Taxation of salt has occurred in India since the earliest times. However, this tax was greatly increased when the British East India Company began to establish its rule over provinces in India. In 1835, special taxes were imposed on Indian salt to facilitate its import.

It was anactof nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India to producesaltfrom seawater, as it had been practised by the Indian people. The British officials deemed such production illegal and forced the people to buy it at expensive rates

It was anactof nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India to producesaltfrom seawater, as it had been practised by the Indian people. The British officials deemed such production illegal and forced the people to buy it at expensive rates

Taxation of salthas occurred in India since the earliest times. However, thistaxwas greatly increased when theBritish East India Companybegan to establish its rule over provinces in India. In 1835, special taxes were imposed on Indiansaltto facilitate its import. This paid huge dividends for thetradersof the British East India Company. When the Crown took over the administration of India from the Company in 1858, the taxes were not replaced.

The stringent salt taxes imposed by the British were vehemently condemned by the Indian public. In 1885, at the first session of theIndian National CongressinBombay, a prominent Congress Leader, S.A.Swaminatha Iyer raised the issue of the salt tax.[1]There were further protests throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries culminating inMahatma Gandhi'sSalt Satyagrahain 1930. This sathyagraha was followed by other sathyagrahas in other parts of the country.

After the arrest of Gandhi,Sarojini Naiduled the sathyagrahis toDharasana Salt worksinGujaratand was arrested by the police.C. Rajagopalacharibroke the Salt Laws atVedaranyam, in Madras Province in the same year. Thousands courted arrest and were imprisoned in large numbers. The administration eventually relented and invited Mahatma Gandhi to England to attend the Second Round Table Conference. Gandhi's Dandi March got wide news coverage and proved to be a turning point in the history ofIndia's independence movement.

The salt tax, however, continued to remain in effect and was repealed only whenJawaharlal Nehrubecame the prime minister of the interim government in 1946, but later re-introduced via the Salt Cess Act, 1953.[2]