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Bihar in the Freedom StruggleRajendra Prasad, Salt Satyagraha & Individual Satyagraha

Bihar had no sea to make salt from, yet in 1930 every home seemed to be making it. This page follows Dr Rajendra Prasad's life in the national movement, shows how every class in Bihar joined the Civil Disobedience movement, and traces Bihar's part in the individual satyagraha of 1940-41.

Prasad1911Prasad joins Congress

formally, at Calcutta.

Congress3 timesCongress President

1934, 1939 and 1947.

Salt15 Apr 1930Salt law broken

in Champaran's thanas.

Bihpur130 of 150Bihpur chaukidars resigned

after police atrocities.

1940-4128 Nov 1940Individual satyagraha

begins in Bihar.

India25,000+Satyagrahis convicted

across India by 15 May 1941.

Part 1 · Dr Rajendra Prasad and the national movement

Dr Rajendra Prasad: From Champaran to the Constituent Assembly

Bihar's most prominent freedom fighter: Gandhi's colleague at Champaran, three-time Congress President, President of the Constituent Assembly and India's first President.

Illustration of a simple ashram building with a veranda and neem trees in Patna, khadi-clad volunteers gathered in the courtyard

Rajendra Prasad

Rajendra Prasad was one of the most prominent personalities from Bihar during Indian freedom struggle. He was born in Zeradei (Siwan district) and became the first President of India (from 1950 to 1962). He was also first in Bihar to be awarded Bharat Ratna.

He had joined the Indian National Congress as early as 1911 and participated in all the events during Indian Independence Movement.

Archival photograph of Dr Rajendra Prasad — Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of the Constituent Assembly and the first President of India.Archival photograph (public domain)

Prasad's first association with Indian National Congress was during 1906 annual session organised in Calcutta, where he participated as a volunteer, while studying in Calcutta.
Formally, he joined the Indian National Congress in the year 1911, when the annual session was again held in Calcutta.
During the Lucknow Session of Indian National Congress held in 1916, he met Mahatma Gandhi. During one of the fact-finding missions at Champaran, Mahatma Gandhi asked him to come with his volunteers.
He was so greatly moved by the dedication, courage and conviction of Mahatma Gandhi that as soon as the motion of Non-Cooperation was passed by Indian National Congress in 1920, he retired from his lucrative career of lawyer as well as his duties in the university to aid the movement.
- In 1921, non-cooperation movement was launched in Bihar under his leadership.
- In 1922 he was the General Secretary of Congress.
He also responded to the call by Gandhi to boycott Western educational establishments by asking his son, Mrityunjaya Prasad, to drop out of his studies and enrol himself in Bihar Vidyapeeth, an institution he along with his colleagues founded on the traditional Indian model.

After independence

After independence, he became the first president of India. As a president he continued to contribute through his visits to various countries (e.g. Japan, Sri Lanka, Soviet Union etc) and literary works like Bharat Khandit, Bapu ke Kadmo me etc. He was re-elected for two consecutive terms in 1952 and 1957, and is the only President of India to achieve this feat.

Part 2 · The Civil Disobedience movement in Bihar

Civil Disobedience: Salt Without a Sea

Gandhi made salt the symbol of the struggle; Bihar, with no coastline, made it from saltpetre earth, and its leaders and people defied police violence across the province.

Illustration of villagers in Bihar boiling earth in large pans to make salt during the 1930 salt satyagraha, a crowd watching peacefully

The movement

Civil Disobedience movement was launched for Swaraj in 1930 under the leadership of Gandhiji. It was launched after no positive response came from the Government on the eleven point demands forwarded by Gandhiji.

Gandhiji made Salt as the central formula for the CDM as it was the most inhuman poll tax and its symbolic identification with the mass suffering. Gandhiji organised Dandi march for the violation of salt law. On 6th April 1930, Gandhi reached Dandi and a nation wide salt Satyagraha was organised. Thus, civil disobedience movement began.

The programme

Gandhi chalked out a programme of civil disobedience of many items such as breaking of certain laws, reducing Government's income from excise and customs duties, resignation from Government services, picketing liquor shops and shops dealing with foreign goods, mainly British cloths, urging the people not to pay land revenue, Chaukidari tax and grazing fees. The Salt Act was his first target.

