->Bingobro at 08:35, 9 January 2022

2022-01-09T08:35:50Z

New page

{{short description|First civil resistance movement led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in India in 1918}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Champaran Satyagraha
| image = Dr Rajendra Pd. DR.Anugrah Narayan Sinha.jpg
| caption = (Sitting left to right) [[Rajendra Prasad]] and [[Anugrah Narayan Sinha]] with (standing left to right) local [[Wakil|vakils]] (lawyers) Ramnavmi Prasad and Shambhu Sharan Verma during [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s 1916 Champaran movement
| time =
| duration =
| date = 10 April 1917 ― May, 1917
| venue =
| location = [[Champaran]] district of [[Bihar]], [[India]]
|
| organisers = [[Mahatma Gandhi]], [[Brajkishore Prasad]], [[Rajendra Prasad]], [[Anugrah Narayan Sinha]] Ramnavmi Prasad, Mazhar-ul-Haq and others including [[J. B. Kripalani]] & Babu Gaya Prasad Singh.
| filmed_by =
| participants =
| outcome =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| casualties3 =
| reported deaths =
| reported injuries =
| reported missing =
| reported property damage =
| burial =
| inquiries =
| inquest =
| coroner =
| arrests =
| suspects =
| accused =
| convicted =
| charges =
| trial =
| verdict =
| convictions =
| sentence =
| publication_bans =
| litigation =
| awards =
| url =
| blank_label = 
| blank1_label = 
| blank2_label = 
| website = 
| notes =
}}

The '''Champaran Satyagraha''' of 1917 was the first [[satyagraha]] movement led by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in [[British Raj|British India]] and is considered a historically important rebellion in the [[Indian independence movement]]. It was a farmer's uprising that took place in [[Champaran]] district of [[Bihar and Orissa Province|Bihar]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]], during the [[British Raj|British colonial period]]. The farmers were protesting against having to grow [[Indigofera tinctoria|indigo]] with barely any payment for it.<ref name="experiments">{{cite book |last1=Gandhi |first1=Mohandas Karamchand |title=My experiments with truth |date=1 February 1931 |publisher=Sarvodaya |location=Ahmedabad }}</ref>

When Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915 and saw peasants in [[Northern India]] oppressed by [[Indigo]] planters, he tried to use the same methods that he had used in South Africa to organise mass uprisings by people to protest against injustice.

Champaran Satyagraha was the first popular satyagraha movement. The Champaran Satyagraha gave direction to India's youth and [[Indian freedom movement|freedom struggle]], which was tottering between [[Early Nationalists|moderates]] who prescribed Indian participation within the British colonial system, and the [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|extremists]] from Bengal who advocated the use of violent methods to topple British colonial rule in India.<ref name="Nehru">{{cite book |last1=Nehru |first1=Jawaharlal |title=An Autobiography |date=1 June 1937 |publisher=Bodley Head |location=London |edition=1 }}</ref>

Under colonial-era laws, many tenant farmers were forced to grow some indigo on a portion of their land as a condition of their tenancy. This indigo was used to make [[Indigo dye|dye]]. The Germans had invented a cheaper artificial dye so the demand for indigo fell. Some tenants paid more rent in return for being let off having to grow indigo. However, during the First World War the German dye ceased to be available and so indigo became profitable again. Thus many tenants were once again forced to grow it on a portion of their land- as was required by their lease. Naturally, this created much anger and resentment.<ref name="aicc">{{cite web
| url=http://www.aicc.org.in/satyagraha_laboratories_of_mahatma_gandhi.htm
| title=SATYAGRAHA MOVEMENT OF MAHATMA GANDHI
|author=aicc
| publisher=aicc
| access-date=8 December 2006
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061206050856/http://www.aicc.org.in/satyagraha_laboratories_of_mahatma_gandhi.htm  |archive-date = 6 December 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aicc.org.in/satyagraha_laboratories_of_mahatma_gandhi.htm|title=:: Indian national congress - History|date=2008-06-25|access-date=2017-08-04|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625022557/http://www.aicc.org.in/satyagraha_laboratories_of_mahatma_gandhi.htm|archive-date=25 June 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Background ==
''Neel'' (Indigo) started being grown commercially in [[Bihar and Orissa Province|Bihar]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] and [[Bengal Presidency]] in 1750. Being a [[cash crop]] which needed high amounts of water and usually left the soil infertile, local farmers usually opposed its cultivation, instead preferring to grow daily need crops such as rice and pulses. Hence, the [[East India Company]] issued policies designed to pressure farmers into to growing indigo, often by making this the condition for providing loans, and through collusion with local kings, nawabs, and landlords. The trade was lucrative and led to the fortunes of several Indian and European merchants and trading companies, including [[History of Jardine Matheson & Co.|Jardine Matheson]], [[Currimbhoy Ebrahim|E. Pabaney]], [[David Sassoon (treasurer)|Sassoon]], [[Wadia family|Wadias]] and [[Swire]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Farin |first1=Hunt |title=The India-China opium trade in the nineteenth century |date=1 January 1999 |publisher=Jefferson |location=North Carolina |edition=1 }}</ref>

