Mass Movements & Freedom Struggle in Rajasthan

The book is an outcome of a research project entitled “Mass movements and Freedom struggle in Rajasthan (1818-1949)” sanctioned by the University Grants Commission under Major Research Project Scheme. The study of the freedom movement in the Princely States has been largely neglected by the historians while about 45 percent of the area and 25 percent of the population was under their rule during the British Raj. The study of the history of mass movements and their role in the Indian Freedom struggle in princely India is thus a much-needed project. In the case of Rajasthan about 130,462 sq. miles area was under the rule of Princely States while only 2,711 sq. miles area was under the British province of Ajmer-Merwara. Therefore, the importance of this work is self-explanatory.
The freedom struggle in Rajasthan developed on a different pattern in comparison to the movement in British India. In British India, the newly emerged middle-class took a leading part in the movement while, in the princely states of Rajasthan, the tribal and peasants took lead. The object of mass struggle in British India was very clearly poised against the British Raj. The struggle of the people of Rajasthan was not initially directed against the British but against their own rulers and jagirdars. Though the direction of the struggle of the people of the princely states of Rajasthan was not clear in the beginning, it gained a clear direction during the course of the tribal and peasant movements. In the context of Rajasthan, the freedom has a wide meaning, as British Indian people aimed to get free from foreign rule while the people of Rajasthan fought for freedom from foreign rule along with feudal exploitation and oppression. Thus, an attempt has been made in this study to develop a compact, consolidated, comprehensive and integrated history of the freedom movement in Rajasthan. The book is based on a wide range of primary source material which includes archival records, gazetteers, census reports, settlement reports, and contemporary newspapers. To supplement the gaps in the published material on the subject in the form of books and articles has also been utilized.