi by awarding them heavy prize.
Keeping Buxi under their scanner, the British Govt. imprisoned the legend at Cuttack where he took his last breath on 24th January in the year of 1829. Buxi Jagabandhu is no more, but he has created history, a history that elucidates the bloodshed story of struggle against injustice of the Britishers.
It was heartening to watch Buxi Jagabandhu, one of the celebrated plays of Manoranjan Das, an eminent literary figure of Odisha, at the ongoing 20th Bharat Rang Mahotsav. The Odia production was presented by Dynamic Platform, from Bhubaneshwar, at the Kamani auditorium.
Artistically impressive, the play glorifies heroic resistance of Odia people against the East India Company’s predatory wars, exploiting the greedy and mutually hostile feudal chiefs, making them its allies and defeated patriotic forces. Set in 1817, the play depicts the great Paika Rebellion which is led by Buxi Jagabandhu, the commander of the forces of the King of Khordha.
The East India Company is led by Colonel Harkot. Resorting to its perfidious tactics, the Company manages to bring one of the rulers of the state into its fold which enables the arrest of King Mukunda Dev II. The king’s generals do not surrender and a fierce battle ensues, resulting in the victory of the Company. In the face of defeat, Buxi Jagabandhu takes over the leadership of a defeated people.
He organizes the scattered and demoralized forces and youth and gives them rigorous training in guerilla warfare. Buxi has developed the skill to fight in the dense forest as well as to attack from deep water. He trained his men in indigenous warfare like shooting arrows from trees with a bow.
He and his army fight heroically against a superior force equipped with powerful weapons assisted by traitors who fight against their own people. The play is directed by Debabrata Pattanayak, a postgraduate in drama (direction) from the Utakal University of Culture, Odisha, who has undergone training under Rudra Prasad Sengupta, Satyabrat Rout and Subodh Patnaik. His youthful vision and understanding of theatrical craft are very much evident in his production under review.
He has explored the space horizontally and vertically to create the illusion of a vast mountainous landscape where war is fought. On the left-center stage, there is space for Odia forces and its people. The space in the right-center is shown as under the control of the East India Company. The decisive battle takes place downstage.
This design by Pranjyadutta Sahoo enables the audience to view the dramatic action, which flows uninterruptedly, with clarity. Most of the characters are historical. To add some romantic color and show the sacrifice of true love in the cause of freedom, the playwright has conceived a female character, a young and beautiful girl, who loves Buxi Jagabandhu because he is a fighter and loves freedom.
When King Dev II is arrested by the Company, his minister Jai Rajguri is killed while fighting the aggressor. Buxi is obsessed with the gnawing sense of defeat. She inspires him to fulfill his historic role as a hero to defeat the enemy. This creative element is revealed in a fantasy sequence, capturing the romantic aura that transforms Buxi as he awakens from his depressed state of mind.
The same female character sacrifices herself for the sake of the motherland. The director has aptly projected two traitors as caricatures who meet their end at the hand of patriotic forces. One of the highlights of the production is the way war scenes are conceptualized. These scenes are choreographed on the pattern of Raiku Nrutya of Khondha martial artform of Odisha. These scenes impart vitality to the production and offer moments of thrilling visuals.
Music score by Pratap Chandra Rout is drawn from the folk music of Odisha, which is aptly used to reinforce action and leaves an emotional impact on the audience.
In the lead role of Buxi Jagabandhu, Udit Guru Mohapatra gives a brilliant performance, imparting to his portrait a great deal of martial force and commitment to the cause of the freedom of the motherland.
Saunika Sahu as the young woman in love with Buxi Jagabandhu blends her portrayal with boldness, tender romantic sensibility, and patriotic fervor. In fact, the large cast gives creditable performances, giving momentum to the action to move to the climax with intensity.
Soon after taking over Odisha from the Marathas in 1803, the British started to introduce a system of administration that angered the King of Khurda, Mukunda Deva II. His planned revolt in collaboration with the Paikas was soon discovered by the British and he was torn apart.
They then usurped all the land from the Paikas under the deposed King’s estate. Besides, many other activities of the British like the introduction of a new currency system, oppression of the Paikas in the hands of the officials of the company, ban on making salt from seawater gave rise to widespread dissatisfaction and hatred against the British.
In 1817, a strong group of 400 Khonds from Ghumusar marched to Khorda and declared their intentions to free Khorda and Ghumusar from the British rule. The group was joined by the Paikas of Khurda as well. Also called Paika Bakshi, Buxi Jagabandhu was the commander of the militia army of Khurda’s Gajapati king. Khurda was a kingdom near Puri.
He was among the freedom fighters of India. The Paikas, set ablaze a police station and also killed some officials of the East India Company during their march towards Khurda. The revolt enjoyed a great level of support from the Kings of Nayagarh, Kujang, Kanika, Village headmen, peasants and zamindars.
The rebellion quickly spread to Purl, Pipli Cuttack and other parts of Odisha. Initially, the Paikas seemed to have gotten hold of the battle and saw some victory, but was suppressed by the British in just three months. Some Paikas however, fought guerilla warfare against the British yet the revolt was completely suppressed by 1819.
Therefore, it lasted for a year and a half before being ruthlessly suppressed by the British East India Company’s forces. After successive defeats, the Paika leader, Bakshi Jagabandhu, surrendered to the British in 1825 and lived as a prisoner in Cuttack till his death in 1829. The result of the Pika Rebellion was disheartening as the rebels involved were awarded sentences of death, long-term imprisonment. A commission was appointed by the British officials to enquire into the rebellion. There were severe uprisings post this Paika rebellion initiated by people from Kandha & Koi region.
The major issue that prevailed post the Paika rebellion was the revenue policy which didn’t undergo any change. The rebellion projected Lord Jagannath as the symbol of Odiya unity. Though this was a bloody rebellion prior to the famous Revolt of 1857 that challenged British Supremacy in India, it did not gain much popularity.
On the event of the 200th anniversary of the rebellion, the descendants of families associated with the rebellion were recognized and felicitated by the Prime Minister.
Aspirants should read about Paika Rebellion in a way where they can answer the cause, leadership and the outcome of the revolt. The questions can be asked in both Prelims and Mains papers.
