The Sanyasi Revolt was between 1770 and 1820. It was one of the first organized movements of resistance against the British. It was led primarily by Hindu ascetics, known as sanyasis, along with some Muslim fakirs. It was in today’s West Bengal, Bangladesh & Bihar. They resisted oppressive taxation following the Bengal Famine of 1770.
The cultural memory of the Sannyasi Rebellion was shaped by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. His works Anandamath (1882) and Devi Chaudhurani (1884) are historical novels that reimagine the Sannyasi Rebellion. Anandamath introduced “Vande Mataram” which became a rallying cry for nationalists and was later adopted as national song. The image from Britannica is that of Bankim Chandra.

The British call the 1857 as the first war of independence. It is called ‘sepoy’ mutiny (from Hindi ‘sipahi’ – soldier). It was a revolt by the soldiers of the British Indian army.
The first sepoy mutiny was actually decades back, in 1806 at Vellore in Tamil Nadu. Indian soldiers under British army resented the low pay. They also disliked ban on religious marks, requirement to shave beards, trim moustache and wear British type headgear. The children of Tipu had been lodged in Vellore fort and this inspired the sepoys. The stormed the fort, killed about 130 British soldiers and appointed Tipu’s son as their ruler. Within hours the revolt was crushed by reinforcements from nearby Arcot. Several sepoys were killed. However, the offending regulations were withdrawn too.
The Vellore mutiny became a template for stoking discontent in the Indian troops of the Raj. It was practiced in the 1857 war, the Ghadar (rebel) movement during World War 1 and by Netaji’s army in World War 2.
The image is of a redacted 2006 stamp commemorating the Vellore revolt.

The Tamil ‘Palayakaran’, Telugu ‘Palegadu’, Kannada ‘Palegara’ & Marathi ‘Palegar,’ names refer to local chieftains. They administered difficult tracts for the kings and Nawabs of South India. Once the British subjugated these kingdoms, they also tried to curb the rights of these chieftains. They introduced high taxation.
There were about 80 such poligars with 30000 men at their command. The TN poligars were the first to revolt in 1790s, then those of Malabar & Dindigal in 1800, of Andhra in 1801-05 and again in 1846.
Veerapandia Kattabomman and the Marudu Pandiar brothers from Tamil Nadu are the most famous Poligar leaders. The great thespian, Sivaji Ganesan played Kattabomman in an internationally acclaimed 1959 Tamil film. The image is a coloured poster of the film on the imdb website.
Source : JC Dua, various articles on Poligars on JStor

Paika refers to the military class of Orissa, originating from ‘Padatika’ meaning infantry. The British captured the state in 1803. The preeminent local ruler was at Khurda. His general, the charismatic Bakshi Bidyadhar Mahapatra, converted an elite revolt into a peasant rebellion in and around the Puri region. It used guerilla tactics over 7 years. It wasn’t just an outburst but a sophisticated struggle to oust the British. The rebels had planned for an alternate government with their own economic & administrative policies. The image shows the PM in 2018, releasing a stamp commemorating the Paika rebellion.
Source: https://magazines.odisha.gov.in/orissareview/2017/November/engpdf/27-31.pdf

Velu Thampi had led a people’s march against a weak King and corrupt Govt officials. The King recognised his honesty and appointed him as Prime Minister. Velu Thampi then introduced far reaching reforms.
Lord Wellesley introduced the subsidiary alliance in 1798. An Indian kingdom could accept the suzerainty of the British while maintaining nominal independence. The British posted a military detachment and a resident to supervise the ruler. It was responsible for the rapid spread of British rule especially when the Nizam and the Maratha kingdoms accepted it.
The British demands on Travancore unsettled the far sighted administrative & financial reforms made to reverse the corrupt bureaucracy of the state. The popular Dewan issued the Kundara proclamation that called upon the people to unite against British rule, warning against high taxes, cultural suppression & loss of religious freedoms. It galvanised the population and united all the princes of Kerala.
The image is the cover of Amar Chitra Katha’s comic book on Velu Thampi.
Source: https://www.osmanian.com/2025/05/velu-thampis-revolt-18081809-courageous.html

British had a doctrine of lapse by which adopted sons don’t have a right to the throne and the kingdom lapsed to British. Chenamma was the queen of Kittur, a small principality in North Karnataka. She refused to let the British annex her state in 1824 under this doctrine. She fought the British bravely but unsuccessfully.
She is a great heroine in Karnataka with numerous folk songs & books about her, stadiums & ships named after her and her statues dotting the landscape. One of her statues is at the Parliament building in Delhi. The Wikimedia image is a statue of the queen near the townhall in Bengaluru sourced from flickr.
Source: Archana Garodia Gupta, ‘Women Who Ruled India’

