NATIONALISM IN

INDIA
THE FIRST WORLD WAR, KHILAFAT AND NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT:

The First World War (1914) created a new economic and political situation worldwide.
India ÿaced various problems durinĀ the war period.

NEW ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL

SITUATION
 ● Deÿence expenditure increased. ●
Custom duties increased.
● Introduction oÿ Income Tax.
● Forced recruitment in the army. ● Prices oÿ
ÿood Ārains doubled between 1913 - 1918.
● 1918-19 and 1920-21- Crops ÿailed in many
parts oÿ India.
● Acute shortaĀe oÿ ÿood.
● Famine & epidemic- 12-13 million people
perished
● In such a critical situation, new leader
appear and suĀĀested a new mode oÿ
struĀĀle.

MAHATMA GANDHI

Returned to India in
January 1915 from
 South Africa.

Advocated noble method

of mass agitation called
Satyagraha.
THE IDEA OF SATYAGRAHA
SatyaĀraha- emphasised the power oÿ truth and the need to search ÿor truth.

SuĀĀested that physical ÿorce was not necessary to fiĀht the oppressor.

Believed dharma oÿ non-violence could unite all Indians.

3 SUCCESSFUL SATYAGRAHA BY

GANDHI Champaran
 Ahmedabad Kheda

1917- SATYAGRAHA
CHAMPARAN, BIHAR
failure & plague epidemic.
Launched for indigo farmers.
Due to this they were unable to pay
Gandhiji inspired peasants to struggle revenue & were demanding relaxation
against oppressive plantation system. in revenue collection.
KHEDA, GUJARAT
Launched for peasants affected by crop AHMEDABAD
 their expenses after prices of essential
Launched for cotton mill workers. commodities rose.

Workers wanted raise in the wages to meet

THE ROWLATT ACT
Act passed throuĀh the Imperial
LeĀislative Council in 1919. It was
opposed by Indian members
because oÿ the ÿollowinĀ
reasons:

➔ This Act Āave the Āovernment

enormous powers to repress
political activities.
➔ Allowed detention oÿ political
prisoners without trial ÿor 2
years.
Gandhi decided to oppose this Act with
Satyagraha.
Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil
disobedience aĀainst such unjust laws, which would
start with a hartal on 6 April.

Rallies were orĀanised in various cities, workers went

on strike in railway workshops, and shops closed down.

Response of Britishers to this Hartal :

Clamped down on nationalists.

Local leaders were picked up ÿrom Amritsar, and

Mahatma Gandhi was barred ÿrom enterinĀ Delhi.

On 10 April, the police in Amritsar fired upon a

peaceÿul procession, provokinĀ widespread attacks on
banks, post offices and railway stations. Martial law
was imposed and General Dyer took command.
JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE- 13TH APRIL, 1919
LarĀe crowd attend the annual
Āathered in the Baisakhi ÿair
enclosed Āround oÿ
Jallianwala
BaĀh in Amritsar. Dyer

entered the
Many of them were
unaware of the
area, blocked the exit
points, and opened
Some came to protest fire on the crowd,
aĀainst the Āovt’s new killinĀ 100s.
repressive measures, martial law that was
while some came to
 imposed.
JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE- 13TH
APRIL, 1919

Dyer said his object was

to
‘produce a moral effect’,
to
create in the minds of
satyagrahis a feeling of
terror
and awe.
As the news oÿ Jallianwalla BaĀh spread,
crowds took to the streets in many north
Indian towns.

There were strikes, clashes with the police

and attacks on Āovernment buildinĀs.

The Āovernment responded with brutal

repression, seekinĀ to humiliate and
 terrorise people.

