a. Why Dudumiyan was famous:

In the name of religion Dudumiyan made a fervent call to the peasants of the Ferazi community to rise against the oppressive acts of the zamindars, indigo planters and money-lenders.

Dudumiyan declared that Allah being the real owner of the land, the zamindars had no right to levy taxes on the ryots (cultivators, tenants or peasants).

The zamindars of the Eastern Bengal being apprehensive of the designs of the Ferazis under the leadership of Dudumiyan made a common cause and further increased oppression on the peasants who had Ferazi leanings.

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This firther deteriorated the situation and armed clashes took place between the zamindars and the Ferazis. The Ferazi rebels did not even spare the indigo factories.

This was how the Ferazis had raised the banner of protest against the oppressors. The limitation from which the Ferazis had suffered was that the movement was confined to the Ferazi sect of the Muslims and hardly spread amongst the Hindus.

The Ferazi movement did not have any anti-British character.

b. Dudumiyan’s Leadership:

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The movement that went on under the leadership of Dudumiyan was known as the Ferazi movement.

c. Nature of the Movement:

The Ferazi movement began as a religious movement. But in course of time the religion was utilized by the Ferazis to give vent to their agrarian grievances.

The movement was anti-British in the sense that the Ferazis struck terror into the hearts of the oppressors who were practically the agents of the British.

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Dudumiyan had pleaded that his movement was not anti- British in character. Yet one can hardly deny that attack upon the agents of the British like money-lenders, zamindars and the like amounted to an attack upon the British government.

It must be remembered that the Ferazis because of their doctrinaire attitude alienated themselves completely from the Hindu community. Moreover, the Ferazis was not liked by the Wahabis.

Belonging to a movement of a lower order, the Ferazis evoked opposition from the village rich, the zamindars, mahajans and the indigo planters.