Peasant Movement in Bihar

During the colonial period, majority of the people of Bihar (about 96%) depended on agriculture for livelihood. The agricultural system here was centuries old and the revenue system, especially in the colonial economy, was exploitative. Due to the decline of cottage industries, increasing burden of population on the land and increasing tyranny of the planters, the agricultural system came to a standstill and the farmers became poor. The peasants were left at the mercy of the zamindars and tehsildars. The landlords used to take arbitrary rent, gifts and forced labor from them. Most of the farmers were evicted from the land and became sharecroppers and landless labourers. Therefore, there was a strong protest by the farmers against the planters, landlords and other middlemen along with the British Raj, which later became a means of protest in the form of many peasant movements.

Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagraha

• Gandhiji reached Patna on 10th April and Champaran on 15th April, 1917 on the request of Rajkumar Shukla, the peasant leader of Champaran in Lucknow Session of Congress on 30th December, 1916.
• Gandhiji’s main associates in the Champaran Satyagraha movement were- Rajkumar Shukla, Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Singh, Braj Kishore Prasad, Dharnidhar, Krishna Singh, Ramnaumi Prasad, Mazharul Haq, J.B.Kriplani, Polak, Shambhu Sharan, Narsingh Parekh, Mahadev Desai (later to become Gandhiji’s secretary), Brajkishore and Shambhunath etc.
• The tinkathia system was introduced by the English planters in the Champaran region. Under this practice, every farmer had to grow crops on 3/20th part of his cultivable land i.e. three katthas in one bigha as per the wish of the landlord. If a farmer wanted to be free from it, he was required to pay a large amount to the planter in the form of tawan, sarahweshi or abwab.
• Through this practice, indigo used to be cultivated on a large scale in this area.
• In 1859-1860 itself, Deenbandhu Mitra had given a poignant depiction of the exploitative system of indigo production in his Bengali play Neeldarpan.
• Nildarpan was translated into English by the famous Bengali poet Madhusudan Dutt in 1861.
• Harishchandra Mukherjee, the editor of ‘Hindu Patriot’, also wrote articles in favor of the suffering farmers.
• The first rebellion against the tyranny of indigo planters started in 1867 AD from Lal Suraiya Kothi in Champaran and spread to Muzaffarpur
• District Magistrate of Champaran, WV Highcock ordered Gandhiji to leave Champaran district by notification and summons issued on 16th April.
• Gandhiji’s Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 aimed to eradicate this exploitative practice. This was the first experiment of Satyagraha by Mahatma Gandhi in India. Due to this Satyagraha, the British government had to withdraw the Tinkathia system and Gandhi became a divine man for the farmers and the people. This Satyagraha became the powerhouse of many further farmer movements.
• Impressed by Gandhiji’s success in Champaran Satyagraha, Rabindranath
• Tagore addressed Gandhiji with the title of ‘Mahatma’. Earlier, Rajkumar
• Shukla had addressed Gandhiji as ‘Bapu’ in the Champaran invitation letter.
• The British government had to pass the ‘Champaran Farmers Act-1918’ due to immense public support for Gandhiji’s non-violent Satyagraha.
• To investigate the condition of farmers in Champaran, a 6-member inquiry committee was formed, which was named Champaran Agrarian Committee.
• The Champaran Agrarian Committee was headed by F.G. Salai (Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh) while its members included Mahatma Gandhi, L.C.
• Adami, Raja Hari Prasad, Narayan Singh, DJ. Reed and G Raini.
• Gandhiji established the first school on November 14, 1917 in a village named Badharwa Lakhansen in Champaran.
• The main teachers of this school were Bawan Gokhale and his wife Avantika Bai Gokhale of Bombay.
• Gandhiji opened the second school in Champaran on November 20, 1917 at Kasturba Seva Kendra village.
• Bhitiharwa Ashram, formerly known as Kasturba Seva Kendra, was established as an educational center for scheduled caste girls and women.
• District Magistrate of Champaran, WV Highcock ordered Gandhiji to leave Champaran district by notification and summons issued on 16th April, 1917.
• Gandhiji’s Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 aimed to eradicate this exploitative practice. This was the first experiment of Satyagraha by Mahatma Gandhi in India. Due to this Satyagraha, the British government had to withdraw the Tinkathia system and Gandhi became a divine man for the farmers and the people. This Satyagraha became the powerhouse of many further farmer movements.
• Impressed by Gandhiji’s success in Champaran Satyagraha, Rabindranath Tagore addressed Gandhiji with the title of ‘Mahatma’. Earlier, Rajkumar Shukla had addressed Gandhiji as ‘Bapu’ in the Champaran invitation letter.
• The British government had to pass the ‘Champaran Farmers Act-1918’ due to immense public support for Gandhiji’s non-violent Satyagraha.
• To investigate the condition of farmers in Champaran, a 6-member inquiry committee was formed, which was named Champaran Agrarian Committee.
• The Champaran Agrarian Committee was headed by F.G. Salai (Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh) while its members included Mahatma Gandhi, L.C. Adami, Raja Hari Prasad, Narayan Singh, DJ. Reed and G Raini.
• Gandhiji established the first school on November 14, 1917 in a village named Badharwa Lakhansen in Champaran.
• The main teachers of this school were Bawan Gokhale and his wife Avantika Bai Gokhale of Bombay.
• Gandhiji opened the second school in Champaran on November 20, 1917 at Kasturba Seva Kendra village.
• Bhitiharwa Ashram, formerly known as Kasturba Seva Kendra, was established as an educational center for scheduled caste girls and women.
• The Government of Bihar has established Bhitiharwa Ashram as a historical site.

