Question

Name the state where the Indigo planters organised satyagraha?

Answer 1

Hint: Peasants of Indigo planters in Champaran organised the Satyagraha movement against the Indigo plantation which was forced by British. They took help from Mahatma Gandhi against this Plantation system. It was considered as the first movement against the British.

Complete answer: The indigo planters organised satyagraha against the indigo plantation system. Under this system, the peasants of the Champaran were growing the indigo under the Tinkathia system. The indigo was used to prepare the dyes which were further used by cloth manufacturers in Italy, France and Britain to dye clothes. British gave the loan to the peasants to grow indigo at a very high rate and if they refused to grow, their lands were snatched away. They could not grow the food they needed, nor did they receive sufficient payment for the indigo. Therefore, Raj Kumar Shukla and Sant Raut convinced Gandhi to go to Champaran and from there the Champaran Satyagraha began. On his arrival, he recorded the statements and testimonies of 8,000 indigo cultivators to comprehend their issues and the causes underlying them. He concluded that the ignorance of the cultivators was one of the main reasons why the European planters could subdue them. Finally, the farmer’s revolt took place in Champaran, district of Bihar. It was marked as the first satyagraha movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi to protest against the injustice.

Note: Indigo absorbs all the nutrients and minerals, that’s why after growing it no other crops can be grown for a long time, that is why peasants were protesting against indigo plantation.