DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL BANGALORE WEST

CLASS 10 NOTES
SOCIAL SCIENCE
HISTORY L-2 NATIONALISM IN INDIA
SUMMARY NOTES / CLASSWORK QUESTIONS
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NATIONALISM IN INDIA
• The sense of nationalism in Europe came to be associated with formation of nation
states where sense of collective belonging redefined the boundaries of communities.
• In India, Vietnam and other colony countries of Britain developed the growth of
nationalism with anti-colonial movements.
• People began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle against
colonialism.
• The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond that tied
many different groups together.
• But each class and group felt the effects of colonialism differently, their experiences
were varied, and their notions of freedom were not always the same.
• The Congress under Mahatma Gandhi tried to forge these groups together within
one movement. But the unity did not emerge without conflict.

The First World War

The first world war was fought between 1914-1919. In the years after 1919, the national
movement was spreading to new areas, incorporating new social groups, and developing
new modes of struggle.

Effects of First world war

• The first world war created a new economic and political situation.
• It led to huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and
increasing taxes, customs duties were raised.
• Income tax was introduced.
• Prices of all goods and services increased- doubling between 1913 and 1918- leading
to extreme hardship for the common people.
• Forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger.
• In 1918-19 and 1920-21 crops failed in many parts of India resulting in acute
shortage of food.
• It was accompanied by an influenza epidemic. According to the census of 1921, 12 to
13 million people perished as a result of famines and the epidemic.

The Idea of Satyagraha

• Satyagraha means a passive resistance and a novel method of mass agitation.

• The idea of Satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for
truth.
 • It suggested that if the cause was true, if the struggle was against injustice, then
violence was not necessary to fight for oppressor. A satyagrahi could win the battle
through nonviolence.
• People had to be persuaded to see the truth, instead of being forced to accept truth
through the use of violence. This could be done by appealing to the conscience of
the oppressor.
• By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph. Mahatma Gandhi believed
that this dharma of non-violence could unite all Indians.
• Hunger strike, peaceful demonstrations, strike, hartal and non-cooperation with the
government are some methods of Satyagraha

Gandhi’s Initial Protests

• After arriving in India, Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised satyagraha

movements in various places.
• In 1916 he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle
against the oppressive plantation system, where the farmers were forced to grow
Indigo crops.
• In 1917 he organised a satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of
Gujarat. Affected by crop failure and plague epidemic, the peasants of Kheda could
not pay the revenue, and were demanding that revenue collection be relaxed.
• In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmadabad to organise satyagraha movement
amongst cotton mill workers

Rowlatt Act

• It was a black law because it was against basic human rights.

• This act was passed in 1919 by Imperial legislative council.
• The council passed the act despite the united opposition of Indian members.
• The act gave the British government enormous powers to repress political activities
against them in India.
• It also allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.

Revolt against the act

• In 1919 Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the

proposed Rowlatt Act.
• Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violence civil disobedience against the Rowlatt laws,
which was started with a hartal on 6 April.
• Rallies were organised, workers went on strike and shops closed down.
• Alarmed by the popular upsurge the British administration decided to clamp down
on nationalists.
• 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 violence. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
Martial Laws
• As per this law people were not allowed move in group.
• No permission were given for political activities.
• Carrying weapons was denied.
• Shoot at sight order was passed against the law violators.

Jallianwalla Bagh Incident

• On 13 April a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla Bagh.

• Some people had gathered to protest against the government repressive measure,
others had come to attend Baisakhi fair.
• Being from outside the city people had were unaware of martial laws
• Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing
hundreds.
• His object was to “produce a moral effect”, to create in the minds of satyagrahis a
feeling of terror and awe.

Aftermath of Jallianwalla Bagh

• As the news of Jallianwalla Bagh spread, crowds' took to the streets in many north
Indian Towns.
• Strikes, clashes were common against government.
• Government buildings were attacked.
• 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
forced to do salaam (salute) for all sahibs.
• People flogged and villages were bombed (Gujranwala in Punjab, now in Pakistan)
• Seeing violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement.

Khilafat Movement

As the Rowlatt satyagraha was limited mostly to cities and towns, Mahatma Gandhi felt the
need to launch a more broad based movement in India. He was certain that no such
movement could be organised without bringing the Hindus and Muslims closer together.
One way of doing this, he felt , was to take up the Khilafat issue.