Bihar joins in

The people of Bihar participated in this movement whole heartedly. Almost all the social classes played an important role in this movement. As there was no scope of breaking the Salt Law in Bihar due to the absence of Sea-coast, the people manufactured Salt only on small scale through preparing saltpeter out of earth.

“Of a new hope, the surge of a new aspiration, the pursuit of a noble ideal and the romance of a new sacrifice surcharge the atmosphere.”

The Searchlight, reporting on Bihar in 1930

Leaders and masses

The first districts in Bihar were Saran and Champaran which launched Salt Satyagraha under Bepin Behari Varma, the president, Champaran District Congress Committee, with the support of 3,400 volunteers.
Salt Law was broken in several thanas of the Champaran district on April 15, 1930. In this connection many leaders had been arrested, while attempting to manufacture salt at different centres, and were sentenced with imprisonment for a period of six months.
Babu Rajendra Prasad and Prof. Kripalani rushed to Motihari to see the development in manufacturing Salt at Piprahia and Phulwaria, where a meeting was held which was presided over by Rajendra Prasad and Kripalani, attended by more than 1000 people.
Leaders like Rajendra Prasad and Abdul Bari were injured by the lathi charge by the police.
Other leaders like Ram Dayalu Singh and Thakur Ram Nandan Singh from Muzaffarpur, Bharat Mishra and Chandrika Singh of Saran, Ram Nandan Mishra and Satya Narayan Sinha from Darbhanga, Srikrishna Sinha and Nand Kumar Sinha from Munger, Abdul Bari and Anugraha Narayan Sinha in Patna led the masses in their respective areas and were arrested. Overall, no area in Bihar remained untouched by the movement.
In Bettiah and Motihari people observed hartal in protest against the arrest of main leaders in this district.
Despite Police repression, Salt began to be prepared on mass scale in many villages. The movement was largely based on the principle of non-violent struggle.
People also organised the social boycott of police officers and chaukidars.
The Swadeshi League was formed at Patna with Ali Imam as the President, Sachidanand Sinha and others to promote the use of indigenous cloths.

Patna

In Patna, Nakhas Pind had been selected as the spot for the violation of salt law by manufacturing salt. The Salt Satyagraha in Patna was marked by brave and unflinching determination on the part of Satyagrahis.
The city of Patna witnessed one of the most heroic scenes in the thrilling drama of Bihar's national struggle. Despite the arrest and imprisonment of the light and leading leaders the city established amazing examples of the bravery and patience.
There was naked violence on the part of the police but the people adhered to the perfect non-violence.

Bihpur, Bhagalpur

The situation at Bihpur in Bhagalpur district was quite different and grave; perhaps it was the biggest and brightest chapter in the history of Satyagraha Movement in Bihar.
The Bihpur inhuman atrocities: “These exceeded in severity, ruthlessness, and disregard of human feelings.”
Shocked with the police brutality at Bihpur, four members of the Bihar Council and many Chaukidars, Dafadars and Sarpanchs of this area resigned.

“Every home in the city and villages in the district engaged in either making salt or taking it. Gentlemen and ladies, old men as well as children, all took the Prasad Salt eagerly and joyfully like Prasad puja offering.”

Amrita Bazar Patrika, on Patna

Part 4 · Bihar in the individual satyagraha of 1940-41

The Individual Satyagraha of 1940-41 and Bihar

A limited, symbolic protest against the war effort by chosen individuals, led in Bihar by Shri Krishna Sinha and joined by women in Gaya and Dumka.

Why it was launched

Post failure of August offer, the patience of both the Congress leadership and the masses was getting exhausted. The Government refused to budge and took up the position that no constitutional advance could be made till the Congress came to an agreement with the Muslim communalists. It kept issuing ordinance after ordinance taking away the freedom of speech and the Press and the right to organize associations.

Nationalist workers, especially those belonging to the left-wing, were harassed, arrested and imprisoned all over the country. The Government was getting ready to crush the Congress if it took any steps towards a mass struggle.

