INDIGO

by
Louis Fischer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
• Louis Fischer (29 February 1896 – 15 January 1970, born in Philadelphia) was an American journalist. He started off as a
school teacher, served a military unit in Palestine, worked as a correspondent, published several books and taught about
the Soviet Union at Princeton University until his death.

• Among his works were a contribution to the ex-Communist treatise The God that Failed (1949), The Life of 
Mahatma Gandhi (1950), basis for the Academy Award-winning film Gandhi (1982), as well as a Life of Lenin, which
won the 1965 National Book Award in History and Biography.

• He came to India in May 1942. He was in India for two months when the world war was in full swing. In the scorching
heat of June he spent one week with Gandhiji in his Ashram at Sevagram, working on his biography, ‘The Life of
Mahatma’. It was here that Gandhi ji revealed to Fischer the reason behind protesting against the British in 1917 and
urging their departure.
 INTRODUCTION
This story is set in 1917,
Champaran, where Gandhi steps
up to help a bunch of poor
peasants from Champaran. It gives
an account of how he struggled to
bring them justice and equality. 
 GENESIS – HOW DID IT ALL START?
• Neel (indigo – a natural dye) started being grown commercially
primarily for export to China, UK and Europe. Being a cash
crop which needed high amounts of water and which left the soil
infertile, local farmers usually opposed its cultivation. Hence, the
British colonialists forced farmers to grow indigo, often by making
this the condition for providing loans, and through collusion with
local kings, nawabs, and landlords. Later, when the Germans
invented a cheaper artificial dye, the demand for indigo fell. Some
tenants paid more rent in return for being let off having to grow
indigo.

• The farmers were totally unprotected from the indigo planters, who
resorted to mortgages or destruction of their property if they were
unwilling to obey them. Government rules favoured the planters. It
had caused the cultivators to protest against the unfair practices of
the British Raj.
 JUSTIFICATION OF THE
TITLE
• INDIGO – The colour of British Oppression : The indigo plant has been an enduring
symbol of British exploitation throughout the independence struggle. The indigo planters/ British
landlords persuaded the peasants to plant indigo on 15 per cent of their land and surrender the
entire harvest as rent.

• Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran who were the
sharecroppers with the British planters: Gandhi waged a war for about a year against
their atrocities and brought justice to the poor peasants. Non-violent passive resistance later
successfully adopted by  Gandhiji saved the poor peasants.

• Indigo –instrumental in triggering the first Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi

in 1917 in India: Considered a historically important revolt in the Indian Independence
Movement. It was a farmer's uprising that took place in Champaran district of Bihar, India, during
the British colonial period. The farmers were protesting against having to grow indigo with barely
any payment for it.
 THEMES
• Effective leadership shown by Mahatma Gandhi in securing justice
for the oppressed peasants in Champaran through convincing
arguments and negotiation.
• Gandhi’s modus operandi in the battle of unequals: Non Violence,
self reliance and civil disobedience
• Turning point in Gandhi’s political career
• Typical Gandhi pattern- politics intertwined with the practical day –
to- day problems of the millions
• Gandhi as a social reformer
• Contributions made by anonymous Indians to the freedom
movement.
 CHARACTERS
• Mahatma Gandhi- Indian National Leader
• Rajendra Prasad- A lawyer and later the President of India
• J.B. Kriplani- A Professor in Art College, Muzaffarpur, Bihar
• Prof. Malkani- A teacher in a Govt. school
• Sir Edward Gait- Lieutenant Governor
• Raj Kumar Shukla-A sharecropper from Champaran , Bihar
• Brij Kishore Babu, Maulana Mazharul Huq- Lawyers from Bihar
• Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh- Gandhi’s disciples – volunteered to work as teachers
• Charles Freer Andrews- A follower of Gandhi
• Kasturbai- Wife of Mahatma Gandhi
• Devdas- Youngest son of Gandhi
 THE PEASANT MEETS
THE MAHATMA

