UPSC Prelims 2007 Q57: Modern History – Gandhian Mass Movements (1915 - 1942)

UPSC Prelims 2007, General Studies Paper I · Modern History

At which one of the following places did Mahatma Gandhi first start his Satyagraha in India?

Answer: (c) Champaran

Explanation

Gandhi's first Satyagrahas in India

Year	Satyagraha	Issue	Type
1917	Champaran (Bihar)	Tinkathia system — indigo on 3/20 of land	First civil disobedience
1918	Ahmedabad mill strike	Plague bonus / wage hike	First hunger strike
1918	Kheda (Gujarat)	Land revenue remission after crop failure	First non-cooperation
1928	Bardoli	Revenue hike — led by Vallabhbhai Patel	Not Gandhi's first

Raj Kumar Shukla invited Gandhi to Champaran.

Associates there: Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul Haq, J.B. Kripalani, Mahadev Desai.

Answer: (c) Champaran.

(a) Incorrect. Ahmedabad (1918) came after Champaran — Gandhi's first hunger strike.
(b) Incorrect. Bardoli (1928) was led by Sardar Patel, who got the title 'Sardar' there.
(c) CORRECT. Champaran (1917) was Gandhi's first Satyagraha in India, against forced indigo cultivation.
(d) Incorrect. Kheda (1918) came after Champaran.

Champaran 1917 (indigo) → Ahmedabad 1918 (mill workers) → Kheda 1918 (peasants). Champaran = first.

Gandhi's first Satyagraha in India = Champaran, 1917.

Choosing Bardoli because it is famous. Bardoli was 1928 and led by Patel.
Mixing up the Ahmedabad and Kheda 'firsts' — Ahmedabad = first hunger strike; Kheda = first non-cooperation.
Forgetting that the Tinkathia system meant growing indigo on 3 out of 20 parts of land.

C-A-K order: Champaran, Ahmedabad, Kheda (1917-18). Alphabetical and chronological both work here.