RAS question
The Champaran Satyagraha was launched in which year?
Correct answer: (A) 1917.
The Champaran Satyagraha was launched in 1917 in the Champaran district of Bihar as Gandhi's first satyagraha in India against the exploitative Tinkathia system.
Explanation
Champaran Satyagraha belongs to 1917, not to the adjacent Gandhian mobilisation years that often confuse candidates. The movement was launched in the Champaran district of Bihar and is remembered as Gandhi's first satyagraha in India. Its immediate context was the exploitative Tinkathia system, against which Gandhi used satyagraha as a method of protest. For RAS preparation, the key linkage is therefore: Champaran, Bihar, 1917, Tinkathia system, and Gandhi's first Indian satyagraha. The Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav page is a live Ministry of Culture, Government of India source, but the public HTML currently exposes the general portal shell rather than additional record text.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) 1916 points to the Home Rule League year, not to Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha in Bihar.
- (C) 1918 is associated with the Kheda and Ahmedabad satyagrahas, so it is one year later than Champaran.
- (D) 1915 marks Gandhi's return to India, whereas Champaran was launched after that, in 1917.
Concept
This tests the chronology of early Gandhian mass movements in modern Indian history. RAS repeatedly asks such year-place-cause links because they separate rote date memory from a clear sequence of nationalist mobilisation.