‘Coolie Begar’ or ' Coolie-Utar' referred to the law requiring locals of the hill regions of Kumaun to provide free transportation for the luggage of travelling British officials.
But the reality was that these rich landlords and jurists had imposed their parts of slavery on landless farmers, laborers and weak sections of society who accepted it as conditional remuneration.
It was opposed everywhere; Badri Datt Pandey led the movement in Almora, while other leaders like Anusuya Prasad Bahuguna and Pt.
Govind Ballabh Pant also played an active role in the Movement in Garhwal and Kashipur respectively.
On 14 January 1921, on occasion of the Uttarayani fair, this movement was initiated from the grounds of Confluence (Bagad) of Saryu and Gomati.
[10][11][12] Before the commencement of this movement, a notice was issued by the District Magistrate to Hargovind Pant, Lala Chiranjilal and Badri Datt Pandey, but it had no effect on them.
Though he wanted to open fire on the crowd, he had to step back due to the lack of police force.
After the success of this movement, people gave the title of 'Jannayak' to Hargovind Pant and that of 'Kumaon Kesari' to Badri Datt Pandey.
After this, Gandhiji wrote about this movement in Young India stating "its effect was complete, it was a bloodless revolution.