Bihar in the national movement, 1905–1947

Bihar's place in the freedom struggle is sometimes summed up in two words — Champaran and Quit India. Both deserve their fame. But between 1905 and 1947, Bihar contributed at every stage: revolutionaries, lawyers and journalists, peasant leaders, Gandhian constructive workers and, in 1937, one of the first elected Congress ministries.

Swadeshi and revolutionary activity (1905–1912)

• The Swadeshi movement against the partition of Bengal (1905) found support in Bihar, then part of the Bengal Presidency.
• Muzaffarpur bomb case (30 April 1908): Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb at a carriage in Muzaffarpur, believing it carried the unpopular magistrate Kingsford. It killed two British women instead. Prafulla Chaki shot himself to avoid arrest; Khudiram Bose, only eighteen, was hanged in Muzaffarpur in August 1908.
• The Bihar Provincial Conference was established (its first session was held in Patna in 1908), giving Bihar's leaders a platform.

The separation movement

Bihar's educated leaders — Sachchidananda Sinha, Mahesh Narayan, Ali Imam, Mazharul Haque and others — campaigned for a separate province. Newspapers such as the Bihar Times (1894) argued Bihar's case. The province of Bihar and Orissa was created in 1912. See our guide on the formation of Bihar.

The Bankipore Congress (1912)

The 27th session of the Indian National Congress was held at Bankipore (Patna) in December 1912, presided over by R. N. Mudholkar — the first Congress session in Bihar.

Champaran and after (1917–1919)

• Champaran Satyagraha (1917) — Gandhi's first satyagraha in India (see our dedicated guide).
• It drew leaders such as Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Brajkishore Prasad into the national movement.
• The Rowlatt satyagraha (1919) found support in Bihar.

Non-Cooperation (1920–22)

• Bihar responded strongly — boycott of courts, schools and foreign cloth; picketing of liquor shops.
• Mazharul Haque donated land in Patna for the Sadaqat Ashram, which became the headquarters of the Congress in Bihar.
• Bihar Vidyapith, a national educational institution, was inaugurated by Gandhi in February 1921 at Sadaqat Ashram, with Mazharul Haque as chancellor and Rajendra Prasad as principal.
• Mazharul Haque also started the newspaper The Motherland.

Civil Disobedience (1930–34)

• Salt satyagraha: salt laws were broken at several places in Bihar; in Patna, volunteers made salt near the Nakhas pond area.
• No-chaukidari-tax campaign: Bihar was known for its campaign against the chaukidari tax (a tax that funded village watchmen, seen as instruments of the colonial police). Many villages refused to pay, and faced confiscation and repression.
• Bihpur (Bhagalpur district): police action against satyagrahis in 1930, in which Rajendra Prasad was injured, drew wide attention.
• Boycott of foreign cloth and liquor.
• Women participated in large numbers.

The 1934 earthquake and relief

The great Bihar–Nepal earthquake of 15 January 1934 devastated north Bihar. Congress leaders, especially Rajendra Prasad, organised a major relief effort (the Bihar Central Relief Committee), which strengthened the Congress's connection with the people. See our guide on disasters in Bihar.

Provincial autonomy and the 1937 ministry

• In the 1937 provincial elections under the Government of India Act, 1935, the Congress won a majority in Bihar.
• Shri Krishna Sinha ("Sri Babu") became the Premier (chief minister) in July 1937, after a short-lived interim ministry (April–July 1937) under Mohammad Yunus, with Anugrah Narayan Sinha as a senior minister.
• The ministry took steps on tenancy reform, prohibition and education.
• It resigned in 1939, along with other Congress ministries, in protest against India's being made a party to the Second World War without consultation.

Quit India (1942)

Bihar saw one of the most intense Quit India movements in the country — see our dedicated guide, including the Patna Secretariat martyrs and Jayaprakash Narayan's escape from Hazaribagh jail.

The peasant movement

Alongside the Congress, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati built the Kisan Sabha, which made Bihar a centre of organised peasant politics — see our guide.

Key leaders from Bihar

Practice

Prelims-style:

1. Who threw the bomb at Muzaffarpur in 1908, and whom was it meant for?
2. Where and when was the first Congress session held in Bihar?
3. Who donated the land for Sadaqat Ashram?
4. What was the no-chaukidari-tax campaign?
5. Who headed Bihar's first Congress ministry in 1937, and who led the interim ministry before it?

Mains-style:

• Trace Bihar's contribution to the Indian national movement from 1905 to 1942.
• Examine the role of Gandhian constructive work in Bihar during the freedom struggle.