• The First World War had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey. The Ottoman
emperor was the spiritual head of the Islamic World(the Khalifa).
• Rumours were spread that Khalifa was made to sign harsh peace trearty.
• To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a Khilafat Committee was formed in
Bombay in March 1919 by Ali Brothers i.e Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
• They began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the possibility of a united mass
action on the issue.
• Gandhiji saw this an opportunity to bring Muslims under the umbrella of a unified
national movement. At the Calcutta session of the Congress in Sept 1920, he
 convinced other leaders of the need to start a non- cooperation movement in
support of Khilafat as well as for Swaraj.

Why Non-Cooperation Movement

• In his famous book Hind Swaraj (1909) Mahatma Gandhi declared that British rule
was established in India with the cooperation of Indians and had survived only
because of this cooperation.
• If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year, and
Swaraj would come.
• First World War added to the misery of the Indian people. Heavy taxes, high
prices, famines and epidemics made people’s life miserable.
• Rowlatt Act invited large scale protests throughout the country.
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and the injustice done to Punjab made Indians angry.
• Muslims became unhappy due to the ill treatment of their religious Head. They
started Khilafat Movement.
• Therefore, he started the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Difference of opinions

• Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages. Surrender of titles,
boycott of British administration and goods etc.
• Full civil disobedience campaign would be launched against the repression methods
of government.
• Through the summer of 1920 Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively,
mobilising popular support for the movement.
• Many within Congress were reluctant to boycott the council elections scheduled for
November 1920, and feared that the movement might lead to popular violence.
• In the months between Sept and Dec there was an intense tussle within the
Congress.
• Finally, at the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920, a compromise was
worked out and the Non-Cooperation programme was adopted.

The Movement in the Towns

• The movement started with middle class participation in the cities.

• Students left government controlled schools and colleges, teachers resigned.
• Lawyers gave up their legal practices.
• The council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras where Justice
Party participated.
• The effects of non-cooperation on the economic front were more dramatic.
• Foreign goods were boycotted and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.
• The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922, its value dropping from
Rs 102 crore to 57 crore.
• liquor shops picketed
• Merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade.
• Production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up.
 • Boycott of civil service, army, police, courts, railways, postal services were carried
out.

Limitations of NCM in cities and town

• Khadi clothes were very costly. The poor were not able to buy them.
• Indians boycotted British institutions like law courts and educational institutions.
• But alternative institutions did not come up. Consequently teachers and children
started going back to schools and lawyers started going back to their courts
• Justice Party of non-brahmins participated in council elections, as they felt it was the
way gaining some power, something that usually only Brahmans had accessed to.

Rebellion in the Countryside

NCM drew into its fold the struggles of peasants and tribal's which were developing in
different parts of India in the years after the war.

NCM in Awadh

• Peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra a indentured labourer from Fiji

• The movement was against the talukdars and landlords for
Problems
• High rent demand and a variety of other cesses.
• Peasants had to do begar and work at landlords’ farms without any payment.
• As tenants they had no security of tenure, being regularly evicted so that they could
acquire no right over the leased land.
Demands
• The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue.
• Abolition of begar.
• Social boycott of oppressive landlords.
Struggle
• Nai – dhobi bandhs were organized by Panchayats to deprive landlords of the
services of even barbers and washermen.
• In October 1920, 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
• When the NCM began in 1921 the efforts of the Congress was to integrate the
Awadh peasant struggle into the wider struggle.
Limitations
• The peasant movement, however developed in forms that the congress leadership
was unhappy.
• As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars and merchants were
attacked, bazaars were looted, and grain hoards were taken over.
• In many places local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had declared that to taxes
were to be paid and land was to be redistributed among the poor.
• The name of the Mahatma was being invoked to sanction all action and aspirations.
NCM in Andhra Pradesh

• In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh a militant guerrilla movement spread in the
early 1920
• It was led by Alluri Sitaram Raju.
• As per British Forest Policies in the colonial region, people were restricted from
entering the forest areas to graze their cattle or collect fuelwood and fruits.
• This affected the livelihoods of tribal people and they felt that their traditional rights
was denied.
• They were forced to begar for the construction of the roads.
• Raju lead the tribes against the government. He claimed that he had special powers.
He could make astrological predictions, heal people, survive bullet shots.
• Tribes believed that he was the incarnation of god.
• He talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, said that he was inspired by NCM,
and persuaded people to wear Khadi and give up drinking.
• But at the same time he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of
force, not non violence.
• The rebels attacked government institutions, killed officials and carried on guerrilla
warfare for achieving swaraj.
• when the tribal's chanted Gandhiji’s name and raised slogans demanding “Swatantra
Bharat”, they were also emotionally relating to an all India agitation.
• Raju was captured and executed in 1924, and over time became a folk hero.

