The summary of indigo deals in a summarized version where it is about how Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle and continuous efforts for the underprivileged farmers of Champaran, Bihar. The peasants were living a hapless and miserable life and were under a contract to grow indigo. The landlord system of Bihar has worsened their situation and so, Gandhi Ji decided to fight back against this injustice.
He was involved in a war that took a year to fight back and made the farmers courageous and aware of their rights. Gandhi did not work only to tackle the problem of economic and political injustice but also to tackle the problem of social issues to make them self-reliant. He focussed to provide education, health, and hygiene.
About The Author: Summary Of The Indigo
Louis Fischer was an American journalist. He wrote a biography on Mahatma Gandhi, “The Life Of Mahatma Gandhi’. The summary of indigo is an extract from this book where the author describes the struggle and efforts of the poor and helpless farmers of Champaran, who had to share their crops and were under an agreement and had to grow indigo.
Characters of Indigo Summary
1. Rajkumar Shukla
He is a farmer in Champaran and was very disturbed with the landlords and their type of contract. Though he was illiterate but was determined and supported Gandhi in his struggle. He was the one who took initiative and met Gandhi Ji asking for his support.
2. Mahatma Gandhi
He went with Raj Kumar Shukla and made up his mind to work upon the political-economic and social injustice. To make them self-reliant he works on many social issues. He contributed to the struggle to achieve independence and self-reliance for the masses.
3. Edward Gait
He was the then lt. Governor of the province and dropped the case against him and later on set up a commission to tackle this problem.
4. C.F. Andrews
He was a British and a pacifist and a devoted follower of Bapu. He wished to stay in Bihar but Gandhi refused him.
5 Rajendra prasad
He was then a lawyer and later on became the president of India. He could not recognize Gandhiji from his clothes and felt he was also a sharecropper.
Indigo Summary Class 12th
Let’s dive into the summary of indigo and get a glimpse of the struggle of Gandhi Ji as how he help to revamp the miserable situation of the peasants of the Champaran.
The story has been set in 1916 when Gandhi experimented with satyagraha for the first time in Champaran, Bihar. It gives a detailed account of how Bapu struggled to give them justice and equality. The story starts with the open fields of Champaran where landlords wanted to grow indigo as the chief crop. The landlords were Englishmen and Indian works as tenants on their own land. The owners compelled the farmers to grow indigo and on top of it to give 15% of their whole produce as rent.
However, when Germany started to grow artificial indigo, the Britishers do not require the indigo crop from the peasants. So, in order to release from the contract, they started to demand indemnity. Some uneducated farmers agreed on this, others did not. Amidst this situation we see Rajkumar Shukla arranges a meeting with Gandhi to work upon the situation.
He then requested Gandhi to look into the matter and provide them justice. Gandhi Ji agreed and the next day he came to Bihar and with the help of Shukla he visits Rajendra prasad who thought him to be a poor peasant.
Gandhi Ji planned to provide them justice but before that, he started on some points to start his journey as the Britishers are trying hard to keep the protesters and leaders away. The news of Gandhi’s arrival in the village spread like wildfire. Lawyers and peasant groups were in heavy support of the movement and Gandhi was not in favor of collecting huge sums from the sharecroppers.
After a great welcome, he was summoned to present at the British law court but he made them clear about his disobeying the laws. The next day thousands of peasants came in support of Gandhi and this factor Gandhiji needed in all of them i.e. fearlessness against the Englishmen. The Government was baffled and soon the authorities decided to postpone the trial. But Gandhiji did not take a step back.
He did not want to set a bad example but he has to give justice to many of them. After many meetings and interviews with the LT. governor, he appointed an official commission, and Gandhiji was made the representative of the sharecroppers. There were many shreds of evidence against the British officials. Gandhi demanded back the half share but the officials refund only one-fourth. Gandhi agreed because this was the first time when the Britishers were hacked down. While staying in Champaran Gandhi focussed on social issues also.
Soon two villagers named Narhari Parikh and Mahadev Desai became his apostle. Many came from other parts as well to support the good cause and opened primary schools. Through many awareness programs, villagers focussed on sanitation and personal hygiene. He wants to counsel the farmers also so that they could build their confidence and become self-reliant.
Conclusion of The Indigo
The Champaran incident was the turning point in Gandhiji’s life and he was able to understand the gist of the Indian’s problems. it was more than a victory with this episode he was able to hack down the cruel Britishers with his determination and intellect. He also tried to revamp the conditions and molding new India by making them tripped and self-reliant.
