Class 12 (English) – Flamingo
Ch. 5 - Indigo
by Louis Fischer
About the Author
Louis Fischer (1896-1970) was born in Philadelphia in 1896. He served as a volunteer in the
British Army between 1918-1920. Fischer made a career as a journalist and wrote for The New
York Times, The Saturday Review and for European and Asian publications. He was also a
member of the faculty of Princeton University.
Introduction to the chapter
The story is based on the interview taken by Louis Fischer of Mahatma Gandhi. In order to
write on him he had visited him in 1942 at his ashram- Sevagram where he was told about the
Indigo Movement started by Gandhiji. The story revolves around the struggle of Gandhi and
other prominent leaders in order to safeguard sharecroppers from the atrocities of landlords.
Summary - 1
In December 1916 Gandhi went to Lucknow to attend the annual convention of the Indian
National Congress. There were 2,301 delegates and many visitors. A peasant from Champaran,
Rajkumar Shukla, asked Gandhi to visit his district. Shukla followed Gandhi, wherever he went.
In 1917, Gandhi and Shukla boarded a train for Patna. Shukla led Gandhi to the house of a
lawyer named Rajendra Prasad. They could not see him as he was out of town.
Gandhi decided to go first to Muzaffarpur to obtain complete information about the conditions
in Champaran. He reached Muzaffarpur by train at midnight on 15 April 1917. Professor J.B.
Kriplani, received him at the station. Gandhi stayed there for two days. The news of Gandhi’s
arrival and the nature of his mission spread quickly through Muzaffarpur and to Champaran.
,Sharecroppers from Champaran began arriving there. Muzaffarpur lawyers briefed Gandhi
about the court cases. He chided the lawyers for collecting big fees from the sharecroppers. He
thought that lawcourts were useless for the crushed and fear-stricken peasants. The real relief
for them was to be free from fear.
Then Gandhi arrived in Champaran. He began by trying to get the facts from the secretary of
the British landlords’ association. He refused to give information to an outsider. Gandhi said
that he was not an outsider. Next, Gandhi called on the British official commissioner of the
Tirhut division. The commissioner started bullying Gandhi and advised him to leave Tirhut.
Instead of leaving the area, Gandhi went to Motihari, the Capital of Champaran. Several
lawyers accompanied him. A large crowd of people greeted Gandhi at the railway station. It was
the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
A peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village. The next morning Gandhi started out on the
back of an elephant. Soon he was stopped by the police superintendent’s messenger and ordered
to return to town in his carriage. Gandhi complied. The messenger drove Gandhi home. Then he
served him with an official notice to quit Champaran at once. Gandhi signed the receipt for the
notice and wrote on it that he would disobey the order. Gandhi received a summons to appear in
court the next day. At night Gandhi telegraphed Rajendra Prasad, sent instructions to the ashram
and wired a full report to the Viceroy.
Thousands of peasants gathered around the court house. The officials felt powerless. The
authorities wished to consult their superiors. Gandhi protested against the delay. The magistrate
announced that he would pronounce sentence after a two-hour recess. He asked Gandhi to
furnish bail for those 120 minutes. Gandhi refused. The judge released him without bail. The
court started again after a break. The judge said he would not deliver the judgement for several
days. He allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty.
Gandhi asked the prominent lawyers about the injustice to the sharecroppers. They consulted
among themselves. Then they told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail. Gandhi
then divided the group into pairs and fixed the order in which each pair was to court arrest.
After several days, Gandhi was informed by the magistrate that the case had been dropped. For
the first time in modern India, civil disobedience had triumphed.
Gandhi and lawyers conducted an inquiry into the complaints of the peasants. About ten
thousand peasants deposed. Documents were collected. Gandhi was summoned by Sir Edward
Gait, the Lieutenant-Governor. He met the Lieutenant Governor four times. An official
commission of inquiry was appointed.
Gandhi remained in Champaran initially for seven months and then came for several shorter
visits. The official inquiry assembled evidence against the big planters. They agreed in principle
to make refunds to the peasants. Gandhi asked only 50 per cent. The representative of the
planters offered to refund up to 25 per cent. Gandhi agreed. The deadlock was broken.
, Gandhi explained that the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the
landlords had been forced to give some money and their prestige. The peasant now saw that he
had rights and defenders. He learned courage. Events justified Gandhi’s position. Within a few
years the British planters abandoned their estates. These now went back to the peasants. Indigo
sharecropping disappeared.
