Bardoli Satyagraha, 1928

Bardoli Satyagraha, 1928

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The Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, launched in the Bardoli taluka of Surat district, Gujarat, was a major episode of civil disobedience in the Indian independence movement. Like the earlier Kheda peasant struggle, it was fundamentally a no-tax movement, organized in protest against an unjustified hike in land revenue. The campaign was eventually led by Vallabhbhai Patel, and its success established him as one of the foremost leaders of the national movement, earning him the title “Sardar.”

• Bardoli had been selected as early as 1922 as the place from which Gandhiji intended to launch the Civil Disobedience Campaign, but the movement was suspended following the events at Chauri Chaura.
  • Gandhiji had chosen Bardoli for this purpose because the taluka had already witnessed and participated in sustained constructive work.

Socio-Economic Background of Bardoli and Constructive Work by Gandhians

• Cultivators in Surat taluka were divided into two broad classes:
  • Kali Paraj
  • Ujla Paraj
• The Kali Paraj (“black-skinned”) comprised the lower castes, tribals, backward classes, and untouchables. Gandhiji observed that this class lived in dire poverty, surviving what was effectively a near-slave existence in Bardoli.
• The Ujla Paraj (“fair-complexioned”) comprised the upper and well-to-do castes, such as Patidar, Vania, and Brahmin.
• The Patidars, a well-to-do peasant class, occupied a dominant economic position:
  • Their relations with small, marginal, and agricultural labourers of the lower castes were unsatisfactory.
  • The land held by poorer peasants was meagre and largely unproductive, and agricultural wages were barely sufficient for subsistence.
  • Patidars could afford to invest surplus income in land improvement; some also worked in London and Africa, channelling their foreign earnings into the purchase of new land and irrigation facilities.
  • The black soil of Surat taluka was fertile and well-suited to cotton cultivation.
• Relations between the Kali Paraj and landlords were marked by exploitation. The Kali Paraj workforce mainly consisted of the Dubla, also called Halpati.
• The Hali system:
  • A Dubla or Hali would borrow money from a Patidar or other Ujla Paraj landlord, and in repayment, work as that master’s permanent agricultural labourer for life — since the loan could effectively never be repaid.
  • For a Hali, this chain of bondage often continued across generations.
  • No movement was launched to free the Dubla agricultural serfs until 1938, and the eventual abolition of the Hali system in Surat district reflects how deeply serfdom was entrenched in the local agrarian structure.
• The Ujla Paraj peasants cornered most benefits in terms of land ownership and other facilities, creating sharp antagonism between the rich Patidar peasantry and the poor, marginal peasants and agricultural labourers.
• Constructive work initiated by Gandhiji:
  • Gandhian workers such as the Mehta brothers and Keshavji Ganeshji began constructive activities across Bardoli taluka — establishing schools, ashrams, and hostels, while simultaneously launching social reform movements.
  • This constructive work created awakening among the peasant masses, mobilizing them around their demands, and trained youth in preparation for non-violence and satyagraha.
  • Gandhian workers renamed the Kaliparaj tribals as Raniparaj (inhabitants of the forest), a less derogatory term, and exhorted them to resist the Hali system under which they laboured as hereditary bondsmen for the Ujla Paraj.
  • Patidar Yuvak Mandals were formed for the social reform of the Patidar community; while these associations fostered unity among Patidars, they also, notably, deepened a sense of antagonism toward the peasants of lower castes.
  • Mahadev Desai recorded an anecdote in Harijan from Gandhiji’s 1921 visit to Bardoli: when Gandhiji asked about the taluka’s population, he was told it was 60,000 — with the poor Dubla (Halpati) and Chaudhra (tribal) communities, who made up not less than one-third of this figure, not even being counted.
  • As a result of this constructive work, the spinning wheel (Charkha) became popular among backward castes and tribes.
  • A Swarajya Ashram was established in Surat, with six similar centres set up across Bardoli taluka to carry forward constructive activities and diffuse a new political culture.
  • Though the Patidars appeared outwardly benevolent toward the lower castes, this process of harmonization ultimately prepared the ground for a united peasant satyagraha.

