INDIGO NOTES:-

Indigo – Summary

Author: Louis Fischer

Book: The Life of Mahatma Gandhi
Genre: Biographical non-fiction

The chapter Indigo by Louis Fischer recounts Mahatma Gandhi’s pivotal role in the Champaran
movement of 1917, which marked a significant turning point in India’s struggle for independence. It
portrays how Gandhi's involvement in the lives of poor indigo farmers in Bihar evolved into a broader
campaign against injustice and colonial exploitation, laying the foundation for his method
of Satyagraha (non-violent resistance).

The story begins when Rajkumar Shukla, a poor but determined farmer from Champaran, approaches
Gandhi to seek help against the British planters’ oppressive system. Under this system, tenants were
forced to grow indigo on 15% of their land and surrender the entire harvest as rent. Even after
synthetic indigo had replaced natural indigo, British landlords extracted money from the peasants
through fraudulent agreements.

Shukla’s persistence compels Gandhi to visit Champaran. Upon his arrival, Gandhi is served a notice to
leave the district, but he refuses to obey, thereby setting the stage for his first civil disobedience in
India. His trial gathers enormous public support. Surprisingly, the authorities drop the case,
acknowledging the strength of moral courage and public solidarity.

Gandhi then conducts a thorough inquiry into the grievances of thousands of peasants. He collects
testimonies and, with legal and administrative support, pressures the British landlords into refunding
money. Though the final refund was just 25% of the amount, Gandhi considered it a symbolic victory,
as the landlords had to concede their wrongdoing and submit to negotiation with the peasants.

However, Gandhi’s impact extended far beyond the indigo dispute. He worked to improve sanitation,
education, and social conditions in the villages. His refusal to involve lawyers or use violence made the
people self-reliant and confident in their own agency. He believed that true freedom begins with the
ability to stand up for one’s rights in a peaceful and organised manner.

The Champaran episode demonstrated Gandhi’s philosophy in action. It marked the first time he
challenged British rule on Indian soil, using truth and non-violence as political tools. It also reflected
his deep empathy for the rural poor and his commitment to social reform.
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Ultimately, Indigo is not just a story of peasant struggle—it is the story of the awakening of a nation’s
conscience and the rise of Gandhi as a mass leader rooted in humility, service, and moral courage.

[Link] is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?

Rajkumar Shukla is described as being ‘resolute’ because even after being told about the prior
engagements of Gandhi at Cawnpore and other parts across the country, he does not quit. He
continues to accompany Gandhi everywhere. Furthermore, he persistently asks Gandhi to fix a date
for his visit to his native district of Champaran. His resolution and determination finally impresses
Gandhi and the latter complies with his request.

2. Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?

Gandhi was a simple and humble man dressed in a plain ‘dhoti’ (loincloth). To the servants, he must
have looked like just another poor farmer in this country. Moreover, he was accompanied by
Rajkumar Shukla whom they knew to be a poor indigo sharecropper. Thus, when the servants saw
both of them together, they mistook Gandhi to be another peasant. Gandhiji’s modesty and
unassertiveness also led to the assumption that he was a peasant.

3. List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at
Champaran.?
Gandhi first met Shukla at Lucknow. Then he was in Cawnpore and other parts of India. He returned to
his ashram near Ahmedabad. Later he visited Calcutta, Patna and Muzaffarpur before arriving at
Champaran.

4. What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British now want instead and
why?
The peasants used to pay indigo as rent to the British landlords. Germany had now developed
synthetic indigo. So the British landlords wanted money as compensation for being released from the
natural arrangement.

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.

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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 a
demonstration around the courthouse. The officials felt helpless and the government was baffled. The
trial was postponed, 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 enlisting 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.

9. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life?
Answer. The Champaran episode began as an attempt to alleviate the distress of poor peasants.
Ultimately it proved to be a turning point in Gandhiji’s life because it was a loud proclamation that
made the British realise that Gandhiji could not be ordered about in his own country. It infused
courage in the masses to question the British authority and laid the foundation of non-cooperation as
a new tool to fight the British tooth and nail.

10. What did the peasants pay to the British landlords as rent?
Answer. The British landlords had entered into a long-term contract with the farmers according to
which they compelled all tenants to plant 15% of their holdings with indigo. The sharecroppers had to
surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent.

[Link] did Gandhiji decide to go to Muzaffarpur before going to Champaran?

Answer. Rajkumar Shukla had given quite a lot of information to Gandhiji about the indigo
sharecroppers of Champaran. However, Gandhiji wished to obtain more complete information about
the conditions than Shukla had imparted. He visited Muzaffarpur, which was en route to Champaran,
to inquire from the lawyers there about the issue, as they frequently represented the peasant groups
in the court.

12. “The battle of Champaran is won!.” What led Gandhiji to make this remark?
Answer. The lawyers first decided to return home if Gandhiji was arrested. But they soon realised
their mistake. When they declared that they would fight for the peasants’ cause in the event of
Gandhiji’s arrest and volunteered to court arrest for the cause of the sharecroppers, Gandhiji was very
pleased and exclaimed, “The battle of Champaran is won!.”

[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

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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.