Swaraj in Plantations

• Workers too had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and the notion of
swaraj.
• For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out
of the confined space in which they were enclosed.
• It alsp meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.
• Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859 plantation workers were not permitted to
leave the Tea gardens without permission.
• During NCM , thousands of workers defied the authorities , left the plantations and
headed home.
• They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their
destination.
• But they never reached their destinations, ended up caught by police and beaten
brutally.

Limitations of NCM

• The vision of these movements were not defined by the Congress Programme. They
interpreted the term swaraj in their own ways.
• Gandhiji withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement because
 • The movement became violent in some places. In February 1922, in Chauri Chaura
(Uttar Pradesh) people turned violent and set fire to a police station. Twenty-two
policemen were killed in this incident.
• The movement slowed down in urban areas.
• He thought that it was necessary to train the people in nonviolent satyagraha.

Significance of NCM

• Non-Cooperation movement was a large scale mass movement.

• It attracted common people from all social groups.
• Non-Cooperation Movement and Khilafat Movement went together. So, they
promoted Hindu Muslim unity.
• Peasants’ and tribals’ movements became a part of the Indian National Movement.
• It was a nonviolent movement. So, it popularized the Gandhian idea of non-violent
satyagraha.

Idea of Swaraj
• The term swaraj means self rule or dominion status for the Congress people.
• To peasants in Awadh Swaraj meant the reduction in tax, abolition of Begar or
forced labour and social boycott of oppressive landlords
• To plantation workers in Assam, Swaraj means to move freely in and out of the
plantation and retaining a link with the village from, which they had come.
• To the tribal peasants, the swaraj meant right to enter forest and collect forest
products, graze cattle and give up forced labour.

Towards Civil Disobedience Movement

Swaraj Party

• In Feb 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the NCM. He felt the movement
was turning violent in many places and Satyagrahis needed to be properly trained
before they would be ready for mass struggle.
• Formation of Swaraj party by Motilal Nehru and CR Das in 1923 within the congress
to argue for a return to council politics.
• They were tired of mass struggles and wanted to participate in elections to the
provincial councils that had been set up by the Government Act of India 1919.
• They felt that it was important to oppose British policies within the councils.
• They also wanted to keep anti British spirit of the people alive, as NCM was
suspended.
• But leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose pressed for more radical
mass agitation and for full independence.
Major Developments in the India Politics in late 1920’s

• The effects of the worldwide economic depression: Agricultural prices began to fall
from 1926 and collapsed after 1930. Peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests
and pay their revenue. By 1930, the country was in turmoil.
• The Simon Commission: It was set up in response to the nationalist movement, by
the new tory govt in Britain. It was to look into the functioning of the constitutional
system in India and suggest changes.

Simon Commission

• It was a statutory commission set up by the British under Sir John Simon.
• It was appointed and came to India in February, 1928.
• It was appointed to look into the working of the Government of India Act of 1919
and to suggest further reforms in the system of administration.
• The members of the commission were all Englishmen and not a single Indian was
included.
• When the commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan “Go
back Simon”. All parties including the Congress, Muslim League participated in the
demonstrations.
• In effort to win Indians, the Viceroy, Lord Irwin announced in October 1929,
dominion status for India in an unspecified future, and a Round Table Conference to
discuss a future constitution.

Lahore Congress Session 1929/ Poorna Swaraj

• The Congress session was held at Lahore on 30th Dec 1929 under the Presidentship of
Jawaharlal Nehru.
• The Congress declared Poorna Swaraj as its aim and hoisted the National Flag on 26th
January 1930.
• It was decided to celebrate 26 January every year as Independence Day.
• It is a day when people took pledge to struggle for complete Independence.
• It was declared in this session that the chief goal of the Indian National congress was
the attainment of complete independence.
• As this attracted only little attention, Gandhi decided to Launch CDM.