Events Leading to the Bardoli Satyagraha

• In 1925, Bardoli taluka suffered severe floods and famine, damaging crop production and leaving farmers in financial distress.
• Despite this, the Government of the Bombay Presidency raised the land tax rate by 30% that year (some accounts cite 22%), and refused to cancel the increase despite petitions from civic groups highlighting the calamities.
  • In January 1926, Jayakar, who was in charge of the land revenue reassessment, had recommended a 30% increase over the existing assessment.
• The Bardoli peasants raised several objections to this hike:
  • The rate of enhancement was unjust and had been fixed without a full and appropriate investigation.
  • The tax official’s report was inaccurate, making the increase unwarranted.

Start of the Satyagraha

• The local Congress Party organization published a critical report demonstrating that peasants could not sustain the enhanced assessment; a Congress-organized committee drafted a petition and presented it to the Revenue Member of the state government in early 1927.
• When the authorities refused to recognize these claims or amend the assessment, the Bardoli peasants resolved to organize a campaign.
  • In September 1927, a conference at Bardoli unanimously resolved to withhold payment of the enhanced portion of the assessment.
• On 5 January 1928, the peasants formally invited Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to lead the movement.
  • Local leaders also approached Gandhiji, who agreed to support the campaign after being assured that it would observe strict non-violence.
• Patel accepted the presidency of the peasants’ conference held on 4 February 1928.
  • He initiated correspondence with the government, and upon receiving the reply that it was “not prepared to make any concession,” the peasants adopted a resolution on 12 February 1928, demanding either an inquiry, acceptance of the old assessment as full payment, or the appointment of an impartial tribunal — with a refusal to pay until one of these conditions was met.
• Gandhi, though not directly involved in organizing the campaign, supported it through his writings in Young India (his English-language weekly, published from 1919 to 1932) and through a visit to Bardoli about two months after the satyagraha began.

Organisation and Course of the Movement

• The campaign drew active satyagrahis and volunteers alongside sympathizers and cooperators.
  • Volunteers numbered about 250, including Hindus, Muslims, and a few Parsis.
  • Several thousand Kaliparaj (aboriginal) peasants also cooperated with the campaign — a direct outcome of the earlier constructive work, which had made them more politically aware and educated.
  • Women were well represented as participants, and it was the women of Bardoli who conferred on Vallabhbhai Patel the title of “Sardar.”
• The initial phase focused on educating participants about the meaning of the struggle, with leaders’ speeches emphasizing discipline and preparation for hardship and austerity.
• Organizational structure:
  • Leaders established a total of 16 satyagraha camps across villages in the taluka.
  • Bardoli taluka was divided into three camps (chhavanis), each under the charge of an experienced leader.
  • 100 political workers drawn from across the province, assisted by 1,500 volunteers (many of them students), formed what has been described as the first-ever army of non-violent workers.
  • From the headquarters at Bardoli village, participants issued a daily news bulletin along with occasional pamphlets and speeches.
• Oath and mobilization:
  • Peasants took oaths in the name of both Prabhu (the Hindu name for God) and Khuda (the Muslim name for God), pledging not to pay the land revenue.
  • The resolution was followed by recitation of sacred texts from the Gita and the Koran, along with songs of Kabir, symbolizing Hindu-Muslim unity.
  • Campaigners collected signatures for the satyagraha pledge; those who refused were subjected to social boycott. Efforts were also made to persuade village headmen to act as spokesmen for their villages rather than as agents of the government.
• Methods of action:
  • The main phase of the campaign involved non-cooperation, trespass, submission to arrest, and resignation from official posts.
  • Campaigners enforced an economic boycott, refusing to supply officials and their sympathizers with non-essential goods and services.
  • The final stage typically associated with such movements — usurping government functions — was only partially achieved: any official seeking services within the taluka had to obtain permission from the satyagraha headquarters, a development that alarmed the government considerably.