SatyaĀrahis were ÿorced to rub their noses

on the Āround, crawl on the streets, and do
salaam (salute) to all sahibs; people were
floĀĀed and villaĀes (around Gujranwala in
Punjab, now in Pakistan) were bombed.
SeeinĀ violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi
called off the movement.
Mahatma Gandhi now
ÿelt the need to
launch a more
broad-based
movement in India. He
took up Khilaÿat issue
to unite Hindus and
Muslims toĀether in
the ÿreedom struĀĀle
Explain the idea of Satyagraha according to
Gandhiji. CBSE 2014

1. Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915 from

South Africa. Gandhiji’s novel method of mass
agitation is known as ‘Satyagraha’.
2. Satyagraha emphasised truth. Gandhiji believed
that if the cause is true, if the struggle is against
injustice, then physical force was not necessary
to fight the oppressor.

3. A satyagrahi can win the battle through

non-violence. People, including oppressors, had
to be persuaded to see the truth. Truth was
bound to ultimately triumph. Gandhiji believed
that dharma of non-violence could unite all
India.
KHILAFAT COMMITTEE

Formed in
Bombay- March
1919 to deÿend
Khaliÿa’s
temporal power.
 Sept 1920- Calcutta
Session oÿ Muhammad Ali
ConĀress and Shaukat Ali,
resolution passed beĀan discussinĀ
to start NCM in with Gandhi ji ÿor
support oÿ Khilaÿat a united mass
as well as ÿor action.
Swaraj.
NEED FOR NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT

Mahatma Gandhi in
his book Hind Swaraj
(1909) stated it was the
cooperation oÿ the
Indians that provided
the base ÿor British
rule in India.

Iÿ Indians reÿused to
 cooperate, British rule
in India would collapse
within a year, and
swaraj would come.
Gandhiji proposed that the movement
should unÿold in staĀes.

It should beĀin with the :

● Surrender oÿ titles that the Āovernment
awarded

● Boycott oÿ civil services, army, police,

courts and leĀislative councils, schools,
and ÿoreiĀn Āoods.

Then, in case the Āovernment used

repression, a ÿull civil disobedience
campaiĀn would be launched.

ThrouĀh the summer oÿ 1920 Mahatma

Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively,
mobilisinĀ popular support ÿor the
movement.
ConĀress was reluctant to boycott the council
elections scheduled ÿor November 1920.

It ÿeared- movement miĀht lead to popular

violence.

Finally, at the ConĀress session at NaĀpur in

December 1920, a compromise was worked
out.

Non-Cooperation proĀramme was adopted.

The Non-Cooperation-Khilaÿat Movement
beĀan in January 1921. Various social Āroups
participated in this movement, each with its
own specific aspiration. All oÿ them responded
to the call oÿ Swaraj, but the term meant
different thinĀs to different people
 DIFFERING STRANDS IN MOVEMENT
THE MOVEMENT IN TOWNS

Movement started with middle-class

participation.

Students & teachers leÿt

Āovernment-controlled school & lawyers
leÿt courts.

Council elections were boycotted in most

provinces except Madras, where the
Justice Party, ÿelt that enterinĀ the
council was one way oÿ ĀaininĀ some
 power.
Effect oÿ NCM on Economic

Front ForeiĀn Āoods

were boycotted, The import oÿ

liquor shops ÿoreiĀn cloth
picketed, and halved between
ÿoreiĀn cloth 1921 and 1922.
burnt in huĀe
bonfire.

Result- production Merchants and

oÿ Indian textile traders reÿused to
mills and trade in ÿoreiĀn
handlooms Āoods or finance
increased. ÿoreiĀn trade.
Why NCM slowed down?
Expensive Khadi Clothes

Students and teachers began trickling back to government schools

Lawyers joined back work in government courts, due to lack of alternative institution.
 REBELLION IN
COUNTRYSIDE (By
PEASANTS)
1. In Awadh,
peasants were led
by Baba 3. The peasant
Ramchandra – a movement
sanyasi who had demanded
earlier been to Fiji reduction of
as an indentured revenue, abolition
of begar & social
labourer
boycott of
 oppressive bandhs were
landlords. organised by
2. The movement panchayats to
here was against deprive landlords
of the services of
oppressive even barbers and
talukdars and washermen.
landlords

4. Nai – Dhobi
In June 1920, Jawaharlal Nehru began going around the
villages in Awadh talking to the villagers & trying to
understand their grievances

By October, the Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up headed by

Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and a few others.

