10 HISTORY – CHAPTER – 4 – NATIONALISM IN INDIA

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMqUTFPEm-g&t=74s

Nationalism in India primarily grew out of sentiments of anti-colonialism

i.e., it was like an anti- colonial movement.
The congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to forge unity
and bring groups together within one movement. However, the unity did
not emerge without conflict.
MAIN TOPICS OF THE CHAPTER:
 The Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements.
 How the Congress sought to develop the national movement,
 How different social groups participated in the movement, and
 How nationalism captured the imagination of people.

First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation.

 In 1919, National Movement began spreading to newer areas and
incorporated new social groups and developed newer modes of
struggle.
 Mahatma Gandhi arrived in India in1919 and introduced the idea of
Satyagraha that emphasised the power of truth and the need to
search for truth.
 He advocated that physical force was not necessary to fight the
oppressor.
 In 1917, He travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants
to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
The Idea of Satyagraha
 Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in January 1915. His popular and
successful fight for the Indians in South Africa was well known.
 His novel method of mass agitation known as Satyagraha had yielded
good results.
 The idea of Satyagraha emphasized the power of truth and the need
to search for truth.
  In 1917, Gandhi travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the
peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
 read - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champaran_Satyagraha

 https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/champaran-satyagraha-100-
years-gandhi-first-civil-disobedience-movement-972335-2017-04-19
 In 1917, crops failed in Kheda district of Gujrat, but the government
refused to remit land revenue and insisted on its full collection.
 Read - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheda_Satyagraha_of_1918
 In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi intervened in a dispute between workers
and mill owners of Ahmedabad. He advised to workers to go on strike
and to demand a 35% increase in wages.
 Satyagraha brought Gandhiji into close touch with the workers in the
urban areas.

The effect of First World War on the economic, political, and social milieu
of India
War created a new economic and political situation.
 It led to huge increase in defence expenditure that was financed by war
loans and increasing taxes.
 Through the war-years prices of goods of daily use increased leading to
extreme hardship for the common people.
 There were forced recruitment to army from rural areas which caused
wide spread anger among people.
 The epidemic influenza [Spanish Flu] spread killing about 17 - 18 million
Indians.
 People hoped that their hardships would end after the war but that did
not happen.
The Rowlatt Act
 [1] Rowlatt Act 1919, was passed hurriedly through the Imperial
Legislative Council inspite of unanimous opposition by the Indian
members.
[2] It gave the government enormous powers to repress political
activities, and
[3] allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two
years.
 Reactions: Gandhiji wanted non-violent civil disobedience against
such unjust law, which would start with a hartal on 6th April.
 6th April 1919 was observed as Satyagraha Day when people all over
the country observed fast and hartal.
 1919, the country witnessed a remarkable political awakening in
India.
 Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar and Mahatma Gandhi
was barred from entering Delhi.
 On 10th April, the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession,
provoking widespread attacks on banks.

Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre

  A large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla Bagh.
 People came to protest against government’s repressive measure
while some came to attend the annual Baisakhi fair.
 General Dyer entered the Garden. Blocked the exit points and
opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds [more than 900 persons].
 The government responded with brutal repression seeking to
humiliate and terrorise people.
 Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on
the streets and do Salaam (salute) to all Sahibs.

Khilafat movement

 Satyagraha against Rowlatt Act was a widespread movement;

however, it was narrowed mostly to cities and towns.
 Mahatma Gandhi now felt the need to launch a more broad-based
movement in India.
 However, he was certain that such movement could be organized
only by bringing the Hindus and Muslims closer together.
 KHILAFAT MOVEMENT - The First World War had ended with the
defeat of Ottoman Turkey. A harsh peace treaty was imposed on the
Ottoman Emperor, who was the spiritual head (Khalifa) of the Islamic
world. – It dissolved the Ottoman empire and Khalifa’s emperorship.
Read - https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Sevres
 The Muslims of India decided to force Britain to change her Turkish
policy.
 To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a khilafat committee was
formed in Bombay in March 1919.
 A young generation of Muslim leaders like the brothers Muhammad
Ali and Shaukat Ali began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the
possibility of a united mass action on the issue.