In this situation, the Indians felt that the time had come to show the British that their patience was not the result of weakness. Now, Gandhiji decided to initiate a limited Satyagraha on an individual basis by a few selected individuals in every locality. This came to be known as individual satyagraha.

“It is wrong to help the British war-effort with men or money. The only worthy effort is to resist all war with non-violent resistance.”

The declaration each Satyagrahi would make publicly

How it worked

The Satyagrahi would beforehand inform the district magistrate of the time and place where he or she was going to make the anti-war speech.
Vinoba Bhave was chosen as first Satyagrahi on 17 October 1940, Jawaharlal Nehru the second and Brahma Datt was third.
The Satyagrahis were often arrested by authorities after they had made their speeches for violating the Defence of India Act.
And if the Government did not arrest a Satyagrahi, he or she would not only repeat the performance but move into the villages and start a trek towards Delhi, thus participating in a movement that came to be known as the ‘Delhi Chalo’ (onwards to Delhi) movement.

Aim and objective

The aims of the Individual Satyagraha conducted at a low temperature and in very small doses were to make clear that the vast majority of the people of India are not interested in participation in the war and they make no distinction between Nazism and the double autocracy that rules India.
Thus, the Individual Satyagraha had a dual purpose:
- While giving expression to the Indian people's strong political feeling, it gave the British Government further opportunity to peacefully accept the Indian demands. Gandhiji and the Congress were, because of their anti-Nazi feelings, still reluctant to take advantage of the British predicament and embarrass her war effort by a mass upheaval in India.
- More importantly, Gandhiji was beginning to prepare the people for the coming struggle. The Congress organization was being put back in shape; opportunist elements were being discovered and pushed out of the organization; and above all the people were being politically aroused, educated and mobilized.

The contribution of Bihar

In Bihar, the individual satyagraha started on 28th November 1940.
Shri Krishna Singh was the first satyagrahi in Bihar. He was jailed for nine months (22 November 1940 – 26 August 1941).
Anugraha Narayan Singh was the second satyagrahi. He was arrested at Patna while delivering the speech.
In Gaya, Gauri Shankar Singh performed satyagraha on 4th December, 1940.
Shyam Narayan Singh of Silaw also performed the individual satyagraha on 9th December 1940.
Some women were also chosen as satyagrahi:
- In Gaya, Priyamvada Devi, Jagat Rani Devi and Janki Devi were arrested.
- Mahadevi Kesriwal was arrested in Dumka.

Overall

Overall, Bihar proactively participated in this movement. By 15 May 1941, more than 25,000 Satyagrahis from all over the country had been convicted for offering individual civil disobedience.

“During CDM, Bihar was on the peak of national movement and had created a place in the history.”

— BPSC Mains answer · Bihar in the Civil Disobedience movement

Curated for BPSC, UPSC & State PCS Civil Services Aspirants | Modern Indian History Master Module

Explore More Beyond the Book Modules

Bihar in the Freedom StruggleRajendra Prasad, Salt Satyagraha & Individual Satyagraha

Dr Rajendra Prasad: From Champaran to the Constituent Assembly

Civil Disobedience: Salt Without a Sea

Leaders and masses

Patna

Bihpur, Bhagalpur

The Individual Satyagraha of 1940-41 and Bihar

How it worked

Aim and objective

The contribution of Bihar

BPSC Mains Previous Year Questions

Write short notes on: Dr Rajendra Prasad and the National Movement.

Assess the role of different social classes of Bihar in the civil disobedience movement.

Describe the contribution of Bihar in the individual satyagraha of 1940-41.

Bihar in the Freedom StruggleRajendra Prasad, Salt Satyagraha & Individual Satyagraha

Dr Rajendra Prasad: From Champaran to the Constituent Assembly

Civil Disobedience: Salt Without a Sea

Leaders and masses

Patna

Bihpur, Bhagalpur

How Each Class of Bihar Took Part

The Individual Satyagraha of 1940-41 and Bihar

How it worked

Aim and objective

The contribution of Bihar

BPSC Mains Previous Year Questions

Write short notes on: Dr Rajendra Prasad and the National Movement.

Assess the role of different social classes of Bihar in the civil disobedience movement.

Describe the contribution of Bihar in the individual satyagraha of 1940-41.