Class :XII

Subject:English Core
FULL SUMMARY
This story portraits Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran. In those days most of
arable land in the Champaran district was divided into large estate owned by Englishmen and
worked by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was Indigo. The landlords compelled all
tenants to plant Indigo on 15% of their lands and surrender the entire Indigo harvest as rent. This
was done by a long term contract. The British didn’t need the Indigo crop any more when
Germany had developed synthetic Indigo. Just to release the peasants from the 15% agreement
they demanded compensation. Some illiterate peasants agreed but the others refused.

One of the sharecroppers named Rajkumar Shukla met Gandhiji in this regard and compelled
him to visit Champaran because of the long term injustice of landlords. Then the two of them
boarded a train for the city of Patna in Bihar. From there Shukla led him to the house of a lawyer
named Rajendra Prasad. Mahatma Gandhi’s humble and simple attire made the servants mistook
him as another poor peasant. He surveyed before taking any vital step in order to get those
peasants justice. It was the time when the British government punished those who in any
condition gave shelter to national leaders or protesters.

Gandhi’s arrival and the nature of his mission spread like a wildfire. Many lawyers and peasant
groups came in large numbers to support him. The lawyers accepted the fact that their charges
were high and for a poor peasant it will be irksome. Gandhiji rebuked them for collecting big fee
from the sharecroppers. He stressed on counseling as this would give the peasants enough
confidence to fight their fear. He managed to get justice after a yearlong battle for the peasants.
He also made arrangements for the education, health, and hygiene for the families of the poor
peasants. He gave them the lesson of self-reliance.

NOTES
● The Champaran Peasants: Raj Kumar Shukla shared with Gandhiji the miseries of the people
of Champaran. He termed the landlord system in Bihar gravely unjust and wanted Gandhiji to
help the poor peasants.
● Shukla’s Tenacity, Persistence, Resolve, Determination: Shukla visited Gandhiji in Lucknow
and then in Cawnpore. He was told that Gandhi was scheduled to visit other places in the coming
days. Shukla patiently followed him everywhere. Gandhiji agreed to accompany him to
Champaran after his Calcutta visit.
● Rajendra Prasad’s House at Patna: Gandhiji wished to meet Rajendra Prasad, a lawyer who
later became the president of the Indian National Congress. But the meeting did not take place as
he was out of town, Gandhiji then left for Muzzaffarpur to gather more information. Lawyers
briefed Gandhiji on the case and were chided by him for collecting high fees from the peasants.
Gandhiji decided to free the poor farmers from fear.
● Ancient Settlement: Large Indian estates were owned by the Britishers who had put a
compulsion on the Indian tenants to grow indigo on 15% land. Farmers were deprived of the
indigo harvest. The entire indigo produce was taken as rent.
● German Synthetic Indigo: Landlords did not want the indigo produce anymore as Germany’s
synthetic indigo had captured the market with cheap rates. The landlords released them from the
ancient agreement but charged compensation for it. Some peasants signed the agreement
willingly, some engaged lawyers to resist it. When the news of the synthetic indigo reached the
peasants, they wanted their money back.
● Official Notice to Gandhiji: Gandhi was ordered to leave Champaran. He took the order but
signed his refusal. He was summoned to appear in court the next day. Rajendra Prasad arrived
with influential friends. Peasants came in thousands and the Britishers had to take Gandhiji’s
help to regulate the crowd.
● Gandhiji’s Reason for Disobedience: Gandhiji disobeyed not to break law but to render
humanitarian and national service. He professed that he did not have any disrespect for law but
for greater respect for the voice of conscience.
● Triumph of Civil Disobedience: Gandhiji proceeded to gather testimonies about grieving
farmers. The Lt. Governor appointed a commission of inquiry comprising landlords, government
officials and Gandhiji as the sole representative of farmers.
● British planters Defeated: When heaps of evidence were collected against landlords, they
agreed to refund the money but only 25% of it. They had assumed that Gandhiji would not come
down from his demand of 50%. Surprisingly Gandhiji agreed at 25% as he believed that refund
did not matter but that the landlords had to surrender their prestige. This victory of peasants
brought courage in them. Later on the estate holders left their holdings and the land reverted to
the peasants.
● Social, Cultural upliftment of Champaran: To improve cultural and social status of the people
Gandhiji sought volunteers for teaching. His own family including wife and son volunteered.
Primary Schools were opened and hygiene and health was taken care of. His politics comprised
day to day problems.
● Champaran, a Turning Point: Gandhiji had learnt that he could not be ordered about in his own
country. Peasants had learnt courage and also the fact that he could fight for his rights.
● Self-Reliance: Charles Freer Andrew’s, a pacifist and a devout disciple of Gandhiji came to
bid him farewell. The lawyer friends urged him to stay on in Champaran for the support of
Indians. But Gandhiji was against the proposal as he wanted the Indians to face the crisis on their
own. The Indian peasants learnt self-reliance and courage

