Indigo Important Questions Class 12 English

Table of Contents

The chapter “Indigo,” written by Louis Fischer, is an important part of the Class 12 English Flamingo syllabus. It highlights the struggles of Indian farmers and the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi during the Champaran movement. This chapter often features in board exams, making it essential for students to prepare thoroughly.

Below is a detailed guide with important questions and answers to help you excel in your exams.

CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo – Indigo Summary

Indigo Class 12 Important Questions And Answers

Indigo revolves around the plight of indigo farmers in Champaran, Bihar, and how Mahatma Gandhi’s intervention brought justice to them. The chapter showcases Gandhi’s principles of truth, non-violence, and self-reliance.

Key Themes:

Exploitation of farmers by British landlords
Leadership and influence of Mahatma Gandhi
Importance of self-reliance and justice

Indigo Important Questions Short Answer Type Questions (3-4 MARKS)

Question 1. Why did Gandhiji agree to the planters’ offer of a 25 percent refund to the farmers? (Delhi 2009)

Answer: Gandhiji had asked the indigo planters for a 50 percent refund to the farmers but they offered only 25 percent. Gandhiji still agreed to their offer because for him the amount of the refund was of less importance. More important was the fact that the planters had been forced to surrender part of their rights. So he agreed to their settlement.

Question 2. How was Gandhiji able to influence the lawyers at Champaran? (All India 2009)

Answer: Gandhiji chided the lawyers for over-charging the poor peasants. When the peasants were so poor and crushed, it was inhuman to charge heavy fees from them. Gandhiji’s selfless service and devotion to the cause of the peasants put the lawyers to shame.

Question 3. How did Gandhiji help the peasants of Champaran? (All India 2009)

Answer: At Champaran, the British landlords forced all the tenants to plant 15 per cent of their holding with indigo and then surrender the entire harvest as rent. This increased the misery of the poor tenants. But when synthetic indigo was developed and indigo plantation was no longer profitable, the landlords obtained fresh agreements from sharecroppers to pay them compensation for releasing them from the 15% arrangement. Gandhiji came in at this time and through non-violent civil disobedience he forced the landlords to refund 25 per cent of the compensation money to the peasants.

Question 4.Why did the servants think Gandhiji to be another peasant? (Delhi 2010)

Answer: In Patna, Rajkumar Shukla led Gandhiji to the house of Rajendra Prasad who was a lawyer. The servants knew Shukla as a poor peasant of Champaran who often came to Rajendra Prasad’s house and pestered him to take up the cause of the indigo sharecroppers of Champaran. Since a simple-clad Gandhiji accompanied Shukla the servants mistook him to be another peasant.

Question 5. Why did Gandhiji agree to the planters’ offer of a 25% refund to the farmers? (Comptt. All India 2011 )

Question 6. How were Shukla and Gandhiji received in Rajendra Prasad’s house? (Delhi 2012)

Answer: In Patna Shukla led Gandhiji to the house of a lawyer, Rajendra Prasad. He was out of town but his servants knew Shukla as a poor peasant who pestered Rajendra Prasad (their master) to help the indigo sharecroppers. So he was allowed to stay there with his companion. But Gandhiji was not permitted to draw water from the well lest he be an untouchable and some drops of water from his bucket pollute the entire source.

Question 7. What made Gandhiji demand 50% refund from the British landlords? (Comptt. Delhi)

Answer: Gandhiji demanded 50% refund from the British landlords in the form of repayment of money which the landlords had illegally and deceitfully extorted from the poor sharecroppers.

Question 8. Why did Gandhiji accept 25 percent compensation? (Comptt. All India 2012)

Question 9. While at Champaran how did Gandhiji keep a long distance watch on his ashram? (Comptt. All India 2012)

Answer: During his long stay in Champaran, Gandhiji kept a long distance watch on his Ashram. He sent regular instructions by mail and asked for financial accounts. He even wrote to the residents that it was time to fill in the old latrine trenches and dig new ones.

Question 10. “The battle of Champaran is won.” When and why did Gandhiji exclaim this? (Comptt. AI 2012)

Answer: When several prominent lawyers told Gandhiji that they were ready to follow him to jail, Gandhiji exclaimed, “The battle of Champaran is toon”. Gandhiji made this statement because he had been able to shake the lawyers out of their stupor and they were ready to support Gandhiji.

Question 11. Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Cham-paran case to the court was useless? (Delhi 2014)

Answer: Gandhiji felt taking the Champaran case to the court was useless as taking such cases to the courts did little good. Where the peasants are so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts prove useless. The real relief for these peasants was to be free from fear.

Question 12. What made the Lieutenant Governor drop the case against Gandhiji? (Comptt. All India 2014)

Answer: The Lieutenant Governor was forced to drop the case against Gandhiji because the lawyers had told Gandhiji that they would follow him into jail. So the Lieutenant Governor wrote to the Magistrate ordering him to drop the case against Gandhiji.