Within a month, over 300 branches had been set up in the

 villages around the region.

However, the peasant movement developed in forms that

the Congress leadership was unhappy with.
REASON BEHIND MOVEMENT FAILURE

Houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked

Bazaars were looted, and grain hoards were taken

over.

Local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had

declared that land was to be redistributed among
the poor

The name of the Mahatma was being invoked to

sanction all action & aspirations
 REBELLION IN
COUNTRYSIDE (By
TRIBALS)
GUDEM HILLS of ANDHRA PRADESH

A militant guerrilla movement spread in the early

1920s.

The colonial government had closed large forest

areas, preventing people from entering the
 forests.

Their livelihood as well as their traditional

rights were affected.

People were tired of working as forced begar for

road construction.
Alluri incarnation
Sitaram Raju of God

Persuaded
Claimed he people to
had a variety Rebels wear khadi
of special and give up
proclaimed
powers drinking.
him as
But at the same time he asserted that India could be
liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence.
The Gudem
rebels attacked
police stations
became a ÿolk
hero.
Attempted to kill
British officials
Raju was and carried on
captured & Āuerrilla warÿare
executed in ÿor achievinĀ
1924, overtime swaraj
 SWARAJ IN
PLANTATION
For plantation workers, Swaraj meant ‘riĀht to
move ÿreely’.

It also meant it meant

retaininĀ a link with the
villaĀe ÿrom which they
 had come.

Under the Inland EmiĀration Act oÿ 1859,

plantation workers were not permitted to leave
the tea Āardens without permission.
➔ When they heard oÿ the Non-Cooperation
Movement, thousands oÿ workers:

- Defied the authorities;

- Leÿt the plantations & headed home.

➔ They believed that Gandhi Raj was cominĀ &

everyone would be Āiven land in their own
villaĀes.

➔ However, they never reached their

destination.

➔ Stranded on the way by a railway and

steamer strike, they were cauĀht by the police
 and brutally beaten up.
SUMMARY
1. Visions oÿ these movements- not defined by
the ConĀress proĀramme. Term Swaraj was
interpreted in their own ways, imaĀininĀ it to
be a time when all sufferinĀ & all troubles
would be over.

2. Yet, when the tribals chanted Gandhiji’s name &

raised sloĀans demandinĀ ‘Swatantra
Bharat’, they were also emotionally relatinĀ to
an all-India aĀitation

3. When they acted in the name oÿ Mahatma

Gandhi, or linked their movement to that oÿ
the ConĀress, they were identiÿyinĀ with a
movement which went beyond the limits oÿ
 their immediate locality.

At Chauri Chaura (1922) in Gorakhpur, a

peaceÿul demonstration in a bazaar turned
into a violent clash with the police.

In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi withdrew

the Non-Cooperation Movement as it turned
violent in many places
Why did Non-Cooperation Movement
gradually slow down in cities? Explain two
reasons. CBSE 2017
The Non-Cooperation Movement in the cities
gradually slowed down for various reasons:

● Mill cloth was cheap due to mass production,

khadi cloth was expensive. Hence, the urban
poor couldn’t abstain from using mill cloth for
too long.

● Boycott of British institutions posed a

problem- No alternative institutions were
set-up in their place. So, the students,
teachers, lawyers and other professionals
finally had to resume their studies and jobs in
government institutions like schools,
colleges, courts etc.
 TOWARDS CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
Tired oÿ the mass struĀĀles some ConĀress
leaders wanted to participate in elections to
the provincial councils that had been set up
by the Government oÿ India Act oÿ 1919.

They ÿelt that it was important to oppose

British policies within the councils.
 C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru ÿormed
the Swaraj Party within the ConĀress
to arĀue ÿor a return to council
politics.

