Origin of Madhesi Voice: A Glance on Historical Chapters(Part I)

 Author: Ram Manohar

Introduction

Two war (Gurkha & then Nepal war in 1770’s and Anglo-Gurkha war 1820’s) and one faith; alienation of madhesi’s from the established mainstream governance structure. The madhesi has to go a form of colonization since then, passing through Rana’s oligocracry too, before reaching todays competitive ecosystem. A word “Madhesi” which respresented colonial token till Rana rule and became tabbu post Rana rule till last year is no more untouchable now. Thanks to 2006’s “Thanks Giving day” (Nov 7, 2006), the day when UN’s representative Ian Martin had group discussion with 55 top notch Madhesi people on their issue. Since then till today, Madhesi has achieved spectacular success, but at the cost of certain unwanted incidences. The future on the path of Madhesi success has lot more challenges to be handled with bravery, intelligence, and sensitivity. The most important challenge is defining the success itself.

Origin of Voice

On the advice of Kalu Pande, King Prithivi Narayan Shah too appears to be reliant on Teraian (then Tirhutia) army.1 Shakti Ballav Sardar (One among King PN Shah Aid) had brought 12000 armies from Terai to fight in Kantipur battle, but all of them died at the end of kantipur war.2 While Jaya Prakash Malla was preparing to fight back King prithvi Narayan Shah, he too relied heavily on Teraian People. In view of his distrust in Parbata troops, Jaya   Prakash Malla created a Madhesi army with recruits drawn from the southern plains. Feeling doubtful of the loyalty of the Parbata force, he naturally, began to rely more and more heavily on the Madhise army.3 Just 10 days after his conquest of Kathmandu, King Prithvi Narayan Shah sent Sriharsh Mishra, his teacher, as envoy to Lalitpur to persuade to ministers there to surrender.4 Teraian people had to pay the cost of supporting to the Jaya Prakash Malla during and after the defeat of Jaya Prakash Malla.

King PN Shah’s supporter (mostly Parbatia at that time) was up against Tirhutia at that time and wanted ouster of well settled Tirhutia from valley.5 Gorkha was a small country. But its hunger for power made King Prithivi Narayan Shah to try option of encroachment into others land, either by hook or crook. Though in hilly region one find states divided into Baishi (federation of 22 states) & Chaubishi (federation of 24 states), Terai (or say madhes) was mostly less fragmented. In these lower track of land Sen was the undisputed ruler, along with some other small country.

Vijaypur (todays Sunsari, Morang, and etc), Chaudandi (todays Saptari, Sirha, and etc), Makwanpur (todays Mahottari, Dhanusha, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, and etc), Palpa (todays Kapilbastu, Rupendehi, Nawalparasi, palpa etc), Tharu Kingdom (Banke, Bardia, Kailali, Kanchanpur, and Dang). Among them Vijaypur, Chaudandi and Makwanpur was ruled by descendent of same family, and Makwanpur being more powerful than rest, Palpa was ruled by another branch of Sen descendent, and Tharu kingdom was ruled by Tharu king.

The greed of King PN Shah landed up in looking for matrimonial relationship with Makwanpur’s Teraian princess Indra Kumari. The purpose of King PN shah for establishing matrimonial relationship can be gauged from his statement give in his Dibyopesdh “I will take the palanquin if you give a one-tusked elephant, and Naulakhi diamond necklace, too; or I will take the palanquin with the might of sword”.6 When matrimonial tactics didn’t turn up as favorable for king PN shah as anticipated initially, he openly resorted to war with King Digbandhan Sen (Indra Kumari’s brother) in 1761 AD7. To make Digbandhan Sen surrender, King PN Shah captured his female family members.8 The chief persons that had resisted his attack he put to death, some by the sword, some by the rope and some by flaying them alive. The family members of resisting chief were degraded to the lower caste.9

There was no such huge war for the capture of part of makwanpur Kingdom (Rautahat, Bara, Parsa), Chaudandi and Vijaypur, but the agreement with then British East India Company, which made these small states follow King PN Shah line. Dinanath Upadhyaya was sent as Vakil to British East India Company to negotiate this agreement.

As a term of these agreement, Gurkhali king was paying tribute to East India Company for many years.10 Palpa’s sen king was betrayed on his state visit to Kathmandu as guest and locked up in Prison. Tharu land was re-installed into Nepal territory after Jung Bahadur provided support (financial & army) in suppressing 1857’s Indian Mutiny.

Butwal and sheoraj was the main dispute area on which Anglo-Gurka war was ignited. Sen Kings was follower of maithili tradition. And Western Terai kingdoms were following Awadhi and Tharu-Dhanuwar tradition.

State Kingdom was transfer from Gurkha to Kathmandu. Soon the kathmandu ruler started following King PN Shah Dibyopedesh. The new country was defined as country of “4 jat and 36 barnas” or “4 caste and 36 sub caste”, where four caste represents Brahmins, Khas, Magar and Thakuri.11 For kathmandu ruler teraian figured as the source of remittance to funds other army expedition towards western side of kathmandu valley.

Just after the terai integration into then Gurka kingdom (now Nepal), a number of dissatisfactions erupted among the native Teraian people. All these issues are collective well known as “Administrative Problem” in history, after ruler change in Teraian land.

Native Saptari people seems to be uncooperative to Gorkhali at the beginning of 1774, and has been mentioned in one of the letter to officers (Abhiman Simha and other) as “Pay the salaries of troops, and meet other expenses, with revenues collected in the Tarai areas under Ambarpur and Vijayapur. We have received the surplus amount of Rs 2001 transmitted by you.”12 Many of the people left the native land, and moved to adjourning Indian Territory and are recorded in Hamilton’s book.13 Since then the dissatisfactions has been coming from time to time in different forms from different locations.