Question 13.How did the Champaran peasants react when they heard that a Mahatma had come to help them? (Comptt. All India 2014)

Answer: As the news of Gandhiji’s advent and the nature of his mission spread, the peasants began arriving on foot and by conveyance to get a glimpse of their champion. The lawyers, who had represented the peasant groups in court, also came to brief Gandhiji.

Question 14. How did Rajkumar Shukla establish that he was resolute? (All India 2015)

Answer: Rajkumar Shukla wanted Gandhiji to visit Champaran to take up the cause of the poor sharecroppers who were being exploited by the English landlords but Gandhiji said he had appointments in various parts of India. Shukla started following Gandhiji everywhere the latter went and for weeks he never left Gandhiji’s side thus establishing his resoluteness.

Question 15. How was Gandhi treated at Rajendra Prasad’s house? (All India 2015)

Question 16. What were the terms of the indigo contract between the British landlords and the Indian peasants? (All India 2015)

Answer: The arable land in the Champaran district was divided into estates which were owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was indigo. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant 15 per cent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent.

Additional Resources

Question 17. Why is Raj Kumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’? (Comptt. Delhi 2015)

Answer: Shukla wanted Gandhiji to visit Champaran to take up the cause of the sharecroppers but Gandhiji said he had appointments in Cawnpore and other parts of India. Shukla did not leave Gandhiji’s side for weeks begging him to fix a date for Champaran. Gandhiji was impressed by his determination and resoluteness and Shukla finally managed to convince Gandhiji to accompany him to Champaran.

Question 18. Why was Gandhiji opposed to C.F. Andrews helping him in Champaran? (Delhi 2016)

Answer: Though Gandhiji’s lawyer friends thought it would be a good idea for C.F.Andrews to stay in Champaran and help them, Gandhiji vehemently opposed it. He said that if they had an Englishman on their side it would show the weakness of their heart. They should not attempt to seek a prop in Andrews just because he happened to be an Englishman. Gandhiji wanted Indians to be self-reliant.

Question 19. Why did Gandhiji agree to a settlement of mere 25 percent? (Delhi 2016)

Question 20. Why was Gandhiji unhappy with the lawyers in Muzzafarpur? Why was he against taking cases to the law courts? (Comptt. All India)

Answer: Gandhiji was unhappy with the lawyers in Muzzafarpur as they were collecting a huge fee from the peasants. He was against taking the case to the law courts as he knew the fear stricken peasants would be further crushed and exploited in the court. Gandhiji wanted to free the farmers from the fear of Britishers.

Long Answer Questions (5-6 Marks)

Question 21. Describe the difficulties faced by Gandhi at Champaran. (Comptt. Delhi 2010)

Answer: Gandhiji came to Champaran to fight against the injustice of the landlord system there. Most of the land in Champaran was divided into large estates owned by Englishmen who hired Indian tenants to grow indigo there. The Indian peasants were sharecroppers and had to surrender 15 per cent of the indigo harvest as rent to the British.

After synthetic indigo was developed the Englishmen obtained fresh agreements from sharecroppers to pay them compensation. Many refused to sign and others wanted their money back. At this point Gandhiji arrived in Champaran with an aim to free the peasants from fear.

He collected all the facts and met the commissioner who tried to bully him and advised him to leave the place. Gandhiji did not leave. In the course of securing justice for the oppressed farmers of Champaran, Gandhiji had to clash with the British authorities several times before he could persuade them to agree to his viewpoint.

Question 22. How was a solution to the problem of indigo sharecroppers of Champaran found?(Comptt. Delhi 2010)

Answer: The entire harvest of indigo, the chief commercial crop produced by the peasants in the 15 per cent of their land had to be paid as rent to the British landlords. After Germany developed synthetic indigo, it brought a steep fall in indigo prices.

Now the landlords very cleverly wished to give up this arrangement and get compensation for releasing the farmers land. Gandhiji at this time appeared in Champaran and fought a year long battle to get the poor peasants justice.

Gandhiji decided to accept a settlement of 25 per cent of the compensation money to break the deadlock between the landlords and their tenants.

The moral victory of the farmers to make the landlords own-up their dishonesty and surrender their money and prestige mattered more to Gandhiji. So he was successful in defeating the nefarious designs of the British landlords and also made the farmers courageous and conscious of their rights.

Also Read: CBSE Class 12 Syllabus 2025

Question 23. Why and how did Raj Kumar Shukla persu-ade Gandhiji to visit Champaran? (Comptt. AI 2010)

Answer: Raj Kumar Shukla was an illiterate and oppressed indigo farmer from Champaran who came to invite Gandhiji to visit his district where injustice and oppression was rampant. He wished Gandhiji to accompany him to Champaran and sort out the problems of the miserable peasants.

