and the border of Nepal. Now it is com-
posed of two provinces, eastern
Champaran and western Champaran.
The Champaran region is famous as the
place where Mohandas K. Gandhiengi-
neered the first successful satyagraha
(nonviolent resistance campaign)
against British rule. At the time, the
province was largely agricultural, as it
remains today, and most of the inhabi-
tants were very poor. The farmers had
traditionally designated a portion of
their land for growing indigo to give to
the landlords as rent. This arrangement
was disrupted by the invention of a
much cheaper synthetic indigo. The
landlords responded by ordering the
tenants to stop growing indigo but pro-
ceeded to raise the rent on their land,
based on the traditional agreement that
allowed them to do so if a tenant grew
no indigo. The trouble began in 1912,
but Gandhi did not arrive until 1917.
After a campaign lasting nearly a year,
the tenants won concessions from the
landlords guaranteeing no further rent
increases and a 25 percent rebate on the
previous increases. For further informa-
tion see Mohandas K. Gandhi, An
Autobiography, 1993; a more readable,
though highly partial, account can be
found in Louis Fischer, Gandhi, 1954.
Chamunda
Presiding deityof the Chamunda Devi
shrine on the banks of the Bana Ganga
in the state of Himachal Pradesh, and
one of the nine goddesses whose shrines
are scattered through the Shiwalik Hills.
Although each of these goddesses has a
separate identity, they are all ultimately
seen as differing manifestations of a sin-
gle Goddess. Chamunda’s charter myth
is drawn from events in the
Devimahatmya, a Sanskrittext that
describes the Goddess’s several different
forms and is the earliest and most
important mythic source for the cult of
the Goddess. The Devimahatmya’s sev-
enth book tells how the goddess
Ambika’sanger takes material form as
the terrifying goddess Kali, who
advances into battle against the demon
generals Chanda and Munda, whom
she eventually beheads. Since the shrine
on the Bana Ganga marks the place
where both Chanda and Munda were
destroyed, the goddess is worshiped
here as Chamunda.
The name Chamunda designates a
fierce and dangerous goddess who has
often been identified with the goddess
Kali. In the poet Bhavabhuti’seighth-
century drama Malatimadhava, the
heroine, Malati, is kidnapped by devo-
tees (bhakta) of the goddess Chamunda
to be offered as a human sacrificeto
her. The events in the drama reflect the
ambivalence with which such powerful
goddesses—and their devotees—have
been seen. For further information see
David R. Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, 1986;
and Kathleen Erndl, Victory to the
Mother, 1993.Chanakya
According to tradition, the chief minis-
ter of the founder of the Maurya
dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya
(r. 321–297 B.C.E.). As the king’s counsel,
Chanakya became famous for his skill
in statecraft, and is believed to have
been instrumental in establishing the
dynasty. Under the name Kautilya,
Chanakya is also celebrated as
the author of the Arthashastra, the
classic Indian treatise on the strategies
and mechanics of ruthlessly efficient
central government.Chanda
A demongeneral killed by the Goddess
in the Devimahatmya, the Sanskrittext
that is the earliest and most important
mythic source for the cult of the
Goddess. This text describes the
Goddess in several different manifesta-
tions. The seventh book tells how the
goddess Ambika’sanger takes form as
the terrifying goddess Kali. Kali attacks
the demon armies commanded by
Chanda and his companion Munda,
and after destroying the armies sheChanda