Famous Personalities - Current Affairs for October, 2017

The 'Paika Bidroha' (Paika Rebellion) of 1817 will find a place in the history books as 'the First War of Independence' from the next academic session. This announcement was marking the bicentenary of Paika Rebellion. Centre has allocated INR. 200 crore for commemorating it across the country. Paika Bidroha will find a place as the First War of Independence against the British Rule in the history books. Paikas were peasant militia under the Gajapati rulers of Odisha who rendered military service to the king during the times of war. They rebelled against the British rule under the leadership of Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar as early as 1817. Earlier, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had, in a letter to the Centre, urged that it should recognise 'Paika Bidroha' as the First War of Independence against the British rule as it took place four decades before the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, which has so far been regarded as the first war of Indian Independence. What is Paika Rebellion?

• When the British started tinkering with the revenue system in 1803, the farming community of Odisha rose in rebellion.
• At that critical juncture, Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar - the military chief of the King of Khurda - led his motley army of Paikas forcing the British East India Company forces to retreat.
• The rebellion came to be known as Paika Bidroh (Paika rebellion).
• The rebellion, by the landed militia of Khurda called Paiks, predates the first war of independence in 1857 but did not get similar recognition.
• It took place when the British East India company wrested the rent-free land that had been given to the Paiks for their military service to the Kingdom of Khurda.