CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA
1. Context
Champaran Satyagraha was launched by Mahatma Gandhi in April 1917. This year marks the 108th anniversary of the movement. It was the first major act of Satyagraha by Gandhi. It is commemorated as an awakening of Indian peasants against the colonial planters and policies in India. To a large extent, it drew inspiration from Gandhi’s South African experience.
2. Champaran Satyagraha
- Indigo had long been a prominent crop in India, cultivated and processed by local farmers for generations. However, during the 17th century, European-run slave plantations in the West Indies also began indigo production.
- Following the British conquest of Bengal, European indigo planters started arriving and, after acquiring zamindaris, began compelling local peasants to cultivate indigo for processing in their establishments.
- By the early 1800s, white planters in what is now northwest Bihar enforced oppressive contracts known as teenkathia, which required cultivators to allocate three-twentieths of their land to indigo cultivation.
- Germany’s drive for industrial self-sufficiency led to the invention of synthetic dye by Adolf von Bayer, who would later win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1905.
- This invention drastically lowered the price of natural indigo from Bihar, reducing the profitability of European indigo estates in India.
- Historian Irfan Habib notes that this resulted in a sharp decline in India’s indigo export value—from Rs 4.75 crore in 1894-95 to Rs 2.96 crore within just five years. As profits dropped, planters responded by increasing the financial burden on farmers under the guise of their zamindari rights.
- In addition to these increasing rents, planters exploited the begar system—a feudal practice of extracting unpaid or meagerly paid labor. They freely commandeered peasants’ livestock, tools, and even labor for their plantations.
- On February 27, 1917, Raj Kumar Shukla, representing the tenant farmers of Champaran, wrote to Mahatma Gandhi, urging him to witness their dire living conditions. His letter poignantly began, “You listen to others’ tales every day, today, hear mine.” He claimed that the peasants of Champaran, in northern Bihar, were suffering worse than Indians in South Africa.
- Upon arriving in Champaran, Gandhi was instructed to leave but chose to defy the order, stating he would accept any legal consequences instead. Historian Shahid Amin recounts that on April 18, 1917, in a courtroom in Motihari, Gandhi—then relatively new to Indian politics—refused to comply with Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. In doing so, he challenged the British government's authority to suppress the voices of the impoverished indigo farmers.
- The government, unprepared for confrontation, backed down. A significant meeting took place on June 5 between Gandhi, Lt. Governor E.A. Gait, and Chief Secretary H. McPherson in Ranchi. This led to the formation of an enquiry committee, including Gandhi, zamindari and planter representatives, and British officials.
- Gandhi gathered testimonies from over 8,000 farmers, firmly advocating for the end of the teenkathia system, elimination of illegal cesses (abwabs), and compensation for unjust extractions. The committee’s recommendations were largely accepted by the government, culminating in the Champaran Agrarian Act of 191
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Neel Darpan
In September 1860, Dinabandhu Mitra released a Bengali play titled Neel Darpan (meaning "Blue Mirror"), which powerfully portrayed the brutalities inflicted by indigo planters. The play was set against the backdrop of the Indigo Revolt that took place in Bengal during 1859–60
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3. Tinkathia System
- The Tinkathia system was an exploitative agricultural arrangement imposed by British indigo planters in parts of eastern India, particularly in the Champaran region of present-day Bihar.
- Under this system, local farmers were forced to grow indigo on a fixed portion of their land—specifically, three kathas out of every twenty kathas of their holdings.
- Since twenty kathas made up a bigha of land, this effectively meant that 15% of a farmer’s cultivable land had to be devoted to indigo cultivation, regardless of the farmer’s own preferences or needs.
- The cultivation of indigo under this system was not only coercive but also deeply unjust. Indigo, while lucrative for European planters, was detrimental to the soil and offered little economic return to the Indian peasants who were compelled to grow it.
- The farmers were typically not paid fairly for their produce and had to bear the costs of cultivation themselves. As a result, they were often pushed into debt and poverty, while the planters made significant profits.
- What made the system even more oppressive was the way it was enforced. Backed by zamindari rights and colonial authority, the planters would often use threats, force, and legal manipulation to ensure compliance. The peasants had little recourse and were left with minimal land to grow food crops for their own sustenance.
- The Tinkathia system became a symbol of colonial exploitation, and it was one of the main grievances that led to the Champaran Satyagraha in 1917.
- Led by Mahatma Gandhi, this movement brought national attention to the plight of indigo farmers and eventually resulted in the abolition of the system through legislative reforms, including the enactment of the Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918
4.Causes of Champaran Satyagraha
The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, led by Mahatma Gandhi, was a landmark movement in India’s freedom struggle and marked Gandhi’s first active involvement in Indian mass politics. The agitation was primarily triggered by the oppression of indigo farmers in the Champaran district of Bihar under British colonial rule.
The major causes of the Champaran Satyagraha can be explained as follows:
- The central cause of the agitation was the Tinkathia system, under which local peasants were forced to cultivate indigo on 3/20ths of their land (three kathas out of every twenty). This system was enforced by European indigo planters, often through coercion and backed by zamindari rights. Indigo exhausted the fertility of the soil and yielded little income for the cultivators, leaving them economically ruined
- With the invention of synthetic dyes in Europe, the demand for natural indigo declined sharply. Despite this, planters continued to pressure peasants to grow indigo, offering them very low prices or even forcing them to sell it at a loss. In many cases, farmers were not paid at all for their indigo crops.
