Indigo — 20 MCQs | CBSE Class 12 English Core (Code 301)

Chapter Overview

An excerpt from Louis Fischer's biography of Gandhi, recounting the Champaran movement of 1917 — Gandhi's first major satyagraha in India. Sharecroppers forced to grow indigo on 15% of their land (the tinkathia system) had been cheated when synthetic indigo collapsed prices. Gandhi's documentation, civil disobedience and refusal of English help vindicated them — and changed Indian politics forever.

Key Themes

Civil disobedience as a moral force
Self-reliance — Gandhi sends Charles Andrews away
Patient documentation — 10,000 peasant statements
Symbolic victory — 25% refund mattered less than landlord surrender

Key Concepts

Rajkumar Shukla

Illiterate but tenacious peasant who brings Gandhi to Champaran

Tinkathia system

15% of peasant land must grow indigo for British landlords

Synthetic indigo

Germany's discovery — collapsed prices; landlords now want compensation

Court

Magistrate; case withdrawn after thousands of peasants gather

Settlement

25% refund — symbolic victory, breaking landlord prestige

Charles Andrews

English clergyman whose help Gandhi refuses — self-reliance lesson

Sample MCQs

Q1. What was the 'tinkathia' system?

A. A British policy of grain rationing in Bihar villages

B. An agreement to plant indigo on 15% of holdings and surrender the entire harvest

C. A promise to supply unpaid labour for one month per year

D. A pledge to hand over half the cattle every five years

The tinkathia system forced peasants to plant indigo on 15% of their land and surrender the harvest as rent.

Q2. Why did Gandhi refuse the help of Charles Andrews in Champaran?

A. Because Andrews was secretly working for the British

B. Because Indians must develop the strength to fight their own battle without an Englishman

C. Because Andrews could not speak Bihar dialects

D. Because Andrews had to return to England urgently

Gandhi insisted on self-reliance — leaning on a sympathetic Englishman would weaken the cause.