YounĀer leaders like

Jawaharlal Nehru &
Subhas Chandra Bose
pressed ÿor more
radical mass aĀitation
and ÿor ÿull
independence.
WORLD WIDE ECONOMIC DEPRESSION

Agricultural
prices began to
fall from 1926
and collapsed
after 1930.
 countryside was
in turmoil.
Peasants found it Demand for
difficult to sell agricultural
their harvests and goods fell and
pay their revenue. exports declined.
By 1930, the
SIMON COMMISSION
Āreeted with the
sloĀan ‘Simon Go
Back’.

Tory Āovt set up Commission had no

the Commission, Indian member.
to suĀĀest some
chanĀes into
Constitutional
system in India

ConĀress and the

Muslim LeaĀue,
Commission arrived protested aĀainst
in India in 1928, the Commission
 DEMAND FOR PURNA SWARAJ

Lord Irwin announced in October 1929, a

vaĀue offer oÿ ‘dominion status’ ÿor India.

ConĀress leaders were unsatisfied, specially

the radicals.

Lahore Session, Dec 1929- Jawaharlal Nehru

ÿormalised the demand oÿ ‘Purna Swaraj’ or
ÿull independence.

Declared that 26 January, 1930, would be

celebrated as the Independence Day.
 THE SALT
MARCH AND THE
CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
MOVEMENT
SALT

Mahatma Gandhi ÿound

in salt a powerÿul symbol that could unite
 the nation.

The tax on salt & the

Āovernment monopoly
One oÿ the oÿ the most over its production,
essential items oÿ revealed the most
ÿood. oppressive ÿace oÿ
Consumed by the rich British rule.
and the poor alike

On 31 January 1930,
Mahatma Gandhi sent a
letter to Viceroy Irwin
stating 11 demands.

Some of these were of

general interest; others
were specific demands of
 different classes, from
industrialists to peasants.

The most stirring of all was

the demand to abolish the
salt tax.
Gandhi’s letter was, in a way, an ultimatum.

Iÿ the demands were not ÿulfilled by 11 March, the letter

stated, the ConĀress would launch a civil disobedience
campaiĀn

Irwin was unwillinĀ to neĀotiate.

So Mahatma Gandhi started his ÿamous salt march (12

March, 1930) accompanied by 78 oÿ his trusted
volunteers.

Starting Place Sabarmati Ashram

Destination Dandi, Gujarat

Distance 240 miles. 10 miles/day

Duration 24 Days
 No. of People Gandhiji + 78 Volunteers Start of

CDM (Salt

6th April, 1930

Law Broken)

Salt March marked the beginning of Civil

Disobedience Movement.
Thousands in different parts of the country broke the
salt law, manufactured salt & demonstrated in front of
government salt factories.

As the movement spread:

pay
revenue

Foreign
cloth was
boycotted People
Liquor violated forest
shops laws

Government arrested
conĀress leaders

were 100000
people
picketed were
Village arrested
officials
resigned A month later when
Peasants refused to Mahatma Gandhi
was arrested, devout disciple oÿ
violence broke out in Mahatma Gandhi, was
Sholapur. arrested in April 1930.
Violent clashes
happened in many
places; Government
responded with brutal
pression.

Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a

Gandhi ji called off

CDM because oÿ all
this violence.

Lord-Irwin
convinced him to
Āet into a pact with
him.
 This pact is known
as Gandhi-Irwin
Pact.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact

Date: 5th March, 1931.

Between: Gandhi ji and Lord Irwin

Objective: By this Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhiji consented to participate in a

Round Table Conÿerence & called off the CDM.
 Second Round Table
Conference, London,
December 1931.
NeĀotiations broke down & Gandhiji returned
returned disappointed.

Back in India, he discovered that the

Āovernment had beĀun a new cycle oÿ
repression:

❏ Ghaffar Khan & Jawaharlal Nehru were

 both in jail.

❏ The ConĀress had been declared illeĀal.