Differing Strands within the movement:

Different social group participated in the movement.
Each group had its own specific aspirations.
All of them responded to the call of swaraj but the swaraj meant different
things to different groups / people.

a) Movement in the town:

 The movement started with middle class participation in the cities.
 Thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges,
headmasters and teachers resigned.
 Lawyers gave up their legal practices. The council elections were
boycotted in most of the provinces.

b)Effect of non-cooperation on the economic facet / dimension

 Foreign good were boycotted,
 liquor shops picketed, and
 foreign clothes burnt in huge bonfires.
 In many places, merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods
or finance foreign trade.
 Because of this the production of Indian textile mills and handlooms
went up.

c) Reasons for slowing down of the Non- co-operation movement

 Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth
and poor people could not afford to buy it.
 They could not boycott the mill cloth for too long.
 For the movement to be successful alternative Indian institution had to
be set up so that they could be used in place of British ones. These could
not be established immediately.
 Therefore, the students and teachers started going back to schools and
lawyers joined back work in government courts

d) Rebellion in the countryside: –

 From the cities, the non-cooperation movement spread to the
countryside. After the war, the struggles of peasants and tribal were
developing in different parts of India.
 In Awadh peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra
 One movement here war against talukdars and landlords who
demanded from peasant exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other
cesses.
 Peasants had to do begar (forced labour). The peasant movement
demanded reduction of revenue, an abolition of begar and social
boycott of oppressive landlords.
 Oudh Kisan Sabha was setup headed by. Jawaharlal Nehru and others.
Within a month, over 300 branches had been set up by the villagers.
 In many places “nai dhobi” bandh were organised by panchayat to
deprive land lords of the services of even barbers and washer men.
 As the movement spread the houses of talukdars and merchants were
attacked and bazars looted.

e) Non-cooperation movement in Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh

 Tribal peasants interpreted the message of Mahatma Gandhi and the
idea of Swaraj in yet another way.
 The colonial government had closed large forest areas preventing
people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuel
wood and fruits.
 The government also forced them to do beggar for road building.
 This enraged the hill people. The person who came to lead them was an
interesting figure ,Alluri Sitharam Raju
 Alluri Sitaram Raju Claimed that he had a variety of special powers. He
asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force.

f) Swaraj in the plantations

 For plantations workers in Assam freedom meant the right to move
freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed,
 It meant retaining a link with the village from where they had come.
 When they heard of the non-cooperation movement thousands of
workers defied the authorities and fled home.They were caught by the
police and brutally beaten.

Withdrawal of Non – Cooperation Movement:

 Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement
in February 1922 especially due the incident at Chauri Chaurah, near
Gorakhpur, UP.
Read – https://www.britannica.com/place/Chauri-Chaura
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauri_Chaura
 The Movement turned violent in many places and satyagrahis needed
properly trained for mass struggle.
 CR Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party within the Congress
and argued for a return to Council politics.

Towards Civil Disobedience

Simon commission 1927
 The Tory government [Conservative Party] in Britain constituted a
Statutory Commission under Sir John Simon.
 The Commission was to look into the functioning of constitutional
system in India and suggest changes.
 The problem with the commission was that it did not have a single
Indian member.
 In December 1929 under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Lahore
Session of Congress formalised the demand for Purna Swaraj.

The salt march and civil disobedience movement

 Salt was a powerful symbol that could unite the nation
 On 31st January 1930 Gandhiji sent a letter to viceroy Irwin stating
eleven demands
 The most important demand was for the abolition of salt tax.
 Gandhiji’s letter was an ultimatum. If the demands were not fulfilled,
the Congress will launch a civil disobedient movement. Irwin was not
ready to negotiate.
 Therefore, Gandhi started his famous salt march accompanied by 78 of
his trusted volunteers.
 The march was from Sabarmati Ashram to a coastal town of Dandi. After
reaching Dandi he ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by
boiling sea water.
 Finally, Mahatma Gandhi once again decided to call off the movement
and Gandhi entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March 1931.[Gandhi –
Irwin Pact] icsk172@icsk-kw.com

How participants saw the movement

 Participants saw the movement in different angle such as Patidars of

Gujarat and Jats of Uttar Pradesh for them fight for swaraj was a
struggle against Revenues.
 On the other hand the poor peasants wanted to get away from paying
rent to Land Lord
 The business class wanted protection against imports of foreign goods
and a rupee sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage
imports.
 As the industrialist came closer to the Congress, workers stayed aloof
and they did not participate the movements
 To organise business interest, they formed the Indian Industrial and
Commercial Congress in 1920 and Federation of the Indian Chamber of
Commerce and Industries (FICCI).

