RAS question
The Champaran Satyagraha was against which exploitative system?
Correct answer: (D) Tinkathia system (forced indigo cultivation on 3/20th of land).
The Champaran Satyagraha was directed against the Tinkathia system, under which Champaran tenants were forced to grow indigo on three out of every twenty parts of their land for European planters.
Explanation
Champaran Satyagraha targeted the Tinkathia system, not a general land-revenue arrangement. Peasants had to grow indigo on 3/20th of their land for European planters. The Press Information Bureau, Government of India account supports this directly: Gandhi went to Champaran after learning of abuses suffered by cultivators forced into indigo cultivation, and Gandhi described the tenant's obligation as planting three out of every twenty parts of land with indigo for the landlord. Gandhi then investigated the matter, an inquiry committee was formed with him aboard, and the principal accepted recommendation was the complete abolition of Tinkathia. That chain explains why option D is the precise answer.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Ryotwari is wrong because the question is about the Champaran indigo grievance, while Ryotwari was placed in the South rather than at the centre of the Champaran struggle.
- (B) Zamindari is wrong because the specific grievance was forced indigo cultivation under Tinkathia, not a campaign against the Zamindari system as such.
- (C) Mahalwari is wrong because it was linked to the North-Western Provinces, whereas Champaran Satyagraha concerned cultivators in Champaran being forced to grow indigo.
Concept
This tests modern Indian history through Gandhi's early mass politics and agrarian satyagraha. It recurs in RAS because Champaran links a named local exploitative practice with Gandhi's method of inquiry, civil resistance, and negotiated reform.