Short Questions and Answers for Indigo:

1. What according to Gandhiji was the beginning of the poor peasants’ (indigo growers)
liberation from the fear of the British?
When the news of Gandhi’s arrival to the city spread like wildfire, Motihari town was
black with peasants from the news of Mahatma’s arrival. They gathered in a vast multitude to
support Gandhi. They did public demonstrations around the courthouse against the draconian
law. This was when Gandhi took the first step for the peasants to liberate them from the fear of
the British.

2. Civil disobedience had triumphed the first time in modern India. How?
A case against Gandhi was initiated for disregarding government orders. The spontaneous
demonstration of thousands of peasants baffled the officials. The judge was requested to
postpone the trial. Gandhi refused to furnish bail. The judge released him without bail.
After a few days he received a letter where he was informed that the government dropped
the case against him. This is how civil disobedience triumphed.

3. What do you think led Gandhiji to exclaim, “The battle of Champaran is won”?
Gandhiji, an iconic leader to give voice to the voiceless, was more than ready to go to jail
fighting against the injustice to the sharecroppers. Many prominent lawyers had come
from all over India to advise and help him. At first, they said they would go back if
Gandhi went to prison. Later they had consultations. They told Gandhi they were ready to
follow him in jail. This support made Gandhi confident to declare that the battle of
Champaran won.

4. This was typical Gandhi pattern, “Explain Gandhian politics in view of this statement.
Gandhi’s politics was grounded to reality unlike other leaders who had firm belief in lofty
ideals. A non-believer of violence, Gandhi wanted to mount a strong challenge against
the ruler in a bloodless way. His first aim was to instill a sense of self-respect among the
Indians so that they could stand on their feet to fight the British. His political principles consisted
of common man’s day to day problems, lessons in self reliance, loyalty to living rather than
abstraction and efforts to make Indians who would liberate India.

5. Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to court was useless?
Answer. When Gandhiji got to know about the plight of the peasant groups in Champaran from
his discussion with the lawyers, he came to the conclusion that the poor peasants were so crushed
and fear-stricken that law courts were useless in their case. Going to courts overburdened the
sharecroppers with heavy litigation expenses. What really needed to be done was to make them
free from fear.

6. How did the Champaran peasants react when they heard that a Mahatma had come to
help them?
Answer. When the Champaran peasants heard that a Mahatma had come to help them, they
assembled in Motihari in large numbers. Thousands of peasants held a demonstration around the
courthouse where Gandhiji was supposed to appear. The crowd was so uncontrollable that the
officials felt powerless, and Gandhiji himself helped the authorities to regulate the crowd.
7. What made the Lieutenant Governor drop the case against Gandhiji?
Answer. When Gandhiji was asked to appear in the court in Motihari, thousands of peasants held
demonstrations around the courthouse. The officials felt helpless and the government was
baffled. The authorities wished to consult their superiors to postpone the trial, as the judge didn’t
want to aggravate the situation. He held up the sentence for several days, after which Gandhiji
was released without bail. All these events made the Lieutenant Governor drop the case against
Gandhiji.