As the Indian indigo trade to [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] was made illegal in the early 1900s and was restricted in the [[United States]] in 1910, indigo traders began to put pressure on farmers to increase production. Many tenants alleged that Landlords had used strong-arm tactics to exact illegal cesses and to extort them in other ways.
This issue had been highlighted by a number of lawyers/politicians and there had also been a Commission of Inquiry. [[Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi]] and Peer Muneesh published the condition of Champaran in their publications because of which they lost their jobs.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Farooqi |first1=Amar |title=Opium city: the making of early Victorian Bombay |date=1 December 2016 |publisher=Three essays |location=Mumbai |url=http://threeessays.com/books/opium-city/ |access-date=30 October 2018}}</ref>
[[Raj Kumar Shukla]] and Sant Raut, a moneylender who owned some land, persuaded [[Gandhi]] to go to [[Champaran]] and thus, the Champaran Satyagraha began. Gandhi arrived in Champaran, on 10 April 1917 and stayed at the house of Sant Raut in Amolwa village with a team of eminent lawyers: [[Brajkishore Prasad]], [[Rajendra Prasad]], Maulana Mazharul Haque, [[Anugrah Narayan Sinha]], Babu Gaya Prasad Singh, Ramnavmi Prasad, and others including [[J. B. Kripalani]].<ref>{{cite book
| first = Judith Margaret
| last = Brown
| author-link = Judith M. Brown
| title = Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics 1915-1922
| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] Archive
| location = New Delhi
| year = 1972
| isbn = 978-0-521-09873-1
| pages = 384
}}</ref>

Gandhi established the first-ever basic school at Barharwa Lakhansen village, 30 km east from the district headquarters at [[Dhaka, East Champaran]], on 13 November 1917, organising scores of his veteran supporters and fresh volunteers from the region.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1110131/jsp/bihar/story_13507624.jsp|title=The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) {{!}} Bihar {{!}} Gandhi heritage cries for upkeep|website=www.telegraphindia.com|access-date=2017-08-04}}</ref> His handpicked team of eminent lawyers comprising<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJeKBAAAQBAJ&q=champaran+anugrah+narayan&pg=PA158|title=Modern India 1886-1947|first=Sumit|last=Sarkar|date=1 January 2019|publisher=Pearson Education India|via=Google Books|isbn=9789332540859}}</ref> Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha & Babu Brajkishore Prasad organised a detailed study and survey of the villages, accounting the atrocities and terrible episodes of suffering, including the general state of degenerate living.

His main assault came as he was arrested by police on 16 April, on the charge of creating unrest and was ordered to leave the province. When asked by magistrate George Chander at Motihari district court on 18 April, to pay a security of Rs. 100, Gandhi humbly refused to be constrained by the diktat. Hundreds of thousands of people protested and rallied outside the court demanding his release, which the court unwillingly did. The case was subsequently withdrawn by the British Government. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.timesofindia.com/city/patna/when-mahatma-gandhi-arrived-in-bihar/articleshow/71289185.cms|title=When Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Bihar | Patna News - Times of India}}</ref>

Gandhi led organised protests and strike against the landlords, who with the guidance of the British government, signed an agreement granting more compensation and control over farming for the poor farmers of the region, and cancellation of revenue hikes and collection until the famine ended. It was during this agitation, that first time Gandhi was called "Bapu" (Father) by Sant Raut and "Mahatma" (Great Soul). Gandhi himself did not like being addressed as "Mahatma", preferring to be called Bapu. <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/archives/the-champaran-bill-planters-opposition/article22800196.ece|title = The Champaran Bill: Planters' Opposition|newspaper = The Hindu|date = 20 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/work-on-to-revive-gandhian-thought/220671.html|title = Work on to revive Gandhian thought}}</ref><ref>http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/oped/when-gandhi-became-mahatma.html</ref>

Champaran movement concluded with the introduction of 'Champaran Agrarian Bill' by W. Maude, Member of Executive Council, Government of Bihar and Orissa, "consisting of almost all recommendations Gandhi Mission had made and it became the Champaran Agrarian Law (1918: Bihar and Orissa Act I)." This was for the first time that civil disobedience in India made the British adjust their "solipsistic attitude".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/champaran-satyagraha-india-first-civil-disobedience-movement-1529493459-1|title = Champaran Satyagraha- India's First Civil Disobedience Movement|date = December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://countercurrents.org/2019/10/why-is-mahatmas-champaran-satyagraha-still-relevant/|title = Why is Mahatma's Champaran Satyagraha Still Relevant?| Countercurrents}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indianculture.gov.in/select-documents-mahatma-gandhis-movement-champaran-no-218|title = Select Documents on Mahatma Gandhi's Movement in Champaran, No. 218}}</ref> While the British Government had crushed the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], Satyagraha with its nonviolent communication confused the colonial government into believing that it would be unsuccessful. One of Gandhi's biographers, David Arnold, writes that Gandhi "confused, angered and divided the British in almost equal measure"; the British thus were "unsure whether he was, in their terms, a loyalist or a rebel." It was Gandhi's "moral superiority" that played a crucial role in the success of satyagraha and Gandhi's final mission of India's independence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.hindustantimes.com/india-news/the-man-who-dismantled-the-empire/story-eog6S7LWuLRVLMDmMakMUP.html|title = The man who dismantled the empire|date = 18 September 2019}}</ref>

