British massacre of Indian (1894)at Patharighat,Published• May 10, 2023
The Patharughat massacre of 1894 occurred on January 28, 1894, in , a town in the Darrang district of Assam, located 35 km northeast of Baruah Souk area of north Guwahati on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River. It was the result of a peasant uprising against the British Raj, sparked by the imposition of a 70-80% increase in agricultural land taxes, which had previously been paid in kind or through service. The protests, organized through peaceful gatherings known as Raij Mels, were perceived by colonial authorities as sedition.
On the day of the massacre, thousands of unarmed peasants assembled at Patharughat to protest the tax hike and demand a reduction. When the British district magistrate, JD Anderson, arrived with a large police force, he refused to listen to their grievances and ordered the crowd to disperse, threatening dire consequences. As the farmers continued their protest, a lathi charge was followed by open firing by the Indian Imperial Police, resulting in casualties. Official records from the Darrang District Gazetteer (1905) state that 15 peasants were killed and 37 wounded , but unofficial sources, including eyewitness accounts and local traditions, claim that around 140 peasants were killed.
The event is often referred to as Assam's Jallianwala Bagh due to its brutal suppression of peaceful protesters, and it occurred 25 years before the more widely known Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. Despite its significance, the uprising remains largely absent from mainstream historical discourse on India’s freedom struggle. The site is commemorated annually on January 28 as Krishak Swahid Divas (Farmer Martyrs Day), with official functions held by the government and local people. The Indian Army pays tribute to the martyrs in a military ceremony the following day. A martyrs' column was erected at the site on January 28, 2001, by the Army and unveiled by former Governor of Assam, SK Sinha.
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