Jagabandhu Bidyadhara Mohapatra Bhramarbara Raya popularly known as Buxi Jagabandhu () or ''Paika Khandayat Buxi'' was the commander (Buxi) of the forces of the king of

Khurda Khordha is a town and a municipality area in Khordha district in the Indian state of Odisha. Bhubaneswar, is the capital of Odisha located within the Khordha district and is only 25 km from Khordha town. Odisha State Highway 1 and Nationa ...

. He is one of the earliest

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

s of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The great

Paika rebellion The Paika Rebellion, also called the Paika Bidroha. It was an armed rebellion against Company rule in India in 1817. The Paikas rose in rebellion under their leader Bakshi Jagabandhu and projecting Lord Jagannath as the symbol of Odia unity, ...

in 1817 was under his leadership. The BJB College in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

has been named after this great personality.

Life

Jagabandhu Bidyadhara had got the title of ''Buxi '' in inheritance from his ancestors which represents the rank of the commander of the forces of the King of

, a rank second only to the king. He was born in an aristocratic

Khandayat Khandayat or Khandait is a landed militia caste from Odisha, East india. They were feudal chiefs, military generals, zamindars, large land holders and agriculturalists. During British raj, they ruled many tributary states in Odisha. They are lar ...

family. His family was provided with

Jagir A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...

s (vast landed properties and other requisites) and the estate of ‘Killa Roranga’ for generations by the King of

The Paika Rebellion

It was the first rebellion of the

Paika Paika is a small town from Palai on the Pala-Ponkunnam road of Muvattupuzha - Punalur SH:08, in Kottayam district, Kerala, India. It is part of Meenachil Taluka, known as one of the most fertile agricultural regions of Travancore. The town is ...

(soldiers of Odisha) with the support of common people against the British Rule. The land revenue policy of the British was the primary cause of the rebellion in 1817. The rent-free land tenures provided to the soldiers for their military service on a hereditary basis were taken away in the settlement by

Major Fletcher Major (Commandant (rank), commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with ...

as their service were not required anymore. This policy resulted in the deprivation of Buxi Jagabandhu from his estates and forced him to depend on the voluntary contributions from the people of Khurda. This policy also affected the

zamindars A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

as well as ryots. Another important cause for that great event was the raise in salt price. As a result, Buxi Jagabandhu led the tribals of

Banapur Banapur is a town and a Notified Area Council in Khordha district in the state of Odisha, India. The town is named after the King Banasura of Lord Shri Krishna era (as the epic tells). Banasura, a demon-king who is said to have ruled over this ...

and Ghumusar and bravely marched towards Khurda to fight against colonial power. He had an army of 400 Kandhas who fought bravely. The rebellion received extensive support from the common people. Even the Kandhas of Banapur became successful in their revolutionary activities. The rebellion was expanded throughout the state and continued for a quite long time. Government buildings were burnt, policemen were killed and government treasury looted. However, the fewer in number ''paika'' were unable to defeat their well-equipped British counterpart and receded back to the jungles, where they continued to resist the British. A number of them were captured, tried and executed in the last stages of the rebellion. Bidyadhar was imprisoned in 1825 and died in jail four years later in 1829.

References

* http://www.orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2008/feb-march-2008/engpdf/51-52.pdf * https://books.google.com/books?id=R0ddg1vMjl8C&lpg=PA61&ots=dK3h9iH3vK&dq=Bakshi%20Jagabandhu&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=Bakshi%20Jagabandhu&f=false
Odia film on Bakshi Jagabandhu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jagabandhu, Bakshi 19th-century Indian people 1773 births 1829 deaths People from Khordha district Military personnel from Odisha Indian warriors Executed Indian people Indian revolutionaries 19th-century executions by British India