"Indigo" AHSEC Class 12 English notes by M MAB ® Learning. @mmab_1

1. Indigo
Very Short Questions Answers:
1. Who is Sir Edward Gait? [HS 2012,15]
Ans. Sir Edward Gait was the Lieutenant Governor of the province of Champaran.
2. Who was Rajkumar Shukla? [HS 2012,16]
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was a poor sharecropper from Champaran.
3. Whom did Gandhi and Shukla propose to meet at Patna? [HS 2013,17]
Ans. Gandhi and Shukla wanted to meet Rajendra Prasad at Patna.
4. Why was Gandhi visiting Lucknow in 1916? [HS 2013,20]
Ans. Gandhi visited Lucknow in 1916 to attend the annual meeting of the Indian National
Congress.
5. Where is Champaran situated?
[HS 2014,18]
Ans. Champaran was situated in the foothills of the Himalayas in Bihar and near the kingdom of
Nepal.
6. What did Shukla want Gandhi to do?
[HS 2015]
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla wanted Gandhi to visit his district Champaran.
7. What was Gandhi's politics intertwined with? [HS 2016]
Ans. Gandhi's politics was intertwined with the practical, day to day problems of the millions.
8. Which country has developed synthetic indigo? [HS 2019]
Ans. Germany has developed synthetic indigo.
9. Where did Gandhi stay in Muzaffarpur?
[HS 2019]
Ans. Gandhi stayed for two days in the home of Professor Malkani in Muzaffarpur.
Short Questions Answers:
10. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his
life? [HS 2012]
Or,
Why was the Champaran episode so significant in Gandhi's life? [HS 2016]
Ans. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi's life. Gandhi himself accepted it. It
was the first mass movement in India. Gandhi took up the cause of the poor peasants. He
fought against the injustices of the cruel landlords. They extorted money from the poor
sharecroppers. But Champaran didn't begin as an act of defiance. The movement grew out of
Gandhi's attempt to remove the distress of thousands of poor peasants. lt was a typical

2. Gandhian movement.
The success of Champaran marked the first victory of the Civil Disobedience in mode India.
The amount of the refund money was less important. More important was that English landlords
were forced to surrender part of the money. Previously they behaved as lords above the law.
Now the Indian peasants had people to defend their rights.
Above all, the Champaran episode was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
11. What was the incident that prompted Gandhi to raise his voice of protest against the
British? [HS 2013,17]
Ans. In 1917 Gandhi visited Champaran at the request of Rajkumar Shukla to fight against the
injustice done to the sharecroppers of the district by the landlords. Gandhi succeeded in getting
an honorable settlement for the sharecropping peasants. This Champaran episode prompted
Gandhi to raise his voice against the British.
12. Why did Gandhi choose to go to Muzaffarpur first before going on to
Champaran? [HS 2018]
Ans. Gandhi chooses to go to Muzzafarpur first because it was a route to Champaran and he
wanted to collect more information about conditions prevailing in Champaran.
13. How was a solution to the problem of indigo share croppers of Champaran found?
[HS 2019]
Ans. Gandhi went to Bihar to take up the cause of poor peasants. There was a huge
demonstration of the thousands of peasants the very next morning. The Government was
baffled. A commission of inquiry was constituted. Gandhi was the sole representative of the
peasants. He remained in Champaran for more than seven months. There were many
evidences against the landlords. They had illegally extorted money from the sharecroppers.
Gandhi asked for 50% refund. The planters offered to refund only 25%. Gandhi agreed.
14. Why was Professor Malkani's action of offering shelter to Gandhi 'extraordinary'?
[HS 2020]
Ans. Professor Malkani was a teacher in a Government school. It was an extraordinary thing in
those days for a Government officer to harbor or show sympathy to an advocate home-rule for
India.
Long Questions Answers:
15. Describe the exploitation of the indigo sharecroppers by the English landlords. Did Gandhi
help them to get an honourable settlement? [HS 2013,17,20]
Ans. The English landlords in Champaran compelled all sharecroppers to plant l5% of their
holdings with indigo. They had to surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent to the landlords.
This was done by a long-term contract. Then Germany developed synthetic indigo. The
plantation of natural indigo was no more a profitable business for English landlords. They
decided to free the Indian sharecroppers from the 15% contract. They were to pay
compensation for this freedom. The peasants saw through the trick and fraud of the landlords.
Therefore, they refused to pay compensation. Those who had signed the agreement demanded
their money back.
Yes, Gandhi helps them to get an honorable settlement. He went to Bihar to take up the
cause of poor peasants. There was a huge demonstration of thousands of peasants the very

3. next day. The government was baffled. A commission of inquiry was constituted. Gandhi was
the sole representative of the peasants. The landlords decided to refund the money to the
peasants. At last, they settled for 25%. The amount of refund was less important. The more
important thing was the victory of the peasants and the victory of the Civil Disobedience in India.
16. Describe the efforts made by R. K. Shukla to persuade Gandhi to go to Champaran?
[HS 2014]
Ans. Gandhiji had gone to the December 1916 Annual Convention of the Indian National
Congress in Lucknow. A peasant came up to see him. He was Rajkumar Shukla. He looked like
any other peasant in India. He was poor and emaciated. He was from Champaran. Gandhiji had
never heard of the place. Shukla apprised Gandhiji about the injustices of the landlord system in
Champaran. Gandhiji told Shukla that he had an appointment in Kanpur. He was also committed
to go to other parts of India. Shukla accompanied Gandhi everywhere. Gandhiji returned to his
ashram near Ahmedabad. Shukla also followed him to the ashram. He begged Gandhiji to fix a
date.
Gandhiji was impressed by Shukla's tenacity and honesty. Gandhiji was to be in Calcutta on
a particular day. He asked Shukla to come and take him from there. Months passed. When
Gandhiji arrived at Calcutta he found Shukla sitting there on his haunches. He waited till
Gandhiji was free. Then both of them boarded a train for Patna in Bihar. From there Gandhiji
went to Muzaffarpur and from there to Motihari. Then finally, he came to Champaran.
17. 'The battle of Champaran is won', Gandhi exclaimed. Explain the context in which this was
said. [HS 2015,16]
Ans. When Gandhi was in Motihari, the headquarter of Champaran district, he was served with
a notice to leave the district immediately. Gandhi signed a receipt for the notice and wrote on it
that he would disobey the order. Thereupon, he was summoned to appear in the Court the next
morning. The news of Gandhi being summoned to the court spread and thousands of peasants
gathered around the courthouse the next morning. Their spontaneous demonstration baffled the
government and it wanted to postpone the date of trial. But Gandhi protested against the
postponement and he told the court that he was involved in a 'conflict of duties-on the one hand,
not to set a bad example as a lawbreaker; on the other hand, he was to do justices to thousands
of poor sharecroppers. He disobeyed the order to leave not because he did not have respect for
the lawful authority, but because of his obedience to the voice of his conscience. But the
magistrate reserved the judgment to a later date. Rajendra Prasad, and many other prominent
lawyers who had come to help Gandhi then conferred among themselves and decided to follow
him into jail. At this Gandhi exclaimed with joy that "The battle of Champaran is won."
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