The Salt March

On 31 January 1930, Mahatma Gandhi sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands
of general interest as well as specific interest of different classes. It was an ultimatum. If the
demands were not fulfilled the Congress would launch a Civil Disobedience Campaign.
The idea was to make the demands wide ranging, so all classes within Indian society could
be brought together in a united campaign.
 • Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. Salt
was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one of the most
essential items of food.
• So tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production revealed the most
oppressive face of the British rule.
• As Gandhi’s letter stated if the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the congress
would launch civil disobedience movement and Irwin was not willing to negotiate
Gandhi.
• So Gandhi started his famous salt march accompanied by 78 of his trusted
volunteers.
• It was over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal
town of Dandi.
• It took 24 days to complete. Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi and he told
them what he meant by Swaraj and urged them to peacefully defy the British.
• On 6 April he reached Dandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt
by boiling sea water.

Impact of Dandi March

• This marked the beginning of CDM. It was different from NCM. People were now
asked not only to refuse cooperation with the British, but also to break colonial rule.
• Thousands in different parts of the country broke the salt law, manufactured salt and
demonstrated in front of government salt factories.
• As the movement spread, foreign cloth was boycotted, and liquor shops were
picketed.
• Peasants refused to pay revenue and Chaukidari taxes, village officials resigned.
• In many places forest people violated forests laws- going into Reserved Forests to
collect wood and graze cattle.

British Repressive Methods

• Worried by the developments, the government began arresting the Congress leaders
one by one. This led to violent clashes in many places.
• Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a devotee of Gandhi was arrested in April 1930, which enraged
the crowds to demonstrate in the streets of Peshawar, where many were killed.
• A month later Gandhi himself was arrested. Now industrial workers of Sholapur
attacked on all buildings which symbolised British rule like police stations, courts,
railway etc.
• A frightened government responded with a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful
satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten, and about 100,000
people were arrested.

Gandhi Irwin Pact

• In such a situation, Gandhiji once again decided to call off the movement and
entered into a pact with Irwin on 5th March 1931.
• According to it Gandhiji consented to participated in a Round Table Conference in
London and the government agreed to release the political prisoners of Dandi
march.
Round Table Conferences
• The INC had boycotted the 1st RTC of 1930.
• In December 1931, Gandhiji went to London to attend 2nd RTC, but the negotiations
broke down and he returned disappointed.
• Back in India, he discovered that the government had began a new cycle of
repression. Nehru and Ghaffar khan were in jail.
• Congress had been declared illegal, and a series of measures had been imposed to
prevent meetings, demonstrations and boycotts.
• With great apprehension, Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the CDM.
• For over a year, the movement continued, but by 1934 it lost its momentum.

How Participants saw the movement

Rich Peasants
• They were producing commercial crops & were hardly hit by trade depression, falling
prices.
• As their income disappeared, they found it difficult to pay revenue. But the
government refused to reduce the revenue.
• Jats of Uttar Pradesh and Patidars of Gujarat were prominent rich peasant
community.
• They were enthusiastic supporters of CDM , organizing their communities , and at
times forcing reluctant members to participate in the boycott programmes.
• For them the fight for swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.
• They were deeply disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931 without
the revenue rates being revised .
• So when the movement was restarted in 1932 many of them refused to participate.

Poor Peasants
• The poor peasantry were small tenants cultivating land they had rented from
landlords.
• They found it difficult to pay their rent due to depression.
• They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlords to be remitted.
• They joined a variety of radical movements, often led by socialists and communists.
• Congress was unwilling to support no rent campaign in most places.
• So the relationship between the poor peasantry and the congress remained
uncertain

Industrialists
• Indian merchants and Industrialists had made huge profit and become powerful.
• They now reacted against colonial policies that restricted their business activities.
• They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a rupee sterling
foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
• To organize business interest, they formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial
Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and
Industries(FICCI) in 1927.
• Industrialists like G.D.Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas supported CDM.
• They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods.
 • They came to see swaraj as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no
longer exist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints.
• But after the failure of RTC, they were worried about prolonged disruption of
business and growing influence of socialism amongst the younger members of the
Congress.

Workers
• The industrial working classes did not participated in the CDM in large numbers,
except in the Nagpur region.
• But some workers did participated in the 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.
• But the congress was reluctant to include workers demand as part of its programme
of struggle.
• It felt that this would alienate industrialists and divide the anti- imperial forces.
• Eg. Strikes by Railway workers in 1930 , Dockworker in 1932 and mine workers of
Chotanagpur plateau in 1930 protested by wearing Gandhi caps

Women
• Another important features of CDM was large scale participation of Women.
• During salt march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen Gandhi.
• Women participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, and picketed foreign
cloth and liquor shops.
• Many went to jail.
• In urban areas these women were from high caste families and in rural areas they
came from rich peasant households.
• Moved by Gandhiji’s call, they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of
women.
• Gandhiji was convinced that it was the duty of women to look after home and
hearth, be good mothers and good wives.
• Congress was also reluctant to allow women to hold any position of authority within
the organisation.

