What was Mahatma Gandhi’s first major civil-disobedience campaign in India called?

Mahatma Gandhi’s first major civil-disobedience campaign in India was the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917.

The campaign took place in Champaran, in present-day Bihar, where European planters pressured tenant farmers to grow indigo under the tinkathia system. The arrangement required cultivators to devote part of their land to indigo, often under exploitative terms. Local activists, including Raj Kumar Shukla, persuaded Gandhi to investigate the farmers’ complaints.

Gandhi’s arrival initially met official resistance, but he refused to leave before completing his inquiry. His method combined evidence gathering, public pressure, and disciplined nonviolence. The government eventually appointed an inquiry committee that included Gandhi, and reforms followed. The tinkathia system was abolished, and compensation was awarded to affected cultivators.

Champaran is often confused with Gandhi’s later Kheda campaign, which concerned land revenue relief in Gujarat, and with the Ahmedabad textile workers’ dispute. All three occurred before Gandhi became the central leader of the nationwide independence movement.