INDIGO

POINTS TO REMEMBER:
-Rajkumar Shukla- A poor sharecrooper from Champaran wishing to meet Gandhiji.
-  Raj Kumar Shukla- an illiterate but resolute hence followed Gandhiji Lucknow, Cawnpore,
Ahemdabad, Calcutta, Patna, Muzzafarpur & then Champaran.
-   Servants at Rajendra Prasad’s residence thought Gandhiji to be an untouchable.
-  Gandhiji considered as an untouchable because of simple living style and wearing, due to the
company of Rajkumar Shukla.
-   Decided to go to Muzzafarpur first to get detailed information about Champaran sharecropper.
-   Sent telegram to J B Kriplani &stayed in Prof Malkani home- a government servant.
-  Indians afraid to show sympathy to the supporters of home rule.
-    The news of Gandhiji’s arrival spread- sharecroppers gathered in large number to meet their
champion.
-   Gandhiji chided the Muzzafarpur lawyer for taking high fee.
-   Champaran district was divided into estate owned by English people, Indians only tenant farmers.
-   Landlords compelled tenants to plant 15% of their land with indigo and surrender their entire
harvest as rent.
-   In the meantime Germany had developed synthetic indigo –British landlords freed the Indian
farmers from the 15% arrangement but asked them to pay compensation.
-   Many signed, some resisted engaged lawyers, and landlords hired thugs.
-    Gandhiji reached Champaran- visited the secretary of the British landlord association to get the
facts but denied as he was an outsider.
-    Gandhiji went to the British Official Commissioner who asked him to leave Trihut, Gandhiji
disobeyed, went to Motihari the capital of Champaran where a vast multitude greeted him,
continued his investigations.
-   Visited maltreated villagers, stopped by the police superintendent but disobeyed the order.
-    Motihari black with peasants spontaneous demonstrations,    Gandhiji released without bail Civil
Disobedience triumphed.
-   Gandhiji agreed to 25% refund by the landowners, it symbolized the surrender of the prestige.
-   Gandhiji worked hard towards social economic reforms, elevated their distress aided by his wife,
Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh.
-    Gandhiji taught a lesson of self reliance by not seeking help of an English man Mr. Andrews.

NCERT QUESTION
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1 Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?

Ans. Rajkumar Shukla ,an illiterate sharecropper, came all the way from Champaran district to
Lucknow to invite Gandhi to visit his district. When Gandhi mentioned about his prior
engagements to go to Cawnpore and other parts of India, Shukla accompanied him everywhere.
He also followed Gandhi to his ashram and stayed there for weeks till Gandhi asked him to meet
him at Calcutta. Because of his strong will power and determination, he is described as being
‘resolute’.

Q2.Why do you think the servants thought Gandhiji to be another peasant?

Ans. As Gandhi was in the company of Rajkumar Shukla ,a poor yeoman ,the servants at
Rajendra Prasad’s house assumed that he was another peasant. Moreover ,Gandhi’s emaciated
looks and simplicity could have led to his mistaken identity.

Q3.List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at
Champaran.
Ans. Between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran ,Gandhi visited
Cawnpur ,Calcutta ,Patna and Muzaffarpur.

Q4.What did the peasants pay to the British landlords as rent? What did the British now want
instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on the prices of natural indigo?
Ans. The British landlords compelled the peasants to plant 15% of the land with indigo and to
surrender the entire harvest as rent. Now that Germany had developed synthetic indigo
,Britishers wanted the tenants to pay them compensation for being released from 15% agreement.
As the demand of the natural indigo would reduce due to the advent of synthetic indigo, its price
would go down.

Q5.Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 percent refund to the farmers?

Gandhi agreed to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers to break the deadlock between the
landlords and the tenants. For Gandhi the amount of the refund was less important than the fact
that the landlords had been forced to return part of the money and with it, part of the peasants’
prestige. He wanted to establish that the landlords were not lords above law and their rule could
be challenged.

Q6.How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?