Gandhiji mentioned about his prior engagements to Shukla but he did not give up and followed Gandhiji everywhere. He kept urging Gandhiji to visit Champaran.

Finally his persistent and patience bore fruits and Gandhiji agreed to accompany him to Champaran immediately after his Calcutta visit. Gandhiji’s truthfulness, sincerity of purpose and undeterred efforts spelled the triumph of the campaign against the unjust British rulers.

What began as an attempt to fight for justice against the hapless peasants later turned out to be a clear proclamation that the Indians would not submit to British tyranny meekly.

Question 24. How was the Champaran incident a turning point in Gandhiji’s life? (Comptt. All India 2010)

After synthetic indigo was developed the Englishmen obtained fresh agreements from sharecroppers to pay them compensation. Many refused to sign and others wanted their money back.

At this point Gandhiji arrived in Champaran with an aim to free the peasants from fear. He collected all the facts and met the commissioner who tried to bully him and advised him to leave the place.

Gandhiji did not leave. In the course of securing justice for the oppressed farmers of Champaran, Gandhiji had to clash with the British authorities several times before he could persuade them to agree to his viewpoint.

The Champaran episode turned out to be Gandhiji’s loud pronouncement that the Britishes could not order him about in his own country.

It established the effectiveness of non¬cooperation as a means of fighting for justice. The Champaran episode revealed Gandhiji’s principles in the political field. Even after winning the peasants’ battle against the English landlords Gandhiji stayed in Champaran for the cultural and social upliftment of the poor and the backward of the villages of Champaran.

Question 26. Why do you think Gandhiji considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-point in his life? (All India 2011)

The Indian peasants were sharecroppers and had to surrender 15 per cent of the indigo harvest as rent to the British. After synthetic indigo was developed the Englishmen obtained fresh agreements from sharecroppers to pay them compensation. Many refused to sign and others wanted their money back.

At this point Gandhiji arrived in Champaran with an aim to free the peasants from fear. He collected all the facts and met the commissioner who tried to bully him and advised him to leave the place. Gandhiji did not leave.

In the course of securing justice for the oppressed farmers of Champaran, Gandhiji had to clash with the British authorities several times before he could persuade them to agree to his viewpoint.

The Champaran episode revealed Gandhiji’s principles in the political field. Even after winning the peasants’ battle against the English landlords Gandhiji stayed in Champaran for the cultural and social upliftment of the poor and the backward of the villages of Champaran.

Question 27. How did Gandhiji use satyagraha and non-violence at Champaran to achieve his goal? (2011)

Answer: Gandhiji reached Champaran with a goal to alleviate the peasants’ sufferings at the hands of the British landlords. He met the Secretary of the Landlords’ Association and the Commissioner who told him to leave Champaran. They signed the order but also wrote that Gandhiji would disobey it and sent a full report to the Viceroy.

This was followed by spontaneous demonstrations by thousands of peasants around the court house. The lawyers too resolved to follow Gandhiji to jail forcing the case against him to be dropped. This was the first victory of Civil Disobedience. Then an official enquiry into the indigo sharecroppers’ situation was instituted and the landlords agreed to refund the peasants.

The sharecropper accepted the 25 per cent refund. The landlords surrendered a part of the money with a part of their prestige. So Gandhiji achieved his objective in removing the fear of the poor peasants and getting justice for them through ‘satyagraha’ and ‘non-violence’.

Question 28. Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers of Champaran. (All India 2012)

Answer: Gandhiji took up the cause of the indigo sharecroppers at Champaran. He fought against the injustice of the cruel British landlords who extorted money from the poor sharecroppers. Gandhiji collected all the facts and met the Commissioner. He tried to threaten Gandhiji and advised him to leave from there.

But Gandhiji was undeterred. He decided to launch a peaceful ‘satyagraha’ and non-violent movement. This led to spontaneous demonstra¬tions in Motihari. Thousands of peasants challenged the Britishers and the government was baffled. Despite earlier hesitations the prominent lawyers declared their uncondi¬tional support to Gandhiji.

Finally Gandhiji’s peaceful and non-violent civil disobedience bore the desired results. The indigo share¬croppers at Champaran secured justice and the landlords agreed to refund 25 per cent of the compensation money.

Question 29. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhiji’s life. Elucidate. (All India 2012)

After synthetic indigo was developed the Englishmen obtained fresh agreements from sharecroppers to pay them compensation. Many refused to sign and others wanted their money back.

At this point Gandhiji arrived in Champaran with an aim to free the peasants from fear. He collected all the facts and met the commissioner who tried to bully him and advised him to leave the place.

