SPECIAL ARTICLES

Non-Development of Bi har: A Case of

Retarded Sub-Nationalism
Shaibal Gupta
It if argued in this paper that the absence of sub-nationalism, has acted as a stumbling block in
the economic development of Bihar. No movement to preserve the regional market as an exclusive
preserve of the nascent Bihari bourgeoisie too off and outside business and industrial interests have got
entrenched in the state's economy.
Neither traditional traders and artisans nor the agricultural classes could develop as industrial
entrepreneurs hi Bihar. This failure of Bihari capitalists to develop the forces of production has also
been responsible for the lack of sub-national economic awakening in Bihar.
Apart from the stagnating influence of colonial ride. Bihar has to reckon also with the Permanent
Settlement, which in Bihar "possessed its worst elements and contained none of its redeeming features
The feudal Bihari leadership closely allied with outside capital was opposed to any radical tenancy
reform and was indifferent to indigenous industrial development.
The absence of a sub-national consciousness even after independence has been the by-product of
Bihar's backwardness, its 'semi-feudal' production relations. Even now no class is able to break new
ground. A multi-class endeavour is thus required to lift the constraints on Bihar's stunted sub-nationa-
lism and, its corollary, retarded economic and industrial growth.
THE question, whether modern Bihar
is a mere 'geographical entity delineat-
ed out of administrative compulsion or
is a sub-national identity, has been
incessantly asked and debated. Bihar
came into existence in 1912 as a
separate province along with Orissa.
Seven decades are sufficient to gestate
a region's sub-national identity and
its very important component of eco-
nomic nationalism. Bihar's failure to
do so is all the more glaring against
the background of the successes
achieved by Assam
2
and Orissa,
3
dur-
ing this period, in forging their sub-
national identity which had always
combined with economic nationalism.
In spite of it, these two states have
not made any significant breakthrough
from a backward economy to an ad-
vanced industrial state. Nevertheless,
the sub-national awareness is a neces-
sary pre-condition for even rudimen-
tary economic development. The
Indian sub-continental syndrome is
testimony to the fact that the states
that have progressed had sufficiently
sub-national consciousness.
Does Bihar possess some inherent
deficiency by which one can explain
this failure? The splendour that
Bihar was once upon a time, paled
into insignificance nearly 1,000 years
ago. The last flicker of Bihar's glory
as a centre of history and culture
faded with the downfall of the Palas.
Without hazarding a precise formu-
lation of the yet largely unprobed
concept of sub-nationalism, it is ten-
tatively proposed to use the term for
any movement which seeks to make
the regional market an exclusive pre-
serve of the local bourgeoisie. How-
ever, it may retain notable cultural
aspirations from the past, though it
would be mainly manifest in the capi-
talist and industrial transformation
of the economy. I ndeed, sub-nationa-
lism would be very much a necessary
condition for such a transformation.
Any analysis of sub-nationalism,
therefore, would inevitably require an
insight into the concept of nationa-
lism, both in the Western and I ndian
contexts and in its inter-relationship
with sub-nationalism.
ORIGIN OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
Nationalism, as a political pheno-
menon, is a product of modern
Europe. I t is generally believed that
the earliest nation states, of England,
Spain, Portugal and Holland, emerged
during the period of fifteenth and six-
teenth centuries.
4
According to Stalin
the nation originated in the "process of
the elimination of feudalism and the
development of capitalism".
5
Only with
the advent of the industrial revolution
did nations emerge in Central and
Eastern Europe. Matternick, as early
as in the nineteenth century, referred
contemptuously to Italy as a mere 'geo-
graphical expression, I t was only after
the bourgeois revolution of 1789, which
swept away multiple local loyalties, did
France develop as a full-fledged
nation.
0
The creation and emergence of
nations, subsequently, all over Europe
in eighteenth and nineteenth century,
was done with the initiative of the
bourgeoisie with an eye to secure the
domestic market behind the national
walls. So the bourgeoisie unfurled
the flag of nationalism because, in
the words of Stalin, "The maricet is
the first school in which the bourgeoi-
sie learns its nationalism".
7
The above explanation for the
development of nationalism in Europe
found a responding echo in I ndia as
well. In the words of Niharanjan Roy,
it is an "urban phenomenon brought
about by a national bourgeoisie
which happened to be the product of
highly developed mercantile and fast-
developing industrial economy, some-
what homogeneous in its ethnic,
linguistic and cultural composition
and in its political economic aims and
aspirations."'
Along with a liberal brand of na-
tionalism deriving sustenance from the
modern ideas of the West; another
brand of nationalism which was essen-
tially revivalist in trend and was
based on Hinduism emerged. The first
of these leaders was Swami Dayanand
Saraswati (1824-83), whose aim wad
to restore I ndian culture to its pris-
1496
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
September 12, 1981
tine dignity by "seeking India for
Indians''.' Though he belonged to
Bombay Presidency, the Punjab be-
came the rallying point of his reviva-
list movement under the banner of
Arya Samaj. "The Hindus who domi-
nated the mercantile interest in that
province", notes B B Mishra, "found
an opportunity to counteract on a
religious plane, the feudal influence of
the great land-holders who were
generally Muhammadons'
0
To a
certain extent this phenomenon was
witnessed in UP as well. With comp-
lete disregard of other components,
such as Islam, Christianity, etc, this
brand of nationalism denied the com-
posite character of Indian culture. In
most of the Hindi-speaking areas the
impact of Arya Samaj was experienced.
