What was the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917?

Gandhi's first satyagraha in India, launched in Champaran district of Bihar on behalf of indigo peasants. They were forced under the tinkathia system to grow indigo on about three-twentieths of their land and sell it at prices fixed by European planters. Gandhi defied an order to leave the district, conducted a detailed survey of the peasants, and the movement produced the Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918, which abolished tinkathia.

Who persuaded Gandhi to visit Champaran?

Rajkumar Shukla, an indigo cultivator from Champaran, who followed Gandhi persistently and finally convinced him at the Lucknow Congress session of 1916 to come and investigate conditions there.

What was the tinkathia system?

An arrangement requiring a peasant to plant indigo on three kathas out of every twenty kathas of his holding — roughly three-twentieths of his land — and to sell the crop to the European planter at a fixed low price. It denied the peasant both a choice of crop and a fair price.

What was the Ahmedabad Mill Strike of 1918 about?

Textile mill owners in Ahmedabad had paid workers a plague bonus during an epidemic and withdrew it once the plague passed, although prices remained high. The workers demanded a wage rise, Gandhi advised a peaceful strike, and after his fast the dispute went to arbitration and the workers won a thirty-five percent increase.

Where did Gandhi undertake his first hunger strike in India?

At Ahmedabad in 1918, during the mill strike. He fasted to hold the wavering workers to the pledge they had taken rather than to coerce the owners, though he later acknowledged that it placed indirect pressure on the mill owners as well.

What was the Kheda Satyagraha?

A no-tax campaign in Kheda district of Gujarat in 1918. Crops had failed, and under the rules peasants were entitled to remission of land revenue when yield fell below one-fourth of normal, but the government refused. Gandhi advised withholding revenue, and the government eventually instructed that it be collected only from those able to pay.

Which leaders rose to prominence through these three movements?

Vallabhbhai Patel emerged during the Kheda Satyagraha and became Gandhi's principal organiser in Gujarat. Rajendra Prasad, Brajkishore Prasad, Mahadev Desai and J.B. Kripalani worked with him at Champaran, and Anasuya Sarabhai supported the workers at Ahmedabad. Together they formed the leadership network Gandhi drew on for every later movement.

Champaran Satyagraha 1917, Ahmedabad Mill Strike & Kheda Satyagraha 1918 — Causes, Leaders & Results

Three small fights in two years. The dress rehearsals where Gandhi tested the method that would later shake an empire.

Learning India, one district at a time

Gandhi came back from South Africa in 1915 with a method but no following. In two years he ran three small local fights — and by the end of them the whole country knew his name.

Gandhi returned to India on 9 January 1915. His mentor Gopal Krishna Gokhale advised him to spend a year travelling and listening before entering politics. He did. Then between 1917 and 1918 he led three local movements — Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda. Each was small, specific and winnable, and together they turned satyagraha from a South African experiment into an Indian method.

KEY TERM

Satyagraha

Literally insistence on truth. It is not passive suffering and it is not violence. The satyagrahi refuses to obey an unjust order, accepts the punishment without striking back, and by doing so forces the other side to confront the injustice openly. Gandhi first used the word in South Africa in 1906.

THE ORDER THAT GETS ASKED

Champaran came first (April 1917). Then Ahmedabad (February–March 1918). Then Kheda (March 1918). A useful memory aid is the acronym CAKE — Champaran, Ahmedabad, KEda. Ahmedabad and Kheda ran almost back to back in early 1918, which is why their order is a favourite trap.

Champaran Satyagraha, 1917 — the indigo farmers

In Champaran district of Bihar, peasants were forced by European planters to grow indigo on part of their land under the tinkathia system and sell it at prices the planters fixed. An indigo cultivator named Rajkumar Shukla followed Gandhi around and finally persuaded him — at the Lucknow Congress session of 1916 — to come and see for himself.

KEY TERM

Tinkathia system

An arrangement under which a peasant had to plant indigo on three kathas out of every twenty kathas of his holding — roughly three-twentieths of his land — and hand the crop to the planter at a fixed low price. The land could have grown food. The peasant had no choice in the matter.

The authorities ordered Gandhi to leave Champaran. He refused and offered to accept the penalty — the first act of civil disobedience of his Indian career
When he appeared in court, around two thousand local people came with him; the case was withdrawn
He then ran a detailed fact-finding survey of thousands of peasants, building an evidence file the government could not dismiss
The government appointed an inquiry committee with Gandhi as a member; the result was the Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918, which abolished the tinkathia system
Working with him were Rajendra Prasad, Brajkishore Prasad, Mahadev Desai and J.B. Kripalani — the beginning of his lieutenant network

Ahmedabad Mill Strike, 1918 — the plague bonus

During a plague, Ahmedabad textile mill owners had paid workers a plague bonus to keep them from fleeing the city. When the plague passed, the owners withdrew the bonus — but prices had not fallen. The workers demanded a wage rise; the owners offered far less.