The Champaran episode turned out to be Gandhiji’s loud pronouncement that the Britishes could not order him about in his own country. It established the effectiveness of non¬cooperation as a means of fighting for justice. The Champaran episode revealed Gandhiji’s principles in the political field. Even after winning the peasants’ battle against the English landlords Gandhiji stayed in Champaran for the cultural and social upliftment of the poor and the backward of the villages of Champaran.

More Resources for Class 12

Question 30. Why did Rajkumar Shukla invite Gandhiji to Champaran? How did Gandhiji solve the problem of the indigo farmers? (All India 2012)

Answer: Rajkmar Shukla who was an illiterate and oppressed indigo farmer from Champaran invited Gandhiji to visit his district so that he could alleviate the problems faced by the miserable peasants at the hands of the British landlords.

He kept urging Gandhiji to visit Champaran. Gandhiji’s truthfulness, sincerity of purpose and undeterred efforts enabled him to solve the problem of the indigo farmers. He began by trying to get the facts.

The British landlords as well as Commissioner of Tirhut were non-cooperative. Lawyers from Muzaffarpur briefed him about court cases of these peasants. Gandhiji and the lawyers collected depositions by about ten thousand peasants. Notes were made on other evidence. Documents were collected.

The whole area throbbed with the activities of the investigators and forceful protests of landlords. The Lieutenant Governor summoned Gandhiji. After four protracted interviews an official commission of inquiry was appointed to look into the indigo sharecroppers’ situation.

Gandhiji was the sole representative of the peasants. The official inquiry assembled huge quantity of evidence against the big planters. After negotiation a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers was agreed on. This was a moral victory of the peasants. They recognised their rights and learned courage.

Question 31. Exploitation is a universal phenomenon. The poor indigo farmers were exploited by the British landlords to which Gandhiji objected. Even after our independence we find exploitation of unorganized labour. What values do we learn from Gandhiji campaign to counter the present day problems of exploitation?(Delhi 2013)

Answer: Gandhiji’s campaign in Champaran is relevant even in the present day to counter the problems of exploitation. What we must keep in mind is to teach the downtrodden to be courageous. Unless the labour class overcomes the fear within them, they will never be able to fight for their rights.

Therefore, priority has to be given to empowering and making the labour class bold and fearless and to give them the courage to oppose injustice and exploitation.

Another thing we must remember is to focus not on the problems of the labour class but on the solution of their problems. We must possess a humanitarian approach and should be ready to brave hardships with non-violence, patience and perseverance. Only then can we overcome the present-day problems of exploitation.

FAQs on CBSE Indigo Important Questions Class 12 English

What is the chapter 'Indigo' about?

'Indigo' is a story by Louis Fischer that narrates Mahatma Gandhi's early involvement in the Indian independence movement and his efforts to help the indigo farmers in Champaran.

Why is 'Indigo' considered an important chapter for Class 12 English?

The chapter is important because it highlights key themes like social justice, the power of non-violent resistance, and the impact of colonialism, making it relevant to India's history and literature.

What are some important questions from the chapter 'Indigo'?

Some important questions include: 1. Discuss the role of Mahatma Gandhi in the Champaran movement. 2. How did the British indigo planters exploit the farmers? 3. Explain the significance of the Champaran episode in India's struggle for independence.

How can I prepare for the questions on 'Indigo' for my CBSE exams?

Focus on understanding the main themes, characters, and historical context of the chapter. Practice writing answers to important questions and refer to NCERT solutions for guidance.

Are there any specific character analyses needed for the chapter 'Indigo'?

Yes, analyzing Mahatma Gandhi's character and his approach towards injustice is crucial. Understanding the perspectives of the indigo farmers and British planters also adds depth to your answers.

What are some themes explored in 'Indigo'?

Major themes include: 1. The struggle against oppression 2. The power of collective action 3. The moral responsibility of individuals in society

Can you suggest a few tips for writing answers on 'Indigo'?

1. Start with a clear introduction. 2. Use relevant examples from the text. 3. Keep your answers concise and to the point. 4. Conclude with your interpretation or analysis.

Indigo Class 12 Important Questions And Answers

CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo – Indigo Summary

Indigo Important Questions Short Answer Type Questions (3-4 MARKS)

Additional Resources

Long Answer Questions (5-6 Marks)

More Resources for Class 12

FAQs on CBSE Indigo Important Questions Class 12 English

What is the chapter 'Indigo' about?

Why is 'Indigo' considered an important chapter for Class 12 English?

What are some important questions from the chapter 'Indigo'?

How can I prepare for the questions on 'Indigo' for my CBSE exams?

Are there any specific character analyses needed for the chapter 'Indigo'?

What are some themes explored in 'Indigo'?

Can you suggest a few tips for writing answers on 'Indigo'?

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