The limitations / shortcomings of civil disobedient movement

 The untouchables or Dalits were not impacted or moved by the concept
of Swaraj. Gandhiji declared that swaraj is impossible if
untouchability was not abolished.
 Gandhi called to Untouchable that is Harijan, Children of God.
 Some of the Muslim political organisations in In India were lukewarm in
their response to the Civil Disobedient Movement
 Different groups had different understanding and goals. They did not
understand the strategies nor the goals to be achieved.



The Sense of Collective Belonging – positive outcome of Nationalist
Movement
 Nationalist Movement spreads when people belonging to different
regions and communities begin to develop a sense of collective
belongingness.
 Symbols evoke sense of oneness, identity and belonging, most often,
symbolized in a figure or image or song, etc.
 Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1870 first created the image of
Bharat Mata when he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ in praise of our
motherland.
 Indian folk songs sung by bards, played an important role in creating the
idea of a nation. In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore and in Madras, Natesa,
Sastri - the collection of folk tales and songs, led the movement for folk
revival.
 During the Swadeshi Movement, a tri-colour (red, green and yellow)
flag was designed in Bengal. It had eight lotuses representing eight
provinces and a crescent moon representing Hindus and Muslims.
 Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through
reinterpretation of history. The nationalist writers urged the readers to
 take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to
change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

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MAP WORK BASED ON THE CHAPTER
Chapter - 3 Nationalism in India – (1918 – 1930) for Locating and Labelling / Identification

1. Indian National Congress Sessions:

a. Calcutta (Sep. 1920) b. Nagpur (Dec. 1920) c. Madras (1927)

2. Important Centres of Indian National Movement

a. Champaran (Bihar) - Movement of Indigo Planters

b. Kheda (Gujarat) - Peasant Satyagrah

c. Ahmedabad (Gujarat) - Cotton Mill Workers Satyagraha

d. Amritsar (Punjab) - Jallianwala Bagh Incident

e. Chauri Chaura (U.P.) - Calling off the Non-Cooperation Movement

f. Dandi (Gujarat) - Civil Disobedience Movement

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NOTES IN DETAIL & MORE PICTURES
Nationalism in India
Swaraj in the plantations :( The response of the plantation
workers to the Non-cooperation Movement.)
 Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, the plantation workers
were not permitted to leave the gardens without permission, they
were rarely given such permission.
  When they heard of The Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of
workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed
towards their homes.
 But they got stranded on the way by railway and steamer strike, they
were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.
 The Tribals chanted Gandhijis name and raised slogans demanding
“Swantantra Bharat”.

Civil Disobedience Movement.(1930-1934)

Withdrawal of Non-Cooperation Movement.
 In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-
Cooperation Movement, because it was turning violent in many
places.
Swaraj Party.
 Within the Congress many leaders argued return to politics and
contest election to oppose government policies and argue reforms.
 C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj party within the
congress to argue for a return to politics .But young leaders like
Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose pressed for more radical
agitation and for full Independence.

Two factors Shaped Indian Politics in the late 1920s.

