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Gandhi went to Champaran in 1917 and it was then that he decided on insisting that the British leave India. It was there that he raised his voice against the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar and also freed the peasants from their fear. First, he defied the secretary of the British landlords’ association, who refused to give information to an “outsider”. Next, he refused to leave Tirhut division in which the Champaran district lay despite being told to do so. He also arranged a gathering of peasants in huge numbers which was the beginning of their freedom from fear of the British.
The officials felt powerless without Gandhi’s cooperation. This was his proof that the power of the Englishmen could be challenged by the Indians.The peasants realized that they had rights and it was their first lesson in courage. Soon, within a few years, the British planters returned the estates to the peasants. This was the end of indigo sharecropping in India.
Through the Champaran incident, Gandhi declared for the first time that the British could not order Indians in their own country. He, through personal example, was able to motivate the masses into civil disobedience and teach them to be self-reliant.