• Rajkumar Shukla, a sharecropper from Champaran, Bihar, met Gandhi at

the annual meeting of Indian National Congress in Lucknow in the year
1916.
• Shukla told him that he sought 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 Champaran.
• Rajkumar Shukla was firm but resolute. His firm decision impressed
Gandhiji and he promised him that he would visit Calcutta at a particular
date . Shukla met him at Calcutta and they took a train to Patna. 
 THE FIRST STEPS
• Gandhi went to lawyer Rajendra Prasad’s house.
• In order to gain complete knowledge of the situation, he reached
Muzzafarpur on 15th April 1917.
• He was welcomed by Prof. J.B Kriplani and his students.
• Gandhi was surprised to see the immense support for an advocate of
home rule like him.
• He also met some lawyers who were already handling cases of
sharecroppers.
• He visited the British landlord association but he was not given any
information because he was an outsider.
 THE CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA
• Gandhi threatened by Commissioner of Tirhut (Division in which Champaran district lay) to leave Tirhut

• Went to Motihari ( Capital of Champaran) where, accompanied by many lawyers he started gathering complete
information about the indigo contract.
• The police superintendent’s messenger served him a notice asking him to leave - Gandhi received the notice but
disobeyed the order - Case filed against him.
• On the day of trial, Gandhi helped the officers to control the crowd demonstrating outside the court, giving them
concrete proof that their might, hitherto dreaded and unquestioned, could be challenged by Indians.

• Prosecutor requested to postpone the trial –Gandhi protested - gave his statement that he was not a lawbreaker but
he disobeyed so that he could help the peasants.
• Magistrate ordered Gandhi to furnish bail for 2 hours (recess period) – Gandhi refused. He was granted bail.
 DENOUEMENT – THE FINALE
• Rajendra Prasad, Brij Kishor Babu, Maulana Mazharul Huq and several other prominent lawyers arrived
from Bihar
• Conferred with Gandhi about future action – decided to court arrest
• Lieutenant Governor of the province ordered the case to be dropped = civil disobedience triumphed
• Gandhi and his associates gathered all sorts of information related to the indigo contract and its misuse.
• A commission was set up to look into the matter.
• the planters found guilty / were asked to pay back to the peasants.
• Gandhi demanded 50 per cent of the repayment - Expecting refusal, they offered to pay only 25 percent of
the amount.
• Gandhi accepted thus breaking the deadlock.
 TRIUMPH OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
• When Gandhi visited Champaran to look into the grievances of the peasants, he was served with
an official notice to quit Champaran immediately.
• Gandhi signed the notice but refused to obey the order.
• A case was initiated against Gandhi for disregarding the government order ,as a result ,he was
ordered to appear in the court the next day. This was the beginning of Civil Disobedience.
• Spontaneous demonstration by thousands of peasants in front of the court house baffled the
officials.
• They appealed Gandhi to help them to manage the crowd which he did .
• The judge was requested to postpone the trial .
• The magistrate demanded Gandhi to furnish bail but Gandhi did not comply with the orders.
• The judge released Gandhi without bail.
• Several days later, Gandhi received a letter stating that the case was dropped by the Lieutenant –
Governor.
• This was the triumph of Civil Disobedience in India
 INDIGO MOVEMENT- A TURNING POINT IN
GANDHI’S LIFE

