In the tinkathia system of Champaran, the cultivator was required to grow indigo on
- A.three kathas out of every twenty kathas of his land
- B.three bighas out of every twenty bighas
- C.one third of his total holding
- D.three acres of every holding
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A. The word tinkathia comes from the obligation to plant indigo on three kathas out of every twenty kathas of land, twenty kathas making one bigha in the local measure. The planters held long leases and enforced this share through their agents, so the cultivator lost his best land to a crop he could not eat or sell freely.
Option B is wrong because the proportion was three parts in twenty of one bigha, not three bighas in twenty. Option C is wrong because a third of the holding would be a far heavier burden than the system actually imposed, and the figure is a common invention. Option D is wrong because the acre was not the unit used in these leases, the katha and the bigha were, and the share was proportional rather than a fixed area.
Read the full article: Champaran Satyagraha and Bihar's Freedom Struggle
Practice Questions
View allThe Champaran Satyagraha took place in which of the following states of India?
- A.Odisha
- B.Gujarat
- C.Bihar
- D.West Bengal
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Champaran is a district of north Bihar, with Motihari as its headquarters, and the satyagraha of 1917 was fought there against the indigo planters' tinkathia system.
Read the full explanation →Who persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to visit Champaran?
- A.Rajendra Prasad
- B.Raj Kumar Shukla
- C.Brajkishore Prasad
- D.Mazharul Haque
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Shukla was a cultivator of Champaran who met Gandhi at the Lucknow session of the Congress in 1916 and followed him from place to place until Gandhi agreed to come to the district.
Read the full explanation →The enhanced rent that Champaran planters charged for releasing tenants from indigo cultivation was called
- A.Tawan
- B.Sharahbeshi
- C.Abwab
- D.Begar
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When synthetic dye destroyed the market for natural indigo, the planters freed tenants from the obligation to grow it but raised their rent permanently; this enhancement was known as sharahbeshi.
Read the full explanation →The Champaran Agrarian Act, which abolished the tinkathia system, was passed in which year?
- A.1916
- B.1917
- C.1918
- D.1920
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The government appointed the Champaran Agrarian Enquiry Committee in 1917 with Gandhi as one of its members, and acting on its report Parliament of the province passed the Champaran Agrarian Act in 1918.
Read the full explanation →Gandhi arrived in Bihar for the Champaran satyagraha first at which city?
- A.Motihari
- B.Muzaffarpur
- C.Patna
- D.Bettiah
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Gandhi reached Patna on 10 April 1917, stayed briefly in the city, then went to Muzaffarpur, where J. B. Kripalani was teaching and had gathered students to receive him, and only afterwards moved on to Motihari in Champaran, where the order to leave the district was served on him.
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