The Champaran Satyagraha
Gandhi's first satyagraha in India (1917), for farmers in Bihar forced to grow a cash crop for European planters.
What the paper can ask
- 1917, Champaran district, Bihar; Gandhi came at Raj Kumar Shukla's invitation; his first civil resistance in India.
- The tinkathia system forced tenants to grow the planters' crop on a share of their land.
- The inquiry ended tinkathia and made planters repay 25 percent of unlawful collections; Rajendra Prasad and J. B. Kripalani assisted.
- The centenary celebrations ran from April 2017 to April 2018 with a national conclave and stamps; PM Modi attended the closing in Motihari.
Why exams ask
The crop, the year, the man who invited Gandhi and the name of the system are the standard questions.
The full story
In 1917 Gandhi went to Champaran district in Bihar at the invitation of the peasant Raj Kumar Shukla. Tenant farmers there were forced under the tinkathia system to grow a planters' cash crop on part of their land for little pay. When officials ordered Gandhi to leave he refused, his first act of civil disobedience on Indian soil. An inquiry committee on which he sat ended the system and made planters repay part of what they had taken.
Test yourself
1.The 1917 Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhi's first in India, was against forced cultivation of which crop?
Correct. Farmers of Champaran, Bihar, were forced to grow indigo under the tinkathia system.
Not quite. Farmers of Champaran, Bihar, were forced to grow indigo under the tinkathia system. It goes into your error book.