The Champaran episode made the peasants aware of their rights and taught them courage. Apart
from getting 25 percent of their compensation they got back their prestige. Within few years ,the
British planters abandoned their estates , which reverted to the peasants. Indigo sharecropping
disappeared.

Q 7 How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances

Gandhi was able to influence the lawyers through his conviction, earnestness and pertinent
questioning. Gandhi reproached the lawyers of Muzzafarpur for charging a large sum of money
as fee from the peasants. Later, the lawyers from Bihar opined that they would return to their
own places in the event of his imprisonment. But, Gandhi made them realise that it would be
impudent for them, being lawyers from a neighbouring place, to return when a stranger was
ready to get himself imprisoned for the peasants. So, they agreed to follow him to jail. . He also
dissuaded them from seeking Charles Andrews’ assistance in their battle against the injustice of
the Britishers in order to be self reliant.

.
Q8.What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home
rule’?
Being afraid of inviting the wrath of the Britishers, the average Indian in small localities were
reluctant  to show any sympathy towards the advocates of ‘home rule’.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q 1 Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his
life?
 Ans. The Champaran episode began as an attempt to alleviate the distress of a large number of
poor peasants. But it became a turning point in Gandhi’ life.It build up Gandhi confidence that
the British rulers could be made to bend and concede a popular demand. He declared that British
could not order him in his own country.

It was during this struggle in 1917 that he decided to urge the departure of the British. When he
came to Champaran, he was appalled to see fear –stricken peasants and injustice of landlord
system in Chamaparan. His readiness to go to jail for the sake of seeking justice instilled courage
among ordinary people and motivated the lawyers for court arrest . He led civil disobedience by
refusing to leave Champaran even after he got the official notice. Civil disobedience triumphed
for the first time when the case for disregarding the official order against him was dropped.
Britisher’s agreement to pay 25 percent of the compensation made him and the peasants
confident. It made the peasants realise that they had rights and defenders and he established that
the authority of the British could be challenged. He taught the lawyers a lesson of self reliance by
dissuading them from seeking the assistance from an English man, Charles Andrew.

Gandhi never contended himself with larger and political solutions. He also made endeavour to
bring about cultural and social upliftment in the village.

Q2.How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
The author mentions several ordinary people who contributed to the freedom movement.

Rajkumar Shukla was instrumental in arranging Gandhi’s visit to Champaran. Proffesssor

Malkani , despite being a government servant, harboured Gandhi when he arrived at
Muzzafarpur. When the news of Gandhi’s advent spread through Muzzafarpur and Champaran ,
Sharecroppers from Champaran began arriving on foot to see their champion. Their gathering in
huge number at Motihari was the beginning of their freedom from the fear of the British. The
lawyers also agreed to court arrest in case Gandhi went to Jail.

 Gandhi and the lawyers conducted a detailed inquiry into the grievances of the farmers. They
prepared cases for about ten thousand peasants and collected relevant documents.

Moreover the masses volunteered to help in bringing cultural and social reforms in the village.
The two young men ,Mahadev  Desai and Narihari Parikh  and their views volunteered to work.
Several people came from Bombay ,Poona and other distant parts of the land. Devadas ,Gandhi’s
youngest son arrived from the asharam. Kasturbai taught ashram rules on personal cleanliness
and community sanitation.

EXTRA QUESTIONS   :SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1.Why did Rajkumar Shukla go to meet Gandhi? (CBSE 2008)

Ans. Rajkumar Shukla came to meet Gandhi at  the December1916 Congress Session in
Luknow  to complain about the injustice of the landlord system of Bihar and to invite him to visit
his district.

Q2. How did Gandhiji react after receiving summon to appear in court the next day?
Ans. Gandhiji received a summon to appear in the court but disobeyed the order. He remained
awake all the night. He telegraphed Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar with influential friends.
He sent instructions to the ashram. He wired a full report to the Viceroy.