8. Why did Gandhiji oppose when his friend Andrews offered to stay in Champaran and
help the peasants?
Answer. CF Andrews, an English pacifist, was a devoted follower of Gandhiji. The lawyers
thought that being an Englishman, Andrews could be of immense help to them in their cause of
fighting the battle of Champaran. Gandhiji, however,.was against this because he felt that
employing an Englishman’s help showed weakness. Their cause was just, and they had to win
the battle by relying on themselves. This would make them self-reliant.

[Link] did Gandhi agree to the planters’ offer of a 25% refund to the farmers?
Answer. Gandhiji agreed to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers in order to break the
deadlock between the landlords and peasants. For him the amount of the refund was not very
important. The fact that the landlords had been obliged to surrender a part of their money as well
as their prestige gave a moral victory to the farmers. Thus, Gandhiji not only made the landlords
accept their dishonesty but also made the farmers learn a lesson in defending their rights with
courage.

[Link] was Gandhi able to influence the lawyers? Give instances.

Answer. Gandhiji’s sincerity towards the peasants’ cause and convincing arguments and
negotiations, thoroughly influenced the lawyers. He chided them for overcharging the peasants
and encouraged them to court arrest for the peasants’ noble cause. He even rejected their
proposal to seek Mr Andrews help in their battle against the Britishers in order to be self-reliant
and independent.

11. Our scriptures tell us that determination and perseverance are cardinal virtues of a
good human being. Raj Kumar Shukla succeeded in taking Gandhiji to Champaran with
the help of these two.
How can young students today use these two qualities to make successful careers for
themselves?
Answer: Determination is your decision to do something against all odds. Perseverance is to
keep doing something for the time needed to achieve your goal no matter how long or difficult
the path is. No wonder these two qualities should be the ‘mantra’ for young students to make a
successful career for themselves. If there is one quality, one personal trait that is most correlated
with success it is the trait of persistence—the ability to endure till the end. With a little more
perseverance what once seemed a hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. Determination
and perseverance give us hope that the righteous suffer no other failure except that of giving up
and no longer trying.

12. Why did Gandhi tell the court that he was involved in a ‘conflict of duties?
Answer: Gandhi told the court that he was involved in a ‘conflict of duties’, i.e. he must not set a
bad example by breaking the law (by refusing to comply with the eviction order), but he must
also render the humanitarian and national service for which he had come to Champaran.

Long Questions and Answers:

1. Self-reliance, Indian independence, and help to sharecroppers were all bound together
Explain this statement with examples from ‘Indigo’.
In his lengthy stay at Champaran, Gandhi’s political career took a significant drift. Only after
this
protest, Gandhi gathered strength to give the clarion call of Independence.
Champaran incident did not begin as an act of [Link] grew out of an attempt to make the
suffering of a large number of poor peasants less severe. Mahatma concentrated on their practical
day to day [Link] analysed the root cause of the problem which was fear. He took
significant steps to eradicate it. The mass agitation of peasants against the draconian law of the
British was the first significant step to dispel fear.
In everything he did, he tried to mold a new free India who could stand on its own feet. He
taught the lawyer friends a lesson in self-reliance by opposing the involvement of CF Andrews,
an Englishman in their unequal fight. His help would be a prop the highlight the inherent
weakness of the rulers. This tiny spark of revolution would soon turn into a big fire.

2. Mention a turning point in Gandhiji’s life.

Gandhi considered the Champaran episode a turning point in his life. His revolutionary vision
inspired many people. The episode was linked with day to day problems of the poor peasants of
Champaran. They were compelled by the British landlords to grow Indigo in 15% of their total
holdings and took the whole Indigo harvest as rent. When they discovered that synthetic Indigo
had been developed by Germany, they no longer needed the harvest of the peasants. So they
demanded compensation from the poor peasants to release the peasants from the 15% agreement.
When approached by Shukla, Gandhiji helped the poor peasants by protesting and civil
disobedience. At last, he was successful in freeing the peasants from exploitation. It paved
the way for several successive movements in India. It also meant the victory of Civil
Disobedience for the first time in India.