- As the profits of the indigo planters fell, they began to extract more money from the farmers by increasing land rents and imposing illegal cesses or abwabs. These charges were unjust and placed a heavy financial burden on the already struggling peasants.
- Planters also made widespread use of begar, a feudal practice involving unpaid or poorly paid forced labour. Farmers were compelled to provide labour, bullocks, carts, and other resources for the planter's benefit without any remuneration
- Beyond economic exploitation, the peasants—most of whom belonged to lower castes—faced social discrimination and harassment. They were denied access to public facilities and were treated inhumanely by the British planters and their agents
- The peasants had no effective legal protection. The courts and local administration often sided with the British planters, leaving the farmers without a platform to voice their grievances or seek justice
- A key turning point came when Raj Kumar Shukla, a local peasant leader, approached Mahatma Gandhi during a Congress session in Lucknow (1916) and urged him to visit Champaran. Moved by the plight of the farmers, Gandhi agreed and traveled to the region, launching a non-violent civil disobedience campaign
5. British Reaction to Champaran Satyagraha
- The British response to the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was marked by initial resistance, followed by strategic accommodation. When Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Champaran to investigate the grievances of indigo farmers subjected to the oppressive Tinkathia system, the colonial authorities attempted to suppress his efforts.
- They issued an order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, directing him to leave the district.
- Gandhi, however, chose to defy this order, leading to his arrest. His trial garnered significant public attention and support, compelling the British to release him without punishment .
- Recognizing the growing momentum of the movement and the potential for widespread unrest, the British administration shifted its approach. They engaged in negotiations with Gandhi, resulting in the formation of a committee to investigate the farmers' complaints.
- Gandhi's involvement in this committee lent it credibility, and his meticulous documentation of the farmers' plight led to significant reforms.
- The oppressive Tinkathia system was abolished, and measures were implemented to improve the conditions of the indigo cultivators .
- This episode marked a turning point in colonial policy, demonstrating the effectiveness of non-violent resistance and compelling the British to address the injustices faced by Indian peasants
6. Significance of Champaran Satyagraha
- The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 holds immense significance in the history of India’s freedom struggle, not just as a protest against agrarian exploitation, but as a transformative moment in Indian politics and society.
- It marked the first successful application of Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of non-violent civil disobedience (satyagraha) in India and laid the foundation for mass movements that would later challenge British rule on a national scale.
- Before Champaran, Gandhi had gained recognition for his activism in South Africa, but he had yet to engage directly with the Indian masses. Champaran provided him with that opportunity.
- Upon his arrival in the region, Gandhi encountered the deep distress of indigo cultivators, who were subjected to the oppressive Tinkathia system, forced to grow indigo on a portion of their land, and exploited by British planters with little legal or administrative recourse.
- His decision to disobey British orders to leave Champaran was a bold assertion of moral authority over colonial law. By standing trial and refusing to back down, he transformed a local issue into a broader question of justice and the legitimacy of British rule.
- The British, initially confrontational, eventually backed down and allowed Gandhi to conduct an inquiry. This led to the establishment of a committee, on which Gandhi was included. His evidence, collected from thousands of farmers, led to the abolition of the Tinkathia system and the introduction of the Champaran Agrarian Act in 1918, which formally recognized the rights of the peasants.
- The success of this movement demonstrated the power of peaceful mass mobilization and encouraged ordinary Indians, especially in rural areas, to participate in political action.
- Moreover, Champaran revealed Gandhi’s unique method of leadership—emphasizing self-reliance, constructive work, and ethical protest. During the course of the movement, Gandhi also set up voluntary efforts for rural education and sanitation, showing that his concept of swaraj (self-rule) was not limited to political independence but extended to social reform.
- In essence, the Champaran Satyagraha was not just about indigo or Bihar—it was a symbolic awakening of the Indian peasantry, a test of Gandhian strategy, and a challenge to colonial authority. It showed that injustice could be confronted with courage and truth, without violence, and it firmly established Gandhi as a national leader.
- The movement thus marked the beginning of a new phase in India’s struggle for freedom—one rooted in mass participation, moral resistance, and non-violent defiance
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For Prelims: Tinkatiya System, Champaran Satyagraha, Mahad Satyagraha
For Mains: GS I - Modern Indian History
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Previous Year Questions
1. Indigo cultivation in India declined by the beginning of the 20th century because of (UPSC CSE 2020)
(a) peasant resistance to the oppressive conduct of planters
(b) its unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions (c) national leaders’ opposition to the cultivation of indigo (d) Government control over the planters Answer: (b) 2. Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran Satyagraha? (UPSC CSE 2018)
(a) Active all-India participation of lawyers, students and women in the National Movement.
(b) Active involvement of Dalit and Tribal communities of India in the National Movement. (c) Joining of peasant unrest to India’s National Movement. (d) Drastic decrease in the cultivation of plantation crops and commercial crops Answer: (c) |
Source: Indianexpress