1. The Great Economic Depression, 1930.
* Agricultural prices began to fall from 1926 and collapsed after
1930.
* The demand for agricultural goods fell and exports decreased.
* Peasants found it difficult to pay revenue.
2. Simon Commission, 1928
* Statutory commission under Sir John Simon was Constituted.
* To look into the functioning of constitutional system in India and Suggest
changes.
* The problem was that the commission did not have a single Indian
member. They were all British.
* Opposed by Indians. When the commission arrived in India in 1928, it was
greeted with the slogan “Go back Simon”.
Lahore Session of Congress, December 1929.
 Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru
 Demanded “Purna Swaraj” full independence for India.
 Declared celebration of Independence Day on 26 January 1930.
 Pledge to struggle for complete Independence.
The Salt March, 1930
 On 31 January 1930, Gandhiji sent a letter to Viceroy Lord Irwin
stating eleven demands.
 Some of these were of general interest; others were specific
demands of different classes ,from industrialist to peasants.
 The most common demand was to abolish salt tax.
 Irwin was unwilling to negotiate.
 Mahatma Gandhi started his famous salt march accompanied by 78
of his trusted volunteers.
 The march was from Gandhijis ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati
coastal town of Dandi .
 On 6 April Gandhiji reached Dandi,violated the salt law by
manufacturing salt.
 This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience movement.
Spread of Civil Disobedience Movement.
 Thousands in different parts of the country broke the salt law,
manufactured salt and demonstrated in front of government salt
factories.
 People boycotted foreign cloth, picketed liquor shops .Peasants
refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes, village officials
resigned, forest people violated forest laws-going into reserved
forests to collect wood and graze cattle.
  Industrial workers in Sholapur attacked police posts, municipal
buildings, law courts and railway station.
 Government responded with a policy of brutal repression.
 Peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were
beaten, and about 100,000 people were arrested.
 In such a situation, Mahatma Gandhi decided to call off the
movement

Gandhi-Irwin pact- Relaunch of Civil Disobedience Movement

 Gandhiji entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 march 1931.
 By this Gandhi-Irwin pact, Gandhiji consented to participate in a
Round Table Conference.
 Gandhiji went to London for the Conference, but the negotiations
broke down and he returned disappointed.
 With great apprehension Gandhi re-launched Civil Disobedience
movement.
Rich Peasants:
 In the country side, rich peasants –like the patidars of Gujarat and
the Jats of Uttarpradesh –were active in the movement.
 They were hard hit by trade depression and falling prices.
 Unable to pay revenue.
 Government refused to reduce the revenue.
 For them, it was struggle against high revenue.

Poor Peasants
 They were small tenants cultivating land they had rented from
Landlords.
 Depression made it impossible to pay rent to the landlords.
 Congress not willing to support poor peasants fear it might upset the
rich peasants.
 No active participation by poor and small peasants.

Business Community
 They demanded protection against imports
 To organize business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial and
Commercial Congress in 1920 and federation of the Indian Chamber
of Commerce and Industries in 1927.
 Led by prominent industrialist like Purushottamdas Thakurdas and
G.D .Birla - attacked colonial control over the Indian economy, and
supported Civil Disobedience movement.
 But, after the failure of round table conference, growing socialism in
congress and militant activities kept them away from Civil
Disobedience movement.
Industrial workers
 The industrial working classes did not participate in large numbers in
Civil Disobedience movement, because industrialist came closer to
the congress.
 They adopted some of the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like
boycott of foreign goods.
 They started their own movements against low wages and poor
working condition.
 Congress reluctant to include their demands fearing alienation of
industrialists.
 Limits of Civil Disobedience Movement.
Dalits
 For long congress had ignored the dalits, for fear of offending the
Sanatanis, the conservative high-caste Hindus.
 Gandhiji opposed all forms of untouchability.
 Called them Harijans, or the children of God
 Organised sathyagraha for their entry into temples, access to public
wells, tanks, roads and schools.
 He himself cleaned toilets to dignify their work.
 Many dalits leaders like Ambedkar sought political endowment.
 They began organizing themselves, demanding reserved seats in
educational institutions, and a separate electorate for dalits in
legislative councils.
 Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience movement was
therefore limited, particularly in the Maharashtra and Nagpur
region.
 Ambedkar organized dalits into the Depressed classes Association in
1930.
 Gandhji ruled out Ambedkar demands, believed that separate
electorate for dalits would slow down the process of their
integration in to the society.
 Poona pact 1932 between Gandhi and Ambedkar, it gave depressed
classes (SC) reserved seats in provincial and central legislative
councils.
 Dalit leaders, continued to be apprehensive of the Congress led
national movement.

Muslims
 Muslims political organization in India were lukewarm in their
response to the Civil Disobedience movement.
 Decline of Khilafat, Non-Cooperation movement alienated
Muslims from congress.
 Open association of congress with Hindu religious nationalist
groups like the Hindu Mahasabha too widened the gap.
 Each community organized religious processions with militant
fervour, provoking Hindu- Muslims communal clashes and riots in
various cities.
  Muslim league (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) demanded separate
electorate which Hindu Mahasabha rejected.
 Muslims feared that the culture and identity of minorities would
be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority.