Note: Satyagraha centenary year (1917-2017) was organized in the entire state to mark the completion of 100 years of Gandhiji’s ‘Champaran Satyagraha’ in Bihar. In its conclusion, on February 21-22, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the exhibition ‘Swachhagraha-Bapu Ko Karyanjali-Ek Abhiyan’ in New Delhi.

Peasant Movement after Champaran Satyagraha

• The success of Champaran Satyagraha acted as a ‘Source of Inspiration’ among the later farmers.
• In 1919 AD, under the leadership of Swami Vidyanand, the farmers of Madhubani district agitated against the Darbhanga Raj.
• In Bihar, for the first time in 1923, the Kisan Sabha was established in Munger under the chairmanship of Shah Mohammad Zuber. Shrikrishna Singh was its vice-president and Shri Siddheshwari Chaudhary and Nandkumar Singh were its secretaries.
• On March 4, 1928, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati formally established the Kisan Sabha at Bihta in Patna, giving a new direction to the peasant movement.
• Swami Sahajanand became the main inspiration of the farmer’s movement and it remained the goal of his life till his death.
• On November 17, 1929, the Provincial Kisan Sabha was established in a meeting at Harihar Kshetra (Sonpur fair). Swami Sahajanand became its president and Shrikrishna Singh was its secretary, Shri Yamuna Kaori, Guru Sahay Lal and Kailash Lal were its divisional secretaries.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel visited Bihar in December, 1929. This gave an added strength to this movement.
• Apart from raising voice against the tyranny of the landlords, there were other demands under the farmer’s movement- (1) reduction in canal fee, (2) giving a confirmed receipt of revenue payment, (3) returning the freed land etc.
• In Shahabad and Champaran districts, the movement against canal tax was very fierce. The Shahabad District Congress Committee issued a notification titled ‘Investigation of Canal Tax Recovery’.
• In this regard Shrikrishna Singh, Abdul Bari and Baldev Sahay went to Shahabad to press for the just demands of the farmers.
• Along with two local Congress leaders Gupteshwar Pandey and Vidhyachal, they traveled to different places in the district.

• A peasant movement took place in Gaya in 1931 under the leadership of Yadundan Sharma Peasant movement took place in the areas of Darbhanga in 1931. Farmers in Darbhanga region and Saran were led by Yamuna Ka’ryi, while Rahul Sankrityan was the leader of farmers in Annwari region.
• The Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha also organized meetings, conferences and demonstrations. In 1935 AD, the proposal for abolition of Zamindari had been passed by the Kisan Sabha.
• For this reason the District Congress Committee of Champaran, Saran and Munger restricted their members from participating in the procession of the Kisan Sabha. After this situation, the farmers started the path of direct action.
• In November, 1935, a big movement was started by the farmers of Barhiya Tall area of Mokama region, demanding abolition of Zamindari and return of Bakasht land. The role of Karyanand Sharma was very important in this movement.
• Bakasht land was such land which was given by the farmers to the landlords in the event of not being able to pay the rent due to depression or natural calamity.
• In 1938, a big farmer rally was held in Patną in which one lakh farmers took part.
• In April, 1939, the annual session of All India Kisan Sammelanwas held in Gaya under the chairmanship of Acharya Narendra Dev

Note: Opium was the second largest source of income of the British government in Bihar after land revenue.