Champaran Satyagraha 1917, Leaders, Significance, UPSC Notes

During the British colonial period, the Champaran Satyagrahaof 1917 was the first Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi in India, and it is regarded as a historically significant revolt in the Indian Independence Movement. The tenant farmers of Champaran district of Bihar were forced by the British planters to cultivate indigo in the 3/20th part of a bigha of their holding; this was known as the ‘Teen Kathia’ system. It led to the convergence of peasant unrest with the Indian National Movement. 

Champaran Satyagraha Background

Champaran is a district in Bihar’s northwestern region. Champaran had been growing indigo since the late 18th century. By 1850, indigo had surpassed sugar as the most important crop grown in Champaran.

• The tinkathia system was the dominant system of Indigo cultivation in Champaran by European planters. In this case, the ryot was required to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of his landholding.
• Furthermore, after 1900, the indigo factories in Bihar began to decline due to competition from European synthetic indigo. To avoid losses, the planters began cancelling their indigo-growing contracts with the ryots.
• They charged a tawan, i.e., damages of up to Rs. 100 per bigha, to release them from this obligation. If the ryots were unable to make a cash payment, handnotes and mortgage bonds were issued at a 12 per cent annual interest rate.

Tinkathia System

Tinkathia was the most prevalent system in Champaran. According to it, the factory owners convinced the tenant to grow indigo in a specific area of his holding for which a fixed price was paid. During 1860, the portion reserved for indigo used to be 5 Kathas per bigha or one-fourth of the tenant’s holding. Later, around 1867, this area was reduced from 5 Kathas to 3 Kathas per bigha. Since then, the system came to be known as Tinkathia.

• When the factories were being established for the first time, their owners had no permanent interest in land. They used to take short-term leases from the Bettiah Raj (the second-largest zamindari in the Bettiah region of Bihar).
• The factory owners would try to deceive the Bettiah Raj by renting land at a low price, and then they would have the tenants grow indigo for them to earn a profit.
• They used to make large profits from indigo, and the only losers were the tenants.
• After some time, agreements used to be that the tenant would grow indigo on 3 Kathas per bigha of his holding for a number of years, and the holding that would be reserved for indigo would be selected by the factory.
• If the crops were good, a fixed price per bigha would be paid to the tenant. But if the crop was not bumper, then the tenant would get only a reduced price. If the tenant failed to grow indigo, he was liable to pay a heavy sum by way of damages for his breach.

Champaran Satyagraha 1917 Reasons

In Bihar, as in Bengal, there was widespread dissatisfaction among the ryots regarding indigo cultivation because of the tinkathia system. 

• The primary reason for this dissatisfaction was the low crop remuneration they received. They were also subjected to harassment and oppression at the hands of factory workers.
• All of this resulted in two protests against indigo cultivation in Champaran. First, in 1867, the tenants of the Lalsariya factory refused to cultivate indigo.
• Because the redressal of grievances was insufficient, a second demonstration erupted in 1907-08, resulting in unrest and violence in Sathi and Bettiah against the tinkathia system.
• Planters also insisted that in the best cultivable lands, indigo should be cultivated so that the production of the crop is more. The price paid to the ryots was fixed based on the area of land, not on the volume of crop production.
  • This was the reason for pressurising the cultivators to cultivate indigo in good lands to get a maximum crop.
• The cultivators also faced other forms of economic and social exploitation, which made them agitated against the existing planter raj.

Intervention of Mahatma Gandhi in Champaran

The local Congress leaders Brajkishore Prasad and Raj Kumar Shukla first met Mahatma Gandhi at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in 1916 and were invited to have first-hand experience of the plight of Champaran peasants.. Gandhi initially appeared unimpressed by both of them and stated unequivocally that he would not act unless he saw the situation for himself. He further asked them to pass the resolution without him. Brajkishore Prasad introduced a resolution in Congress regarding the plight of peasants in Champaran. The resolution was passed unanimously.