Ahoms came from the Shan region of Burma and established their rule in Assam in early 13th cent. They merged with the local population and contributed to the distinctive Assamese culture of today. They maintained their freedom for six centuries. Their general Lachit Borphukan is renowned for inflicting 17 consecutive defeats on Aurangzeb’s forces. The dynasty disintegrated as the British gained control. One of their princes, Gomdhar Konwar made one last determined bid to keep their freedom. The Wikimedia image by Chaipau is a recreation of the Ahom insignia.
Source: https://www.assams.info/answers/first-revolt-against-british-in-assam

The Santhal Rebellion of 1855 –1856 was led by two brothers, Sido and Kanhu Murmu. They rebelled against moneylenders and landlords who were taking away their ancestral lands with British support. The Santhals declared their own government and vowed to ‘fight to the last drop of blood’. It was widespread in present-day Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, The British response was brutal; after some initial losses, they burnt entire villages and killed thousands of Santhals, including, eventually, the rebel leaders. However, the daring Santhal rebellion inspired other tribal communities to resist colonial rule. Parts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum district were carved out as Santhal Pargana to pacify the rebellion.
The Wikimedia image is of a 2002 stamp commemorating Sido & Kanhu Murmu.
Source: https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/hees104.pdf

The British rulers in eastern India discouraged shifting (jhum) cultivation, enacted stringent forest laws and the middlemen captured the forest produce trade. The tribals rose in successive revolts – Kol (1831-32), Santhal (1855-56) and then the most determined rebellion by Birsa Munda (1895-00) who had support across the tribes. People said he had miraculous powers. Birsa himself declared that God had appointed him to save his people who began calling him bhagwan (God). One of the first tribals to benefit from missionary education, he pivoted to Vaishnawism, and preached purity & piety. He urged his people to recover their glory by ousting Ravana (British Raj) and even referred to Queen Victoria as Mandodari (Ravana’s wife). He died of cholera in 1900 and the movement petered out. His teachings were preserved by followers as ‘Birsait’, which some classify as a new faith. The Wikimedia image shows Birsa in British custody in 1895.
Source: https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/hess204.pdf

Bengal had a history of peasant revolts in early British rule – Sanyasi (1770s) & Faraizi (1830s) being early examples. British needed indigo dye to feed the British cotton textile industry. It was the most reliable and vibrant blue colour for global textiles. They forced indigo cultivation in Bengal and Bihar. Kisans had to grow indigo on the best land, instead of grains. They were also paid lower prices.
Nil Bidroho (Indigo revolt) started nonviolently in Nadia but quickly spread. The elite joined in. Dina Bandhu Mitra’s play Nil Darpan (Indigo Mirror) on the issue, caught attention internationally. The British brought in the Indigo Act but the exploitation shifted to Bihar. The plight of Bihari indigo farmers led to Gandhiji’s first satyagraha campaign in India at Champaran in 1917. Indigo has played a big part in India’s freedom. The image is the cover page of Nil Darpan on Amazon, with the author’s picture.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/event/Indigo-Revolt

Chirala and Perala, two tiny villages, in Guntur district had a population of 15,000 with a revenue of Rs. 4000. The Government made them municipalities in 1919 with the intention of collecting Rs. 40,000 as tax. The people launched a no-tax campaign under the leadership of Duggirala Gopalakrishnaiah. He formed a group of volunteers under the banner of 'Rama Dandu'.
Gandhiji directed people to leave the villages and settle down elsewhere to avoid tax. About 13,000 people left the villages and lived at a camp for eleven months. The campaign literally shook the legislature but fizzled out once Gopalakrishnaiah was arrested. The Wikimedia image is of Gopalakrishnaiah.
Source: V Narasimha Swamy, “A Review of Freedom Movement in Andhra”

RRR is a fictionalized retelling of the deeds of the Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem who separately led tribal rebellions. Unlike in the film, they never met. Sitaram Raju revolted in Vishakapatnam area during 1922-24 as part of the Rampa rebellion. British grudgingly respected his guerilla tactics.
Bheem organized the Gonds in the Babajheri revolt against the Nizam’s forest policy in 1940 which led to their massacre at Jodeghat in Telengana. The image is a grab of the song ‘Naatu’ from RRR that was a global rage.
Source: Telenga.360 website; pib. gov.in website