Civil Disobedience in Indian Tradition

Mahatma Gandhi is so closely identified with satyagraha (civil disobedience) that most people think he was the originator of this unique strategy of resisting political and social injustice.

Dharampal's book on Civil Disobedience in Indian Tradition places satyagraha in its historical context. Gandhiji was solidly rooted in Indian tradition and the practice of civil disobedience was a vital method of social protest which he inherited from the same tradition. Gandhiji acknowledged this profound debt when he wrote: 'In India, the nation at large has generally used passive resistance in all departments of life. We cease to cooperate with our rulers when they displease us.'

Civil Disobedience in Indian Tradition is the story of a major satyagraha against a new series of taxes including a house tax proposed by the British in the city of Benaras and other areas under British colonial rule around 1810. The book comprises the almost day by day account of the day account of the popular resistance to the tax, and its eventual withdrawal by the British, revealed through the letters of anguished district magistrates and imperious officials. The accounts are preceded by an introduction written by Dharamapal in which he sheds light on several other available indigenous forms of political protest including dharna and traga and discusses incidents of resistance, similar to those at Benaras that erupted in other areas of the country as well.