Bardoli Satyagraha

The Gujarati activists Narhari Parikh, Ravi Shankar Vyas, and Mohanlal Pandya talked to village chieftains and farmers and solicited the help of Gujarat's most prominent freedom fighter, Vallabhbhai Patel.

Patel had guided Gujarat's farmers during the Kheda struggle, and had served recently as Ahmedabad's municipal president.

Patel first wrote to the Governor of Bombay on 6 February, asking him to reduce the taxes for the year in phase of the calamities.

Aided by Narhari Parikh, Ravi Shankar Vyas and Mohanlal Pandya, he divided Bardoli into several zones, each with a leader and volunteers specifically assigned.

Above all, Patel instructed the farmers to remain completely nonviolent and not to respond physically to any incitements or aggressive actions from officials.

He reassured them that the struggle would not end until all taxes had been cancelled for the year and all seized property and lands had been returned to their rightful owners.

Along with tax inspectors, bands of Pathans were gathered from northwest India to seize the property of the villagers and terrorize them.

[6] The government began to auction the houses and the lands, but not a single person from Gujarat or anywhere else in India came forward to buy them.

Other ways that the social boycott was enforced against landowners who broke with the tax strike or purchased seized land were to refuse to rent their fields or to work as labourers for them.

[citation needed] Patel credited Gandhi's teachings and the farmers' undying resolve, and people across the nation recognised his vital leadership.

It was women of bardoli who bestowed the title Sardar for the first time, which in Gujarati and most other Indian languages means Chief or Leader.