RUNGTA PUBLIC SCHOOL, BHILAI

“Year of Reimagining”
Class: XII NOTES Subject: English
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Flamingo- Lesson 5: Indigo
Short Answer Type Questions and Answers:

Question 1. How did Rajkumar Shukla establish that he was resolute?

Answer: Rajkumar Shukla was a peasant from Champaran. He wanted Gandhiji to come with
him to accompany him to Champaran. At that time Gandhiji was very busy. But Shukla
accompanied Gandhiji everywhere. Therefore, he had been described as resolute.

Question 2. How was Gandhiji treated at Rajendra Prasad’s house?

Answer: The servants at Rajendra Prasad knew Shukla as a peasant who pestered their master
to help the indigo sharecroppers. But they thought that Gandhiji belonged to some low caste.
Therefore, they didn’t allow him to draw water from the well.

Question 3. What were the terms of the indigo contract between the British landlords and the
Indian peasants?
Answer: The landlords compelled all tenants to plant three twentieths or 15 per cent of their
holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. This was done by a long-
term contract.

Question 4. What did the landlords do when they know that Germany had developed
synthetic indigo?
Answer: The landlords came to know that Germany had developed synthetic indigo. Now
producing natural indigo was not profitable for them. But very cunningly they hid that fact
from the peasants. They instead obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them
compensation for being released from the 15 per cent arrangement.

Question 5. Why did many sharecroppers sign the agreement letters willingly? What did the
others do who had not signed the letters?
Answer: The sharecropping system was irksome to the peasants. They signed the agreement
letters willingly. Those who resisted engaged lawyers; the landlords hired thugs.

Question 6. Why did Gandhiji meet Secretary of the British landlord’s association? How was
he treated by him?
Answer: Gandhiji arrived Chamaparan to get the facts. Therefore, he visited the Secretary of
the British landlord’s association. The secretary told him that they could give no information
to an outsider.
Question 7. Why did Gandhiji go to Muzzafarpur? Where did he stay there?
Answer: Muzzafarpur was enroute to Champaran. To obtain more information about
sharecropping system he went there. He decided to stay at Professor Malkani’s house. He was
a teacher in a government school.

Question 8. Why did Gandhiji chide the lawyers of Muzzafarpur?

Answer: Gandhiji chided the lawyers for collecting big fee from the peasants. He said that he
had come to the conclusion that they should stop going to courts. Taking such cases to the
courts did little good. Where the peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts were
useless. The real relief for them was to be free from fear.

Question 9. How did the peasants of Champaran react when they came to know about the
arrival of Gandhiji?
Answer: The news of Gandhiji’s advent and of the nature of his mission spread quickly
through Muzzafarpur and to Champaran. Sharecroppers from Champaran began arriving on
foot and by conveyance to see their champion.

Question 10. Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to the court was useless?
Answer: Gandhiji felt that taking the Champaran case to the court was useless. Where the
peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts were useless. The real relief for them
was to be free from fear.

Question 11. How did Champaran peasants react when they came to know that a Mahatma
had come to help them?
Answer: When the Champaran peasants came to know that a Mahatma had come to help
them and he was in trouble with the authorities they came in large numbers to Motihari.
Thousands of them hold demon¬strations around the courthouse. The officials felt
themselves helpless.

Question 12. What made the lieutenant-governor drop the case against Gandhiji?
Answer: Thousands of peasants came in support of Gandhiji. The authorities felt that they
could not control them and the condition of law and order could deteriorate. The pressure of
the peasants was increasing. On the other hand, Gandhiji refuse to have any bail. Therefore,
the lieutenant-general dropped the case against Gandhiji.

Question 13. Why did Gandhiji tell the court that he was involved in a ‘conflict of duties’?
Answer: Gandhiji said in the court he was involved in ‘conflict of duties’. On the one hand,
he didn’t want to set a bad example as a lawbreaker; on the other hand, he wanted to render
humanitarian and national service for which he had come to Champaran.

