INDIGO || IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION SOLUTION || CLASS 12|| AHSEC

 

 

INDIGO

CLASS-12 ||AHSEC

IMPORTANT QUESTION

100% COMMON QUESTION

 

INDIGO || IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION SOLUTION || CLASS 12|| AHSEC

 

 

1.Who was Rajkumar Shukla? (AHSEC 2012)

Ans: Rajkumar Shukla was a poor sharecropper from Champaran.

2. Where is Champaran situated? (AHSEC 2014, 18)

Ans: Champaran was situated in the foothills of the Himalayas in Bihar and adjacent to the kingdom of Nepal.

3. What did Shukla want Gandhi to do? (AHSEC 2015)

Ans: Rajkumar Shukla wanted Gandhi to visit his district Champaran.

4. What was Gandhi's politics intertwined with? (AHSEC 2016)

Ans: Gandhi's politics was intertwined with the practical, day to day problems of millions.

5. Why was the Champaran episode so significant in Gandhi's life? (AHSEC 2016)

 

Ans: The Champaran episode was really so significant in Gandhi's life. It was an effort to remove the distress of poor peasants. The Britishers who were dreaded and unquestioned could now be challenged by the Indians. It was the first mass movement in India. The success of Champaran was the success of peaceful Civil Disobedience in modern India.

6. Whom did Gandhi and Shukla want to meet at Patna? (AHSEC 2013, 17)

Ans: Gandhi and Shukla wanted to meet Rajendra Prasad at Patna.

7. What was the incident that prompted Gandhi to raise his voice of protest against the British? (AHSEC 2013, 17)

Ans: In 1917 Gandhi visited Champaran at the request of Rajkumar Shukla to fight against the injustice done to the sharecroppers of the district by the landlords. Gandhi succeeded in getting an honorable settlement for the sharecropping peasants. This Champaran episode prompted Gandhi to raise his voice against the British.

8 . Where did Gandhi stay in Muzzafarpur?  (AHSEC 2019)
Ans: In Muzzafarpur Gandhi stayed at the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher of his Government School.

9. How was a solution to the problem of indigo sharecroppers of Champaran found? (AHSEC 2019)

 

Ans: Gandhi went to Bihar to take up the cause of poor peasants. There was a huge demonstration of the thousands of peasants the very next morning. The Government was baffled. A commission of inquiry was constituted. Gandhi was the sole representative of the peasants. He remained in Champaran for more than seven months. There were many evidences against the landlords. They had illegally extorted money from the sharecroppers. Gandhi asked for 50% refund. The planters offered to refund only 25%. Gandhi agreed.

10 . Why was Gandhi visiting Lucknow in 1916? (AHSEC 2013, 20)

Ans: Gandhi visited Lucknow in 1916 to attend the annual meeting of the Indian National Congress.

11. Why was Professor Malkani's action of offering shelter to Gandhi 'extraordinary'? (AHSEC 2020)

Ans: Professor Malkani was a teacher in a Government school. It was an extraordinary thing in those days for a Government officer to harbor or show sympathy to an advocate home-rule for India.

12. Why did Gandhi choose to go to Muzzafarpur first before going on to Champaran? (AHSEC 2018)

Ans: Gandhi chooses to go to Muzzafarpur first because it was a route to Champaran and he wanted to collect more information about conditions prevailing in Champaran.

13. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life? (AHSEC 2012)

Ans: The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi's life. Gandhi himself accepted it. It was the first mass movement in India. Gandhi took up the cause of the poor peasants. He fought against the injustices of the cruel landlords. They extorted money from the poor sharecroppers. But Champaran didn't begin as an act of defiance. The movement grew out of Gandhi's attempt to remove the distress of thousands of poor peasants. lt was a typical Gandhian movement. 

The success of Champaran marked the first victory of the Civil Disobedience in mode India. The amount of the refund money was less important. More important was that English landlords were forced to surrender part of the money. Previously they behaved as lords above the law. Now the Indian peasants had people to defend their rights. 

Above all, the Champaran episode was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.

14. Describe the exploitation of the indigo sharecroppers by the English landlords. Did Gandhi help them to get an honorable settlement? (AHSEC 2013, 17, 19)

Ans: The English landlords in Champaran compelled all sharecroppers to plant l5% of their holdings with indigo. They had to surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent to the landlords. This was done by a long-term contract. Then Germany developed synthetic indigo. The plantation of natural indigo was no more a profitable business for English landlords. They decided to free the Indian sharecroppers from the 15% contract. They were to pay compensation for this freedom. The peasants saw through the trick and fraud of the landlords.
Therefore, they refused to pay compensation. Those who had signed the agreement demanded their money back.

Yes, Gandhi helps them to get an honorable settlement. He went to Bihar to take up the cause of poor peasants. There was a huge demonstration of thousands of peasants the very next day. The government was baffled. A commission of inquiry was constituted. Gandhi was the sole representative of the peasants. The landlords decided to refund the money to the peasants. At last, they settled for 25%. The amount of refund was less important. The more important thing was the victory of the peasants and the victory of the

15. Describe the efforts made by R. K. Shukla to persuade Gandhi to go to Champaran. (AHSEC 2014)

Ans: Gandhiji had gone to the December 1916 Annual Convention of the Indian National Congress in Lucknow. A peasant came up to see him. He was Rajkumar Shukla. He looked like any other peasant in India. He was poor and emaciated. He was from Champaran. Gandhiji had never heard of the place. Shukla apprised Gandhiji about the injustices of the landlord system in Champaran. Gandhiji told Shukla that he had an appointment in Kanpur. He was also committed to go to other parts of India. Shukla accompanied Gandhi everywhere. Gandhiji returned to his ashram near Ahmadabad. Shukla also followed him to the ashram. He begged Gandhiji to fix a date.

Gandhiji was impressed by Shukla's tenacity and honesty. Gandhiji was to be in Calcutta on a particular day. He asked Shukla to come and take him from there. Months passed. When Gandhiji arrived at Calcutta he found Shukla sitting there on his haunches. He waited till Gandhiji was free. Then both of them boarded a train for Patna in Bihar. From there Gandhiji went to Muzaffarpur and from there to Motihari. Then finally, he came to Champaran.

 

16.'The battle of Champaran is won', Gandhi exclaimed. Explain the context in which this was said. (AHSEC 2015, 16)

 

 

Ans: When Gandhi was in Motihari, the headquarter of Champaran district, he was served with a notice to leave the district immediately. Gandhi signed a receipt for the notice and wrote on it that he would disobey the order. Thereupon, he was summoned to appear in the Court the next morning. The news of Gandhi being summoned to the court spread and thousands of peasants gathered around the courthouse the next morning. Their spontaneous demonstration baffled the government and it wanted to postpone the date of trial. But Gandhi protested against the postponement and he told the court that he was involved in a 'conflict of duties-on the one hand, not to set a bad example as a lawbreaker; on the other hand, he was to do justices to thousands of poor sharecroppers. He disobeyed the order to leave not because he did not have respect for the lawful authority, but because of his obedience to the voice of his conscience. But the magistrate reserved the judgment to a later date. Rajendra Prasad and many other prominent lawyers who had come to help Gandhi then conferred among themselves and decided to follow him into jail. At this Gandhi exclaimed with joy that "The battle of Champaran is won."