Nationalism in India

"We are Indians and the British are our common enemy." — Mahatma Gandhi

1. Chapter Overview

This chapter traces the INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT from the end of World War I (1918) to the 1930s. Unlike Europe (covered in Chapter 1), Indian nationalism developed in a COLONIAL context — against British rule. Under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership, the movement became a MASS STRUGGLE involving peasants, workers, women, and students.

Key Timeline

2. The First World War and Its Impact (1914–1918)

How WWI Affected India

• Economic hardship: taxes increased, prices doubled (1913–1918)
• Forced recruitment in rural areas — caused widespread anger
• Crop failures (1918–19, 1920–21) → acute food shortages
• Influenza epidemic (1918–19) → 12–13 MILLION Indians died
• Indians began to ask: WHY are we suffering for Britain's war?

The Emerging Nationalism

• Indians fought for the British in WWI with the HOPE of self-government after the war
• Instead: the Rowlatt Act (1919) — draconian powers to arrest without trial
• The hope TURNED INTO anger

3. The Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919)

The Rowlatt Act

• Passed in March 1919
• Allowed the British government to ARREST AND DETAIN any Indian WITHOUT TRIAL
• No right to appeal, no jury
• Indians outraged — 'law that takes away all law'

Gandhi's Response — Satyagraha

• Gandhi called for a NATIONWIDE SATYAGRAHA (non-violent resistance)
• Satyagraha = truth force — non-violent protest through civil disobedience
• Hartals (strikes), demonstrations across India
• Particularly strong in Punjab, where the movement was crushed...
• April 10, 1919: Police in Amritsar fired on a peaceful procession → riots

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919)

• Baisakhi day. A peaceful gathering at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar
• General Dyer blocked the ONLY exit and ordered TROOPS TO FIRE
• Fired till ammunition exhausted; hundreds killed, thousands wounded
• NATION SHOCKED: British rule revealed as brutal, illegitimate
• Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood in protest
• Hunter Commission investigated but Dyer was never meaningfully punished

4. Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–1922)

The Khilafat Issue

• Ottoman Caliph (Khalifa) was the SPIRITUAL HEAD of Sunni Muslims
• After WWI, the British planned to DISMEMBER the Ottoman Empire
• Indian Muslims launched the Khilafat Movement to protect the Caliph
• Leaders: Muhammad Ali, Shaukat Ali

Gandhi's Strategy — Unite Hindus and Muslims

• Gandhi saw the Khilafat issue as an OPPORTUNITY
• Supported the Khilafat Movement — brought Hindus and Muslims TOGETHER
• Combined Khilafat + Non-Cooperation = UNITED MASS MOVEMENT

Non-Cooperation Programme

• BOYCOTT: British schools, colleges, law courts, legislatures, foreign goods
• SURRENDER: titles, honours
• PROMOTE: swadeshi (Indian-made goods), khadi (handspun cloth)
• Non-payment of taxes (in some areas)

Mass Participation

The Movement in Towns and Countryside

• Towns: Boycott of foreign cloth, picketing of liquor shops, bonfires of foreign goods
• Countryside (Awadh): Baba Ramchandra led peasant revolt against talukdars and landlords. Jawaharlal Nehru travelled villages — listened to peasants
• Gudem Hills (Andhra Pradesh): Alluri Sitarama Raju led tribal revolt against forest laws — claimed he had 'special powers'
• Assam Plantations: Workers left plantations thinking Gandhi Raj had come and they were FREE

Chauri Chaura and Withdrawal (February 1922)

• At Chauri Chaura (UP), a peaceful protest turned VIOLENT
• The crowd set fire to a POLICE STATION — 22 policemen killed
• Gandhi was SHOCKED — he believed the movement was not ready for non-violence
• He WITHDREW the Non-Cooperation Movement (February 1922)
• Many leaders (including Nehru, Subhas Bose) were DISAPPOINTED
• Gandhi arrested; sentenced to 6 years

5. Towards Civil Disobedience (1922–1930)

The Lull

• After Non-Cooperation withdrawal, the movement LOST momentum
• Some leaders (C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru) formed the Swaraj Party to enter councils and OPPOSE from within
• Younger leaders (Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose) wanted MORE RADICAL action

Factors Leading to Civil Disobedience

1. Simon Commission (1928): All-BRITISH commission to review India's constitution; NO Indian member. Boycotted with slogan 'Simon Go Back'
2. Lahore Congress (1929): Jawaharlal Nehru as President; declared PURNA SWARAJ (Complete Independence) as the goal
3. January 26, 1930: First 'Independence Day' celebrated — Purna Swaraj pledge taken
4. Great Depression (1929): Global economic crisis HIT Indian peasants and workers

6. The Salt March and Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–1934)

Why Salt?

