Kheda Satyagraha and Agrarian Protest

The Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 was a landmark agrarian revolt in modern Indian history. It marked Mahatma Gandhi’s first non-cooperation movement in India. The movement brought rural peasants directly into the nationalist struggle, shifting agrarian grievances from local disputes to organized anti-colonial resistance.

Background and Economic Causes

The Kheda district in Gujarat faced severe agricultural and financial distress in 1917–1918 due to natural calamities and wartime economic pressures.

Factors Behind the Peasant Unrest

• Failure of Crops: Continuous heavy rains in late 1917 destroyed the Kharif crops across the Kheda district, triggering widespread food shortages.
• Epidemics and Labor Shortage: Outbreaks of bubonic plague and the 1918 influenza pandemic killed thousands of villagers, disrupting agricultural operations.
• Wartime Price Rise: World War I doubled the prices of essential commodities, including kerosene, cloth, and salt.
• Inflexible Revenue Demands: Despite crop destruction, the colonial administration increased land revenue rates by 23% in 1917 and refused to grant remissions.

Legal Provisions and Government Response

The conflict centered on the interpretation of the Bombay Revenue Code regarding crop failure and tax suspension.

Revenue Code Regulations

Under the Bombay Revenue Code, if crop yield fell below 25% (1/4^th or 4 annas in a rupee) of the normal output, farmers were legally entitled to a full suspension of land revenue demands for that year.

Official Stance and Coercion

• Official Estimates: Imperial revenue collectors conducted brief assessments and claimed crop yields were above the 25% threshold, rejecting peasant petitions for relief.
• Coercive Collections: Revenue officers seized cattle, attached agricultural land, confiscated standing crops, and issued eviction notices to defaulting farmers.

Organization and Leadership of the Movement

Mahatma Gandhi provided moral and strategic guidance, while local leaders organized rural communities across Kheda’s villages.

Key Leaders and Organizers

• Vallabhbhai Patel: A rising barrister from Ahmedabad who gave up his practice to manage daily field operations across villages.
• Indulal Yagnik: A prominent activist who helped publish appeals, organize petitions, and coordinate local committees.
• Mohanlal Pandya and Shankarlal Parikh: Local Kheda activists who mobilized village headmen and led civil disobedience actions.
• Support Leaders: Anasuya Sarabhai, Ravishankar Vyas, and Narhari Parikh assisted in organizing rural networks.

Strategy of Non-Cooperation

On March 22, 1918, Gandhi formally launched the Satyagraha at Nadiad. Peasants took a solemn oath refusing to pay land revenue, agreeing to face property confiscation and imprisonment without physical resistance.

The Onion Satyagraha and Court Defiance

A notable episode involved Mohanlal Pandya leading a group of peasants to harvest onions from a field attached by the government.

• Seizure of Crop: Revenue officials seized a field belonging to a defaulting farmer and prohibited harvesting.
• Defiance: Mohanlal Pandya, accompanied by fellow Satyagrahis, dug up the onion crop in direct view of authorities and accepted arrest.
• Title of “Dungli Chor”: Gandhi affectionately gave Mohanlal Pandya the title Dungli Chor (Onion Thief) for his symbolic defiance of colonial property seizures.

Settlement and Resolution

The ongoing resistance forced the British government to seek an informal compromise in June 1918.

Government Concessions

• Secret Instructions: The colonial administration issued secret orders to revenue collectors directing that land revenue be collected only from farmers who could afford to pay.
• Suspension for the Needy: Revenue demands were suspended for poor and affected peasants.
• Return of Property: Seized cattle, land, and confiscated crops were returned to their original owners, and arrested activists were released.

Significance in the Freedom Movement

The Kheda Satyagraha created new political dynamics in the national movement.

• Rise of Sardar Patel: The movement established Vallabhbhai Patel as a key mass leader and organizer of the Indian National Congress.
• Peasant Awakening: Small farmers and landholders (Patidars) realized their collective strength through non-violent resistance.
• Validation of Satyagraha: Following Champaran and Ahmedabad, the success in Kheda proved the practical utility of Gandhi’s Satyagraha method in rural India.

Key Facts and Historical Context

The Nadiad Anath Ashram served as the operational headquarters for Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel during the campaign. Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India during the Kheda Satyagraha in 1918. The Kheda campaign occurred almost simultaneously with the Ahmedabad Mill Strike of March 1918, requiring Gandhi to divide his attention between industrial labor in Ahmedabad and peasant farming in Kheda. During the movement, Gandhi also urged Kheda peasants to enlist in the British Indian Army for World War I, believing that military service would demonstrate Indian responsibility and strengthen post-war demands for self-government. The Gujarat Sabha, a political organization presided over by Mahatma Gandhi with Vallabhbhai Patel as secretary, played a central role in petitioning the government before the launching of the Satyagraha.