Nationalism in India

Q. “The First World War (1914-18) had helped in the growth of the National Movement in
India by creating new economic and political situations?

A. 1. The First World War was led to a huge increase in defense expenditure which was
financed by war loans and increasing taxes.

2. Custom duties were raised and income tax was introduced.

3. Between 1913-18 prices of commodities almost doubled leading to extreme hardship for
. the common people.

4. Villages were called upon to supply soldiers and the forced recruitment in rural areas

Caused widespread anger.

Q. Give a brief description of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha movements which he organized in

various places after arriving from South Africa?

1) In 1917, he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the
exploitative plantation system.
2) In 1917, he organized a Satyagraha movement in support of the Kheda peasants in
Gujarat. These peasants were very much worried due to crop failure. Since they could not
pay the revenue, they demanded relaxation in revenue collection.
3) In 1918, he went to Ahmadabad to organize Satyagraha movements among the workers
of cotton mills.

Q. What were the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi behind Satyagraha?

1) Mahatma Gandhi had successfully fought the racist regime with a novel method of
mass agitation which he called Satyagraha.
2) It emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for truth.

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 3) Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive, a Satyagrahi could win the battle
through non violence. This could be done by appealing to the conscience of the
oppressor.

Q. What were the Conditions of Rowlatt Act?

A. Rowlatt act was passed by the British government in 1919. According to this act the
government could arrest any person just on the basis of suspicion put him behind the bar
without any trial in the court. Thus this act gave the government enormous powers to repress
political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners’ without trial for two years.

Q. Give a brief description of Rowlatt Satyagraha?

A. Mahatma Gandhi started non violent civil disobedience movement against Rowlatt Act.
Rallies were organized in various cities; workers went on strike in railway workshops and shops
closed down. On 6 April 1919, ‘hartal’ was observed all over the country.

Q. How did Non Co operation movement (1920-22) get linked with the Khilafat movement?

A. Khilafat movement was organized by the famous Ali brothers Muhammad Ali and Shaukat
Ali and others to protest against injustice done to turkey after the First World War. This had
created a great indignation among Muslim masses. The sultan of turkey was considered the
caliph, the religious head of all the Muslims of the world. This issue was made part of the
Indian national movement. Gandhiji, who wanted to launch a more broad based movement, felt
that this is the opportunity to bring Hindus and Muslims under the umbrella of a unified
national movement. Thus Gandhiji took up the khilafat issue. He also convinced other leaders
that there was a need to start a non co operation movement in support of khilafat movement.
Both the movements merged and came to be known as khilafat and non co operation movement.

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Q. Point out the Programmes of the Non Co operation Movement?

1) Surrender of the government titles

2) Boycott of Civil services, army, police courts and legislatures.
3) Boycott of government schools and colleges
4) Boycott of foreign goods.
5) Picketing of liquor shops.
6) Establishment of national school and colleges.
7) Organization of rallies and processions.
8) Promotion of Swadeshi.

Q. Who was the leader of Awadh Kisan Movement and how the rebellion had taken place
under his leadership?

A. The leader was Baba Ramchandra- a sanyasi who had earlier been to Fiji as an indentured
labour. The movement was directed against talukdars and landlords who demanded from
peasants high rents and a variety of other cesses. The movement demanded reduction of
revenue, abolition of ‘begar’ and social boycott of oppressive landlords. Within a month over
3000 branches had been set up in the villages. As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of
talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and grain hoards were taken over.

Q. What were the reasons for the tribal of gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh to protest? How they
fought with the British?

A. In the early 1920’s the tribal of gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh started a guerrilla militant
movement against the reservation of forests by the British government which had adversely
affected their livelihood by taking away their traditional rights. The colonial law had prevented
them from entering the forest to graze their cattle, or to collect fuel wood and fruits. Under the
leadership of Alluri Sitaram Raju, they started a violent movement. They attacked police
stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerilla warfare for achieving Swaraj.

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Q. State the role of plantation workers in Assam in the Non Co operation Movement?

1) Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, Plantation workers were not permitted to
leave the tea gardens without permission.
2) For Plantation workers, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the
confined space in which they were enclosed.
3) When they heard of Non Co operation movement, thousands of them defied the
authorities and left the plantations.
4) They however never reached their homes due to railway strike.
5) They were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.

Q. Why was the Non Cooperation Movement withdrawn by Gandhiji?

A. In Feb 1922 Gandhiji decided to withdraw the movement due to the following reasons:-

1) The movement was turning violent. At Chauri chaura in Gorakhpur, a peaceful

demonstration in a bazaar turned into a violent clash in which more than 20
policemen were killed.

2) Gandhiji also felt that satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be
ready for mass movement.

3) Within the congress some leaders were tired of mass struggles and wanted to
participate in elections to the provincial councils which were set up under the
government of India Act 1919.

