Indigo Summary Class 12 | Download Fresh PDF Notes, Objective Questions, FAQs

The story “Indigo” is about Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran. The peasants were sharecroppers with the British planters and were forced to grow indigo according to an agreement. They suffered a great injustice due to the landlord system in Bihar. Gandhi waged a war for about a year against their atrocities and brought justice to the poor peasants.

The story begins with Rajkumar Shukla, a sharecropper from Champaran, visiting Gandhi in Lucknow. Shukla tells Gandhi about the plight of the peasants, who are being forced to grow indigo even though the price of indigo has fallen and the British no longer need it. Gandhi is initially reluctant to get involved, but Shukla eventually convinces him to travel to Champaran to investigate.

Indigo Summary

When Gandhi arrives in Champaran, he is shocked by the conditions of the peasants. They are living in poverty and are often beaten by their landlords. Gandhi meets with the peasants and learns about their grievances. He also meets with the landlords, but they are unwilling to change their practices.

Gandhi decides to launch a satyagraha, or non-violent protest, against the landlords. He encourages the peasants to refuse to grow indigo and to resist the landlords’ attempts to force them to do so. The satyagraha is successful and the landlords are forced to back down.

The Champaran Satyagraha was a major victory for Gandhi and for the Indian independence movement. It showed that non-violence could be an effective tool for social change. It also helped to raise awareness of the plight of the poor peasants in India.

The story of the Champaran Satyagraha is a reminder of Gandhi’s commitment to social justice and his belief in the power of non-violence. It is also a reminder of the importance of fighting for the rights of the poor and marginalized.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the story “Indigo”:

• Gandhi was a compassionate and committed leader who was willing to fight for the rights of the poor and marginalized.
• Non-violence is an effective tool for social change.
• It is important to stand up for what is right, even in the face of injustice.
• The fight for social justice is never easy, but it is always worth it.

Indigo Class 12 Objective Questions Answers

Q1. Who is the author of the chapter ‘Indigo’?
A) Leo Tolstoy
B) Louis Fischer
C) Charles Dickens
D) Mark Twain
Answer: B) Louis Fischer

Q2. Why did Rajkumar Shukla come to meet Gandhi ji?
A) To fight the Britishers
B) To ask for financial help
C) To complain about the landlord system
D) To join the freedom struggle
Answer: C) To complain about the landlord system

Q3. What percentage of their land were the peasants compelled to plant with indigo?
A) 10%
B) 15%
C) 25%
D) 50%
Answer: B) 15%

Q4. Why did the British landlords want to end the indigo agreement?
A) They felt pity for the peasants
B) The land became infertile
C) Synthetic indigo was developed in Germany
D) Due to a strict government order
Answer: C) Synthetic indigo was developed in Germany

Q5. Why did Gandhi ji chide the lawyers of Muzaffarpur?
A) For losing court cases
B) For charging high fees from poor sharecroppers
C) For ignoring the peasants
D) For supporting the British
Answer: B) For charging high fees from poor sharecroppers

Q6. Which city did Gandhi ji make his headquarters in Champaran?
A) Patna
B) Kanpur
C) Motihari
D) Muzaffarpur
Answer: C) Motihari

Q7. What percentage of refund did Gandhi ji initially demand from the British planters?
A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 100%
Answer: B) 50%

Q8. What refund percentage did the British planters offer to Gandhi ji?
A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 100%
Answer: B) 25%

Q9. Why did Gandhi ji agree to the 25% refund?
A) The peasants requested him
B) The surrender of the landlords’ prestige was more important
C) He had no time to fight further
D) He was afraid of the British
Answer: B) The surrender of the landlords’ prestige was more important

Q10. Who was Charles Freer Andrews?
A) A British landlord
B) The judge of Champaran
C) An Indian lawyer
D) An English pacifist and follower of Gandhi
Answer: D) An English pacifist and follower of Gandhi

Q11. Why did Gandhi ji refuse to take help from Charles Freer Andrews?
A) Andrews refused to help
B) To teach Indians self-reliance
C) The peasants didn’t trust him
D) He was not a good lawyer
Answer: B) To teach Indians self-reliance

Q12. What did Gandhi ji do to improve the social conditions in Champaran?
A) Built new hospitals
B) Opened primary schools
C) Set up factories
D) Distributed free food
Answer: B) Opened primary schools

