Indigo

Gandhiji went to Champaran in 1917 at the request of Rajkumar Shukla, a poor, illiterate tenant farmer from Champaran who persistently followed Gandhi everywhere, pleading with him to visit Champaran and see the plight of the peasants for himself. The Sharecropping Arrangement (Tinkathia System): The peasants of Champaran were forced to grow indigo on 15% of their land (three-twentieths, or tinkathia) and surrender the entire indigo crop as rent to the British landlords. This left them little land for growing food crops. When Germany developed synthetic indigo, the demand for natural indigo fell. The British landlords wanted to free the peasants from the compulsory indigo cultivation — but they demanded money (compensation) from the peasants in exchange for releasing them from the tinkathia arrangement. The injustice: 1. The peasants had been robbed for decades under the tinkathia system. 2. Now they were being asked to pay again, essentially for the privilege of being freed from an unjust system. 3. The peasants did not know their legal rights. When Gandhi arrived and asked questions, the lawyers admitted that the peasants had been too afraid and too poor to resist. Gandhi's action: He investigated the situation by interviewing thousands of peasants, collecting evidence methodically. His presence alone gave the peasants courage and the movement shifted power in favour of the oppressed.

The Champaran episode of 1917 is one of the most instructive examples of Gandhiji's philosophy of civil disobedience and self-reliance: 1. Civil disobedience: • When Gandhiji was ordered by the authorities to leave Champaran, he refused. He said he had come for legitimate humanitarian work and would not leave until it was done, even if it meant going to jail. • He accepted the summons to court and declared he was disobeying the order to leave — not out of disrespect for lawful authority, but because he felt the order was unjust. • The response of the authorities was remarkable: the Lieutenant Governor eventually called off the trial, and the district officials were helpless. The episode showed that a determined individual standing for truth could shake the colonial administration. 2. Self-reliance: • Gandhi could have relied entirely on English lawyers, but he chose to train Indian lawyers to handle the cases. He told them: 'The lawyers are here to give courage to the sharecroppers.' • He also set up schools and dispensaries in the villages — not depending on the government — showing that self-reliance meant developing local capabilities. • He wrote to the Viceroy's secretary: 'I beg to tender my humble apology... I shall not leave Champaran.' This was self-reliance in the face of authority — staying true to one's purpose regardless of threats. 3. Broader lesson: • The Champaran campaign demonstrated that Indians could challenge colonial authority on Indian soil and win. • Gandhi declared it 'an object lesson in self-reliance' — proving that justice could be achieved without violence, through truth and courage.

Gandhi considered the Champaran episode a turning point for several reasons: 1. First successful civil disobedience in India: • The Champaran campaign of 1917 was the first successful application of Gandhi's method of civil disobedience in India (he had used it earlier in South Africa). • By refusing to leave Champaran despite official orders, and by being willing to go to jail, Gandhi showed that non-violent non-cooperation could challenge the British Raj. 2. Gave courage to Indians: • The sharecroppers of Champaran had been living in fear for decades. Gandhi's presence alone transformed them. 'He infused courage in us,' they told him. • This psychological transformation — from fear and subservience to courage and self-respect — was revolutionary. 3. Object lesson in self-reliance: • Gandhi taught the peasants not to wait for outside help. He trained local lawyers to take up cases, started schools, and organised local volunteers. • He demonstrated that Indians could solve their own problems without depending on the British. 4. The settlement: • The commission set up by the government (which included Gandhi) ruled that the landlords must refund a portion of what they had illegally extracted. • The landlords were forced to pay back 25% — the actual amount was less significant than the symbolic victory: the British landlords had acknowledged their guilt. 5. Legacy: • Champaran showed that Gandhi's methods worked. It established his leadership of the Indian national movement. • It proved that truth and non-violence, combined with mass mobilisation, could compel even a colonial administration to yield.

When Rajkumar Shukla accompanied Gandhi to Calcutta and Gandhi finally agreed to go to Champaran, Gandhi felt that 'the battle of Champaran is won' even before the campaign had begun. This statement carries deep significance: 1. Mental resolution precedes physical victory: • Gandhi believed that the real battle was fought in the mind. Once he had made the decision to go and fight for the peasants of Champaran — regardless of the obstacles — the outcome was, in a sense, already determined. The determination to act justly and fearlessly is the essential prerequisite for any victory. 2. The power of commitment: • Shukla's persistent, unstoppable determination in tracking down Gandhi and persuading him to come had already set events in motion. Gandhi recognised that such determination — simple, uneducated, but absolutely focused — was itself a form of victory. 3. Symbolism for the freedom movement: • This attitude — 'we have already won when we have decided to fight justly' — became central to Gandhi's philosophy. It was the same spirit he brought to the entire independence movement: by refusing to be morally defeated, Indians could not ultimately be politically defeated. 4. Self-belief as a catalyst: • The statement reflects Gandhi's understanding that self-belief and conviction are the first and most important weapons in any struggle. Doubt and fear are the real enemies — not the opponent.