• Gandhi reached Champaran to understand the appalling conditions of sharecroppers after having
clues from Rajkumar Shukla. He found that large estates were owned by the Englishmen where
Indian peasant worked as tenant farmers and they paid 15% of their land yield. After great
tussle , Gandhi made the British agree to refund 25% of their money. It was a turning point in
Gandhi’s life . In India, only a few, at that time knew his name and his achievement in South
Africa . Chamaparan episode was the first movement, led by Gandhi in India which eventually
turned out to be a historically important revolt in Indian Independence Movement .What began
as an attempt to fight injustice against the hapless peasants and to alleviate their sufferings, later
turned out to be Gandhi’s loud and clear pronouncement that British couldn’t order him about in
his own country. The Champaran episode established the efficacy of non-cooperation as a means
of fighting injustice and initiated the meek and mute masses into courage. It revealed his
principles in the political field. It was during this agitation that first time Gandhi was called
‘Mahatma’ and ‘Bapu’.
 GANDHI- A CHAMPION OF DOWNTRODDEN
• Indigo highlights the sterling traits of Gandhi’ s multi-faceted personality.He drew crowds wherever
he went. His comment ’What I did was a very ordinary thing’ on the victory of civil disobedience
also speaks of his unpretentiousness. He focussed not on the problem but on the solution. His
painstaking efforts coupled with this attitude helped him change the plight of sharecroppers. This
shows how relentless and untiring worker he was. Intrepid by nature , he got intimidated neither by
the British nor by their orders. Discreet and judicious as he was , he kept in mind the long term
impacts instead of running after short term gains. Hence he broke the deadlock in the compensation
issue, accepting only 25% refund. Gandhi’s communicative skills and persuasiveness impressed the
British and made the Indian intelligensia- the eminent lawyers, agree with his view point. A self
confident man , he looked for self- reliance . His approach was a holistic one.
 • Mahatma Gandhi is venerated as the leader of the
freedom movement of India and he is credited with
the emancipation of India from the British rule.
Mahatma Gandhi lived a completely versatile
life .There is not a single field of human activity which
was left un-touched by him, such as politics, religion
and ethics , journalism and literature . He was not
only a social-worker but he was a social-reformer.

• This chapter proves how Gandhi never contented himself with large political or
economic solutions. He saw the cultural and social backwardness in the
Champaran villages and wanted to do something about it immediately.
• He appealed for teachers’ participation. Primary schools were opened in six
villages.
• Kasturbai taught rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation.
• To improve Health conditions, doctor volunteers worked there for six months.
• MEDICINES MADE AVAILABLE, SKILLS TAUGHT TO BECOME SELF RELIANT
 Other Instances:
• Gandhi chided the lawyers for collecting big fee from the sharecroppers.
• Where the peasants are so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts are
useless. The real relief for them is to be free from fear.’
• A report came in that a peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village.
Gandhi decided to go and see; the next morning he started out on the
back of an elephant.
• The lawyers told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail.
‘‘The battle of Champaran is won,’’ he exclaimed.
• Worked on uniting the different sections/ strata of the society.
• Upliftment and instilling self confidence/ self esteem.
 TYPICAL GANDHI PATTERN

• His politics were knitted up with the practical day-to-day problems of the millions . The
Chamapran incident did not begin as an act of defiance. It grew out of an attempt to make the
sufferings of a large number of poor peasants less severe. He analysed the root cause of problem
which was fear and took significant steps to eradicate it. In everything he did, he tried to mould a
new free Indian who could stand for his rights. He did not aim at the fulfilment of ideas, rather,
he was concerned for the people. He was a leader of mass appeal.
 IMPORTANT PHRASES/ LINES
• ‘‘It was an extraordinary thing in those days,’’ Gandhi commented, “for a government professor to harbour a man like me”.
• Where the peasants are so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts are useless. The real relief for them is to be free from fear.’’
• Morning found the town of Motihari black with peasants.
• He was giving them concrete proof that their might, hitherto dreaded and unquestioned, could be challenged by Indians.
• He was involved, he told the court, in a “conflict of duties”— on the one hand, not to set a bad example as a lawbreaker; on the other hand, to render the
“humanitarian and national service” for which he had come. He disregarded the order to leave, “not for want of respect for lawful authority, but in obedience to
the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience”.
• The battle of Champaran is won,’’ he exclaimed.
• Civil disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modern India.
• Gandhi explained that the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been obliged to surrender part of the money and, with it,
part of their prestige.
• Gandhi never contented himself with large political or economic solutions. He saw the cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran villages and wanted to
do something about it immediately.
• The Champaran episode was a turning-point in Gandhi’s life.
• This was the typical Gandhi pattern — his politics were intertwined with the practical, day-to-day problems of the millions. His was not a loyalty to abstractions;
it was a loyalty to living, human beings.
• In everything Gandhi did, moreover, he tried to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make India free.
• Self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.