In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi started his first satyagraha in India against the forced cultivation of indigo by Europeans in which of the following districts of British India?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. Champaran.
Mahatma Gandhi started his first satyagraha in India against the forced cultivation of indigo by European planters in the Champaran district of British India (now in Bihar). The indigo farmers were subjected to exploitative practices under the Tinkathia system, which forced them to grow indigo on a portion of their land. Gandhi, responding to the farmers' appeal, led a nonviolent protest demanding the abolition of this system and better treatment for the peasants. The Champaran Satyagraha became a landmark movement in India’s freedom struggle and marked Gandhi’s emergence as a national leader advocating civil rights through peaceful resistance.
Other options:
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Buxar: Known for the 1764 Battle of Buxar, unrelated to Gandhi’s indigo Satyagraha.
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Kheda: Site of Gandhi’s later 1918 peasant movement in Gujarat.
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Ahmedabad: Location of Gandhi’s 1918 textile mill workers’ strike, not the first satyagraha.