The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagraha.The peasants (bhumihars) of the Champaran and other areas of North Bihar were growingthe Indigo under the tinkathia system. Under the tinakathia system the peasantswere bound to plant 3 out of 20 parts of their land with indigo for his landlord.They had to lease this part in return to the advance at the beginning of each cultivationseason. The price was too less and was fixed on the area cultivated rather than thecrop produced. They were actually being cheated by the English planters. The plantershad agreed to the peasants to relive them from the lease contracts but demandedheavy compensations which they were not able to pay. One local peasant leaderRajkumar Shukla had invited Mahatma Gandhi to visit Champaran. Gandhi led organised protests and strike against the landlords, who with the guidance of the Britishgovernment, signed an agreement granting more compensation and control over farming for the poor farmers of the region, and cancellation of revenue hikes and collection until the famine ended. It was during this agitation, that Gandhi was addressed by the people as Bapu (Father) and Mahatma (GreatSoul). He was joined by many young nationalists from all over India, including Brajkishore Prasad, Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Acharya Kriplani, RamNavami Prasad and later Jawaharlal Nehru.