Q. Write a short note on Simon commission?

A. The new Tory government in Britain constituted a statutory commission under Sir John
Simon. It was set up in response to the nationalist movement, to look into the functioning of the
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constitutional system in India and suggest changes. It failed because the commission did not
have a single Indian member. They were all British. When the Simon commission arrived in
India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’. All parties, including the
congress and the Muslim league participated in the demonstrations.

Q. Why was salt chosen as a weapon by Gandhiji to fight against the British?

1) Salt was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike and it was one of the most
essential items of food.

2) The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production revealed the most
oppressive face of British rule.

3) Salt was chosen to give the movement a wide base. The main motive of salt march was
to violate the laws.

Q. Give a brief description of Salt march taken by Mahatma Gandhi with his followers?

A. Mahatma Gandhi started his famous Salt march (12th march- 6th April) accompanied by 78
followers. The march was over 240 miles from Sabarmati to Dandi. Thousands came to hear
Gandhiji where he stopped and he told them what he meant by swaraj and urged them
peacefully to defy the British.

Q. Briefly describes the Civil Disobedience Movement?

A. Civil disobedience movement was started with the famous Dandi march of Gandhiji. As
soon as the movement started all important leaders including Gandhiji and Jawaharlal Nehru
were arrested. 90,000 peoples were sent to jail and 67 newspapers were banned. This movement
proved to be very effective and caused great worries for the government. This had aroused the
sentiments of millions of people and filled them with courage to disobey the British laws. Salt
was manufactured in different parts of the country, foreign clothes was boycotted, liquor shops

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were picketed, peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes, village officials resigned
in many places and forest laws were violated.

Q. Mention three reasons by which the rich peasant communities took active participation in
the civil disobedience movement?

1) Being producer of cash crops, they were hard hit by the trade depression and falling
prices.

2) As their income disappeared, they found it impossible to pay the revenue.

3) The government refused to reduce the revenue demand. This led to widespread
resentment among them.

Q. Why the relationship between the poor peasants and the congress remained uncertain?

A. The congress was not willing to support the ‘No rent’ campaign of the poor peasants in
most places as it did not want to upset the rich peasants and the landlords. So the relationship
between them remained uncertain during the movement.

Q. Analyze the role of merchants and the industrialists in the Civil Disobedience Movement?

A. The business classes supported the Civil Disobedience Movement when it was first
launched. They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods. Most
business came to see ‘Swaraj’ as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longer
exist. But after the failure of the Round Table Conference, business groups were no longer
uniformly enthusiastic. So when the movement was relaunched by Gandhiji, most of them
withdrew their support.

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Q. Discuss the role of women in Civil Disobedience Movement?

A. women played a very important role in the Civil Disobedience Movement. During the Dandi
march, thousands of women come out of their homes to listen to Gandhiji. They participated in
protest marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign clothes and liquor shops. Many of them
went to jail in urban areas. They considered service to the nation as their sacred duty.

Q.What was the conditions of Gandhi Irwin pact?( Delhi Pact)

1) Mahatma Gandhi signed the pact with Lord Irwin on 5th march 1931.

2) Gandhiji agreed to participate in a round table conference in England.

3) Government agreed to release all the political prisoners.

Q. Dalits were not keen to participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement. What were the
reasons behind this?

1) Initially congress had ignored the Dalits for fear of offending the sanatanis, the
conservative high caste Hindus.

2) But Gandhiji believed that swaraj would not come even after a hundred years if
untouchability was not eliminated.

3) He called them ‘Harijans’ and he himself cleaned toilets to dignify the work of sweepers.

4) But many Dalit leaders demanded reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate
electorates.

5) So Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was limited.

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Q. Why Muslim organization had lukewarm response in the civil disobedience movement?

A. After the Non Co operation movement (1920-22), relations between Hindu and the Muslims
worsened as each community organized religious processions provoking Hindu Muslim clashes.
A large section of Muslims felt alienated from the congress. When Civil disobedience
movement (1930-32) started there was an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust between the two
communities.

Q. Why did political leaders differ sharply over the question of separate electorates?

1) Dalit leaders were keen on a political solution to the problems of the community.
B.R.Ambedkar organized the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930.
They favoured separate electorates for legislative councils. Political empowerments they
believed would resolve the problem of the social disabilities. It was under Gandhiji’s
threat of fat unto death and subsequent Poona pact of 1932, Dr. Ambedkar and
Depressed Classes Association agreed to reserved seats in provincial and legislative
councils to be voted in by the general electorates.

2) Gandhiji and congress leaders were opposed to the whole idea of separate electorates
because they saw it through the British game of divide and rule policy. Separate
electorates slowed down and made near impossible the process of integration of society.

3) Muslim leaders like Muhammad Ali Jinnah favoured separate electorates as a safeguard
for their minority political interests, culture and tradition. They feared that the culture
and identity of Muslims would be submerged under domination of a Hindu majority.