Q13. Which 3 medicines were available for treating illnesses in Champaran?
A) Paracetamol, Aspirin, and Crocin
B) Herbal tea, honey, and ginger
C) Castor oil, quinine, and sulphur ointment
D) Penicillin and cough syrup
Answer: C) Castor oil, quinine, and sulphur ointment

Q14. Why did a large crowd of peasants gather at the Motihari court?
A) To demand money from landlords
B) To support their champion who was in trouble
C) To attend a local village fair
D) They were forced by the police
Answer: B) To support their champion who was in trouble

Q15. Why was the Champaran episode a ‘turning point’ in Gandhi ji’s life?
A) He became very wealthy
B) He became a famous lawyer
C) It showed the British couldn’t order him in his own country
D) He started a new ashram
Answer: C) It showed the British couldn’t order him in his own country

Indigo Chapter Class 12 FAQs

Q1. Who was Rajkumar Shukla and why did he meet Gandhi?
Answer: Rajkumar Shukla was a poor, illiterate sharecropper from Champaran. He met Mahatma Gandhi to complain about the injustice of the cruel landlord system in Bihar and seek his help to rescue the peasants from exploitation.

Q2. What was the indigo sharecropping arrangement in Champaran?
Answer: According to an ancient arrangement, cruel British landlords compelled all Indian tenants to plant fifteen percent of their landholdings with indigo. The peasants had to surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent to the powerful landlords.

Q3. Why did the British landlords want to end the indigo agreement?
Answer: The British landlords discovered that Germany had successfully developed synthetic indigo, making natural indigo cultivation completely unprofitable. Therefore, they decided to dissolve the fifteen percent agreement and deceitfully demanded heavy compensation from the poor sharecroppers.

Q4. Why did Gandhi oppose taking help from Charles Freer Andrews?
Answer: Gandhi strongly opposed taking Andrews’ help because he wanted Indians to learn true self-reliance. He believed that depending on an Englishman showed weakness of heart, and they must confidently rely upon themselves to win this fight.

Q5. Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers of Muzaffarpur?
Answer: Gandhi severely chided the Muzaffarpur lawyers for collecting unusually high fees from the poor sharecroppers. He realized that taking such cases to court was useless because the peasants were deeply crushed, exploited, and extremely fear-stricken.

Q6. Why did Gandhi agree to a mere 25 percent refund?
Answer: Gandhi agreed to the twenty-five percent refund because the actual amount of money was less important than the fact that the landlords were forced to surrender their money and, along with it, their false prestige.

Q7. How was the Champaran episode a turning point in Gandhi’s life?
Answer: The Champaran episode was a major turning point because it was the first successful civil disobedience movement in modern India. It strongly declared that the British could not simply order him around in his own country.

Class 12 English Indigo Question Answers

Q1. Why did Gandhi consider the Champaran episode a significant turning point in his life?
Gandhi considered the Champaran episode a major turning point because it was the first time he successfully used civil disobedience in India. It proved that the British could not order him around in his own country. This local movement for peasants’ rights eventually laid the foundation for India’s broader independence struggle against British colonial rule.

Q2. How did Gandhi strategically resolve the deadlock over the refund amount with the British planters?
Gandhi broke the deadlock by unexpectedly agreeing to a twenty-five percent refund offer from the British planters. He explained that the actual monetary amount was less important than forcing the landlords to surrender their money and prestige. This strategic move successfully broke the planters’ absolute power and liberated the peasants from their deep-rooted fear.

Q3. Why did Gandhi severely scold the prominent lawyers of Muzaffarpur who represented the sharecroppers?
Gandhi severely scolded the Muzaffarpur lawyers because they were charging extremely high fees from the poor, exploited sharecroppers for fighting their cases in court. He realized that taking these cases to British courts was practically useless because the peasants were overwhelmingly crushed and fear-stricken. His priority was to first free these farmers from their fear.

Q4. What specific steps did Gandhi take to improve the cultural and social backwardness in Champaran?
After winning the political battle, Gandhi focused on the social upliftment of Champaran. He appealed for teachers and successfully opened primary schools in six different villages. Furthermore, his wife Kasturba taught ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation, while volunteer doctors provided basic medical care using medicines like castor oil, quinine, and sulphur ointment.

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