Bihar was immensely influenced,
negatively, by the revivalist move-
ment of Arya Samaj. To the call of
Swami Dayanand many in Bihar res-
ponded with great enthusiasm. Ac-
cording to S N Pandey, "the majo-
rity of Aryas in Bihar belonged to
the lower castes. Contrary to this.
Arya Samajists in the United Pro-
vince were recruited from the edu-
cated upper class".
11
As noted earlier, nationalism first
emerged as a regional or sub-national
phenomenon, particularly in non-
Hindi linguistic areas such as Bengal.
Gujarat, Maharashtra, etc. But, in the
Hindustani-speaking area, the regional
phenomenon unfolded differently. Let
us very briefly discuss the problems
of language and nationalities of this
region.
LANGUAGE
The term 'Hindi' is applied to two
groups of dialects, viz, Western and
Eastern. Western Hindi has four main
dialects: Bundeli of Bundelkhand,
Braj Bhasa of Mathura, Kanauji of
Central Doab, and Vernacular Hindus-
tani of Delhi and upper Doab. Eas-
tern Hindi has three dialects, viz,
Awadhi of Oudh, Begheli of Baghel-
khand and Chattisgarhi of Chattis-
garh. Eastern Hindi has Bihari to its
east and Marathi to the south, both
being outer languages. Along with
above dialects Hindi literature in-
cludes the literature of parts of
Rajasthan in the west and Bihari in
the east which, strictly, are not Hindi
at all.
12
' Hindi or High Hindi developed as
a standard language through the
language programme which was offer-
ed to the British Civil Servants at the
college of Fort William, Calcutta, in
the 19th century. I t was fashioned
on the Vernacular Hindustani of
Western Hindi spoken in Delhi and
Upper Doab.
13
I n fact, long before
the advent of British rule this dialect,
which is also known as Khariboli,
covered quite an extensive area as a
link language.
Delhi being the capital of India,
was the most important administrative
and trading centre of the Hindustani-
speaking areas during the Muslim
period. Khariboli was the spoken
language of Delhi. The dispersal of
this dialect was brought about by the
traders, both Hindu and Muslim,
who in course of their mercantile
assignments, spread to Lucknow,
Faizabad, Prayag (Allahabad), Kasi
fVaranasi), Patna and other eastern
cities. Being the dialect of the most
important strategic centre, it got the
opportunity to develop in comparison
to other dialects like Bhojpuri, Awa-
dhi and others. Subsequently modern
Hindi and Urdu developed from this
dialect.
34
Politically, Bihar was tagged to
Bengal even during the pre-British
days leading to its economic back-
wardness. Moreover, being culturally
and linguistically a part of the Hindus-
tani speaking area, Bihar was rela-
tively conservative. While the social
reform of various streams swept the
three presidencies, in spite of solid
phalanx of orthodox opposition, the
Arya Samaj' movement that found
some following among backward
castes acted more as a vehicle of con-
servatism rather than of regeneration.
In Bihar, the unit of social movement
was castc. not village or region.
15
Evidence of various castes involved in
the reform movement is practically
lacking.
That is why, apart from its econo-
mic stagnation, Bihar's cultural insu-
larity accounts for the dichotomy of
its split personality. Thus Bihar has
a number of territorial entities with
definite dialects like Bhojpuri, Magahi
and Maithili superimposed on a
formidable hierarchy of castes. Lingu-
istically, Grierson puts those dialects
into a common group known as
'Bihari languages'. One can contest
Grierson's classification but they are
definitely distinct from Hindi and
more related to Bengali, Assamese
and Oriya, as i l l these dialects were
derived from a common root known
as Ardha Magdhi Aprabhansa. "Like
Bengali or Oriya no common Bihari
language has ever emerged".
1
' The
language of tribal Bihar was another
problem.
"The politics of language in Bihar",
writes Brass, is complicated by the
fact that the official language of the
state is not the mother-tongue of any
major population group' I t became
the official language of the state be-
cause the predominant ethnic groups
in Bihar, the Magajtii and Bhojpuri
peoples, lacking a standard literary
language of their own, choose t<?
adopt Hindi as the medium of edu-
cation, administration and political
communication. I n fact, Hindi in Bihai
has become pre-eminently the lan-
guage of the Magahi-speaking people,
who have been the most socially
mobilised and politically advanced
segment of the population of the
state''.
17
This linguistic assimilation
of Bihar by Hindi started long before
the advent of British rule and was
carried out mainly by the traders and
the army. Despite adoption of Hindi
as the language of Bihar, linguistic
oneness has not as yet evolved. That
is why, we encounter frequently the
emotionally surcharged atmosphere on
the question of Urdu and Maithili.
Even Bhojpuri cannot be identified
as a dialect. Before the introduction
of Hindi in 1875 by Bhudeva Mukho-
padhaya, Inspector of Schools Ln
Bihar, Urdu was the language of
the court and the medium of instruc-
tion.