Limitations of CDM

Limited participation of Dalits or Untouchables

• In 1930’s the untouchables had begun to call themselves Dalits or oppressed.
• Congress had ignored the Dalits, for fear of offending the Sanatanis , the
conservative high caste Hindus.
• But Mahatma Gandhi tried to uplift the untouchables. For that he called them as
Harijan, or the children of God.
• Organised satyagraha to secure them entry into temples, access to public wells,
tanks, roads, and schools.
• Cleaned the toilets to dignify the works of the bhangi (sweepers) and persuaded
upper castes to change their hearts and give up the sin of untouchability.
• But many Dalit leaders began organising themselves, demanding reserved seats in
educational institutions, and a separate electorate for Dalits in legislative councils.
 • They believed Political empowerment would resolve the problems of their social
disabilities.
• Thus Dalit participation in the CDM was limited, particularly in Maharashtra and
Nagpur region where their organisation was quit strong.

Poona Pact
• Dr BR Ambedkar, who organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in
1930, clashed with Mahatma Gandhi at 2nd RTC.
• He demanded separate electorates for Dalits.
• The British Govt. conceded his demand.
• Mahatma Gandhi begun a fast unto death in protest of it.
• He 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 the Poona Pact
of September 1932.
• It gave the Depressed classes reserved seats in provincial and central legislative
council, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.

Limited participation of Muslims

• Muslim political organisations in India were also lukewarm in the response to the
CDM.
• After the decline of the NCM and Khilafat movement a large section of Muslims felt
alienated from the Congress.
Reasons
• From mid 1920s the Congress came to be more visibly associated with openly Hindu
religious nationalist groups like Hindu Mahasabha.
• Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and riots in various cities deepened the distance
between the two communities.
• INC and Muslim league negotiated for an alliance in 1927 but failed.
• The important differences between INC and Muslim League were over the question
of representation in the future assemblies that were to be elected.
Demands
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah was willing to give up the demand for separate electorates.
• If Muslims were assured reserved seats in the Central Assembly.
• Representation in proportion to population in the Muslim –dominated provinces like
Bengal and Punjab
Failure
• All hope of resolving the issue at the All Parties Conference in 1928 disappeared
when M.R Jayakar Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed efforts at compromise.
• Alienated from the Congress, large sections of Muslims could not responded to the
call for a united struggle.
• Many Muslim leaders and intellectuals expressed their concern about the status of
Muslims as a minority within India.
• They feared that the culture and identity of minorities would be submerged under
the domination of a Hindu majority.
Collective Belonging

Nationalism spreads when we begin to believe that we are all part of the same nation and
discovering some unity that binds us.
The sense of collective belonging came through a variety of cultural processes.
History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the
making of nationalism

Paintings / Allegory
• The identity of the nation is most often symbolised in a figure or image.
• It helps create an image with which people can identify the nation.
• The identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
• The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
• In 1870s he wrote“ Vande Mataram” as a hyme to the motherland. It was sung
during the Swadesh Movement in Bengal in 1906. And later included in Anandamath.
• Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. He portrayed her
as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed , divine and spiritual.
• In subsequent years Bharat Mata acquired different forms by different artists.
• Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

Revival of Folklore
• In late 19th century nationalists began recording of folk tales sung by bards and they
toured villages to gather folk songs and legends.
• It will gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and
damaged by outside forces.
• It was essential to preserve this in order to discover one’s national identity and
restore a sense of pride in one’s past.
• In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and
myths, and led the movement for folk revival.
• In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four volume collection of Tamil folk
tales, “The Folklore of Southern India”.
• He believed that folklore was national literature; it was the most trustworthy
manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics.

Symbols and icons

• During the Swadeshi Movement in Benagl a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow)
was developed.
• It had 8 lotuses representing the 8 provinces of the British India.
• It also had crescent moon which represented Hindus and Muslims.
• In 1921, Gandhiji designed the Swaraj flag. It was also a tricolour flag (red, green and
white).
• It had a spinning wheel which represent the Gandhian idea of Self Help.
• The flag became a symbol of the Nation.
• It created the feeling of oneness. The people carried flag in protest marches
and rallies
Reinterpretation of History / Rediscovery of India’s Past
• The British considered Indians backward and primitive. They said that the Indians
were not capable of ruling themselves.
• In response Indians began looking into great achievements of India in past.
• They rediscovered and wrote the achievements made by the Indians in art,
architecture, science, mathematics, religion, culture, law, philosophy, crafts and
trade.
• This created national pride and patriotism among the Indians.
• But When the past being glorified was Hindu, when the images celebrated were
drawn from Hindu iconography, then people of other communities felt left out.