Question 14. How was civil disobedience won for the first time in India?
Answer: The judge said that he could not deliver his judgement for several days because of
the overwhelming support to Gandhiji. However, he was allowed to remain at liberty. Several
days later, Gandhiji received a written communication from the magistrate informing him
that the Lieutenant-General had decided to drop the case against him. In this way the civil
disobedience won for the first time in India.
Question 15. How much did the planters agree to refund to the peasants? How did Gandhiji
react to it?
Answer: The planters wanted to prolong the dispute in some way. Therefore, they offered to
refund only 25 per cent of the money they extracted illegally from the peasants. Gandhiji at
once agreed to it thus breaking the deadlock.

Question 16. Why did Gandhiji agree for only 25 per cent refund?
Answer: Gandhiji knew that the planters wanted to prolong the dispute in some way or the
other. But he proved too smart for them. He at once agreed to their offer of 25 per cent
refund. In this way the planters had to part with some of their money and also their prestige.

Question 17. What social work did Gandhiji do in the villages of Champaran?
Answer: Gandhiji opened primary schools there. Many of his disciples came to volunteer
their services. Health condition of the place was miserable. Gandhiji got a doctor to volunteer
his services for six months.

Question 18. Why was Gandhiji against taking the help of Charles Freer Andrews?
Answer: Charles Freer Andrews became Gandhiji’s disciple at Champaran. The lawyers
thought that it would be good for them if they had an Englishman with them. But Gandhiji
was deadly against it. He said taking help of an Englishman would show the weakness of
their heart.

Question 19. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?

Answer: Rajkumar Shukla was a peasant from Champaran. He wanted Gandhiji to come with
him to accompany him to Champaran. At that time Gandhiji was very busy. But Shukla
accompanied Gandhiji everywhere. Therefore, he had been described as resolute.

Question 20. Why do you think that the servants thought Gandhiji to be another peasant?
Answer: Gandhiji wore very simple clothes. His complexion was dark and he was thin. In
this way, his appearance matched a peasant of that days. Therefore, the servants thought
Gandhiji to be another peasant.

Question 21. List the places that Gandhiji visited between his first meeting with Shukla and
his arrival at Champaran.
Answer: First of all, Gandhiji went to Patna at Rajendra Prasad’s house. From there he went
to Muzzafarpur to obtain more information about the sharecropping system. There he stayed
at Professor Malkani’s house and from there he went to Champaran.

Question 22. What did the peasants pay 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?
Answer: The peasants worked on large estates owned by the British planters. The landlords
compelled all the peasants to crop three twentieths or 15 per cent of their holdings with
indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. The planters came to know that the
Germany had developed synthetic indigo.
Producing natural indigo was not profitable. The price of the synthetic indigo would be much
less than the natural indigo. But they hid this information from the sharecroppers. Instead,
they demanded compensation from the peasants to release them from this system.

Question 23. The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhiji’s method of working. Can
you identify some instances of his method and link them to his ideas of satayagraha and non-
violence?
Answer: Gandhiji believed in the path of truth and non-violence. He did nothing that is
morally wrong. He followed the path of non-violence against the British. Gandhiji’s path was
the path of satayagraha, it means protest for truth by adopting non-violent methods. One of
the biggest examples of it is the Dandi March.

Question 24. Why did Gandhiji agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?
Answer: The British planters Wanted some excuse to prolong the dispute between them and
the sharecroppers. They offered only 25 per cent refund. They thought that perhaps Gandhiji
would ask for full refund. But Gandhiji agree to their offer and broke the dead lock. For him
the amount of refund was not important. The landlords had been obliged to part with some of
their money and also prestige. Before that they thought themselves above law. As a result, the
planters abandoned their estates, which were reverted to the peasants.

Question 25. How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?
Answer: The episode of Chamapran had a great effect on the peasants. They saw they had
rights and defenders. They learned courage. Also, the British planters abandoned their estates,
which were reverted to the peasants.