13
It was a flourishing and intel-
lectually stimulating language. In the
absence of state patronage, it got
narrowly confined within the Madarasa
attached to mosques devoid of
scicntific and secular temper. Ironi-
cally, the first Urdu journal to be
published from Bihar was Akhabar-ut-
Akhiar (1868) and it was the organ of
the Scientific Society of Bihar estab-
lished in the same year. The journal
came out from Muzaffarpur edited by
Munshi Kurban Ali Khan.
18
MOVEMENT FOR SEPARATION OF BIHAR
"Different nationalities entered the
Indian national movement for different
reasons and at different times. The
I ndian national movement to a certain
extent incorporated the struggle of the
different nationalities for the right of
self-determination and the freedom to
develop their own culture. which had
been undermined bv the colonial
structure. Though this might have
smacked of regional chauvinism, there
was no basis to characterise it as
chauvinistic. For one thing, the de-
mand for living in a linguistically
1497
September 12, 1981
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
homogeneous state did not conflict
with tho concept of nation. I t was
a demand for a reorganisation of exist-
ing province which had been primarily
created to meet the needs of British
ad m inis t ration".
30
The movement for the separation of
Bihar from Bengal was Bihar's first
effort to assert its own regional iden-
tity in terms of sub-nationalism. At
the regional level, participation for a
separate Bihar was "facilitated through
the aggregation of primordial loyalties
like religious group, caste association
and the regional identities".
21
The
westernised Bihari elites were carriers
of this movement. Though Bihar was
politically linked with Bengal, this
class emerged very late in comparison
to its Bengali counterpart. Initial
efforts to impart modern English edu-
cation were not popular. In fact,
many landlords were hostile to i t'
2
But the position changed with the
posting of W Taylor as Commissioner
of Patna. "Bihar was in touch with
Calcutta on account of the Supreme
Court established in that city to decide
appeals from the court of Bihar",
writes Pandey. "The movement in
favour of English education and the
influx of English-educated Bengalis
from Calcutta and its suburbs prepar-
ed the ground for English education
in Bihar".
33
Going in for an English
education, which was an important
condition for social mobility, became
the hallmark of social prestige.
In the beginning Muslims and
subsequently the Kayasthas both
being very close to pre-British adminis-
tration, were first to realise the im-
portance of modern education. The
sectarian bodies such as the All
India Kayasth Conference and the
Mohamadan Association became the
vehicles for the spread of English-
oriented education. So we find, in
the early phase, the domination of
these two communities in the intellec-
tual and professional sectors of Bihar.
In the course of their professional ac-
tivities (including service jobs), they
had to compete adversely with the
Bengali settlers who had earlier en-
trenched themselves in the administra-
tive, educational and professional
spheres. With the passage of time,
other communities, like Bhumihars,
Rajputs, Yadavas and others, formed
their sectarian organisations which
initially played a limited reformist role
in connection with dowry, modern
education etc. A number of caste
Sabhas were established; in 1889 itself
the Bhumttlar Brahmin Mahasabha
w.is formed by the UP and Bihar
landlords at Patna. Subsequently, it
was followed by the establishment of
the Sarjupuri Brahman Sabha (1905).
The Ramani Kahar Sabha (1906), the
Rajput Sabha (1906), the Marwari
Youngmen's Association (1907), the
Dnsadh Sabha (1911), the Gope J atiya
Mahasabha (1912), the Keot Sabha
(1912), the Kurmi Sabha (1912) and
others".
21
Despite the limited progres-
sive role played by the caste organisa-
tions, these institutions failed to gene-
rate a feeling of cross-caste oneness.
Caste movement greatly brought about
disequilibrium and strained social re-
lationship among people of Bihar,
25
According to J ata Shankar J ha, this
is because "the contemporary govern-
ment records show that Knyvett, the
superintendent of police, Patna, was
instrumental for the caste movement...
He deputed his subordinate police
officers of those castes to organise
their castemen and he himself presided
over a number of their early meet-
ings".
25
In the wake of the role of
the alien government in helping the
caste movement in Bihar, there was
proliferation caste journals. I mport-
ant ones wei e: (1) Divija Patrika (2)
Kshatriija Patrika (in 1890) (3) Ka~
hatriya Samachar (4) Khatri Hitaishi
(5) Teh Samachar (1912) published
from Barh by Kali Prasad Das (6) Ma-
harui Mayanka (1919) published from
Hasua (Gaya) (7) Bhumihar Brahmin
Patrika (8) Ranniar Hitaishi (9) Ka-
yastha Kauamudi (10) Madhtja Deshi-
ya Vanik Patrika published from Muzaf-
t'arpur (11) RautUar Vaisya (Laherias-
arai) (12) Surtdik (Patna) and
others".
27
Among other caste journals were
Kay as t ha Samachar Kayastha Hitaishi,
Tailik Prabhaker
f
Tailik Vaishya Ban-
dhtt, Vanik Patrika, Nishad (new Ni-
shad J ournal) Kehsri Sandesh, Kaivar-
ta, Hai Hai Patrika, Bhudcva, Kush-
waha and Yadavesh.