Gandhi wanted to do something to remove the cultural and social backwardness in Champaran
villages. He appealed for teachers. Two young disciples of Gandhi, Mahadev Desai and Narhari
Parikh, and their wives volunteered for 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. Kasturba taught the ashram rules
on personal cleanliness and community sanitation.
Health conditions were miserable. Gandhi got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months.
Three medicines were available : castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment. Gandhi noticed the
filthy state of women’s clothes. One woman told Kasturba that she had only one sari. During his
long stay in Champaran, Gandhi kept a long distance watch on the ashram and sent regular
instructions by mail.
The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi’s life. It did not begin as an act of
defiance. It grew out of an attempt to lessen the sufferings of the poor peasants. Gandhi’s
politics was closely connected with the practical day to day problems of the millions. He tried
to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make India free.
Gandhi also taught his followers a lesson in self-reliance. Gandhi’s lawyer friends thought that
it would be a good idea for Charles Freer Andrews, the English pacifist, to stay in Champaran
and help them. Andrews was willing if Gandhi agreed. But Gandhi opposed it forcefully. He
said, “The cause is just and you must rely upon yourselves to win the battle.”
Thus, self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.
Summary - 2
Louis Fischer met Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram. Gandhi told him that how he
initiated the departure of the British from India. He recalled that it in 1917 at the request of
Rajkumar Shukla, a sharecropper from Champaran, he visited the place. Gandhi had gone to
Lucknow to attend the annual meeting of Indian National Congress in the year 1916. Shukla
told him that he had come from Champaran to seek his help in order to safeguard the interests
of the sharecroppers. Gandhi told him that he was busy so Shukla accompanied him to various
places till he consented to visit Chaparan. His firm decision impressed Gandhiji and he
promised him that he would visit Calcutta at a particular date and then Shukla could come and
take him along to Champaran. Shukla met him at Calcutta and they took a train to Patna.
Gandhi went to lawyer Rajendra Prasad’s house and they waited for him. In order to grab
complete knowledge of the situation, he reached Muzzafarpur on 15th April 1917. He was
Ch. 5 - Indigo
by Louis Fischer
About the Author
Louis Fischer (1896-1970) was born in Philadelphia in 1896. He served as a volunteer in the
British Army between 1918-1920. Fischer made a career as a journalist and wrote for The New
York Times, The Saturday Review and for European and Asian publications. He was also a
member of the faculty of Princeton University.
Introduction to the chapter
The story is based on the interview taken by Louis Fischer of Mahatma Gandhi. In order to
write on him he had visited him in 1942 at his ashram- Sevagram where he was told about the
Indigo Movement started by Gandhiji. The story revolves around the struggle of Gandhi and
other prominent leaders in order to safeguard sharecroppers from the atrocities of landlords.
Summary - 1
In December 1916 Gandhi went to Lucknow to attend the annual convention of the Indian
National Congress. There were 2,301 delegates and many visitors. A peasant from Champaran,
Rajkumar Shukla, asked Gandhi to visit his district. Shukla followed Gandhi, wherever he went.
In 1917, Gandhi and Shukla boarded a train for Patna. Shukla led Gandhi to the house of a
lawyer named Rajendra Prasad. They could not see him as he was out of town.
Gandhi decided to go first to Muzaffarpur to obtain complete information about the conditions
in Champaran. He reached Muzaffarpur by train at midnight on 15 April 1917. Professor J.B.
Kriplani, received him at the station. Gandhi stayed there for two days. The news of Gandhi’s
arrival and the nature of his mission spread quickly through Muzaffarpur and to Champaran.
,Sharecroppers from Champaran began arriving there. Muzaffarpur lawyers briefed Gandhi
about the court cases. He chided the lawyers for collecting big fees from the sharecroppers. He
thought that lawcourts were useless for the crushed and fear-stricken peasants. The real relief
for them was to be free from fear.
Then Gandhi arrived in Champaran. He began by trying to get the facts from the secretary of
the British landlords’ association. He refused to give information to an outsider. Gandhi said
that he was not an outsider. Next, Gandhi called on the British official commissioner of the
Tirhut division. The commissioner started bullying Gandhi and advised him to leave Tirhut.