3. What did Gandhiji do to remove the cultural and social backwardness in the
Champaran villages?
Answer:
Gandhiji never contented himself with large political and economic solutions. He saw the
cultural and social backwardness in the villages of Champaran and wanted to do something about
it immediately. So he continued his stay in Champaran even after indigo sharecropping
disappeared. He appealed to two young men, who were teachers and their wives, to engage
volunteers for improving conditions of health and hygiene. Since the health conditions were
miserable in Champaran, Gandhiji got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months. He
noticed the filthy state of women’s clothes and asked his wife, Kasturbai, to talk to them about it.
During his long stay in Champaran Gandhiji also kept a long distance watch on the ashram. In
everything Gandhiji did, he tried to mould a new free India that could stand on its own feet.
Gandhiji was different from other politicians. His politics was concerned with the day to day
problems of the people. His aim was to mould the Indians who could stand on their own feet and
make India free. The purpose of
Gandhiji’s visit to Champaran was to bring justice to the sharecroppers. But after that was
achieved he stayed on to alleviate the sufferings of the people in Champaran. He started schools
and clinics. His friends, wife and sons volunteered to help him. Gandhiji stayed nearly for a year
in Champaran.

4. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for
Independence?

Answer:The Champaran episode was a landmark in the Gandhian style of fighting against the
British. It was a long-drawn out but peaceful agitation. It was also a turning point in Gandhiji’s
life. During this struggle Gandhiji decided to urge the departure of the Britishers. It did not begin
as an act of defiance but it grew out of an attempt to make the sufferings of the poor peasants less
severe. It was the triumph of the first civil disobedience movement. The Champaran episode
taught the farmers to be courageous and made them aware of their rights. It was a spontaneous
demonstration around the courtroom and the beginning of the peasant liberation from the fear of
Britishers. In the Champaran episode, self-reliance and freedom struggle went hand in hand.

5. How did Gandhiji use satyagraha and non-violence at Champaran to achieve his goal?

Answer:Gandhiji reached Champaran with a goal to alleviate the peasants’ sufferings at the
hands of the British landlords. He met the Secretary of the Landlords’ Association and the
Commissioner who told him to leave Champaran. They signed the order but also wrote that
Gandhiji would disobey it and sent a full report to the Viceroy. This was followed by
spontaneous demonstrations by thousands of peasants around the courthouse. The lawyers too
resolved to follow Gandhiji to jail forcing the case against him to be dropped. This was the first
victory of Civil Disobedience. Then an official enquiry into the indigo sharecroppers’ situation
was instituted and the landlords agreed to refund the peasants. The sharecropper accepted the 25
per cent refund. The landlords surrendered a part of the money with a part of their prestige. So
Gandhiji achieved his objective in removing the fear of the poor peasants and getting justice for
them through ‘satyagraha’ and ‘non-violence’.
6. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for
Independence?
Answer: The Champaran episode was one of the major events in the struggle for independence.
It was in the course of this small but significant movement that Gandhiji decided to spur the exit
of the British from India.A close examination of the problem of the Champaran peasants opened
Gandhiji’s eyes to the unjust policies of the British.

He realised that people had to be made free from fear and only then could they be freed from
foreign oppression. The spontaneous demonstration of the people proved that Gandhiji had the
nation’s support in his fight against the Britishers.

The triumph of the civil disobedience at Champaran motivated the launching of the movement
on a large scale during the freedom movement. Gandhiji winning the case of the sharecroppers
proved that British authority could be challenged. Hence, the Champaran episode served as a
stepping stone to the Indian struggle for independence.