2
' Incidentally, out
of 10, eight papers were published by
the trading caste community, so the
caste movement got further buttressed
and strengthened in Bihar which help-
ed in the vivisection of Bihar's sub-
national identity.
ECONOMIC SUM-NATIONALISM
Even in pre-British days, Bihar was
tagged to Bengal which ended its in-
dependent political and economic per-
sonality. Bihar was rfeduced to a
transit route long before thd advent
of British rule, further pushing it to
economic backwardness. "Bowrey did
not exaggerate the commercial import-
ance of Patna when he observed that
this was a country of very great traffic
and commerce and is really the great
gate that openeth into Bengal and
Orissa, and consequently into most
parts of India".' But the emergence
of British power finally sealed Bihar's
fate for nearly two centuries. "Bengal
(that is Bengal, Bihar and Orissa)"
writes Bagchi, "was the original stamp-
ing ground of British colonialism in
I ndia... biggest export base to the
British".
80
Even in the eastern zone, all areas
did not suffer equally. The peripheral
one, such as Bihar, Orissa and Assam,
remained backward in relation to
Bengal where the centre of colonial
rule was located. I n the absence of
"British settlement in the province"
of Bihar no "comparable class of
comprador bourgeoisie could emerge
here"
31
as in the other presidency
towns. This was the reason why,
apart from Bihar, Orissa and MP, even
with rich natural endowments, could
not develop as a industrialised state.
In fact, the backwardness of Bihar
stands out more prominently if we
take into consideration the economic
paradox of Bihar's poverty amidst
natures bounty of a vast expanse of
fertile land and inexhaustible mineral
resources. Such a geographical ad-
vantage can hardly be seen anywhere
else in India and has very few parallels
throughout the globe.
After the advent of the British and
with the emergence of westernised
elites, the demand for the separation
of Bihar from Bengal got momentum.
We do not propose to recount all the
events that led to the successful form-
ation of Bihar as a province. Three
major factors - viz, Bihari intelligent-
sia, Bengali settlers and British im-
perialism interacted and determined
the character of regional and econo-
mic consciousness of Bihar.
BIHARI INTELLIGENTSIA
Let us first discuss the factor of
indigenous elites, "The historians
have tried to characterise this class as
an elite group, have sought to em-
phasise the determining role of the
attitude and social behaviour of this
group to the exclusion of more basic
structural feature of the economy".
32
The movement for a separate Bihar
was spearheaded by professional and
educated elites and not by the Bihar
bourgeoisie. This is because of the
preponderance of feudalism in Bihar.
Even the social base of these elites
was limited, as the original combina-
1498
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
September 12, 1981
tion of Muslim and Kayastha, which
was directed against the Bengali set-
tlers unlike Utkal Sammillani of
Orissa, which wanted to develop the
Oriya nationality consisting of differ-
ent categories of people residing in
Orissa and accepting it as their pro-
vince. Gopabandhu, the foremost leader
of Oriya national movement "did not
like to create a 'pseudo nationality' in
the name of any community. Many
Bengali and Telugu intellectuals who
had settled in Orissa joined this move-
ment. Gopabandhu argued that the
Utkal Sammillani was part of the
national movement".-
13
The movement
in Bihar mainly revolved around dis-
crimination against Biharis in the
matter of education and jobs.
84
The
movement had no wider ramification.
Being an essentially anti-Bengali
movement, it spared the colonial
power. In fact, the leaders of the
Bihar Separation Movement opposed
the boycott movement of Bengal (1905)
with a view to getting patronage from
the British government, for the ful-
filment of their aim of Bihar as a
separate province.
SWADESHI MOVEMENT
The class limitation of the move-
ment for the separation of Bihar is
reflected in the absence of political
thought based on economic national'
ism. Without contesting the justifica-
tion of the demand for reservation of
jobs for the local people, they could
not look beyond their noses, British
imperialism distorted the economic
and social development of Bihar. While
the I ndustrial Revolution was sweep-
ing through England, I ndia was under-
going systematic de-industrialisation.
In the Gangetic belt of Bihar the effect
of the de-industrialisation was stagger-
ing.
115
In spite of the catastrophic effect
of the modern industry over tradi-
tional industrial community all over
India, the national leadership in India
"hailed every step taken towards the
introduction of new industries, lament-
ed the absence of Indian endeavour
in any field visibly opened to effort,
and exhorted all and sundry to take
themselves to trade and industry.
Their battle cry was that, we must
become capitalists and enterprisers... a
nation of traders, machine-makers, and
shopkeepers. To some of them, in-
dustrialisation was the most import-
ant, if not the sole criterion of the
progress of a people, and the only
sense in which the economic develop-
ment of a country might be said to be
taking place".
30
That is why, for
"encouraging I ndian industries, both
traditional and modem" there was
widespread "propagation of the ideas
of Swadeshi.... Though the Swadeshi
movement made its first mark in the
history of modern India in the course
of the all-India agitation against the
partition of Bengal in 1905... the idea
for the dramatic success of the move-
ment at this particular juncture had
long been prepared in the preceding
decades.... Arising spontaneously and
mostly in an unorganised and isolated
manner, the Swadeshi movement had
gathered widespread support in its
early years not from the recognised
public associations of the period but
from the vernacular press and from
the local efforts of innumerable face-
loss mfen".
