The Peripatetic Sannyasis

Abstract

Ever since Jamini Mohan Ghosh’s study of the Sannyasi Uprising in the early years of British Rule the subject has widely drawn attention of scholars. On the basis of historical evidence he called the Sannyasis raiders from outside Bengal who extorted the peasants and zamindars of Bengal for money. But post-independence India has spawned two genres of ideology-driven historians—Marxist and Secularist—who care more for imaginary myths than for the truth of history. Marxists view the uprising as an early peasant rebellion against the British colonial exploitation. Not to be outdone; secularists go further and expound their pet idea of the uprising as a shining example of Hindu–Muslim unity because of occasional Sannyasi–Fakir joint action against the British. But when historians thus indulge in misinterpreting history they consciously take advantage of the unavoidable, subliminal, though minimal subjectivity of history. But the facts explode both myths. They were simply plunderers in religious garb severely tormenting the Bengal countryside. Ghosh’s stand was correct, supported by historical evidence.