• Gandhi first arrived in Muzaffarpur. Being aware of the situation, he immediately wrote to the Commissioner of the Tirhut Division, informing him that he wanted to work with the government’s knowledge and cooperation.
• During the meeting, Gandhi stated that he wanted to inquire about the state of indigo cultivation in Champaran and the tenants’ grievances associated with it due to public demand.
• Despite the clarification, British officials remained suspicious of Gandhi’s intentions. They suspected his motivation was agitation, which would most likely disrupt public order.
  • As a result, it was decided that he should be served with a notice to leave the district as soon as he arrived in Champaran, in accordance with Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
• On April 15, 1917, Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Champaran for the first time and wrote to the Magistrate that he would not leave Champaran and was willing to pay the penalty for disobedience.
• Gandhi was also charged and summoned for a trial on the 18th of April. He didn’t offer any defence but declared his willingness to go to jail.
• Gandhiji’s stance baffled the officials, which led to the postponement of the sentence. In the meantime, the Lieutenant Governor, on the grounds of insufficient evidence against Gandhi, ordered the local administration to withdraw the case. Moreover, he also gave Gandhi permission to conduct the inquiry.

Gandhi in Action

Gandhiji continued his investigation after receiving permission from the Lieutenant Governor, first in Motihari and then in Bettiah. Throughout the investigation, he was assisted by personalities like Rajendra Prasad, Brajkishore Prasad, Mazharul Haq, J.B. Kriplani, Ramnavami Prasad, and others. Thousands of ryots from various villages came to express their dissatisfaction with the indigo cultivation system.

• However, the Bihar Planters’ Association vehemently opposed the inquiry, claiming that it presented a skewed picture and could incite ryots’ aggression against them.
  • Furthermore, some European officials were concerned about the situation, believing that Gandhi’s inquiry would turn into an anti-European movement.
• As the opposition grew, the Government intervened in the matter and Gandhi was directed to send a preliminary report on the investigation’s findings. Gandhi submitted the report on 13 May.

British Reaction to Champaran Satyagraha

The Lieutenant Governor in Council decided to appoint a Committee of Inquiry to investigate and report on Champaran’s agrarian conditions. Gandhiji was chosen as one of its members.

• On October 4, 1917, the Committee submitted its report to the Government, making the following recommendations:
  • The Tinkathia system should be abolished.
  • The ryots who paid Tawan to the factories would receive one-fourth of it back.
  • The realisation of abwab (illegal cesses) should be stopped.
  • If someone enters into an agreement to grow indigo, it should be voluntary; the term should not be longer than three years, and the decision to select the field where indigo will be grown should be made by the ryots.
• Almost all of the Inquiry Committee’s recommendations were accepted by the Government, and the Champaran Agrarian Act in 1918 was passed. 
• Thus, the tinkathia system, which had been in place for about a century, was abolished.

Champaran Satyagraha Significance

Champaran was a revelation in the history of Indian independence. It brought about a hitherto unheard-of methodology of taking on imperial oppression with a force more powerful than all the physical might put together. Gandhi called it Satyagraha.

• First Civil Disobedience Movement: It was the first peasant movement to garner nationwide attention and, in many ways, propelled India’s masses to join the liberation struggle against the British colonisers. Champaran’s outcome redefined the concept of and approach to political freedom, adding a vibrant twist to the entire British-Indian equation.
• Entry of Mahatma Gandhi in the Freedom Struggle: Champaran Satyagraha was the movement responsible for putting Gandhi on the front seat of the Indian nationalist movement and making satyagraha a powerful tool of civilian resistance. It is touted as the first crucial move towards the birth of Mahatma Gandhi’s political experiment of passive and non-violent resistance. 
• Evolution of mass-based movements: There have been peasant movements before and after the Champaran movement of 1917, but what makes Champaran satyagraha significant is the fact that it was the first time that bridges had been built between the peasants and the other sections, especially the middle-class intelligentsia.
  • Also, while the final resolution addressed the peasants’ grievances only partially, the idea that the mighty Britishers could be forced to bend caught the imagination of the thousands of Indians fighting for freedom.
• Champaran Satyagraha yoked peasant unrest to the freedom struggle: After Champaran, Gandhi’s localised movements in Ahmedabad (for mill workers) and Kheda (where he supported distressed peasants) served as training grounds for the massive nationwide protests that followed the watershed year of 1919, all of which eventually contributed to India’s liberation from the ignominious British rule.