Government Response and Final Settlement

• The government issued final notices demanding payment of the assessment, warning of land forfeiture for non-compliance. The peasants refused to comply.
• The Government of Bombay responded with repressive measures — attachment of land and crops, and confiscation of cattle and other movable property — forfeiting a large chunk of peasant land.
• The satyagraha’s impact reached the national leadership:
  • K.M. Munshi and Lalji Naranji resigned from the Bombay Legislative Council in support of the movement.
  • Vitthalbhai Patel, President of the Bombay Legislative Council, threatened to resign as well.
  • The resulting pressure on the legislative assembly forced the government to soften its stance.
• The movement gained wider dimensions:
  • Workers in Bombay textile mills went on strike, and there was a threat of a railway strike that could have paralyzed troop and supply movement to Bardoli.
  • The agitation’s influence reached as far as Punjab, from where several jathas of peasants were dispatched to Bardoli in solidarity.
  • Gandhiji himself shifted to Bardoli on 2 August 1928, lending further strength to the movement.
• Political context favouring settlement:
  • The British government had high stakes in resolving the Bardoli agitation, particularly with the Simon Commission due to arrive in India and the Congress having declared a nationwide boycott of the Commission.
  • Recognizing Bardoli’s national significance, the government adopted a conciliatory approach, and Sardar Patel was contacted to negotiate a settlement.
• Negotiations and agreement:
  • On 18 July 1928, Governor Wilson offered terms to Patel, with the government initially insisting on full payment before agreeing to any inquiry.
  • Patel accepted the principle of an official inquiry, provided it was judicial in nature and allowed representatives of the people to give evidence.
  • Patel also pressed additional demands: discharge of all satyagrahi prisoners, restoration of all forfeited lands, payment at market price for confiscated movable property, and remission of all dismissals and punishments arising from the struggle — while reaffirming the satyagrahis’ intent to reach a solution honourable to both sides.
  • On 4 August 1928, the campaigners and government agreed on a formula meeting the satyagrahis’ full list of basic demands; in turn, Patel conceded that the original tax would be paid before the inquiry was granted.
• The inquiry and outcome:
  • An enquiry committee was constituted under the presidency of judicial officer Broomfield, in association with Maxwell, to examine the Bardoli agitation.
  • The committee concluded that the tax increase had been unjustified and recommended reducing the enhancement from 30% to 6%.
  • The government agreed to restore confiscated lands and properties and to cancel the 30% revenue hike, not just for that year but for the following year as well.
  • The farmers celebrated their victory, though Patel continued working to ensure that all lands and properties were returned to every affected farmer, leaving no one excluded.

Importance of the Bardoli Satyagraha

• Though limited in its immediate, local objective, the Bardoli campaign became integrated into the larger Indian struggle for self-government, influencing peasant movements elsewhere in the country and lending fresh strength to the national freedom movement.
• Gandhiji remarked on the significance of the Bardoli agitation: “Whatever the Bardoli struggle may be, it clearly is not a struggle for the direct attainment of swaraj. That every such awakening, every such effort as that of Bardoli will bring swaraj nearer… is undoubtedly true.”
• Jawaharlal Nehru observed that the real success of the campaign “lay in the effect it produced among the peasantry all over India,” noting that “Bardoli became a sign and a symbol of hope and strength and victory to the Indian peasant.”
• Beyond Bardoli, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel went on to organize the peasants of Kheda and Borsad (also in Gujarat) in non-violent civil disobedience against oppressive British policies, cementing his position as one of Gujarat’s most influential leaders and eventually rising to the leadership of the Indian National Congress.

Criticism of the Bardoli Movement

• The Bardoli movement has been criticised from several perspectives.
• At a broader level, it can be argued that the agitation functioned more as a national experiment in satyagraha as a method of freedom struggle than as a movement addressing the peasants’ deepest structural problems.
• Notably, the problem of the Hali Pratha — a deeply exploitative system — was never raised by the movement at all.
• The campaign, in substance, pleaded the cause of the rich and middle-class peasants, while the poorer masses of peasantry, who held very little land, were largely neglected — even though many of them participated in the movement owing to their trust in Gandhiji’s involvement.