37
The Swadeshi movement made rip-
ples in the peripheral areas of Bengal.
"The leader of the Utkal Sammillani,
was the grand old man of Orissa, Ma-
dhusudan Das, who wanted to indus-
trialise Orissa but failed for want of
financial help from the colonial
state".
1
' In spite of hostility towards
Bengali in Orissa, 381 swadeshi bran-
ches were set up by J anuary 1905.
Madhusudan Das "supported non-poli-
tical swadeshi economic enterprise,
but not surprisingly, kept strictly
aloof from the openly anti-British-
boycott campaign started by the Beng-
alis".
IMPACT OF SWADESHI MOVEMENT
M BIHAR
Bihar being definitely developed in
all respects in relation to Orissa failed
to find a responding echo during the
swadeshi movement. That is why
probably during the subsequent evolu-
tion of regional consciousness of
Bihar, the manifestation of economic
nationalism was strikingly absent. In
Bihar, when Surendra Nath Banerjee
visited to propagate the idea of Swa-
deshi in the autumn 1906 in Bhagalpur
it "created a split between the Biharis
(both Hindus and Mohamedans) on
the one side and the Bengalis on the
other-, the movement consequently
was confined to places where there
were Bengali settlements.... Apart
from residents, middle class Bengalis
who flocked to Chhotanagpur country
towns (Deoghar, Simultala, Madhupur,
Giridih, etc). . in the Puja vacations
also tried to spread the movement
with the result that in Deoghar the
local people termed, Swadeshi 'babu
tamashaV' So economic national
consciousness though developed ii
Orissa, ironically a far more backward
region, remained still-bom in Bihar.
Thus, the anti-British component,
the most important ingredient of
Indian nationalism, was missing in the
case of Bihar because of strong feudal
features. Even nationalism assumed a
secondary position; Sachchidananda
Sinha, the foremost leader of this
movement, eulogised "local patriot-
ism"
41
The Beharee, a noted journal of
Bihar, adopted the motto "we are
Behaitee first and Indian afterwards''
in opposition to the "nationalist ideas
preached by the Congress".
41
With the advent of British rule, caste
did not vanish, but got modified. The
modification varied from place to place.
The Bhadralok in Bengal dispensed with
caste organisations as a vehicle for
politics; but the concept itself continued
to determine the ritual status of man.
A similar process did not take place in
Bihar where the elite classes seized
upon these organisations not only to
maintain their ritual status but also to
initiate and expand social and educa-
tional activities. This led to the use of
caste organisations for political pur-
pose. "Although the caste association'
functioned", writes Roy, "in the social
realm for a cause which is primarily
social, they nevertheless prepared the
background for transforming social
identity into political identity. Had
other avenues of social advancement
and status mobility been available... it
is doubtful whether politics would have
been so much influenced by the
caste".
43
Nevertheless, the caste identity
collectively presents the picturc of
the fragmented identity of Bihar. Caste
may induce certain amount of oneness
among a group of people, but it can-
not generate national oneness. Even
when the Swadeshi movement in Bengal
sufficiently enthused the most advanced
section among the Bihari elites, the
Kayasthas, they formed a Kayastha
Trading Company at Arrah "with a
view to encouraging the community to
undertake commercial and other pro-
fessions".
44
Even in the world of trade
they could not go beyond the limits
of caste, which proved to be the
greatest stumbling block for the de-
velopment of Bihari bourgeoisie or
entrepreneurs in the subsequent period.
BENGAIL SETTLERS
Despite the political links between
Bihar and Bengal linguistically and
culturally Bihar was more connected
with the Hindusthani speaking area.
This lack of cultural affinity restrained
1499
the Bengali settlers from identifying
themselves with local population. I n
addition, the settlers developed a
supercilious attitude of cultural superio-
rity. Except for some noteworthy con-
tributions, the settlers could not emerge
as the vehicle for the dispersal ol
radical ideas that emerged in Bengal
This was natural; being part of colonial
administration, the "subaltern middle
class" of Bengal could not play the
historical role of initiating a cultural
lenaissance in backward areas. Thus,
in subsequent decades we see the spec
tacle of anti-Bengali sentiment in
various eastern regions. The earlier
Bengali contempt for local populations
has set in motion the politics of suo-
national retribution. Thus, sub-nationa-
lism, instead of becoming complemen-
tary to nationalism, is about to
endanger the fabric of the Indian
nation.
One of the weaknesses of Bengali
renaissance was its geographical limita-
tions, with a not very significant spill-
over to Bihar. Some reformist move-
ments like Brahma Samaj, though
implanted in Bihar, could not develop
roots in the soil. Bengali renaissance
dismally failed to establish powerful
link with Bihar and thereby break its
conservative insularity. This lack of a
transregional p e r s p e c t i v e , particularly
into the backward peripheries, also
deteimined the character of the super-
structural complexion of Bihar. Be-
sides, the cross regional links through
linguistic assimilation of Bihar by Hindi
and various caste organisations brought
about and intensified many conserva-
tive aspects of the social and political
texture of Bihar.