A Nation with many voices wanting Freedom

• Anti-colonial movements brought various groups of Indians into a common struggle.

• INC under Gandhi tried organize movements for national unity and independence.
• Diverse groups participated with various aspirations and expectations.
• The INC tried to resolve differences and ensure demand of one group do not alienate
other.
• The congress activity were followed by disunity and conflict between groups.
• Here emerged a nation with many voices wanting freedom.

Quit India Movement

• Reason – Failure of Cripps Mission and effect of 2nd World war.

• Aim – Transfer of power to Indians and quit India.
• Enactment – on July 14th 1942 at Wardha, by Congress working committee.
• Slogan – Do or Die
• Struggle – on 8th August 1942, AICC called for a non violent mass struggle. People
observed hartals and demonstrations, accompanied by national song & slogans.
State machinery stood still in many parts of country.
• Major Participants – Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali.
Women- Matangini Hazra in Bengal, Kanaklata Barua in Assam, Ram Devi in Odisha.

Picture Analysis

The Mass agitation on streets on 6th April

1919, which became common during
national movement.
Mahatma Gandhi leading Indian workers from Newcastle to Transvaal through
Volksrust on 6th November 1913. It was a satyagraha against racist laws (that denied
rights to non-whites). Gandhi was arrested

General Dyer’s Crawling orders being administered by

British soldiers in Punjab (Amritsar) 1919.

Boycott of Foreign cloths in July 1922. As

Foreign cloth was seen as symbol of
western economic and cultural domination.
 Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur of up, where a
peaceful procession in bazaar turned to a
violent clash with police. Hearing this incident
Gandhi called halt to NCM.

Meeting of congress leader like Gandhi, Nehru,

Patel, SC Bose etc at Allahabad in 1931.

The Dandi march. On the way with Gandhi 78

members accompanied him initially, later on
thousands had joined.

The police cracked down on Satyagrahis in 1930.

 Women took active participation in national
movement. For the 1st time women came out of
their houses to public arena. Women of all ages
and even women carrying children participated in
marches.

Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Azad at Sevagram

Ashram , Wardha 1935.

Popular print of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in early 20th century. Here he is

surrounded by symbols of unity.

There are sacred institutions of different faith like temple, masjid

and church.

Bharat Mata, by Abanindranath Tagore 1905.

Here mother figure is shown as dispensing learning, food and
clothing.
The mala in one hand emphasises here ascetic quality.
Abanindranath, like Ravi Verma has tried develop a style of painting
that could be seen truly as Indian.
Popular Print of Nehru
Nehru here is shown holding image Bharath Mata and India map
close to his heart or as offering his head to mother figure.
The idea of sacrifice for mother was powerful within popular
imagination.

The figure of Bharath Mata in contrast with Abanindranath

Tagore’s painting.

Here she is with Trishul, standing beside a lion and elephant,

which shows the symbol of power and authority.

Women procession in Bombay during Quit India

movement 1942.
New Words
• Forced Recruitment: A process by which colonial state forced the people to join
army.
• Boycott: The refusal to deal and associate with people or participate in activities, or
by and use things, usually a form of protest.
• Picket: A form of demonstration or protest by which people block the entrance of
the shops.
• Begar: Labour that villagers were forced to contribute without payment .
Source Information
• Gandhi on Satyagraha:
1) Satyagraha is a passive resistance and the weapon of weak.
2) Satyagraha is not Physical force.
3) Satyagraha is a pure soul and truth is the substance of the soul.
• In 1928 Patel lead a peasant movement in Bardoli in Gujrat against enhancement of
land revenue known as Bardoli Satyagraha. This was successful.
• On 6th Jan 1921, police opened fire on peaceful procession in Rae Bareli, Nehru was
stopped by police to visit the place of firing.
• Lala Lajpat Rai was assaulted by British during a demonstration against Simon
commission.
• Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA)
1) Formed in 1928 at Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi.
2) Bhagat Singh, Ajay Gosh, Jatin Das were its important leaders.
3) HSRA followed violence struggle and targeted British symbols.
4) In 1929 Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta threw bomb on legislative
assembely.
5) They also made attempt to blow up train in which Lord Irwin was travelling.
6) Bhagat Singh was 23, when he was executed by the colonial government.
7) He wished to glorify cult of bomb and pistol but wanted revolutionary society.
8) His slogan was Inquilab Zindabad – Long Live revolution.
• In 1930 President of Muslim League Muhammad Iqbal, reiterated the importance of
separate electorate for Muslims.
• Tarinicharan Chattopadhyay wrote “Bharatbarsher Itihas” ( The History of
Bharatbarsh). In which he quoted “ Early Foreign travellers have marked the
courage, truthfulness and modesty of Arya Vamsa. But now they remark only the
absence of those qualities.