The Tax levied on native people use to be very rude and unjust; like tax on marraige, tax of funeral ritual, tax on owning ox & cow, etc. Some of the unjustified tax levied in district Saptari during year 1810 AD is given in a letter written to one of the officer Subba Achal Thapa, “A letter sent by Ganga Prasad Giri to Raghav Singh has been referred to us. According to that letter, the ryots of Saptari are fleeting to India, and the country is being ruined, because you have been collecting the following unauthorized levies and payments: (a) A tax of three rupees from the owner of a draft ox. (b) Ghee worth five ruees for each buffalo from dairy-farmers. (c) One maund (i.e 40kg) of oil for each oil-press from oil-men. (d) Five rupees from each vendor operating with a capital of ten rupees. (e) A levy of 1½ annas on each ryot.”14

Many people and their leaders used to leave their native place and migrate to Indian side, when they were unable to cope up with the high unjustified taxes. This type of migration trends is seen quite often at times. A royal letter to officers to Mahottari(1810 AD) asserts “Persuade all Chaudharis, Mokadams, and ryots who have left the districts to come back and reoccupy their lands, and pay your taxes through the Subba.”15 Another royal order dating back to 1780 AD states “Chaudharis, Kangoyes, Mokaddams, and ryots who have fled to the Moglan (i.e India) shall be persuaded to come back. Partial remission may be made in arrears of revenue due from them.”16

Some of the people took the dissatisfaction in delegation form to the then ruler in kathmandu. Some people resorted to violence, and some deliberately ignored to obey newly ruler line, and refused to pay taxes. A local residence of Rautahut seems to disobey the Gorkhali order and is stated as “We have now received reports that you do not obey the orders of the jagirdar, but do what you like. If you want to stay on in that mouja, pay land tax at the rate of Rs 12½ per bigha.”17

There is one account from an order issued to a Gorkhali officers in 1810 AD, about an area near to Rautahut where some locals were challenging Gorkhali hegemony and is stated as “If the kanugoye (i.e registrar of an area) agrees to accept our claims to Chartla and other areas, as indicated in the course of talks held by the Mahila Guruju in Patna(India), settle the dispute accordingly in writing in the presence of the fouzdar, chaudharis, kanugoyes, jaiwars, and other knowledgeable people of Bara, Parsa, and Rautahat. If all mattes are settled with the exception of 50 or 100 bighas of land, do not let the dispute continue”18

The hegemony of Gorkhali continued steadily for long period in the plain region, with natives as well as British East India company, and is noted by W.Brook Northey in his book Land of the Gurkhas OR The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal (pp 57)”From 1804 to 1812 the Gurkhas pushed steadily southwards into British territory, until by the end of that time no fewer than two hundred villages in the fertile Terai and Tirhut had been annexed. A commission, on which both sides were represented, was finally appointed to inquire into the matter, and, the result of investigation being entirely favorable to the British, a detachment of regulars were instructed to occupy the debatable ground. On these being withdrawn during the rainy season, however, and their places being taken by native police, the Nepalese troops raided the territory and put to death many of the latter.

This was one of the reasons of Anglo-Gurkha war.”19

1 http://www.infoclub.com.np/nepal/history/history_unification.htm

2 Balchanda Sharma, Kathmandu Uptyaka ko ek Banshabali, Ancient Nepal, Number 6, 1969, pp 13

http://www.thdl.org/texts/reprints/ancientnepal/ancient_nepal_06_01.pdf

3 Surya Bikram Gnyawali, Prithvi Narayan Shah’s Conquest Of Nepal, Regmi Research Series, Year 6, No 1, 1974, pp 9

4 Baburam Acharya, Annexation Of The Malla Kingdoms, Regmi Research Series, Year 5, No 3, 1973, pp 57

5 Balchanda Sharma, 1969, pp 15

6 http://samudaya.org/articles/archives/2005/07/dibyopadesh.php

7 Francis Buchanan Hamilton, An account of Kingdom of Nepal, 1819 AD

8 Dr Rajaram Subedi, Makwanpur Rajya, Ancient Nepal, Number 147, June 2001

9 Francis Buchanan Hamilton, An account of Kingdom of Nepal, 1819 AD

10 Dr. Ludwig F Stiller S.J, The Role of Fear in the Unification of Nepal, CNAS, Volume I, No 2, 1974, pp

- 21 http://www.thdl.org/texts/reprints/contributions/CNAS_01_02_04.pdf

11 http://samudaya.org/articles/archives/2005/07/dibyopadesh.php

12 Mahesh Chandra Regmi, Fiscal Policy of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, Regmi Research Series, Year 14, No. 8, 1982, pp - 121

13 Francis Bauchanan Hamilton, An Account of the District of Purnea in 1809-10, pp-257

14 Saptari and Mahottari Affairs, A.D. 1810-11, Regmi Research Series, Year 14, No. 8, 1982, pp - 124

15 Saptari and Mahottari Affairs, A.D. 1810-11, Regmi Research Series, Year 14, No. 8, 1982, pp - 128

16 Fouzdars And Munsiffs In Saptari And Mahotari, Regmi Research Series, Year 4, No. 9, 1972, pp - 168

17 Bara, Parsa, and Rautahat in A.D. 1810, Regmi Research Series, Year 10, No. 4, 1979, pp – 52

18 Bara, Parsa, and Rautahat in A.D. 1810, Regmi Research Series, Year 10, No. 3, 1979, pp - 35

19 W.Brook Northey, Land of the Gurkhas OR The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal, 1937, pp - 57