Question

Which of the following reasons can be attributed to the Champaran Movement of 1917?
A) The increased taxation on agriculture.
B) The higher custom duties imposed on Indian textiles.
C) The ban imposed on the import of Indian indigo in England.
D) The forced cultivation of indigo and other cash crops in place of food crops.

Answer 1

Hint: The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was the first Satyagraha movement driven by Gandhi in India and is generally considered a historically significant revolt in the Indian Independence Movement. It was a farmer's uprising that occurred in the Champaran district of Bihar, India, during the British colonial period.

Complete answer:
The Champaran movement’s objective was to create an awakening among the peasants against the European planters. Champaran became Gandhi's first experimentation of satyagraha. Ultimately, the movement ended with the annulment of Indigo farming in Champaran by introducing the Tinkathia system. It was an act of civil disobedience and explicitly protested against the oppression meted out to the Indian farmers in Bihar’s Champaran district. The Champaran Satyagraha is considered to be an important event in the history of India's freedom struggle.

The indigo cultivators of Champaran were greatly abused by European planters and they additionally were limited by law to develop indigo on 3/20th of their territory and offer it to the British planters at costs fixed by them. They welcomed Gandhiji to take up their clause. He offered satyagraha because of which an inquiry was conducted in the states of the workers. The forced cultivation of indigo and other cash crops in place of food crops was attributed to the Champaran Movement of 1917.

Hence the correct answer is option D i.e, ‘The forced cultivation of indigo and other cash crops in place of food crops’.

Note: Champaran Movement was the initial civil disobedience movement started in India by Mahatma Gandhi in Bihar. The movement started because farmers in Champaran were forced to grow indigo cultivation. The Champaran Satyagraha was the stepping stone to India's youth and freedom struggle, which was between moderates who stipulated Indian participation within the British colonial system, and the extremists from Bengal who favoured the use of violent methods to overturn the British colonialists in India.