Motihari

Motihari (मोतीहारी Motīhārī), a commercial centre in northwestern Bihar, is famous for Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha movement, as well as the birthplace of George Orwell, the author of dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

After returning to India from South Africa in 1915, Mahatma Gandhi, the pioneer of the "satyagraha" form of nonviolent resistance, began his first satyagraha movement at Motihari in 1917, after seeing peasants being oppressed by infigo planters. The farmers were protesting against planting indigo with barely any payment for it. When authorities instructed Gandhi to depart, he defied the order and preferred to face punishment. Gandhi's refusal marked his first act of passive resistance or civil disobedience on Indian soil. This pivotal action, coupled with his subsequent efforts leading to the establishment of a Government Commission of Inquiry on which he served, resulted in a negotiated settlement. This agreement compelled the planters to reimburse the peasants 25% of unlawfully collected funds and, significantly, led to the dismantling of the exploitative 'Teenkathia' system. Within a decade, the planters left the area.

George Orwell is the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair (1903–1950), a novelist, essayist, journalist and critic known for his biting social criticism and opposition to totalitarianism. He is best known for Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eight-Four (1949). Orwell was born into a 'lower-upper-middle-class' family living in Motihari, then part of Bengal. He later moved to Henley-on-Thames in Britain in 1904 with his mother and siblings.

• 26.65573384.905291 Bapudham Motihari  ECR  (code: BMKI). Served by an Amrit Bharat Express train from Delhi, along with many others.  (updated Jul 2026)

• 26.64584.9221 Moti Jheel. An oxbow lake.  (updated Jul 2026)
• 26.6504984.910252 Gandhi Sangrahalaya. A museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha movement, with wide collection of relics and photographs. The 48 ft (15 m) tall monumental column nearby was designed by Nandalal Bose, an artist from Santiniketan. The column is at the site where Gandhi was presented in court.  (updated Jul 2026)
• 26.66298284.914663 George Orwell Birthplace Museum.  (updated Jul 2026)