RAS question
The Champaran Satyagraha (1917) was launched against which exploitative system?
Correct answer: (B) Tinkathia system.
The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was launched against the Tinkathia system, which forced Champaran tenants to grow indigo on three out of every twenty parts of their land.
Explanation
Champaran Satyagraha targeted the Tinkathia system because it made indigo cultivation a compulsory burden on tenants rather than a free agricultural choice. The PIB account of the centenary of Champaran Satyagraha notes that Gandhi went to Champaran in April 1917 after learning that cultivators were being forced by British planters and estate owners to grow indigo. It also records Gandhi's description that a Champaran tenant was legally bound to plant three out of every twenty parts of his land with indigo for the landlord, and identifies this arrangement as Tinkathia. That is why the issue was not Zamindari, Ryotwari, or Mahalwari in general, but the specific indigo-forcing system in Champaran.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Zamindari was a broader landlord-based revenue arrangement, while the Champaran agitation was against the specific Tinkathia obligation imposed by indigo planters.
- (C) Ryotwari refers to a revenue system associated with direct settlement with cultivators, not the forced indigo cultivation described for Champaran.
- (D) Mahalwari was another land-revenue arrangement, whereas the Champaran issue was the compulsory cultivation of indigo on three-twentieths of a tenant's land.
Concept
This tests the agrarian base of Gandhian mass politics in modern Indian history. RAS repeatedly asks such questions because Champaran links peasant exploitation, colonial plantation interests, and the early use of Satyagraha in India.