• Salt was consumed by EVERY INDIAN, rich or poor
• The British MONOPOLISED salt production and imposed a TAX on it
• Gandhi's genius: make SALT the symbol of British oppression
• A demand that EVERY Indian understood

The Dandi March (March 12 – April 6, 1930)

• Gandhi and 78 followers walked 240 MILES from Sabarmati Ashram to DANDI (coastal Gujarat)
• 24 days. Thousands joined along the way.
• April 6, 1930: Gandhi picked up a lump of salt at Dandi — BROKE THE SALT LAW
• A symbolic act that TRIGGERED nationwide civil disobedience

The Civil Disobedience Movement Spreads

British Response

• Arrested 90,000+ people
• Lathi charges, firing on peaceful crowds
• Gandhi arrested (May 1930)
• BUT: the movement CONTINUED

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 5, 1931)

• Gandhi agreed to SUSPEND Civil Disobedience
• Irwin (Viceroy) agreed to RELEASE political prisoners
• Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London (1931)
• The Conference FAILED — no agreement on constitutional reforms
• Gandhi returned disappointed; Civil Disobedience RESUMED

Try it: map the national movement

The board paper asks you to locate and label these places on an outline map of India. Pin the 1920 and 1927 Congress sessions, the three satyagrahas, Jallianwala Bagh and Dandi — and name the ones already marked.

7. Participants in the Movement — Different Visions

The Rich Peasants (UP, Gujarat)

• Who: Patidars (Gujarat), Jats (UP) — producers of commercial crops
• Why: Hit by trade depression, falling prices; wanted REDUCTION IN REVENUE DEMAND
• Problem: When the movement was called off (1931), they felt LET DOWN

The Poor Peasants (All India)

• Who: Landless tenants, small tenants
• Why: Wanted remission of RENT; many wanted NO RENT at all
• Problem: Congress was reluctant to support 'no rent' campaigns — feared alienating rich peasants and landlords who ALSO supported the movement

The Business Class (Industrialists)

• Who: G.D. Birla, Purshottamdas Thakurdas
• Why: Wanted protection against foreign imports; supported swadeshi
• Problem: After Gandhi-Irwin Pact, they were disappointed with Round Table Conference's failure

Industrial Workers (Limited Participation)

• Railway workers, textile mill workers participated
• BUT: Congress did NOT want to alienate industrialists (who funded the movement)
• Workers' participation was LIMITED

Women

• PARTICIPATED IN LARGE NUMBERS — a significant feature of Civil Disobedience
• Picketed liquor shops, made salt, marched in processions
• BUT: Congress leadership did NOT give them decision-making positions
• Gandhi was RELUCTANT about women's full political participation

Dalits ('Untouchables')

• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar demanded: SEPARATE ELECTORATE for Dalits
• Gandhi OPPOSED: a separate electorate would 'DIVIDE HINDU SOCIETY'
• Gandhi went on a FAST UNTO DEATH against separate electorates
• Poona Pact (1932): compromise — RESERVED SEATS for Dalits WITHIN the general electorate (not separate)
• Dalit movement was partly WITHIN the nationalist movement and partly AGAINST its neglect of caste

Muslims

• Participation DECLINED after the withdrawal of Non-Cooperation
• Reasons: Congress's HINDU colouring (cow protection, Hindu religious imagery), failure to address Muslim fears
• Some sections: Alienated from Congress → gravitated toward the Muslim League
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah: 'Two-Nation Theory' gradually took shape

8. The Sense of Collective Belonging

Nationalism is NOT just political movements — it's also CULTURE and IDENTITY. How did Indians come to feel they were ONE NATION?

