What is Indigo Sharecropping?

The sharecropping system required the tenants to grow indigo, a major

commercial crop, on 15 percent of their landholdings. Every year, the grown
indigo harvest was given as rent to the landlord. However, on hearing about
the German synthetic indigo, the British decided to draw a new agreement
with peasants.

History of indigo sharecropping

In the book Indigo, the author (Louis Fischer) describes a vital event in

India’s history, the first Civil Disobedience movement which started by

Mahatma Gandhi at Champaran in 1916. The problem which was faced by

the sharecroppers in Champaran was that all the tenants were forced to

plant 15% of their land with Indigo crops.

This had been a long-term contract between the sharecroppers and the

British planters/estate owners which had an adverse effect on the

sharecroppers and their families. Gandhi then launched what is said to be

the first instance of Satyagraha in India and the movement ended with a

victory as the English landlords were forced to return 25% of the money

which they had extorted from the sharecroppers.

Indigo is a story to glorify the struggle of Mahatma Gandhi against the

Britishers for the peasants of Champaran, Bihar. This war lasted a whole

year but didn’t come empty handed. Britishers agreed to meet the

demands of the peasants.

1. The Inception

Gandhi Ji tells Louis about the first time when he encountered this

problem which was the year 1917. Gandhi Ji had gone to the December

1916 annual meeting of the Indian national convention of the Indian

national congress in Lucknow when a poor peasant came up to him. That

man was Rajkumar Shukla from Champaran who wanted Gandhi to visit

his district. It was located near the kingdom of Nepal in Bihar. Shukla was

a sharecropper who was seeking justice against the injustice pulled by the

English landlord’s at champaran. Someone told him that he should ask

Gandhiji to help him as Gandhiji gained his reputation of fighting injustice

against the britishers but in his own way, by following nonviolence.

2. Rajkumar Shukla’s Resoluteness

Rajkumar Shukla had come to the congress session to complain about the

widespread injustice of the landlord system in Bihar. This is where he met

Gandhi and requested him to visit Champaran to see the unjust system

prevailing there. This impressed Gandhi who in turn asked Shukla to meet

him in Calcutta (Kolkata) and take him to Champaran from there. From

Calcutta, both men boarded a train for Patna. There Shukla took him to

the house of a lawyer named Rajendra Prasad but he was not present at

that time. The news of Gandhiji’ arrival in the village of Bihar spread like

wildfire. Many lawyers and groups of peasants came in large numbers to

support him in his mission against injustice and inequality.

3. Off to Muzaffarpur

To obtain more information about the condition of Champaran, Gandhi

decided to go to Muzaffarpur first. There he stayed for 2 days with

professor Malkani. The news of his arrival quickly spread through

Muzaffarpur and then to Champaran.

4. Landlords of Champaran

Most of the fertile land in Champaran was owned by Britishers while the

Indian tenants worked for them. Since at that time Synthetic Indigo had

been developed by Germany, the indigo plantation was not very

profitable. Hence the owners obtained agreements from the

sharecroppers(sharecroppers) to pay for being released from the 15%

rule. Seeing that the Britishers no longer needed Indigo from these

peasants, they asked for compensation in return to free them. This was

not acceptable to the poor peasants of Champaran. Even though many of

the peasants were illiterate, they saw through the trick of the landlords

and were not ready to pay. Those who had signed before wanted their

money back.

5. Summon to Appear in Court

The first step which Gandhi took was to meet the secretary of the British

landlord association which did not yield any result. Afterward, he met the

commissioner who warned Gandhi to leave but Gandhi did not leave.

Gandhi then went to the capital of Champaran, Motihari. A huge crowd

greeted him at the station. After a little while, he got an official notice from

the authorities to leave Champaran immediately but he made it clear that

he would disobey the orders. Next, Gandhi received a summon to appear

in court the next day. Thereafter he prepared a full report to the viceroy.

The next morning thousands of peasants demonstrated in support of

Gandhi. This was the beginning of the liberation of people’s fear of the

Britishers.

6. The Reaction of The Britishers

The government was baffled on seeing so many people backing Gandhi.

The authorities wanted to postpone the trial but Gandhi himself protested

against the delay. He told the judge that he was caught in a ‘conflict of

duties’. It was his duty not to set a bad example as a lawbreaker but justice

to the thousands of poor sharecroppers was more important. The court

didn’t deliver the judgment for several days.

After seeing the support Gandhiji was getting, the British Government

decided to put a halt in the satyagrah. They arrested Gandhiji on the basis

of creating disturbance in the district and being the cause of unrest.

When the news reached the magistrate George Chandar, he visited

Gandhi in the jail at Motihari. He told Gandhi that he will pay a fine of 100

rs to bring him out from there but Gandhi being Gandhi, dismissed this

idea.

His being in the jail, revolted people. People in large numbers protested

and rallied to demand his release. The British government was left with no

choice but to release Gandhiji, they did it unwillingly.