Q. How Culture played a vital role in awakening the feeling of nationalism?

1) History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols all played a vital
role in evoking the feeling of nationalism, unity and the sense of collective belonging.

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2) Symbols in figures or images helped people to identify the nation. It was in the 20th
century with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be virtually
associated with the image of Bharat Mata.

3) In the 1870’s Bankim Chandra wrote ‘Vande Matram’ as a hymn to the motherland
which was widely sung during the swadeshi movement in Bengal.

4) During the swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolor flag (red, green and yellow) was
designed consisting of eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a
crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.

Q. What was Poona pact?

A. Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was demanding separate electorates for Dalits. Mahatma Gandhi
believed that separate electorates for Dalits would slow down the process of their
integration into society. Ambedkar ultimately accepted gandhiji’s position and the result
was Poona pact of September 1932. It gave the depressed classes reserved seats in
provincial and central legislative councils but they were to be voted in by general
electorates.

Q. What were the causes for launching Khilafat movement in India?

1) The First World War ended with the defeat of Ottoman Empire.

2) There were rumors that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the
Ottoman emperor- the spiritual head of the Islamic world- the Khalifa.

3) To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a Khilafat committee was formed in

Bombay in March 1919.

4) A young generation of Muslim leaders like the Ali brothers, Muhammad Ali and
Shaukat Ali began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the possibility of a united
mass action on the issue.
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 5) Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to bring Muslims under the umbrella of a united
movement called ‘ Khilafat and Non co operation movement’.

Q. How did the industrial working classes participate in the Civil Disobedience
Movement?

1) The industrial working classes did not participate in the Civil Disobedience
Movement in large numbers as the industrialists came closer to the congress,
workers stayed aloof.

2) But in spite of that, some workers did participate in the CDM selectively adopting
some of the ideas of the gandhian programmes, like boycott of foreign goods, as
part of their own movement against low wages and poor working conditions.

3) There were strikes by railway workers and dock workers in 1930 and 1932
respectively.

4) In 1930, thousands of people wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest rallies
and boycott campaigns.

Q. How could reinterpretation of history create a feeling of nationalism?

A. By the end of the 19th century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of
pride in the nation Indian history had to be thought about differently. The British saw
Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response,
Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements .They Wrote
about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and
mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished.
This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was
colonized. These nationalists’ historians urged the leaders to take pride in India’s great

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 achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under
British rule.

Objective notes

Q* Why was forced recruitment made in India?

A* to supply soldiers for the First World War (1914-18)

Q*What does Satyagraha emphasize?

A* Power of truth and need to search for truth.

Q* Name any two ideals of Gandhiji?

A* Truth and Non violence.

Q* On which day did the jallianwala bagh incident took place?

A* 13th april 1919

Q* What was general dyer’s object behind jallianwala bagh massacre?

A*To produce a moral effect to create in the minds of Satyagrahis a feeling of terror and awe.

Q* Who was the spiritual head of Islamic world?

A* Caliph

Q* When and Where was Khilafat Committee formed?

A* In Bombay March 1919.

Q* Name the Muslim leaders who organized the Khilafat movement in India?

A* Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.

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Q* Who wrote the famous book ‘Hind Swaraj’?

A* Mahatma Gandhi

Q* What was the resolution of congress session at Nagpur in December 1920?

A*Non cooperation programmes was adopted.

Q* Which party of Madras boycotted the Non co operation and khilafat movement?

A* Justice Party

Q* Who led the movement of peasants in Awadh?

A* Baba Ramchandra

Q* What does begar mean?

A* labor that villagers were forced to contribute without any payment.

Q* Who formed Awadh Kisan Sabha?

A* Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and Others.

Q* What were the main reasons behind the peasants movements of Awadh?

A* Reduction of revenue, Abolition of begar and Social boycott of Oppressive landlords.

Q* Which party was formed by C.R.Das and Motilal Nehru?

A* Swaraj party

Q* Which government in England constituted the Simon commission?

A* Tory government

Q* In which session of congress demand of Poorna swaraj was formalized?

A* Lahore session 1929

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Q* From which place Salt march started and at what place it ended?

A*Sabarmati to the coastal town of dandi.

Q* When was Gandhi- Irwin pact signed?

A* 5th march 1931

Q* Name any two prominent industrialists of India during the Civil Disobedience Movement.

A*Purshottam das thakurdas and G.D.Birla

Q* What were untouchables called by Mahatma Gandhi?

A* Harijans

Q* What do you mean by the sense of collective belongingness?

A* It means that people began to believe that they are all part of the same nation and discovered
some unity which bound them together.

Q* Who wrote the novel Anandmath?

A* Bankim Chandra chatterjee

Q* Who created the first allegory of India?

A* Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

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