Again, because of its elitist character,
Bengal remained more or less in-
different to the general problems of
Bihar. For example, Bengal success-
fully fought against the monstrous
oppression of Indigo planters in the
19th century. But this movement did
not extend to Bihar. In fact, Bihar
had to wait nearly half a century for
band hi from distant Gujarat to launch
his crusade against the indigo planters
in Chainparan. In this movement,
Bihar was caught in the whirlwind of
nationalism without however suffi-
ciently developing sub-nationalism.
Thus, Bihar developed a nationalism in
which its regional identity was stuck
in the quagmire of caste and to a
certain extent in the sub-regional
entities like Maithili, J harkhand, Bhoj-
puri, etc. The Muslims, who were first
to raise the slogan "Bihar for Biharis",
45
cut themselves off from the general
current of nationalism.
The third factor, as noted earlier,
was colonial rule. The boycott move-
ment in Bengal induced the imperialist
rulers to take steps to ensure that no
similar militant movement would de-
velop in Bihar. "The British Govern-
ment was facing organised resistance
in Bengal. With the partition of Bengal,
'Swadeshi' movement was carried out
successfully in Bengal. The middle
class Bengali youth were organising
'revolutionary activities'. The situation
compelled the British Government to
show their suppott to the voices of
protest raised in Bihar against the
employment of Bengalis".
46
Bihar's political links with Bengal
started dwindling during the period.
During the separation movement, Sach-
chidanand Sinha developed links with
Gokhale of Bombay and in fact
"Gokhale, the president of the Benaras
Congress, in his presidential address,
looked more favourably to the scheme
of separation of Bihar".
47
Both Gokhale
and Khare were present during the
second session of Bihar provincial
Conference held at Bhagalpur under ths
Chairmanship of Sachchidanand Sinha
on April 9 and 10, 1909.
48
Rajendra
Prasad who later became one of
the most important leaders of the
Indian National Congress, had once
nought to join the Servants of India
Society,
49
INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT
ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES IN BIHAR
Subsequently, Bihar became an
important bastion of the national
movement under Gandhi. This shift in
the all-India political linkage of Bihar
is significant. First, it denotes the most
significant reality of Indian politics:
the emergence of western India as an
influential component of the national
movement. The geographical connota-
tion actually indicates the increasing
domination of industrial capital (mainly
Gujarati and Marwari) over other
parts of India including Bihar and also
in the Congress, along with different
regional elites, who had earlier assumed
its leadership. The earlier reluctance of
the sethias to be drawn into the
national movement faded away to a
certain extent. Their contradictions
with imperialism made them realise
the importance of the platform of
Congress which could be transformed
into a powerful instrument to foster
their class interest. On the other hand,
the middle class elites too needed the
support of a powerful financial class to
sustain. the tempo of the national
movement.
The grand strategy of the alliance
was mainly worked out by G D Birla
to fight against the two tronts: against
leftists greatly influenced by the
Russian Revolution of 1917; and
against British imperialism. "G D Birla
was quite clear", writes Bipin Chandra,
"that the battle against the socialist
leaning could not be joined frontally
and certainly not by the capitalist
themselves".
50
He noted Birla's com-
plaint that 'even people like Vallabh-
bhai and Bhulabhai who are fighting
against socialism are not be helped',
"Though Birla named only Sardar
Patel and Bhulabhai Desai, he had
Gandhi, Rajaji, Rajendra Prasad... and
other right-wing leaders in mind as
men to be helped to fight against ex-
propriation of private property... Wal-
chand Hirachand promptly gave rupees
one lakh to meet the cost of the Faiz-
pur session of the Congress, presided
over by J awaharlal. And, of course,
Birla practised what he preached. For
years he had been financing the Con-
gress and Gandhi's innumerable orga-
nisations and giving financial help to
Rajendra Prasad and other leaders"/
11
Rajendra Prasad had close personal
links with Marwari capital. His brother
started a rice mill with loan advanced
by the J amnalal Bajaj. The projec
1
"
turned out to be disastrous. His sub-
sequent efforts to start a Electric Supply
Company at Chapra in the 1930s also
turned out to be a fiasco. J amnalal
Bajaj rescued the family of Rajendra
Prasad from this financial predicament
and "paid off the rest of the creditors.
As he was unable to pay them all him-
self, he pursuaded Seth Ghanshyam
Das Birla to help in clearing the
debts". Rajendra Prasad himself re-
called nostalgically the "generosity of
J amnalal and the help extended by
Ghanshyam Das Birla" in his Auto-
biography.
52
ROLE OF NON-BIHARI CAPITAL
The capitalist class started exercising
hegemony through a faithful coterie of
elites of all India dimension. Besides the
two-pronged attacks of this alliance
(against imperialism and socialism)
this hegemony has wider implications
at the level of sub-nationalism too. The
snb-national aspirations were brushed
aside by the sweep of omnivorous
nationalism. Bihar was no exception to
it. By keeping sub-nationalism at a low
key, the capitalists of western India
spread to the eastern region under the
banner of nationalism. "Since the cap-
acity of the indigenous capitalist groups
to compete internationally Iwith more
advanced industrial interests is negli-
gible, they tend to maximise their ex-
ploitation of local people In an effort
1500
to accumulate larger profits. They also
use political influence on a national
level more intensely to hoodwink the
local people. They are permanently
under the necessity to keep up nation-
alistic hysteria to induce people to make
necessary sacrifice to fill the former's
coffers"
53
This was possible because regional
capitalism in the Eastern region, parti-
cularly in Bih:ir, could not develop.