Question 26. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-
point in his life?
Answer: The episode of Champaran proved that the Indians couldn’t be harassed in their own
country. It gave courage to the normal Indians against the dreaded power of the British.
Gandhiji thought that it to be a small problem. But due to this incident he decided to urge the
departure of the British. It was here where the civil disobedience was first time succeeded. In
this way the episode of Champaran proved to be a turning point in Gandhiji’s life.

Question 27. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards
advocates of ‘home rule’?
Answer: In smaller localities the people were afraid to show sympathy for advocates of home
rule. They were so crushed and frightened by the dreaded power of the British that it was
impossible for them to support even the idea of home rule.

Question 28. How do we know that ordinary people too con-tributed to the freedom
movement?
Answer: In the given text it was only due to the support of ordinary people that the
sharecroppers of Champaran could get justice. When Gandhiji was arrested in Motihari, the
ordinary people flocked on the roads in large numbers, as a result, the government had to
drop the case against Gandhiji. This Champaran episode was just a glimpse of the freedom
movement. Thus, from this episode, we can gauge the role of ordinary people in the freedom
movement.
Long Answer Type Questions and Answers:

Question 1. Who was Rajkumar Shukla? What did he want from Gandhiji?
Answer: Rajkumar Shukla was a peasant from Champaran. He visited Gandhiji in 1942 at his
ashram in Sevagram, in Central India. He wanted that Gandhiji should accompany him to his
village in Champaran district. He described to Gandhiji about himself and his district. He told
Gandhiji the peasants of Champaran were sharecroppers. Rajkumar Shukla was illiterate but
resolute.

He had came to the Congress session to complain about the injustice of the landlord system in
Bihar, and somebody told him to speak to Gandhiji. At that time, Gandhiji was very busy.
Shukla accompanied him everywhere in India. For weeks he never left Gandhiji’s side.

Impressed by the sharecropper’s tenacity and story Gandhiji said, “I have to be in Calcutta on
such-and-such a date. Come and meet me and take me from there.” Shukla reached at the
appointed spot in Calcutta when Gandhiji arrived. He waited till Gandhiji was free. Then
Gandhiji went with him to Patna by train.

Question 2. What information did Gandhiji get about the sharecropping system in
Champaran?
Answer: The chief commercial crop of Champaran was indigo. The British landlords
compelled all the ten-ants to plant 15% of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire
indigo harvest as rent. This was done by a long-term contract. Then the land-lords came to
know that the Germany had developed synthetic indigo. Now producing natural indigo was
not at all profitable. Very cunningly the British landlords obtained agreements from the
sharecroppers to pay them compensation for being released

from the 15% agreement. Many sharecroppers signed it willingly while the others engaged
lawyers. The landlords hired thugs. Meanwhile, the information about synthetic indigo
reached the illiterate peasants. Who had paid the compensation wanted their money back.

Question 3. Describe Gandhiji’s visit at Muzzafarpur.

Answer: Gandhiji decided to go to Muzzafarpur, which was en route to Champaran. He
wanted to obtain more information about the conditions there. He stayed for two days in the
home of Professor Malkani who was a teacher in a government school. It was not an ordinary
thing those days for a government professor to harbour a man like him. In smaller localities,
the Indians were afraid to show sympathy for the advocates of home-rule. The news of the
advent of Gandhiji spread quickly to Champaran and Muzzafarpur. Sharecroppers in large
number came to see their champion.

Gandhiji talked to the lawyers about the court cases of the sharecroppers. They brief him
about the cases and also reported him about the size of their fees. Gandhiji chided the lawyers
for collecting big fee from the sharecroppers. He said that it was useless to go to the courts
when the peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken.

Question 4. Describe the incident related to Motihari.

