Bardoli Satyagraha

• The Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) in the state of Gujarat, India was a major episode of civil disobedience and revolt in the Indian Independence Movement. 
• Its success gave rise to Vallabhbhai Patel as one of the greatest leaders of the independence struggle.
• The Bardoli taluka in Surat district had witnessed intense politicisation after the coming of Gandhi on the national political scene. 
• In 1925, Bardoli in Gujarat suffered from floods and famine, causing crop production to suffer and leaving farmers facing great financial troubles. 
• The movement sparked off in January 1926 when the authorities decided to increase the land revenue by 30 per cent. 
• The Congress leaders were quick to protest and a Bardoli Inquiry Committee was set up to go into the issue. 
• The committee found the revenue hike to be unjustified. 
• In February 1926, Vallabhai Patel was called to lead the movement. 
• The women of Bardoli gave him the title of “Sardar” after  the success of the movement.
• Under Patel, the Bardoli peasants resolved to refuse payments of the revised assessment until the Government appointed an independent tribunal or accepted the current amount as full payment.
• Bardoli Satyagraha Patrika was brought out to mobilise public opinion.
• An intelligence wing was set up to make sure all the tenants follow the movement’s resolutions. Those who opposed the movement faced a social boycott. 
• Special emphasis was placed on the mobilisation of women.
• K.M. Munshi and Lalji Naranji resigned from the Bombay Legislative Council in support of the movement.
• By August 1928, massive tension had built up in the area. 
• There were prospects of a railway strike in Bombay. 
• Gandhi reached Bardoli to stand by in case of any emergency. 
• The Government was looking for a graceful withdrawal now. It set the condition that first the enhanced rent be paid by all the occupants (not actually done). Then, a committee went into the whole affair and found the revenue hike to be unjustified and recommended a rise of 6.03 per cent only.
• During the 1930s, the peasant awakening was influenced by the Great Depression in the industrialised countries and the Civil Disobedience Movement which took the form of no-rent, no-revenue movement in many areas. 
• Also, after the decline of the active phase movement (1932) many new entrants to active politics started looking for suitable outlets for release of their energies and took to organisation of peasants.