and defeated him at Hajipur, after which he fled toBettiah.
Involvement of Gandhi
Farmers in Champaran had earlier revolted against the conditions of indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916 (Turkaulia). Then Pandit Raj Kumar Shukla persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to visit Champaran and the "Champaran Satyagraha" began.[1] At around the same time the Indian National Congress in December 1916 passed at Lucknow a resolution requesting the Government to appoint a committee of both officials and non-officials to inquire into the agrarian trouble facing the district.
Gandhi's historic visit to Champaran was opposed by the British rulers. An order asking him to leave Champaran was served upon him as soon as he arrived at Motihari. Gandhi defied the order. Of the several prominent persons who rallied round him, mention may be made of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Brajkishore Prasad, Acharya Kriplani,Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha,Mahadeo Desai, C. F. Andrews, H. S. Pollock, Raj Kishore Prasad, Ram Nawami Prasad,Shambhu Sharan, Ramarshi Dev Trivedi and Dharnidhar Prasad. After considerable struggle the Government was compelled to lift the ban on Gandhi's stay here. For the first time on Indian soil Satyagraha (Non-Violence) was successfully put to the test. Eventually a committee of inquiry was appointed by the Government under the chairmanship of Frank Shy. Gandhi was also made one of the members of the committee. On the basis of valued recommendations of the committee, the Champaran Agraria Law (Bihar and Orissa Act I of March 1918) was passed.
In 1920, Gandhi made an extensive tour of Bihar before launching the non-co-operation movement, which earned full support in the district as well. In 1929, a group of volunteers from Champran district came to demonstrate against the Simon commission. In the same year the 21st session of the Bihar students conference was held at Motihari.
As a