Or
How can you say that the civil disobedience was succeeded first time in modern India?
Answer: Gandhiji visited British official commissioner of Trihut division. He tried to bully
Gandhiji and ordered him to leave Trihut. Gandhiji proceeded to Motihari, the capital of
Champaran. A large number of people greeted him at the railway station. A report came that
a peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village. Gandhiji decided to go there. Gandhji was
a given a notice to leave Champaran immediately. Gandhiji signed the receipt and wrote on it
that he would disobey the order.

As a result, Gandhiji was ordered to present in the court the next day. The next morning a lot
of peasants had gathered in the town of Motihari to support Gandhiji. The officials had to
seek Gandhiji’s help to control the crowd. However, they got the clear message that the
Indians couldn’t be ordered in their own country. The government was baffled. They wanted
to postpone the trial.

Gandhiji protested against it. He told the court that he was not a lawbreaker, but he had duties
towards his countrymen. In the end the judge said he would not deliver any judgement for
several days. Gandhiji was allowed to remain at liberty. After a few days the case against him
was dropped. The civil disobedience was suc¬ceeded first time in modern India.

Question 5. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian
struggle for Independence?
Answer: Gandhiji thought that the problem of the sharecroppers could be solved within a few
days. But he stayed there for months. The landlords were compelled to refund some of the
money they extracted from the peasants illegally and also they had to part with their prestige.
Eventually they abandoned their estates which were reverted to the peasants.

The peasants came to know that they had rights and the defender of their rights. Before that
the planters had behaved as lords above the law. The government was compelled to bow
before Gandhiji and the case against him was dropped. The civil disobedience was succeeded
for the first time in India. Therefore, the Champaran episode is considered as the beginning of
the Indian struggle for Independence.

Question 6. Gandhiji’s loyality was not a loyalty to abstractions; it was loyalty to living
human beings. Why did Gandhiji continue his stay in Champaran even after indigo
sharecropping disappeared?
Answer:
Gandhiji was able to win the battle of Champaran for the poor sharecroppers. They got their
land back from the British landlords. But Gandhiji continued his stay there. Gandhiji saw the
cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran villages and wanted to do something
about it. Many of his disciples joined him in this noble cause. His youngest son and his wife
also arrived there from the ashram. Primary schools were opened in six villages.

Kasturbai taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation.Health
conditions were miserable. Gandhiji got a doctor volunteer. He offered his services for six
months. Three medicines were available castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment. Anybody
who showed a coated tongue was given a dose of castor oil; anybody with malaria fever
received quinine and castor oil; anybody with skin eruptions received ointment with castor
oil.
Gandhiji’s loyalty was not a loyalty to abstractions; it was a loyalty towards human beings.
His politics was intertwined with the practical day-to-day problems of the millions.

Question 7. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhiji’s life. Elucidate.
Answer: Gandhiji 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 crop
Indigo in 15% of their total holdings and surrender the whole harvest as rent. When they
discovered that synthetic Indigo had been developed by Germany, they no longer needed the
harvest of the peasants. But they hid this fact from the peasants.

Instead, they demanded compensation from the poor peasants to release them from the 15%
agreement. Some signed willingly, while others engaged lawyers. The landlords hired thugs.
Gandhiji helped the poor peasants by protesting and civil disobedience. At last, he was
successful in freeing the peasants from the exploitation. Many other movements took place
after t that. It also meant the victory of civil disobedience for the first time in India.

Question 8. Why was Gandhiji against taking help from Charles Freer Andrews? What values
of life are conveyed by this?
Answer: Early in the Champaran action, Charles Freer Andrews, the English pacifist became
Gandhiji’s devoted follower. He came to bid Gandhiji farewell before leaving for his duty to
the Fiji Islands. Gandhiji’s lawyer friends thought it would be a good idea for Andrews to
stay at Champaran and help them. Andrews was willing if Gandhiji agreed.

