Baba Ramchandra was :a)A sanyasi, who was earlier an indentured labour...
Baba Ram Chandra (born 1864) was an Indian trade unionist who organised the farmers of Oudh, India into forming a united front to fight against the abuses of landlords in 1920s and 1930s. He was also an influential figure in the history of Fiji, and owed his inspiration to take up the cause of the down-trodden to his 12 years as an indentured labourer in Fiji and to his efforts to end the indenture system. His real name was Shridhar Balwant Jodhpurkar. He was a Brahmin, of Maharashtrian origin. He left for Fiji as an indentured labourer in 1904 after changing his name to Ram Chandra Rao in order to conceal his identity as a Brahmin, since Brahmins were not preferred as indentured labourers. He is one of the prime characters in Kamla Kant Tripathi's history based novel "Bedakhal".
(i) In Awadh, the peasant movement was led by Baba Ramchandra-a sanyasi who had earlier worked in Fiji as an indentured labourer.
(ii) The movement here was against talukdars and landlords who demanded high rents from the peasants.
(iii) Peasants had to do begar and work at landlords' farms without any payment.
(iv) The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar and social boycott of oppressive landlords.
(v) In many places Nai-Dhobhi bandhs were organised to deprive landlords of the services of even washermen and barbers.
(vi) Jawaharlal Nehru began talking to the villagers and formed 'Oudh Kisan Sabha'.
(vii) Within a month, over 300 branches had been set up in the villages around the region.
(viii) As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and grain hoards were taken over.