After
the success of the first two seasons of Lootere – Bandits of British India,
comes the third installment of the series that features stories of the famous
bandits of India who were branded hereditary dacoits by the British striving to
attain mastery of a land and people they were still struggling to understand.
Times
were tumultuous in 19th century India. The waning Mughal
power and the upsurge of the British Empire were eradicating old ways and
setting new trends. There were many who suffered on this cusp of cultures. Some
turned to loot the rich; not always distributing amongst the poor. Lootere
brings alive these troubled times with the thrill of a cops and robbers chase.
Sharing
details about the show, Akul Tripathi, Content and Programming Head, EPIC TV,
said, “Local communities and tribes such as the Waghers, Bheels, Sanyasis, and
Banjaras resorted to looting and plundering in a time of great social and
political upheaval. Often, for the acts of some, entire tribes were branded as
hereditary dacoits and kept on the fringes of society – a wrong that was
corrected only post-independence. Season 3 of Lootere
tells the story of these tribes.”
ABOUT
THE TRIBES:
BHILS:
One of the subcontinent's oldest inhabitants, they lived in the forests and
hill ranges of Khandesh and Rajputana and enjoyed good relations with the Rajputs
and Marathas who ruled this region. However, after 1818, the
politics of this region began to change when the British forces were expanding
with unmatched cruelty and shrewdness. The intentions of the British were to
clean up the forests and their main aspiration was to deprive the Bheels of
their forests in order to ‘clean’ the country. This not only made the Bheels
rebel several times but also drove them to highway robbery and lawlessness.
SANYASI
REBELS: Literally, Sanyasi referred to one who renounces the world for the sake
of spiritual life. The Fakirs and Sanyasis used to travel to North Bengal to
visit various shrines and pilgrim sites and as a tradition, they used to
collect alms from local Zamindars – a means of livelihood that was interfered on
by the British, prompting an organized revolt.
WAGHERS:
Waghers, rulers of Okhamandal, was a major landowning community in the Dwarka
sub-division of present-day Jamnagar District in Gujarat. Restrictions on their
trade and taxes levied on them, compelled many to become daring pirates.
BANJARAS:
The Banjaras were an ethnic community that included acrobats, singers, dancers,
tightrope-walkers, and fortune-tellers. With the implementation of exploitative
colonial policies, the traditional source of livelihood for the Banjaras
started depleting. A fair share of them chose highway robberies,
cattle-lifting, sheep-stealing and kidnapping children to make ends meet.
Tune
in to Lootere Season 3 – Bandits of British India on EPIC
TV, beginning June 14, every Thursday at 10
pm
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