❏ A series oÿ measures had been imposed

to prevent meetinĀs, demonstrations &
boycotts.

Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil

Disobedience Movement
PEASANTS : Rich Supported, poor
didn’t

Rich peasant communities – like the Patidars oÿ

Gujarat & the Jats oÿ Uttar Pradesh – were
active in the movement.

Hard hit by the trade depression & ÿallinĀ

prices.

They became enthusiastic supporters oÿ the

 Civil Disobedience Movement.

For them the fiĀht ÿor swaraj was a struĀĀle

aĀainst hiĀh revenues.
they had rented
ÿrom landlords

1. The relationship
between the poor
2. Small tenants 3. In Depression
cultivatinĀ land they struĀĀled to
uncertain. (Lukewarm
peasants and
the ConĀress Poor support)
remained pay rent.
Peasants
 didn’t support
their ‘no rent’
campaiĀn.
4. Scared oÿ
upsettinĀ
the rich
peasants &
landlords.
5. ConĀress
Involvement oÿ Industrialists

Industrialists who made profit durinĀ WWI were

upset with the restriction policies on business.

Wanted protection aĀainst imports oÿ ÿoreiĀn Āoods,

& rupee-sterlinĀ ÿoreiĀn exchanĀe ratio.

Formed Indian Industrial and Commercial ConĀress

in 1920 & Federation oÿ the Indian Chamber oÿ
Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927.
Prominent industrialists like Purshottamdas
Thakurdas and G. D. Birla supported the Civil
Disobedience Movement when it was first
launched.
Involvement oÿ Industrialists

They Āave financial assistance & reÿused to buy or sell

imported Āoods.

But aÿter the ÿailure oÿ the Round Table Conÿerence,

business Āroups were no lonĀer uniÿormly enthusiastic.

They were worried about:

1. Spread oÿ militant activities;

2. ProlonĀed disruption oÿ business;
3. GrowinĀ influence oÿ socialism amonĀst the younĀer
members oÿ the ConĀress.
The industrial working classes did not
participate in the Civil Disobedience
Movement in large numbers, except in the
Nagpur region.

As the industrialists came closer to the

Congress, workers stayed aloof.

But in spite of that, some workers did

participate in the Civil Disobedience
Movement, selectively adopting some of the
ideas of the Gandhian programme, like
boycott of foreign goods, as part of their
own movements against low wages and
poor working conditions.
● There were strikes by railway workers
in 1930 and dockworkers in 1932.

● In 1930 thousands oÿ workers in

ChotanaĀpur tin mines wore Gandhi
caps and participated in protest
rallies and boycott campaiĀns.
 ● But the ConĀress was reluctant to
include workers’ demands as part oÿ
its proĀramme oÿ struĀĀle.

● It ÿelt that this would alienate

industrialists and divide the
antiimperial ÿorces.

Participated in Participation
protest marches,
manuÿactured
ConĀress was
salt, etc., & even
went to jail.

Women Gandhiji was

Moved by reluctant to allow
Gandhiji’s call, they women to hold
beĀan to see service any position oÿ
to the nation as a authority.
sacred duty oÿ convinced that it
women. was the duty oÿ
 women to look aÿter home.
Why did Non-Cooperation Movement
gradually slow down in cities? Explain two
reasons. CBSE 2017

The Non-Cooperation Movement in the cities

gradually slowed down for various reasons:

● Mill cloth was cheap due to mass production,

khadi cloth was expensive. Hence, the urban
poor couldn’t abstain from using mill cloth for
too long.

● Boycott of British institutions posed a

problem- No alternative institutions were
set-up in their place. So, the students,
teachers, lawyers and other professionals
finally had to resume their studies and jobs in
government institutions like schools,
colleges, courts etc.
 LIMITS OF CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
MOVEMENT
DALITS

● No active participation in the movement.

● For long time, Congress ignored them

 because of fear of offending Sanatanis.

● Gandhiji supported Dalits, called them

Harijans (Children of God).

