In April 1917, Gandhiji arrived in Champaran to protest against the unjust sharecropping system. He tried to gather more information about the system from a few British officials, but they refused to share any details with an outsider. To investigate further, Gandhiji settled in Motihari, the capital of Champaran. While he was there, he was served a notice to leave Champaran immediately, but he refused to comply and was summoned to court. Upon hearing about Gandhiji's troubles with the authorities, the peasants of Champaran peacefully gathered and demonstrated around the courthouse in Motihari. Although the officials were baffled by the challenge to their authority, Gandhiji did not incite violence, but instead helped to regulate the crowd. In the courthouse, Gandhiji refused to leave Champaran on humanitarian grounds, and the judge released him without bail. Gandhiji's release without bail demonstrated the power of civil disobedience to the peasants of Champaran and India, thus leading to a triumph of civil disobedience.