INDIGO

Art Integrated Project

IND
1. THE INDIGO MOVEMENT
2. THE ORIGIN OF MOVEMENT
3. THE ISSUES IT DELT WITH
4. GOVERNMENT MEASURES

Ex
5. GANDHIAN VIRTUES
6. OUTCOME OF THE
MOVEMENT
Introduction
This Presentation summarises the details of the
lesson ‘INDIGO’ the fifth chapter of book
Flamingo and also has some additional
information about the Indigo Movement started
by Mahatma Gandhi in the Early Twentieth
Century. It also discusses about the Outcomes the
political importance and the issues regarding it.
The indigo movement

• The Indigo Movement of 1917 was the first Satyagrah Led by

Gandhiji in India it was also called the Champaran Satyagrah,it also
played an Important role in the Indian Freedoom Struggle
• Under colonial era laws many tenant farmers were forced to grow
some Indigo on a portion of their land as a condition of their tenancy.
The indigo was used to make dye.
• The German had invented a cheaper and artificial dye so the demand
for Indigo fell.Some tenants had to pay more rent in return for beign
let of of paying more let of to grow Indigo.
• However during the first world war the german dye ceased to be
The origin of movement

1. The movement was originated at

Champaran. Currently Champaran is an
administrative district in the state of Bihar in
India. It is located 60 km west of Birgunj.it
is part of Tihrut Division
2. It was originated by the peasents due to
resentment on growing indigo on almost
15% of their land for the British
Government for no profit,
3. It was the first Civil Disobident
Movement that was started by Gandhiji after
he came to India in 1915 due unsettlement
 Gandhi heard about an obnoxious system of agricultural labour prevailing in Bihar.
In the Champaran district of Bihar, the cultivators were forced by Europeans to grow
indigo, a blue dye, and this imposed on them untold sufferings. They could not grow
the food they needed, nor did they receive adequate payment for the indigo.
Gandhi was unaware of this until an agriculturist from Bihar, Rajkumar Shukla, met
him and told him of the woes of the people of Champaran. He requested Gandhi to go
to the place and see for himself the state of affairs there. Gandhi was them attending the
Congress meeting at Lucknow and he did not have time to go there.

Rajkumar Shukla followed him about, begging him to come and help the suffering
villagers in Champaran. Gandhi at last promised to visit the place after he had visited
Calcutta. When Gandhi was in Calcutta, Rajkumar was there too, to take him to
Bihar.
Gandhi went to Champaran with Rajkumar early in 1917. On his arrival the District
Magistrate served him with a notice saying g that he was not to remain in the district
of Champaran but must leave the place by the first available train.
Gandhi disobeyed this order. He was summoned to appear before the court.
 Grievence of tenants
(issues delt with it)

1916 indigo was grown on 21,900 acres and in 1917 on 26,848 acres, out of which
about two thirds were grown asamiwar and only one-third under the zerait system.
The planters, however, did not lose much on account of the fall in the price of
indigo, as they devised means, *to be detailed later, to transfer the loss to the
shoulders of the poor tenants. . There are two kinds of indigo Sumatra indigo and
Java or Natal indigo. Before 1905 only Sumatra indigo used to be grown. For this
crop the land is tilled from Aswin to Phalgun (September to March) and the seed is
sown in March. The crop is cut in Asarh (June to July), and this is known as the
Morhan crop. The stump that is left in the field is cut once again in Bhadon
(August to September) and this is known as khunti. The Java or Natal indigo is
sown in Kartik to Aghan (October to November) and is cut at the same time as the
Sumatra crop. From 100 maunds of leaves and stalk about 10 seers of indigo cakes
are prepared.
 Government measures

• the Government ordered a refund by the factories of one fourth of the tawan realized by
them, the tenants of the factory did not get any refund, as Mr. Jameson and his partner had
departed after realizing the taivan, and it was considered unjust by the Government to force
the new proprietors to make a refund of what they had not realized.
• It has already been mentioned that in 1912-13 many petitions were submitted by the tenants
against the planters. It has also been said how in spite of these petitions Sir Charles Bayley
towards the end of 1912 congratulated the planters at Sonepur on the satisfactory relations
then subsisting between them and their tenants. But this certificate could not long suppress
the truth. When Sir Charles Bayley visited Champaran in the following February, the
tenants memorialized him again and we give below three of such petitions.
THREE PETITIONS BY TENANTS TO THE
GOVERNMENT

I
The humble petition of the undersigned tenants of the village Gawandra, Tappa
Harihara, Dist. Champaran, Most respectfully showeth
. That the petitioners are tenants and kashtkars of the village Gawandra which is
in lease to the Gawandra Indigo factory.
II
We the tenants of Mouzas Phenhara, Parsrampur, Rapawlia, Jamunia Nasiba, and
Ibrahimpur Parsawni, Dist. Champaran beg to offer our humble though hearty
and loyal welcome to Your Honour on the occasion of Your Honour's graceful
visit to the District of Champaran and we take it as a forerunner of peace and
contentment in the district.
III
We the tenants of Mouza Madhubani, thana Dhaka. Dist. Champaran, beg to offer
 GANDHIAN VIRTUES
• To Gandhi, truth and morality were an article of faith. He knew that
nation-building and nation's survival depended on its moral foundations.
• He never subscribed to the view that good society could be made out of
immoral acts. So also people's struggle could not be sustained if it was
not based on morality and truth.
• Since truth was indivisible, there was no difference between the private
truth and the public truth. To Gandhi, the dichotomy between the esoteric
truth and the public truth was redundant because the complex relations
between the two were demystified by him and thus made simple.
• His concept of moral authority has no mystique in it. Moral authority
remained dormant in the people and Gandhi's contri-bution was to bring
it out to surface by making the people active.
• Then the moral authority became a reality. The people came to realise
 Some of the important causes of Champaran peasant
struggles
• (1) In Champaran and as a matter of fact in the whole of Bihar, there was an enormous personal
increase in the land rent.
• (2) The peasants were obliged to grow indigo and this curtailed their freedom of cultivation.
• (3) The peasants were compelled to devote the best part of their land for growing particular
crops as desired by the landlord. They were also required to give their best time and energy to
the crops decided by the landlord.
• (4) The peasants were paid very poor wages. These were so meagre that it was very difficult for
them to earn their livelihood. Briefing the situation of peasants in Champaran D.G. Tendulkar
writes: The tale of woes of Indian ryots, forced to plant indigo by the British planters, forms one
of the blackest in the an­nals of colonial exploitation. Not a chest of Indigo reached England
without being stained with human blood.
• (5) One very important reason for the Champaran unrest was the sub-human life led by the
people. Gandhiji when visited Cham­paran was very much displeased by the abject poverty of
the peasants. He expressed his feelings in the following words: “The peasants in Champaran are
leading their lives like animals, suffer­ing from all kinds of miseries.”The Champaran peasantry
 OUTCOME OF THE
MOVEMENT
(1) One very important outcome of the movement was the enact­ment of Champaran
Agrarian Act assented by Governor General of India on 1st May, 1918.
(2) E.M.S. Namboodripad, the leader of the left movement in In­dia, considered
Champaran movement as a contribution to the development of nationalism. He
observes:
…despite stiff opposition by the European planters and their protec­tors in the
bureaucracy, Gandhiji and his comrades were able to bring the struggle to a
successful conclusion
(3) There were few scholars who did not consider the Champaran movement as a
success story. The movement did not succeed to strike against the exploitation and
discrimination with which the peasants suffered. Ramesh Chandra Dutt, for
instance, argued that the settle­ments made between the government and the peasants