In April 1917, Bihar’s Champaran district witnessed a pivotal moment in India's freedom movement as Mahatma Gandhi launched his first Satyagraha on Indian soil, reshaping his own role and the trajectory of resistance. Prompted by Raj Kumar Shukla - who ushered Gandhi into Champaran to witness the plight of indigo cultivators - Gandhi confronted the oppressive Tinkathia system, which forced farmers to grow indigo on a portion of their land paying negligible compensation .

Upon arrival at Motihari, Gandhi was summarily ordered to leave by British authorities. His refusal to comply marked a dramatic act of civil disobedience, culminating in his arrest - his first in India - and eventual participation in a government inquiry commission. The movement forced the colonial administration to abolish the exploitative system and provide financial relief to farmers .

Champaran Satyagraha symbolized the union of India’s peasants and urban intelligentsia, and cemented Gandhi’s method of nonviolent mass mobilization as the defining strategy in the freedom struggle.