The sense of collective belonging

 History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols,
aroused the feeling of nationalism in Indians.
1. The image of Bharat Mata.
The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the
1870s he wrote Vande Mataram, as hymn to the motherland. Later it was
included in his novel Anandamath.
Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In his
painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm,
composed, divine and spiritual.
2.Indian folklore
 Indian folk songs sung by bards, played an important role in creating
the idea of a nation. In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself led the
movement of folk revival. In Madras, Natesa Sastri - the collection of
Tamil folk tales, the folklore of southern India , led the movement for
folk revival.

3. Tricolour Flag
 During the Swadeshi Movement, a tri-colour (red, green and yellow)
flag was designed in Bengal. It had eight lotuses representing eight
provinces and a crescent moon representing Hindus and Muslims.

By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the swaraj flag. It was again a tri-
colour – red , green and white – and had a spinning wheel in the centre,
representing Gandhian ideal of self- help. Carrying the flag, holding it
aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

4. Reinterpretation of History.
 The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing
themselves. In response, Indians wrote about the glorious developments in
ancient times in art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and
culture, law and philosophy ,crafts and trade had flourished. The nationalist
historians urged Indians to struggle to change the miserable conditions of
India under British rule.
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By successfully violating the salt law by manufacturing salt at Dandi,
Gandhiji initiated the Civil disobedience movement. Their motive was to
violate the rules and restrictions put on them. They demanded were related
to the general interest of the people, and other specific demands of
different classes like Industrialists and peasants. The motive was to fulfil
such demands so that people of all classes could relate to it and come
together for the campaign. The main features of the Civil Disobedience
Movement of 1930 were as follows: • According to the Civil Disobedience
movement, people not only disapproved of cooperating but also asked to
break the colonial laws. • For example - in different parts of the country
thousands of people broke the salt law by manufacturing salt and
demonstrated in front of the government salt factories. • As the intensity
of the movement increased, the foreign clothes were boycotted and
protested against the liquor shops. • Peasants said no to the paying of
revenue and chaukidari taxes, and villages officials resigned from their post.
• By going into the Reserved Forests to collect wood and graze cattle, forest
people violated many such rules. OR When the developments happened
during the Civil disobedience movement such as people broke the colonial
laws, the foreign clothes were boycotted and protested against the liquor
shops, Peasants said no to the paying of revenue and chaukidari taxes and
villages officials resigned from their post and forest people violated rules by
going into the Reserved Forests to collect wood and graze cattle. It was
regarded that this movement was important for making changes among the
people of India. The significance of the Civil Disobedience Movement was
as follows: • When people started demonstrating against the colonial rule,
the British government got worried about these developments, and they
arrested Congress leaders and Abdul Ghaffar Khan. When Mahatma Gandhi
himself got arrested, the situation became worse. As a result, police posts,
municipal buildings, law courts and railway stations, and all the other
symbols related to British rule was damaged by the industrial workers in
Sholapur. Women and children were also beaten up. However, to stop the
movement, on 5 March 1931, Gandhiji and Irwin signed a pact which
allowed them to participate in the Round Table Conference in London and
also released the political prisoners. • Rich peasants communities like
Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh were worried about the
trade depression and falling prices. They didn’t have the capacity to pay the
government’s revenue demand. When the government refused to
cooperate, they revolted. Because of this situation, rich peasants united
and organised their communities to support the Civil Disobedience
Movement. Moreover, they also made other people participate in this
movement. • There was also the time when business class people came
together to support this movement. Well-Known industrialists like
Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla was against the control which was
established by the Britishers over the Indian economy. Their motive was
that industries should flourish without any restrictions. • Workers came
together to support the movement by boycotting foreign goods and were
also against the low wages and poor working conditions. • One of the most
important significance of the Civil-disobedience movement was that a large
number of women participated in this movement. Thousands of women
gathered to listen to him during Dandi march. They participated in protest
marches, manufactured salt, picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops.
Women in the urban areas were from the high caste families, and in rural
areas, they were from rich peasant households. They started considering
that it is their responsibility to provide service to the nation. All this shows
that the civil-disobedience movement brought people together and made
them put their demand against the British rule.