● He believed Swaraj would not come for a

100 years if untouchability was not
eliminated.
Demands

● Reserved seats in educational

institutions;

● Separate electorate that would

choose dalit members for
legislative councils;
 ● Believed- Political empowerment
would resolve the problems of
their social disabilities.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Organised Dalits into

Depressed Classes
Association in 1930.

Clash with Gandhiji

Demanding Separate
electorate for Dalits.
Poona Pact, 1932
When the British government conceded Ambedkar’s demand, Gandhiji began a fast
unto death.

Gandhi believed this would disintegrate India.

Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position and the result was the Poona Pact
of September 1932

Lukewarm Response- Muslim

 ● Muslims felt alienated from Congress
after Non-Cooperation movement.

● From the mid-1920s the Congress came to

be more visibly associated with openly
Hindu religious nationalist groups.

● Relations between Hindus and Muslims

worsened, leading to Hindu-Muslim
communal clashes and riots in various
cities.

● At the time of Civil Disobedience

Movement- there was atmosphere of
suspicion and distrust between
communities.
Lukewarm Response- Muslim
● The Congress and the
Muslim League made
efforts to renegotiate an
alliance.

● Leader of Muslim League

M.A. Jinnah- asked for
separate electorate for
Muslim dominated regions.

● But was outrightly turned

down by M.R. Jayakar of
Hindu Mahasabha,
provoking Hindu-Muslim
communal riots.
Explain the limitations of the Civil
Disobedience Movement?
 CBSE 2019
1. Not all participants were moved by the concept of
Swaraj to the same extent. Congress had ignored
the Dalits. This was so because they were afraid of
offending the Sanatanis. (Upper Caste
Conservative Hindus). Thus, they received half
hearted support from various social groups.

2. From the mid-1920s, congress came to be more

visibly associated with the openly Hindu religious
nationalists groups like the Hindu Mahasabha, which
developed mistrust in other religious groups regarding
its intentions and programmes.

3. After the decline of the Non-cooperation Khilafat

movement, a large section of the Muslims felt
alienated from the Congress.
4. As relations between the Hindu’s and
Muslims worsened, each community
organised religious processions with
militant fervour. This provoked
 Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and
riots in various cities.

5. Civil Disobedience divided the Indian

society on basis of caste, social norms
and economy in many ways.

THE SENSE OF
COLLECTIVE
BELONGING
How does sense of collective belonging
 develops?
cultural
processes
History &
Fiction
Experience of
United Struggle
Folklore &
Songs

Popular prints &

Symbols
Variety of
Identity of India came to be visually associated with
the image of Bharat Mata

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay- created the first

image of Bharat Mata & also wrote ‘Vande Matram’.

‘Vande Matram’- later

included in his novel
 Anandamath

Widely sung the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.

Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of
Bharat Mata

An ascetic figure

She is calm & composed

Divine & spiritual.

In later year, image acquired- different forms.
Rabindranath Tagore began collecting ballads,
nursery rhymes and myths.

Led the movement for folk revival.

Natesa Sastri Published- massive four-volume
collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of
Southern India.

Believed that folklore was

national literature.
 ‘The most trustworthy
manifestation of people’s
real thoughts and
characteristics’

Swadeshi movement in Bengal: a tricolour flag

(red, green and yellow) was designed with 8
lotuses representing eight provinces of British
 India, and a crescent moon, representing
Hindus and Muslims.
Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag- 1921.

Tricolour (red, green and white) and had a

spinning wheel in the centre.

REINTERPRETATION OF HISTORY
 By the end of 19th Century many Indian thought in
order to instill a feeling of pride in the nation - Indian
history had to be thought about differently.

Began discovering great achievements in past.

Wrote about the glorious developments in ancient

times.
CONCLUSION

Growing anger against colonial government

brought together various groups & classes into
common struggle for freedom.
The Congress under Gandhiji’s leadership tried
to channel channel people’s grievances into
organised movements for independence.

The ultimate objective of everyone was to get

freedom from the colonial rule.