Instead of leaving the area, Gandhi went to Motihari, the Capital of Champaran. Several
lawyers accompanied him. A large crowd of people greeted Gandhi at the railway station. It was
the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
A peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village. The next morning Gandhi started out on the
back of an elephant. Soon he was stopped by the police superintendent’s messenger and ordered
to return to town in his carriage. Gandhi complied. The messenger drove Gandhi home. Then he
served him with an official notice to quit Champaran at once. Gandhi signed the receipt for the
notice and wrote on it that he would disobey the order. Gandhi received a summons to appear in
court the next day. At night Gandhi telegraphed Rajendra Prasad, sent instructions to the ashram
and wired a full report to the Viceroy.
Thousands of peasants gathered around the court house. The officials felt powerless. The
authorities wished to consult their superiors. Gandhi protested against the delay. The magistrate
announced that he would pronounce sentence after a two-hour recess. He asked Gandhi to
furnish bail for those 120 minutes. Gandhi refused. The judge released him without bail. The
court started again after a break. The judge said he would not deliver the judgement for several
days. He allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty.
Gandhi asked the prominent lawyers about the injustice to the sharecroppers. They consulted
among themselves. Then they told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail. Gandhi
then divided the group into pairs and fixed the order in which each pair was to court arrest.
After several days, Gandhi was informed by the magistrate that the case had been dropped. For
the first time in modern India, civil disobedience had triumphed.
Gandhi and lawyers conducted an inquiry into the complaints of the peasants. About ten
thousand peasants deposed. Documents were collected. Gandhi was summoned by Sir Edward
Gait, the Lieutenant-Governor. He met the Lieutenant Governor four times. An official
commission of inquiry was appointed.
Gandhi remained in Champaran initially for seven months and then came for several shorter
visits. The official inquiry assembled evidence against the big planters. They agreed in principle
to make refunds to the peasants. Gandhi asked only 50 per cent. The representative of the
planters offered to refund up to 25 per cent. Gandhi agreed. The deadlock was broken.
, Gandhi explained that the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the
landlords had been forced to give some money and their prestige. The peasant now saw that he
had rights and defenders. He learned courage. Events justified Gandhi’s position. Within a few
years the British planters abandoned their estates. These now went back to the peasants. Indigo
sharecropping disappeared.
Gandhi wanted to do something to remove the cultural and social backwardness in Champaran
villages. He appealed for teachers. Two young disciples of Gandhi, Mahadev Desai and Narhari
Parikh, and their wives volunteered for 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. Kasturba taught the ashram rules
on personal cleanliness and community sanitation.
Health conditions were miserable. Gandhi got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months.
Three medicines were available : castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment. Gandhi noticed the
filthy state of women’s clothes. One woman told Kasturba that she had only one sari. During his
long stay in Champaran, Gandhi kept a long distance watch on the ashram and sent regular
instructions by mail.
The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi’s life. It did not begin as an act of
defiance. It grew out of an attempt to lessen the sufferings of the poor peasants. Gandhi’s
politics was closely connected with the practical day to day problems of the millions. He tried
to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make India free.
Gandhi also taught his followers a lesson in self-reliance. Gandhi’s lawyer friends thought that
it would be a good idea for Charles Freer Andrews, the English pacifist, to stay in Champaran
and help them. Andrews was willing if Gandhi agreed. But Gandhi opposed it forcefully. He
said, “The cause is just and you must rely upon yourselves to win the battle.”
Thus, self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.
Summary - 2
Louis Fischer met Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram. Gandhi told him that how he
initiated the departure of the British from India. He recalled that it in 1917 at the request of
Rajkumar Shukla, a sharecropper from Champaran, he visited the place. Gandhi had gone to
Lucknow to attend the annual meeting of Indian National Congress in the year 1916. Shukla
told him that he had come from Champaran to seek his help in order to safeguard the interests
of the sharecroppers. Gandhi told him that he was busy so Shukla accompanied him to various
places till he consented to visit Chaparan. His firm decision impressed Gandhiji and he
promised him that he would visit Calcutta at a particular date and then Shukla could come and
take him along to Champaran. Shukla met him at Calcutta and they took a train to Patna.
Gandhi went to lawyer Rajendra Prasad’s house and they waited for him. In order to grab
complete knowledge of the situation, he reached Muzzafarpur on 15th April 1917. He was
