Jagannath became an influential figure and icon for power and politics during the 19th-century colonialism and Christian missionary activity, states Osuri. The British government initially took over the control and management of major Jagannath temples, to collect fees and Pilgrim Tax from Hindu who arrived from all over the Indian subcontinent to visit. In contrast, Christian missionaries strongly opposed the British government association with Jagannath temple because its connected the government with idolatry, or the worship of false god. Between 1856 and 1863, the British government accepted the missionary demand and handed over the Jagannath temples to the Hindus. According to Cassels and Mukherjee, the British rule documents suggest that the handing over was more motivated by the growing Hindu agitation against the Pilgrim Tax that they considered as discriminatory targeting based on religion, and rising corruption among the British officials and their Indian assistants, in the handling of collected tax.