Art - Breaking Barrier Tales & Trails

Prior to the arrival of Europeans on the Indian subcontinent, the Bengali countryside (consisting primarily of hills and rainforests) were not directly controlled by the Mughal authorities. Local rulers, who paid tribute to the Mughals, held control over the area. In turn, the local rulers granted to inhabitants of the countryside tax-free lands in exchange for the military protection they provided to the former. The recipients of these land grants were called Paika. However, after the East India Company annexed Bengal in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War and incorporated the region into the Bengal Presidency, the Company administration stipulated that local rulers would now collect taxes from the Paika, which would go into the Company coffers. In response, the Paika rose in revolt, earning the derogatory nickname "Chuars" (meaning uncivilised in Bengali).[3][2]

According to L.S.S. O’Malley, an EIC administrator who wrote the Bengal District Gazetteer, "In March 1766 Government resolved to send an expedition into the country west and north-west of Midnapore in order to coerce them into paying revenue, and to capture and demolish as many of their strongholds as possible."[2] Amongst the many dispossessed zamindars, those who lent support to the rebels included royalty such as Durjan Singh of Raipur, Managat Singh of Panchet, Ganga Narayan Singh of Birbhum, Dubraj Singh of Birbhum, the Rani Shiromani of Karnagar and Raja Madhu Singh of Manbhum.