7. Commission of Inquiry

Gandhi had many interviews with the lieutenant-governor in the

upcoming days. The lieutenant-governor appointed an official commission

of inquiry into the indigo sharecroppers’ situation. Gandhi was made the
representative of the sharecroppers. He stayed in Champaran for almost 7

months. There were multiple pieces of evidence of the landlords and

British officials for illegally taking money from the sharecroppers. Gandhi

demanded back 50% but the landlords and British officials offered to

refund only 25%. Gandhi finally agreed because this was the first instance

that the British government had backed down.

8. Social and Cultural Uplifting

While staying in the Champaran village, Gandhi saw the social and cultural

backwardness which was prevalent throughout. He wanted to

immediately do something about it. 2 men Narhari Parikh and Mahadev

Desai joined him as disciples. Many people came from other parts of the

country to join the cause. As a result, Primary schools were opened in 6

villages, and many awareness programs such as cleanliness and sanitation

were started by other people.

9. Impact of the Champaran Episode on Gandhi and India

The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi's life and Indian

History. It was more than just a simple victory against the Britishers, this

incident showed the Britishers that the people of India were capable of

standing against them. Gandhi tried to mold a new free India, thus paving

a way for self-reliance.

From this experience, Gandhiji learned a lot about himself. Before this

incident, he only worked for the people of Gujarat. This was the first time

he won outside his native town, Gujarat. His credibility touched a massive

height in Gujarat itself. People were more aware of him and he became a

threat in the eyes of the British Government.

They started taking him seriously after Gandhi dismissed the appeal of

leaving the district of Champaran which he signed at the time of arrival in

the district.

10. People with whom Gandhi was Associated with.

There were many people Gandhi came across while spending time in

Champaran. Few became close to him during his stay. The first person
that came in contact with Gandhi was JB Kriplani, a lawyer by profession.

He met Gandhi at the station of Muzaffarpur when he arrived at the

station. Kriplani and Gandhi then met Brajkishore Prasad. Later they met

Rajendra Prasad, a scholar from Calcutta.

Natural Indigo harvesting:

When you are harvesting indigo, you need to collect the leaves first. Many
people simply bundle leaves and small branches for processing. Some who
cultivate indigo for dye suggest you start by soaking the leaves in water
overnight. The next day, mix in builder's lime to achieve the fade blue
coloration.

Chemical Properties of Indigo

Indigo dye is a dark blue crystalline powder that sublimes at 390–392 °C (734–
738 °F). It is insoluble in water, alcohol, or ether, but soluble in DMSO,
chloroform, nitrobenzene, and concentrated sulfuric acid. The chemical formula
of indigo is C16H10N2O2.
Difference between natural and chemical indigo
Chemically, synthetic indigo and natural indigo dye are exactly the same. ...
“Natural indigo has less yield than synthetic indigo because it is less pure,”
Sanchez says. “And the shade is duller compared to synthetic indigo again
because of impurities.” But the dye process is the same.

Advantages of natural indigo over chemical indigo

There’s a magnetic lure when one spots an indigo-white creation. Designers are
at it nationally and globally, and retail players peddle hard-to-resist indigo
collections. An outfit is purchased, worn and there’s no dearth of compliments.
The magic stays until the fabric is put to wash. The color runs, and runs some
more, with each wash. None of the DIY tips help. At times, one doesn’t have to
wait till the fabric is washed.
The bitter truth lies in the retail sector using synthetic, chemical indigo. Those
painstakingly work with natural dyes. Synthetic indigo, from a chemical source,
is less expensive compared to the plant-based one. She recalls the time when
Kadapa boasted of a large indigo farm. “A foreigner purchased the farm and the
farmer has now turned a realtor. We now source indigo from Tamil Nadu.
A kilo of plant-based indigo, in cake form, costs up to Rs. 2000. In vats, the
cakes are treated with ash water, lime and other ingredients. The liquor is green.
When a fabric is dipped and taken out, it comes in contact with the air and
oxidation turns it blue. Hence people call indigo a magic dye.
Slow fashion
Natural indigo is used in pockets of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat and Rajasthan among weavers and block printers who follow traditional
techniques. Two years ago, on a textile trail to Kutch, I witnessed the
meticulous use of indigo vats by the Vankar family of weavers in Bhujodi. The
‘how to’ of spinning, weaving and dyeing is passed on from one generation to
the next. Block printers in Ajrakhpur and Dhamadka, Kutch, follow a slow
process of employing natural dyes. They’ve been at it before terms like
sustainable and slow fashion came into vogue. However, many others turned to
screen printing and chemical dyes to roll out new collections in a shorter time.

Labour-intensive process

Cultivating the crop to extracting colours, it’s a long process. The intensity of
the color on the fabric depends on the number of times it is dipped in the dye.
To get a deep hue, a fabric may need to be dipped 15 to 20 times. The way
indigo works fills me with wonder even today. A lot of things are at work.
When you receive a stock of indigo cakes, it has to be tested for impurities.
The fabric undergoes a few washes at different stages of block printing. Any
excess color is washed away. A finished product that uses natural colours
should not bleed.