"We have postulated", writes Bagcbi,
"that some at least of the difference
between the burdens of exploitation as
between eastern and western India can
be attributed to the fact that the
dominant capitalist class in western
India had a very large Indian com-
ponent, whereas the capitalist strata
dominating manufacturing, plantations
and mining, and large-scale banking
and external trade in eastern India
was almost entirely European, parti-
culaily before the First World War''
54
The internal regional flow of capital
in the initial stage might have been
slow. ''Although capital flows within
India in the British period have not
been analysed, whatever crude evidence
is available indicates that this did not
happen on a large scale before 1939.
If, for example, the Birlas with their
trading base in eastern India invested
in Gwalior in western India, the Tatas
with their base in western India in-
vested in the iron and steel complex,
in and near J amshedpur, most other
capitalists tend to invest in location
near their trading base."'
5
The most powerful among the trading
community were Marwaris who started
arriving in Bihar even before 1860.
Many of the first Marwari settlers
stopped in Patna and Bhagalpur, the
next two major ports on the Ganges
after Mirzapur and soon they fanned
out all over Bihar without any resis-
tance from the indigeneous trading
communities'
6
The development of
coal and mica industries in the south
Bihar drew many more to this more
industrial region. The most prominent
among the mica dealers were Raj-
gar hias. Ganapati Rajgarhia from hjs
modest business in kerosene and cloth
at Calcutta in 1878 switched to nining
oi mica at Hazaribagh 'and Gaya dis-
tricts after a chance meeting with and
suggestions from an American. He
became pre-eminent in this field and
even after his death his sons continued
to prosper. By 1940, the Rajgarhia
had 8,000 employees, mostly in their
mica mines. Fulchand Goenka was the
most outstanding entrepreneur in coal
mining. He came originally to J haria
to open a cloth shop in 1880. Another
important Marwari industrialist was
Ramkrislma Dalmia, who established
cement and sugar factories in the
1930s.'.
The Tatas, founded the giant steel
complex in J amshedpur in 1912. Their
hold over the levers of power in Bihar
even after Independence has been very
strong. J amshedpur city "originated as
company town owned by the Tata
Iron and Steel Company which had its
registered office at Bombay. Its cle
facto position is not much different
today even though the tie jure status
had changed after the abolition of
Tata Zamindari only a few years ago".
This onslaught of capital from western
India could not be met by the weak
trading community of Bihar. As late as
1965, the industrial planning and
licensing policy committee headed by
R K Hazari reported that the bulk of
Marwari, Parsee and Punjabi invest-
ment has been in Bihar. At no stage
did the regional elites seek partnership
of the local commercial communities,
like the elites of Bombay had who
forged relationships with the Sethias
in the national movement.
There is no doubt that because of
Permanent Settlement, Eastern India
had been converted into a 'landlord's
paradise'; investment in land was much
more attractive than other types of in-
vestment. Even so, many professionals
in Bengal entered industry either in
their own or in association with other
businessmen Nilratan Sarkar, a medical
practitioner, started the National
Tannery and P C Ray, a professional
chemist, started the Bengal Pharma-
ceutical and Chemical works under in-
fluence of the Swadeshi movement,
57
Within a few months after the con-
clusion of second session of the Indian
National Congress in 1886, native
merchants of Calcutta organised the
Bengal National Chamber of Com-
merce, "in response to the new politi-
cal consciousness that was stirring the
city".
68
In Bihar on the other hand no
initiative was taken bv the indigenous
trading and business interests in this
direction.
In Bihar, a Marwari Young Men's
Association was formed way back
in 1902. The Marwaris formed
their business organisation without
however adding a communal sulfix;
it was, instead, known as "Bihar and
Orissa Chamlx?r of Commerce" and
was formed in 1926. In its chequered
career spanning more than half a cen-
tury the Marwari control has hardly
been broken.
More or less the same story is the
case of Bihar Industries Association.
The Association was formed in 1944 to
"promote and safeguard the interest,
in general, of Indian Industries and in
particular of the industries situated in
Bihar and to act as their mouthpiece".
Throughout its eventful years, the
association has been controlled by non-
Bihari interests. S P J ain, the founding
President, though of Bihari stock, could
be at the apex of the organisation only
because of his family links with Dalmia.
All these only reflect the weak posi-
tion of the indigeneous bourgeoisie
m Bihar. The present Bihari bour-
geoisie has not reached a stage where
they can give effective leadership to
the business community.
Apart from the low ritual status of
the trailing castes, fi e initial elitist
character of the regional movement
dominated by the lawyer clas has
done.' immense harm to Bihar. "The
slow rate of growth of western educa-
tion as well as the emergence of law-
yers as the dominant professional
class account for the conservatism pre-
valent in Bihar society. The lawyers
mostly relied on rural clientele and
hence found it expedient to appeal to
caste and religious loyalties. For this
reason they do not like to sever rural
ties even when they had achieved con-
siderable success".