7. Give an account of the problems faced by the indigo sharecroppers. What was
Gandhiji’s role in solving the problem?
Answer: Most of the arable land in Champaran was divided into large estates owned by
Englishmen and worked on by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was indigo. The
landlords compelled all the tenants to plant 15% of their holdings with indigo and surrender the
entire indigo harvest as rent.

This was done through a long-term [Link] the landlords learned that Germany had
developed synthetic indigo, they obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them
compensation for being released from the 15% [Link], with the lawyers of
Muzaffarpur, conducted an inquiry into the grievances of the farmers. The investigations,
documentation and evidence collected favored the peasants.

Hence, Gandhiji asked for only 50% of the money as compensation as opposed to the landlord’s
thinking that he might demand the whole amount they had extorted. However, an agreement was
reached at 25% of the money to be compensated to the peasants. Gandhiji accepted the
settlement because he did not want a deadlock between the landlords and the peasants. Thus,
Gandhiji played a very proactive role in resolving the issue.

8. “The visit, undertaken casually on the entreaty of an unlettered peasant in the

expectation that it would last a few days, occupied almost a year of Gandhiji’s life.”
Comment.
Answer: Gandhiji undertook the visit to Champaran on the insistence of Rajkumar Shukla, a
sharecropper peasant. On reaching Muzaffarpur, he obtained complete information about the
conditions prevailing there. He met the lawyers who acquainted him with the situation and the
sharecropping arrangement.
When Gandhiji arrived in Champaran, he found that the grievances of the peasants were really of
a serious nature. He continued with the investigation and documentation about the whole issue,
which was very time consuming. From April to June, Gandhiji worked incessantly.

Finally the Lt Governor constituted a commission of inquiry where Gandhiji agreed to the
compensation of 25% for the farmers. After this Gandhiji took up the work of eradicating
cultural and social backwardness in the villages of Champaran. All these engagements and
commitments took much time and occupied almost a year of Gandhiji’s life.

9. Exploitation is a universal phenomenon. The poor indigo farmers were exploited by the
British landlords to which Gandhiji objected. Even after our independence we find
exploitation of unorganized labor. What values do we learn from Gandhiji’s campaign to
counter the present day problems of exploitation? The weak have always and at all times
been the victims of injustice and exploitation.
Answer:
We see two real examples of exploitation in our books. One is of the indigo sharecroppers at the
hands of the British and the other is of the bangle workers of Firozabad. Numerous such
incidents are also reported in the newspapers. Gandhiji taught us a very wonderful way to
counter the problems of exploitation.

The exploited are fear-stricken’. The real relief comes for them when they get free from fear.
Next is the path of non-violence and civil disobedience. Not bowing to the demands of the
oppressor can do wonders for the exploited. Finally, Gandhiji’s lesson in self-reliance is the
most important to curb the menace of exploitation. Until one is self-reliant, one cannot fight
against injustice.

10. Justify the appropriateness of the title ‘Indigo’ to this extract.

Ans. The title ‘Indigo’ is quite appropriate, to the point and suggestive. It at once focuses our
attention on the central issue-the exploitation of the indigo sharecropper peasants at the hands of
cruel British planters. They compelled them through a long term agreement to raise indigo on 15
percent of their landholding and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent.

After the development of synthetic indigo by Germany, the British planters extracted money
from the peasants as compensation for being released from the 15 percent agreement. The
peasants who wanted their money back had filed civil suits. The planters who behaved as lords
above the law and were dreaded by the poor were obliged to surrender part of money and with it
part of their prestige.

The extract also points out the work done by Gandhi and his associates to improve the economic,
political, cultural and social fief of the indigo sharecroppers. Their education, health and hygiene
also received due attention. The plight of indigo sharecroppers, then- struggle under Gandhi’s
leadership and ultimate victory when Indigo sharecropping disappeared from important
landmarks. Thus, the title ‘Indigo’ is highly suggestive and apt.