1. History and Fiction

• Nationalist histories: GLORIFIED India's past — ancient unity, cultural achievements
• Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay: 'Anandamath' (1882); 'Vande Mataram' — became nationalist anthem
• Historical novels about Rajputs, Marathas — created PRIDE in India's past

2. Folklore and Folk Songs

• Rabindranath Tagore collected BALLADS, folk tales, nursery rhymes
• Natesa Sastri: 'Folklore of Southern India' — 4 volumes
• Folk traditions showed INDIA'S UNITY beneath regional diversity
• During Swadeshi movement: tricolour carried everywhere — a visual symbol of the nation

3. Icons and Symbols

• Bharat Mata: Abanindranath Tagore painted Bharat Mata as an ASCETIC — calm, composed, divine. Became a powerful nationalist symbol.
• The Flag: Swadeshi movement popularised the tricolour (red, green, yellow — later saffron, white, green). Carrying the flag MEANT defying the British.

4. Reinterpretation of History

• British histories painted Indians as BACKWARD, divided, incapable of self-rule
• Nationalist historians COUNTERED: India had a GLORIOUS past — achievements in art, architecture, science, literature
• The nationalist narrative UNIFIED Indians around SHARED HERITAGE

9. Key Concepts

Satyagraha

• Gandhi's philosophy of NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE
• 'Satya' (truth) + 'Agraha' (insistence) = 'Truth Force'
• Not passive — ACTIVE non-violent confrontation with injustice
• Required great COURAGE (not cowardice)

Swaraj

• 'Self-rule' — could mean: (a) political independence OR (b) self-discipline, moral governance
• Gandhi emphasised BOTH

Swadeshi

• 'Of one's own country' — using Indian-made goods
• Boycott of foreign (especially British) goods
• Khadi (handspun cloth) became the SYMBOL of swadeshi

Purna Swaraj

• 'Complete Independence' — adopted as Congress's goal at Lahore (1929)

10. Exam Focus

High-Weightage Topics

1. Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) — causes, events, impact
2. Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22) — programme, participation, withdrawal (Chauri Chaura)
3. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–34) — Salt March, spread, participation
4. Limits of the movement: different groups, different aspirations
5. Dalit movement — Ambedkar, separate electorates, Poona Pact
6. Sense of collective belonging — cultural processes
7. Simon Commission (1928) and Lahore Congress (1929)

Comparison with Europe (Chapter 1)

• Europe: nationalism against MONARCHIES and to CREATE nation-states
• India: nationalism against COLONIAL rule and to RECLAIM a nation
• Both: used culture (history, folklore, symbols, art) to build national identity

11. Common Mistakes

1. Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience are the SAME — NO. Non-Cooperation (1920–22) = boycott British institutions. Civil Disobedience (1930–34) = BREAK colonial LAWS (like salt law). Different strategy.

2. The movement was unified everyone was on the same page — NO. Different groups had DIFFERENT aspirations. Peasants wanted land reform. Industrialists wanted protection from imports. Workers wanted better conditions. Dalits wanted caste equality. Muslims wanted safeguards. The 'unity' was FRAGILE.

3. Gandhi withdrew Non-Cooperation because of violence = he was weak — NO. Gandhi's COMMITMENT to non-violence was absolute. For him, VIOLENT means corrupted the END. Whether right or wrong — it was consistent with his principles.

4. Women participated equally — They participated in LARGE NUMBERS but were EXCLUDED from leadership positions. Gandhi was AMBIVALENT about women's political roles.

12. Conclusion

Indian nationalism was a MASS MOVEMENT, not just an elite project:

• GANDHI transformed the freedom struggle into a PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT
• NON-COOPERATION (1920–22): First mass movement — boycotts, swadeshi
• CHOURI CHAURA: Violence led Gandhi to withdraw — controversial but principled
• CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE (1930–34): Salt March — genius symbolism. Breaking colonial laws.
• LIMITS: Dalits, Muslims, workers — not all groups fully included. The nationalist 'unity' had cracks.

For CBSE:

• Chronology and CAUSAL CONNECTIONS: why did one event lead to another?
• PARTICIPATION of different groups — who joined, who didn't, WHY
• The CULTURAL dimension of nationalism (Bharat Mata, folklore, history)
• Gandhi's STRATEGY: Satyagraha as a method, Swaraj as a goal

Indian nationalism — a diverse, contested, but ultimately triumphant struggle for freedom.