SHAHPUR IS A MUTE WITNESS TO THE DARK PERIO OF SLAVERY IN HISTORY

ARA (RNI) Shahpur in Bhojpur district is a silent witness to the dark period of slavery in Indian history. The cantonment and a huge well are still present today which testify as to how the British tortured the people here during the British rule. There are great stories of indigo cultivation during the British rule.

The cantonment built by the British is a symbol of exploitation of the local people. A huge well which was built for irrigation for indigo cultivation, still exists in Shahpur. This wells with its size and style of construction, reminds us of the oppressive system of that time. It not only represents the brutal labour carried out during the period but also symbolizes the indiscriminate exploitation of local resources by colonial forces.

Today indigo farming has become history and now wheat and paddy crops flourish in this area. Former ATMA President, and felicitated with the Block Kisan Sri Samman by the government Umesh Chandara Pandey says that he has heard from ancestors that about 150 years ago the British had indigo farming. Indigo cultivation was started by the British in Shahpur. The British even extracted blood from people for indigo cultivation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that people irrigated the indigo fields cultivated by the British with their blood. Even today people shudder when they hear stories from their ancestors about the atrocities committed by the British for indigo cultivation. How people were tied like animals and made to toil day and night to draw irrigation water from wells.

The muscle and strong men of the villages around Shahpur were forcibly kept in cantonment and forced to cultivate indigo by oppressing them. The British used to cultivate indigo on about 50 to 100 acres of land in the eastern part of Shahpur. For this, the British constructed huge and deep wells for irrigation. Along with this, a cantonment was also built. British Officers and their soldiers used to stay here and get indigo cultivated. There are about dozen cottages for soldiers in the cantonment. Whenever the local people revolted against indigo cultivation, the British lords and the soldiers mercilessly oppressed them.  

The elders say that if anyone refused to cultivate indigo, he was tied up in public and beaten ruthlessly. If the local people are to be believed, a well like this will not be found anywhere else in the area. At present, this cantonment and the well are in a dilapidated condition but remind the dark slavery era of history during the British rule.