So while the elites remained con-
servative and were opposed to radica
1
measures particularly in the realm of
land tenure, they failed to enthuse the
bulk of rural population and the
workers. Under the ideological canopy
of Gandhi and probably through him,
these were linked to most other Indian
capitalists. Rajendra Prasad's links with
Gandhi and G D Birla is well known.
The importance of Ram Krishna Dahnia
in the state L indicated by the fact
that 'for mud' of the 1930s he was
able meet the Gmgress
budget out of his own pocket".
60
When in the 1920s the workers of
J amshedpur were clamouring for the
recognition of the union, in spite of
best efforts of Chitaranjan Das and
C F Andrews, Gandhi had to come to
settle the issue. Gandhi's appeal to
the workers is in this context signi-
ficant: "I do hope that you will serve
the company faithfully and, in the
manner of working of your union,
demonstrate to the world that you
deserved the generous concession agreed
by Mr Tata.... Let never a day come
when we have to hear from Mr Tata
that he has regretted the settlement of
today. I have sought the friendship
of the capitalists in order to induce
them to regard themselves for the
ljonefit of the labour.... Today capital is
afraid of labour and labour sours at
capital. I want to replace the relation
by one of mutual trust and respect and
1501
I may hope you will help me to bring
about the consttmation".
61
Gandhi's hold over Bihar Congress
was nearly complete. At every crucial
juncture the Bihar contingent in the
Congress supported him. In his tiff
with Bose, it was Rajendra Prasad who
came to his rescue which finally oust-
ed Snbhash Bose from Congress. Even
J ava Prakash Narayan had a brief stint
with G D Birla as his Private Secretary
and was close to Ramnath Goenka in
his last years.
Such close liaison between the west-
ern Indian capitalists and Rihari Poli-
tical leaders can Hi in the way of
development of an indigeneous indus-
trial class. The situation has not sub-
stantially changed even alter indepen-
dence.
CONCLUSION
The absence of sub-nationalism acted
as a stumbling block in the economic
development of Bihar. Any movement
to preserve the regional market as an
exclusive preserve of the nascent Bihari
Iwuugeoisie could not take off. Outside
business and industrial interests are
well entrenched in the state's economy.
Neither traditional trader nor artisan,
unlike their west regional counterparts,
nor the agricultural classes could de-
velop as industrial entrepreneurs to
compete with the west Indian indus-
trialists. This failure of Bihari capitalists
to develop the forces of production is
also responsible for the lack of sub-
national economic awakening of Bihar.
In fact sub-nationalism facilitates eco-
nomic and industrial development and
its absence fortifies the backwardness.
In Bihar, however, the elite as well as
the traders, artisans and the peasantry
have failed to generate a sub-national
economic consciousness.
Apart from the stagnating influence
of colonial rule, Bihar has also had to
reckon with the Permanent Settlement,
which in Bihar "possessed its worst
elements and contained none of its
redeeming features. The feudal Bihari
leadership closely allied with outside
capital, it was opposed to any radical
tenancy reform and was indifferent to
indigenous industrial development.
The absence of a sub-national con-
sciousness even alter independence has
been the by-product of Bihar's back-
wardness, the 'semi feudal' production
relations/'
2
* No class even at the present
moment is able to break new ground.
Therefore, a multi-class endeavour is
required to lift all constraints on Bihar's
stunted sub-nationalism and its corol-
lary, retarded economic and industrial
growth.
or
1
Notes
[The author is grateful to Fradhan
H Prasad, p Gupla, N Sen Gupta,
V K Kanth and A N Sharma for valu-
able suggestions and comments. How-
ever, the author alone is responsible
any errors.]
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3 (a) Barik, Radhakanta, "Copa-
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(b) Patra, Kishori Mohan, "Orissa
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4 I labib^Irfan "Emergence of Natio-
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23 Pandev, S N, op cit, p 4.
24 J ha, ] S, "Early Revolutionary Move-
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25 lhkk P 18.
26 IhuL P 18-19.
i f Kumar, N, "J ournalism in Bihar"
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28 Ibid, p 70.
5S
5fj
60
61
62
29 Sarkar, J N, "Glimpses of Medieval
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34 Choudhary, V C P, op cit.
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36 Chandra, Bipan, "The Rise and
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p 66-67.
37 Ihid, p 122-123.
38 Barik, Radhakanta, op cit, p 42,
39 Satftar, Sumit, "Swadeshi Movement
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40 ibid, p 370-71.
41 Quoted from Singh, Shaligram,
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45 Sfnirh, Saligram, op cit.
46 Ibid.
47 Choudhurv, V C P, op cit p U5.
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49 Ibid p 520.
50 Chandra, Bipan. "Nationalism and
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51 Chandra, Bipan, ibid, p 197.
52 Prasad. Rajendra, "Autobiographv"
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54 Bagchi. A K, "Reflections of Pat-
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55 Ibid.
56 Timbers, Thomas A, "The Mar-
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57 Bagchi, A K, 'European and Indian
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Gopal, Surendra, "Patna in 19th
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1502