The Bhumihars played a pioneering role in organising peasant, leftist and independence movements since the 1910s. In 1914 and 1916, the Bhumihars of Pipra and Turkaulia revolted against indigo cultivation. When Mahatma Gandhi launched a satyagraha against indigo cultivation in Motihari in 1917, a number of Bhumihar intellectuals joined the protest. These included Shri Krishna Singh (or Sinha), Ram Dayalu Singh, Ramnandan Mishra, Shilbhadra Yaji, Karyanand Sharma and Sahajanand Saraswati.