But Gandhiji strongly opposed it. He said to have Mr. Andrews on their side only because he
happened to be an Englishman is wrong. It would show only the weakness of their spirit.
They were fighting for a just cause and they should believe in their strength. This incident
showed that self-reliance and self-help are most important to achieve any goal.

Question 9. How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.

Answer: Gandhiji was able to influence the lawyers in several ways. First he came to know
about the size of fee they collected from the peasants to fight their cases in court. He chided
them for that. He told them that taking such cases to courts were not good when the peasants
were so crushed and fear-stricken. When it was feared that Gandhiji might be put to prison
they consulted among themselves.

They realised that if Gandhiji who was totally stranger, and yet ready to go to prison for the
sake of peasants; it would be shameful for them to go homes since they were not only the
residents of the adjoining districts but also had claimed to help the peasants. Therefore they
decided to follow Gandhiji in jail in pairs. In Champaran an Englishman, Charles Freer
Andrews became Gandhiji’s disciple.

The lawyers throught that it would be of great help to them if Andrews supported them. But
Gandhiji told that it would show only the weakness of their soul to seek help of Mr Andrews
only because he happened to be an Englishman. They should learn to be self-reliant.
Question 10. “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: The episode of Champaran represents the exploitation of the poor Indian peasants by
the British planters. At that time India was under British rule. But even after seventy years of
Independence there is Champaran everywhere in India. The poor are still exploited by the
bureaucrats, moneylenders and politicians. The moneylenders charge unimaginably high rates
of interest from the farmers.

No wonder the incidents of suicides by the farmers are on the rise. Our constitution has given
equal rights to all Indians. But in fact the poor can’t enjoy any of the rights given to them by
the constitution. They are remembered only at the time of elections. Though they had got
political freedom yet this freedom is shameful.

Extract Based Questions and Answers

Read, the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow:

(Para-1)

Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran peas-ants were sharecroppers. Rajkumar

Shukla was one of them. He was illiterate but resolute. He has come to the Congress session
to complain about the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar, and somebody had probably
said, “Speak to Gandhi.”

Questions :
(a) What was an ancient arrangement ?
(b) Who was Rajkumar Shukla ?
(c) Why Rajkumar Shukla had come to Congress session ?
(d) What, somebody had said to Rajkumar Shukla ?
Answers:
(a) An ancient arrangement was sharecropping. The Champaran peasants were share
croppers.
(b) Rajkumar Shukla was an illiterate but resolute peasant from Champaran, Bihar.
(c) Rajkumar Shukla had come to Congress session to complain about the injustice of the
landlord system in Bihar.
(d) Somebody had said to Rajkumar Shukla, “Speak to Gandhi.”

(Para-2)

The news of Gandhi’s advent and of the nature of his mission spread quickly through
Muzzafarpur and to Champaran. Sharecroppers from Champaran began arriv-ing on foot and
by conveyance to see their Champion. Muzzafarpur lawyers called on Gandhi to brief him;
they frequently represented peasant groups in court; they told him about their cases and
reported the size of their fee.

Questions :
(a) What was the news at Muzzafarpur ?
(b) How and why did the sharecroppers reach from Champaran ?
(c) What was the role of Muzzafarpur’s lawyers ?
(d) Name the chapter and the writer.
Answers:
(a) The news of Gandhi’s advent and of the nature of his mission was the news at
Muzzafarpur.
(b) Sharecroppers from Champaran reached on foot and by Conveyance to see their
Champion.
(c) Muzzafarpur’s lawyers were frequently representating peasant groups in court.
(d) ‘Indigo’ is the chapter written by ‘Louis Fischer’.

(Para-3)

A report came in that a peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village. Gandhi decided to go
and see; the next morning he started out on the back of an elephant. He had not proceeded far
when the police supritendent’s messanger overtook him and ordered him to return to town in
his carriage. Gandhi complied. The messenger drove Gandhi home where he served him with
an official notice to quit Champaran immediately. Gandhi signed a receipt for the notice and
wrote on it that he would disobey the order.
The consequence, Gandhi received a summons of appear in court the next day.