Classwork Questions

Q1. What what the main issue behind the Khilafat Movement? Why did Gandhiji support
this?

Ans: Gandhiji's support for the Khilafat Movement was driven by his desire to broaden his
Satyagraha movement. He believed that unity between Hindus and Muslims was essential
for a successful national movement. The Khilafat issue presented an opportunity for this
unity.
Background of the Khilafat Issue:
The First World War severely weakened the Ottoman Empire in Turkey.
The British had promised to treat the Khalifa, the spiritual leader of Muslims, generously but
failed to fulfil this promise.
By 1920, the British had dismantled the Turkish Empire completely.

Gandhiji's support for the Khilafat Movement helped to strengthen it. The reasons for his
support included:
The limitations of the Rowlatt Satyagraha, which was largely confined to urban areas,
highlighted the need for a broader movement.
Gandhiji aimed to unite Hindus and Muslims, believing their collaboration would enhance
the nationalist movement.
After the war, there were fears of a harsh peace treaty for Ottoman Turkey, threatening the
Khalifa's powers.

Q2. Why did Gandhi choose “Non-Cooperation” as a method of fighting colonial rule?
Explain his method.
Ans: The Non-Cooperation movement was initiated in 1920 and lasted for two years.
Gandhi's core idea was that the British ruled India because the people cooperated with
them. He believed that if Indians stopped cooperating, British rule would collapse, paving
the way for Swaraj (self-rule).
The movement unfolded in several stages:
Surrender of Titles: Indians were to give up all titles and honours granted by the British.
Boycott of Government Services: This included civil services, police, and the army.

Boycott of Courts and Legislative Councils: Indians refused to participate in judicial and
legislative functions under British rule.

Civil Disobedience: If the government repressed the movement, a full civil disobedience
campaign would be launched.

Q3. Explain the term “Swaraj” and its changed meaning in this period.

Ans: Swaraj means "self-rule" or "self-governance." Its meaning evolved during the Indian
freedom struggle:
Original Meaning: Initially, Swaraj referred to political independence from British rule.
Broader Meaning:Different groups interpreted Swaraj in various ways: For peasants, it
meant lower taxes and fair treatment from landlords. For workers, it signified better pay
and working conditions.
For businessmen, it represented freedom from British economic control and opportunities
for growth.
Symbol of Freedom: Swaraj came to symbolise liberation from all forms of oppression,
including social and economic injustices.
Unity and Identity: It united various groups across India with a common goal, fostering a
sense of national identity despite differing needs.
Overall, Swaraj transformed from a political demand into a broader concept encompassing
the hopes and aspirations of many Indians.

Q4. Why did different social groups join the Non-Cooperation Movement?
Ans: Different social groups joined the Non-Cooperation Movement for various reasons,
each reflecting their unique struggles:
Middle Class in Cities: Inspired by the call for Swaraj and discontent with British rule.
Students left schools, teachers resigned, and lawyers stopped working, boycotting foreign
goods and government services.
Peasants: Frustrated with high taxes and unfair land practices. Organised protests against
landlords and refused to pay taxes.
Tribal Groups: Anger over restrictions on accessing forests for traditional activities. Some
resorted to violence to protest these restrictions.
Workers: Faced low wages and poor working conditions. Boycotted foreign goods and
organised strikes.

Business Class: Wanted fewer restrictions on businesses and opposed British economic
policies. Funded the movement and refused to trade in British goods.

Economic Effects: The import of foreign cloth halved from Rs 102 crore to Rs 57 crore
between 1921 and 1922. Increased demand for Indian textiles as foreign cloth was
boycotted. Khadi was often more expensive than mass-produced cloth, making it hard for
the poor to afford. Many students and workers returned to British-run institutions due to a
lack of alternatives.

Q5. Why were the hill people of Andhra aggrieved by colonial rule?