Gandhi asked the workers to strike peacefully and to keep a pledge not to return until the demand was met
When the strike weakened and workers began to waver, Gandhi undertook his first hunger strike in India — a fast to hold his own side to its pledge, not to coerce the owners
The dispute went to arbitration and the workers won a thirty-five percent wage increase
Anasuya Sarabhai supported the workers — her brother Ambalal Sarabhai was among the mill owners, which made the settlement a family as well as an industrial negotiation

WHY THE FAST IS SIGNIFICANT

Exams often ask where Gandhi undertook his first fast in India — the answer is Ahmedabad, 1918. Note what it was aimed at: he fasted to steady the wavering workers, because he had asked them to take a pledge. He himself later admitted the fast put indirect pressure on the mill owners, and called this a defect in it.

Kheda Satyagraha, 1918 — the revenue that could not be paid

In Kheda district of Gujarat, crops failed. Under the rules, if the yield fell below one-fourth of the normal crop, peasants were entitled to remission of land revenue. The government refused to grant it and pressed for full payment.

Gandhi advised the peasants to withhold revenue — a no-tax campaign
Vallabhbhai Patel led the villages alongside Gandhi; the movement made him a national figure and Gandhi's closest organiser in Gujarat
The government eventually issued secret instructions that revenue be collected only from those able to pay — a quiet retreat rather than an open concession
Indulal Yagnik and Shankarlal Banker were among the other organisers

Movement	Year	Place	For whom	Result
Champaran Satyagraha	1917	Champaran, Bihar	Indigo peasants under the tinkathia system	Champaran Agrarian Act 1918; tinkathia abolished
Ahmedabad Mill Strike	1918	Ahmedabad, Gujarat	Textile mill workers over the plague bonus	Arbitration; 35 percent wage rise
Kheda Satyagraha	1918	Kheda, Gujarat	Peasants facing crop failure	Revenue collected only from those able to pay

THE ONE THING ALL THREE HAD IN COMMON

None of them attacked British rule. Each took up a narrow, concrete grievance — an indigo contract, a bonus, a revenue demand — and won it. That was the point. Gandhi was testing a method and building a team, and by the time the Rowlatt Act arrived in 1919, he had a working technique, trusted lieutenants and a national reputation. The dress rehearsals were over.

CHECK YOURSELF

Who persuaded Gandhi to go to Champaran, and what system were the peasants protesting?

Rajkumar Shukla, an indigo cultivator from Champaran, persuaded him at the Lucknow Congress session of 1916. The peasants were protesting the tinkathia system, under which they were forced to grow indigo on about three-twentieths of their land and sell it at prices fixed by the planters.

REMEMBER

CAKE — Champaran, Ahmedabad, KEda. And their causes: indigo, bonus, revenue. Bihar first, then Gujarat twice.

Everything on one look

The three movements, their causes and their outcomes.

CHAMPARAN

Champaran Satyagraha took place in 1917 in Bihar
Rajkumar Shukla persuaded Gandhi to come
The grievance was the tinkathia system of forced indigo
Gandhi defied the order to leave — his first Indian civil disobedience
The Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918 abolished tinkathia
Rajendra Prasad and Mahadev Desai worked with him here

AHMEDABAD AND KHEDA

The Ahmedabad Mill Strike of 1918 was over the plague bonus
Gandhi undertook his first hunger strike in India at Ahmedabad
Arbitration gave the workers a thirty-five percent rise
Anasuya Sarabhai supported the Ahmedabad workers
The Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 followed crop failure
Vallabhbhai Patel rose to prominence at Kheda

COMMON TRAPS

Champaran (1917) came first, Ahmedabad and Kheda both in 1918
Champaran was in Bihar; Ahmedabad and Kheda were in Gujarat
Rajkumar Shukla, an indigo cultivator, brought Gandhi to Champaran
The tinkathia system was about forced indigo cultivation, not revenue
Gandhi's first hunger strike in India was at Ahmedabad, not Champaran
The Ahmedabad dispute was over the withdrawal of the plague bonus
The Ahmedabad workers won a thirty-five percent increase through arbitration
Kheda was a no-tax campaign following crop failure
Vallabhbhai Patel emerged at Kheda, not at Champaran
Gandhi returned to India on 9 January 1915, two years before Champaran

QUICK BYTES

Gandhi returned to India from South Africa on 9 January 1915
Gokhale advised Gandhi to travel India for a year before entering politics
Satyagraha means insistence on truth and was first used in South Africa in 1906
The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was Gandhi's first in India
Champaran district lies in Bihar
Rajkumar Shukla, an indigo cultivator, persuaded Gandhi to visit Champaran
Shukla approached Gandhi at the Lucknow Congress session of 1916
The tinkathia system forced peasants to grow indigo on part of their land
Gandhi defied the order to leave Champaran, his first Indian civil disobedience
The Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918 abolished the tinkathia system
Rajendra Prasad, Brajkishore Prasad and Mahadev Desai assisted at Champaran
The Ahmedabad Mill Strike took place in 1918
The Ahmedabad dispute arose from the withdrawal of the plague bonus
Gandhi undertook his first hunger strike in India at Ahmedabad
The Ahmedabad workers received a thirty-five percent wage increase
Anasuya Sarabhai supported the Ahmedabad mill workers
The Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 took place in Gujarat
Kheda peasants sought revenue remission after crop failure
Peasants were entitled to remission if yield fell below one-fourth of normal
Kheda was a no-tax campaign advised by Gandhi
Vallabhbhai Patel emerged as a leader during the Kheda Satyagraha
All three movements addressed local grievances, not British rule itself

Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda Satyagraha — Gandhi's First Three Movements in India