The Bihar provincial Kisan Sabha, 1929-1942: a study of an Indian peasant movement

On December 5th, 1920, in Patna, the Dasnami sannyasi Sahajanand Saraswati encountered Mahatma Gandhi for the first time.

Sahajanand was already known in social-reform circles in Bihar as an energetic activist and educator working to promote Bhumihar Brahman identity.

Inspired by the Mahatma's radical reformulation of Indian nationalism, 'the Swami' (as Sahajanand would soon come to be known) threw himself into nationalist politics and the Indian National Congress.

Within a decade, moved by the plight of tenant-farmers struggling against excessive rent demands and abusive landlord 'exactions', the Swami had spearheaded the formation of the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha.This pioneering 1961 study by Walter Hauser tracks the history of the Bihar peasant movement as it both influenced and was buffeted by national and international politics.