Ans: The hill people of Andhra Pradesh, particularly in the Gudem Hills, were deeply
aggrieved by colonial rule due to several oppressive policies imposed by the British:
Restrictions on Forest Access: The colonial government limited their access to forests, which
hindered essential activities like grazing cattle, collecting firewood, and gathering fruits. This
loss of traditional rights led to widespread discontent.

Forced Labour (Begar): The British compelled the hill people to provide unpaid labour for
road construction.
Features of the Gudem Rebellion:
Militant Guerrilla Movement: The Gudem rebellion was a militant guerrilla movement
against the British, employing hit-and-run tactics to attack police stations and government
officials.
Leadership of Alluri Sitaram Raju: The rebellion was led by Alluri Sitaram Raju, a charismatic
figure who claimed to have special powers, such as making accurate predictions and
surviving bullet wounds. .
Inspiration from Non-Cooperation Movement: Although the rebellion involved armed
struggle, it was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
Repression by the British: The British responded with severe repression, deploying military
forces to suppress the rebellion.

Q6. What is the importance of the Non-Cooperation Movement in India’s struggle for
independence?
Ans: The Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM) marked the first all-India mass struggle against
British rule and significantly transformed the national movement. It mobilized peasants,
students, women, and the working class, bringing them into the fight for independence. The
Indian National Congress (INC) evolved into a mass organization, shedding its elitist image.
Fear of British rule diminished as people witnessed the British struggle against Gandhiji's
leadership, emboldening Indians nationwide.
Women’s active participation in the movement also advanced social change. The movement
introduced new methods like boycotts, resignations, and peaceful arrests while spreading
nationalism to both urban and rural areas. Gandhiji’s call for Swaraj, defined as self-rule,
inspired hope, transforming despair into excitement for freedom. The NCM unified Indians
across regions, fostering a sense of pride and determination to end British rule.

Q7. How did the different social groups that participated in the Civil Disobedience
Movement look at it? What was their attitude towards its aim?

Ans: Different social groups had varying perspectives on the Civil Disobedience Movement
and its aims:
Rich Peasants: Communities like the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh were
heavily affected by the trade depression and falling prices.
Poor Peasants: Small tenants, who rented land from landlords, participated because they
could not pay their rent due to the ongoing economic depression.
Merchants and Industrialists: This group protested against colonial policies that hindered
their businesses.
Industrial Workers: Workers joined the movement to advocate for better wages and
working conditions.
Despite their initial enthusiasm, all four groups faced disappointment: They lost interest
when the movement was suspended in 1931 without any changes to revenue rates, leading
many to abstain from the resumed movement in 1932. They felt let down as the Congress
did not support their 'no rent' campaigns. They grew disillusioned with the rise of militant
activities and the increasing socialist influence within the Congress, which did not align with
their business interests.

Q8. Compare the image of Bharat Mata with the image of Germania. Do you find any
similarities? Why do you think these images of Bharat Mata will not appeal to all castes and
communities?
Ans: Bharat Mata

The image of Bharat Mata was created by Abanindranath Tagore and represents India. She
is depicted as an ascetic figure, symbolising calmness, spirituality, and divinity.
In various portrayals, she embodies learning, food, and clothing, with a mala that highlights
her aesthetic quality.
Some images include symbols of power such as a trishul, lion, and elephant.

Germania
The image of Germania was painted by Philip Veit, representing Germany.

Initially depicted holding a sword in a feminine manner, she later was redrawn by Lorenz
Clasen, wielding a sword and shield.
Germania embodies the strength of the German Empire.
While both images serve as national symbols, they may not appeal to all castes and
communities due to:

Q9. Why was the Rowlatt Act imposed?

Ans: The imposing of the Rowlatt Act authorized the government to imprison any person
without trial and conviction in a court of law.

Q10. Name two main ‘Satyagraha’ movements organized by Mahatma Gandhi successfully in
favour of peasants in 1916 and 1917.
Ans: The two main ’Satyagraha’ movements organized by Mahatma Gandhi successfully in the
favour of peasants are:
Indigo Planters Movement in Champaran, Bihar in 1916.

Peasants Satyagraha Movement was organized in Kheda district in Gujarat in 1917 to support
peasants in the demand for relaxation of revenue collection.

Q11. In which novel was the hymn ‘Vande Mataram’ included and who was the novel written
by?
Ans: In the novel Aandamath the hymn ‘Vande Mataram‘included. It was written by Bankim
Chandra Chattopadhyay.

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