Q3. What was the conflict of duties in which Gandhi was involved? (Question Bank ,NCT)
Ans. In court, Gandhi pleaded guilty for having disobeyed the official notice to quit Champaran.
He read out a statement claiming he was involved in a conflict of duties. He clarified that he
disobeyed not to break law and set a bad example but to render the humanitarian and national
services for which he had come to Champaran.

Q4.When did Gandhi say ‘The battle of Champaran is won ? (Question Bank ,NCT)
Ans. When the lawyers reconsidered their decision about their course of action in case of
Gandhi’s arrest and volunteered to court arrest for the cause of sharecroppers, Gandhi felt
pleased and said ‘The battle of Champaran is won’

Q5. “Civil disobedience had triumphed the first time in India” . How did it happen ? (Question
Bank ,NCT)
Ans.When Gandhi disobeyed official order to quit Champaran , a case was initiated against him
for disregarding the orders. The spontaneous demonstration of thousands of peasants around the
courtroom baffled the officials. Not knowing how to handle the case , the judge postponed the
judgement for few days. Then finally few days later, the case was dropped by Lieutenant
Governor himself. So civil disobedience triumphed for the first time in India.

 Q6 What did Gadhiji say to his friends when they suggested that Charles Andrews should be
retained for the sake of the Champaran movement ? (Question Bank ,NCT)
Ans.Gandhi vehemently opposed the lawyer’s suggestion to seek Andrew’s assistance and said 
that  taking the support of an Englishman would reveal the weakness of their hearts. He urged his
friends to rely upon themselves to win the battle.

Q7Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to court was useless?
(Delhi 2014 Modified)
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. What really needed to be done was to
make them free from fear.
Q8.Why did Gandhiji decide to go to Muzaffarpur before going to Champaran? (Foreign 2011)
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.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1 Justify the appropriateness of the title  ‘Indigo’ to this extract.

The title ‘Indigo’ focuses our attention on the central issue of the chapter –exploitation of indigo
sharecroppers at the hands of cruel British planters. Britishers compelled them through a long
term agreement to plant indigo on 15 percent of their land and surrender the entire harvest as
rent. After the development of synthetic indigo by Germany , The British planters extracted
money from the peasants as compensation from being released from the 15 percent agreement.
The peasants who wanted their money back filed civil suits. Rajkumar Shukla persuaded Gandhi
to take up the case of Indigo sharecroppers.

So indigo sharecropping exemplifies the injustice of the Britishers and Indians’ submission to
British authority. The exploitation of indigo sharecroppers led Gandhi to arrive in Champaran to
alleviate their distress. Peasants not only got back  the compensation but also became courageous
and confident. They learnt the lesson of self reliance.

The Champaran movement that centred on indigo sharecropping led to social and cultural
upliftment of the peasants.Their education , health and hygiene received due attention.

Thus the title ‘Indigo’ is highly suggestive and appropriate.

Q2 How did Gandhi use Satyagraha and non-violence to achieve his goal?
Ans. Non violence and satyagraha were the weapons used by Gandhi to secure justice for
oppressed peasants of Champaran. He adopted legal ,moral and democratic path of negotiation.

Gandhi refused to leave Tirhut division in which Chamaparan district lay despite being told by
the British official commissioner to do so. Later he defied the official order to leave Chamaparan
for which he received summon to appear in the court. When the British authorities could not
regulate the unmanageable crowd at Motihari  , he pacified the crowd in polite and friendly way.
Thus he gave concrete proof of the power of satyagraha and non violence.
In the court he clarified that he did not want to set a bad example as a law breaker  but  intended
to render humanitarian and national service..His convincing argumentation baffled the magistrate
who released him without the bail.
Later he fought the case of the peasants peacefully by collecting evidences and the documents
pertaining to  the case. When the Britishers agreed to pay the compensation he peacefully
negotiated with the landlords and accepted 25 percent of the amount due.
So the peasants got a partial refund of the compensation with the use of satyagraha and
nonviolence.