15. How 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.

Long Answer Type Questions (5 Marks, 120-150 Words)

Question.1. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for
independence? (All India 2014 Modified)
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 urge the departure of the
British from India. A close examination of the problems 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. It also aroused patriotism in
the heart of the [Link] triumph of the civil disobedience at Champaran motivated the launching
of the movement on a large scale during the freedom movement. Gandhiji’s 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.

Question.2. Gandhiji’s loyalty was not a loyalty to abstractions; it was a loyalty to living human
beings. Why did Gandhiji continue his stay in Champaran even after indigo sharecropping
disappeared?
Answer. After the Champaran battle was won and the land reverted to the peasants, Gandhiji
continued to stay on in the region. His loyalty was, indeed, to living human beings and he realised that
a lot needed to be done for the upliftment of the peasants in the villages of Champaran. Gandhiji took
the initiative and began the work of eradicating their cultural and social backwardness. Primary
schools were started so that the poor peasants and their children could be educated. Gandhiji
appealed to teachers, and many of his disciples, including his wife and son, volunteered for the work.
Health conditions in the area were also miserable. Gandhiji got a doctor to volunteer his services for
six months. All this-goes to prove that Gandhiji’s loyalty was not to abstractions, but his politics was
always intertwined with the practical day to day problems of the millions.

[Link] how, according to Louis Fischer, Gandhiji succeeded in his Champaran

campaign.
Answer. The Champaran campaign was an attempt to free the poor peasants of Champaran from
injustice and exploitation at the hands of the Britishers. Gandhiji succeeded in this campaign using his
method of satyagraha and non-violence. He visited Muzaffarpur to obtain complete information about
the actual condition of the sharecroppers. He first appealed to the concerned authorities, but when

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there was no positive response, he organised a mass civil , disobedience movement with the support
of the peasants. Gandhiji’s main objective was to remove the fear of the British landlords from the
heart of the poor peasants and mould a new free Indian, who could participate in the freedom
movement of the country. He made the peasants aware of their rights and gave them a new-found
confidence for fighting their own battles. He also taught them to be self-reliant by refusing to take the
help of CF Andrews, his English friend.

Question.4. Why did Gandhiji agree to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers? How did it
influence the peasant-landlord relationship in Champaran?
Answer. Under an ancient arrangement, the peasants of Champaran were sharecroppers. The
landlords forced the Indian tenants to plant 15% of their holding with indigo and surrender the entire
indigo harvest as rent. After Germany developed synthetic indigo, the landlords wanted to dissolve the
agreement, as synthetic indigo would be cheaper. They asked the peasants for compensation to
release them from this arrangement. Most of them signed it willingly, but felt cheated after they
learned about synthetic indigo. Gandhiji fought their case and the evidence that he collected was so
overwhelming that the landlords were asked to repay. When Gandhiji asked for 50% repayment, the
landlords offered to pay only 25%, as they wanted to create a deadlock, and thus prolong the dispute.
To everybody surprise, Gandhiji agreed to a refund of only 25%. Gandhiji explained that the amount of
refund was not important. What mattered was that the landlords were obliged to surrender a part of
their moneyand with it, part of their prestige.

Question.5. Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers
of Champaran.
Answer. In the course of his journey to Champaran with Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhiji stayed at
Muzaffarpur where he met the lawyers and concluded that fighting through courts was not going to
solve the problem of the poor sharecroppers of Champaran. He declared that the real relief for them
was to be free from fear. With this intention, he arrived in Champaran and contacted the Secretary of
the British Landlord’s association. The Secretary refused to provide him any information. After this,
Gandhiji met the Commissioner of the Tirhut division who served a notice on him to immediately leave
Tirhut. Gandhiji accepted the notice by signing it and wrote on it that he would not obey the order. He
was even willing to court arrest for the cause of the peasants.
After four rounds of talks with-the Governor, an official commission of inquiry was appointed in which
Gandhiji was made the sole representative of the peasants. Through this commission Gandhiji
succeeded in getting 25% of the compensation award for the poor sharecroppers from the British
landowners.

Question.6. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhiji’s life. Elucidate.
Answer. Gandhiji himself accepted the proposition that the Champaran episode was a turning point in
his life. It was then that he decided to urge the departure of the British from India. In fact the
Champaran episode was the first experiment of civil disobedience in India. When Gandhiji was on his
way to Champaran, he stayed in Muzaffarpur, where he met the lawyers who were fighting cases for
the sharecroppers. The peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken . that
Gandhiji concluded that law courts were useless. The real relief for them was to be free from fear. The
spontaneous demonstration by the peasants showed that they were instilled with a new strength and

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spirit. Gandhiji showed the poor peasants how to fight the British with ‘satyagraha’. He made them
aware of their power and the power of ahimsa. All this laid the foundation of his future movements
and served as a great source of strength and motivation for all Indians.

Question.7. “Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for the poor.” Do you think that
the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
Answer
1. In the story, Gandhi makes it possible for the sharecroppers of Champaran to shed their fear of the
British landlords. According to Gandhi, freedom from fear is the first step towards self- reliance.
However, it is unfortunate that the poor of the country are not free from fear, even decades after
independence. Their actions, work, etc. are still under pressure; they are under the mercy of the
bureaucratic system. Furthermore, the poor live in a continual fear of the police, who instead of taking
care, often end up maltreating them. The already poor farmers are becoming poorer, because of
globalisation and the craze for foreign products. This leaves them in fear of further destitution.

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