{{Quote
|text=The [[Tinkathia System]] which had been in existence for about a century was thus abolished and with it the planters’ raj came to an end. The riots, who had all along remained crushed, now somewhat came to their own, and the superstition that the stain of indigo could never be washed out was exploded.
|author= M K Gandhi <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianculture.gov.in/stories/gandhis-satyagraha-champaran|title = Gandhi's Satyagraha in Champaran}}</ref>
}}

Building on confidence of villagers, Gandhi began leading the clean-up of villages, building of schools and hospitals and encouraging the village leaders to undo ''purdah'', untouchability and the suppression of women. Gandhi set up two more basic schools at Bhitiharwa with the help of Sant Raut in West Champaran and Madhuban in this district.

==Centenary celebrations==
The series of celebration began on 10 April 2017 with a National Conclave (''Rashtritya Vimarsh'') where eminent Gandhian thinkers, philosophers, and scholars participated. The event was organised by [[Ministry of Education (India)|Education Department]] and Directorate of Mass Education being the nodal office.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://zeenews.india.com/bihar/year-long-celebrations-to-mark-champaran-satyagrahas-100th-year-begin-in-bihar-1994839.html|title=Year-long celebrations to mark Champaran Satyagraha's 100th year begin in Bihar|date=2017-04-10|work=Zee News|access-date=2017-08-04|language=en}}</ref> On 13 May 2017, Indian Postal Department Issued three commemorative postage stamps and a miniature sheet on Champaran Satyagraha Centenary.<ref name=it>{{cite news|title=Haunted by memories|access-date=5 January 2017|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/chauri-chaura-village-that-became-metaphor-for-gandhism-gets-entangled-in-criminal-violence/1/205175.html|newspaper=India Today newspaper|date=20 October 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jain, Manik|year=2018| title= Phila India Guide Book| publisher= Philatelia| pages=325}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://postagestamps.gov.in/Stampofyear.aspx?uid=2017|title=Stamps 2017|website=India Postage Stamps}}</ref>

[[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Narendra Modi]] on 10 April 2018 attended the concluding ceremony of the Champaran Satyagraha's centenary celebrations at Motihari in Champaran district of Bihar. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/modi-to-attend-champaran-satyagraha-celebrations-in-bihar-1208701-2018-04-10|title=Modi to attend Champaran Satyagraha celebrations in Bihar}}</ref> PM Modi's key initiatives, including [[Swachh Bharat Mission]] attempt to re-interpret the theme of Champaran Satyagraha as Swachhagraha, thus to "re-emphasise the spirit of cleanliness – or Swachhta – which was close to Mahatma Gandhi’s heart.

==See also==
*[[Indigo revolt]]
*[[Kheda Satyagraha of 1918]]
* [[Non-co-operation movement]]
* [[Indian Independence Movement]], [[Indian Nationalism]]
* ''[[The Story of My Experiments with Truth|My Autobiography or The Story Of My Experiments With Truth]]'' (1929) by [[M.K. Gandhi]]
* [[Mohandas Gandhi]]
* [[Gandhism]]
* [[Satyagraha]]
* [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]]
* [[West Champaran district]]
* [[East Champaran district]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/kheda-satyagraha Kheda Satyagraha Timeline]
* [http://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/champaran-satyagraha Champaran Satyagraha Timeline]

==Further reading==
* ''Gandhi's first step: Champaran movement'', by [[Shankar Dayal Singh]]. B.R. Pub. Corp., 1994. {{ISBN|81-7018-834-2}}.
{{Refbegin}}
*''Peasant Nationalists of Gujarat : Kheda District, 1917-1934'' by David Hardiman
*''Patel: A Life'' by [[Rajmohan Gandhi]]
* See [[wikilivres:Day to Day with Gandhi/Volume 1|Day to Day with Gandhi (volume 1)]], some original documents about the Kheda Satyagraha.
* [http://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/fundamental_workdetail/NDQtMzg=#page/1/mode/2up Satyagraha in Champaran]
{{Refend}}

{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Gandhi}}
{{Tax resistance}}

[[Category:Indian independence movement in Bihar]]
[[Category:Gandhism]]
[[Category:East Champaran district]]

Champaran Satyagraha - Revision history

->Bingobro at 08:35, 9 January 2022