Q3. How did Rajkumar Shukla prove to be an important link between Gandhi and his
Champaran campaign?
Rajkumar shukla was a poor and emaciated sharecropper from Champaran. Though he was poor
and illiterate he was determined to oppose the injustice of the British planters. He used to seek
legal recourse to get justice and was in constant touch with Rajendra Prasad ,an eminent lawyer. 
He came to December 1916 annual convention of the Indian National Congress party in
Lucknow to meet Gandhi as someone had told him that Gandhi Gandhi could give a solution to
their problems. He complained about the injustice of landlord system in Bihar and invited
Gandhi to visit his district.
When Gandhi mentioned about his prior engagements to go to Cawnpore and other parts of
India, Shukla showed tremendous patience and perseverance and accompanied him everywhere.
He also followed Gandhi to his ashram and stayed there for weeks. Impressed by his
determination and tenacity Gandhi promised to meet him at Calcutta on a particular date. Few
months later Shukla arrived at Calcutta and took him to Champaran.
So, Rajkuma Shukla’s strong will power and painstaking efforts were instrumental in arranging
Gandhi’s visit to Champaran and thus improving the plight of the poor peasant.

Q4. Why was Gandhi summoned to appear in the court? How did civil disobedience triumph
for the first time in India?
Ans. Gandhi had reached Motihari, the capital of Champaran, to study the problems of the
sharecropper peasants. He was on his way to a neighbouring village, where a peasant was
illtreated.
On the way, he was stopped by the police superintendent's messenger and ordered to
return to town. When he reached home, he was served with an official notice to quit Champaran
at once. Gandhi wrote on the receipt that he would disobey the order. So Gandhi received a
summon to appear in the court the next day.
Next morning the town of Motihari was black with peasants. Thousands of peasants
demonstrated voluntarily outside the court. The prosecuter requested the judge to postpone the
trial. Gandhi protested against the delay. He read out the statement pleading guilty. He asked the
penalty.
The judge announced that he would pronounce the sentence after a two-hour recess. He asked
Gandhi to furnish bail for that period. Gandhi refused. The judge released him without bail.
After the recess , the judge said that he would not deliver the judgement for several days.
Meanwhile he allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty.
Several days later Gandhi received a letter. The case against him had been dropped. Thus, civil
disobedience had triumphed, for the first time in India.

Q5 Self-reliance, Indian Independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.
Elucidate with reference to the excerpt ‘Indigo’.
Ans. When Gandhiji reached Champaran, he came to know that the arable areas of Champaran
were divided into large estates owned by British landlords. As per the long-term contract, these
sharecroppers were supposed to grow indigo on 15% of the land and give it as rent. But due to
 the advent of synthetic indigo in Germany, landlords got the compensation agreement signed by
these peasants, who later on felt cheated.
Gandhiji’s first triumph in the form of civil disobedience at Motihari laid the foundations of the
Indian Independence Movement. No doubt this brought a good result for sharecroppers in the
form of a committee through which 25% of the money was given by the landlords. Gandhiji
taught the lesson of unity and courage to the sharecroppers. His refusal to keep his friend
Andrews at Champaran to help him emphasized the importance of self-reliance for him. He
trained the peasants to be self-reliant and not to be dependent on others.
Thus, self-reliance, Indian Independence and help to sharecroppers were all tied together.

Q6.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 Indians.
The 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.

Q7 . What steps were taken by Gandhiji to solve the problems of Social and cultural
backwardness in the villages of Champaran?
Ans. Gandhiji never restricted himself to political or economic solutions only.
 He wanted to bring about some socio-cultural transformation.
 He appealed for teachers. Primary schools were opened in six villages. Many disciples of
Gandhiji Volunteered to teach in Champaran and adjoining villages.
 Kasturba Gandhi taught ashram rules on Cleanliness and Community Sanitation.
 To improve the miserable health conditions, Gandhiji got a doctor who volunteered to render
his services for six months.
 Three medicines were made available - Castor, quinine and sulphur ointment.
 The filthy state of women's clothes was also noticed by Gandhiji.
 His was not a loyalty to abstractions, it was a loyalty to human beings.

Q8. Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers of
Champaran. (All India 2012)
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.