Questions :
(a) What report came and what did Gandhi decide ?
(b) What happened when Gandhi was on the way to the nearby village ?
(c) What did the messenger do with Gandhi ?
(d) What was Gandhi’s reaction to the notice and what consequence had he to face ?
Answers:
(a) A report came in that a peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village. Gandhi decided to
go and see.
(b) When Gandhi was on the way to the nearby village, the police supertendent’s messenger
overtook him and ordered him to return to town in his carriage.
(c) The messenger served Gandhi with an official notice to quit Champaran immediately.
(d) Gandhi signed a receipt for the notice and wrote on it that he would disobey the order. In
consequence, Gandhi received a summons to appear in court the next day.

(Para-4)

What about the injustice to the sharecroppers, Gandhi demanded. The lawyers withdrew to
consult. Rajendra Prasad has recorded the upshot of their consultations : “They thought,
amongst themselves, that Gandhi was totally a stranger, and yet he was prepared to go to
prision for the sake of the peasants : If they, on the other hand, being not only residents of the
adjoining districts but also those who claimed to have served these peasants, should go home,
it would be shameful desertion.”

Questions :
(a) What did Gandhi demand to the lawyers ?
(b) What was the reaction of the lawyers ?
(c) What was the conclusion of their consultations ?
(d) What would be- shameful desertion ?
Answers:
(a) Ghandi demanded the lawyers about the injustice to the sharecroppers.
(b) The lawyers withdrew to consult.
(c) According to their consultations : they, if would go home being local residents, would
surely be shameful and a defeat to them in that war of injustice.
(d) If they should go home, claiming to have served those peasants, it would be shameful
desertion.

(Para-5)

They thought he would demand repayment in full of the money which they had illegally and
deceitfully extorted from the sharecroppers. He asked only 50 per cent. “There he seemed
adamant,” writes Reverend J.Z. Hodge, a British missionary in Champaran who observed the
entire episode at close range. “Thinking probably that he would not give way, the
representative of the planters offered to refund to the extent of 25 per cent, and to his
amazement Mr. Gandhi took him at his word, thus breaking the deadlock.”

Questions :
(a) What landlords had done with the sharecroppers ?
(b) Who was Reverend J. Z. Hodge ?
(c) What did the representative of the planters offer to refund ?
(d) How did Mr. Gandhi break the deadlock ?
Answers:
(a) Landlords had illegally and deceitfully extorted money from the sharecroppers.
(b) Reverend J. Z. Hodge was a British missionary in Champaran who observed the entire
episode at close range.
(c) Representative of the planters offered to refund to the extent of 25 per cent only.
(d) Mr. Gandhi broke the deadlock by getting agree to the offer of 25 per cent refund by
British planters.

(Para-6)

Gandhi never contented himself with large political or economic solutions. He saw the
cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran villages and wanted to do something
about it immediately. He appealed for teachers. Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh, two
young men who had just joined Gandhi as disciples, and their wives, volunteered for the
work. Several more came from Bombay, Poona and other distant parts of the land. Devdas,
Gandhi’s youngest son, arrived from the ashram and so did Mrs. Gandhi. Primary schools
were opened in six villages. Kasturbai taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and
community sanitation.

Questions :
(a) What did Gandhi observe in the Champaran villages ?
(b) Whom did Gandhi appeal and why ?
(c) From Gandhi’s family, who came to Champaran ?
(d) What did Kasturbai do to the people of Champaran ?
Answers:
(a) Gandhi, in Champaran villages observed the cultural and social backwardness and wanted
to do something immediately
(b) Gandhi appealed Mahadev Desal and Narhari Parikh, two young teachers, to volunteer for
the work.
(c) Devdas, Gandhi’s youngest son and Mrs. Gandhi Casturbai came to Champaran.
(d) Kasturbal, Gandhi’s wife taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community
sanitation to the people of Champaran.

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