Gandhi, the Freedom Struggle and the Making of Gujarat — GPSC Class 1-2

Weightage: GS Paper I names the freedom struggle in Gujarat, with Bardoli and Dandi, and the Mahagujarat movement. The national frame comes from the aliased UPSC CSE modern history chapters. This chapter supplies the Gujarat events with dates and the state's formation.

1. The two Gujarats before 1947

Before independence, the Gujarati-speaking region was divided. Mainland Gujarat was largely under direct British rule within the Bombay Presidency. Kathiawar (Saurashtra), Kutch and Baroda were ruled by hundreds of princely states. Remember this split, because it explains the story of integration after 1947.

2. Baroda under the Gaekwads

Sayajirao Gaekwad III (ruled 1875 to 1939) is the best-known progressive prince. He introduced compulsory primary education in Baroda in 1906, supported libraries, and backed social reform. He also sponsored the education of B. R. Ambedkar.

3. Gandhi in Gujarat

Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and set up the Satyagraha Ashram at Kochrab and, in 1917, the Sabarmati Ashram on the river at Ahmedabad. From there he led his first Indian campaigns.

• Champaran (1917) was in Bihar, but the method was tested there.
• The Ahmedabad mill strike (1918): Gandhi's first fast in India, in support of textile workers. It led to the Textile Labour Association (1920), a union built on arbitration.
• Kheda Satyagraha (1918): peasants asked for remission of revenue after a failed crop, and Vallabhbhai Patel emerged as a leader.

4. Non-cooperation and the Vidyapith

In 1920, Gandhi founded Gujarat Vidyapith, a national university that rejected government grants. It trained a generation of workers and gave Gujarati a role in higher education.

5. Bardoli, 1928

In 1928 the peasants of Bardoli refused to pay an enhanced land revenue. Vallabhbhai Patel led the campaign, and its success is the reason he was given the title Sardar. The government withdrew the increase after an inquiry.

6. Dandi, 1930

On 12 March 1930, Gandhi and 78 companions left Sabarmati Ashram for Dandi on the coast, about 240 miles away. On 6 April 1930, he broke the salt law, which began the Civil Disobedience Movement. The march fits the three-step answer: the salt tax, a march of 24 days and a mass movement.

7. Quit India and the later years

Gujarat took part in the Quit India movement of 1942. Gandhi was arrested, and he spent years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. Sardar Patel and others went to prison.

8. Integrating the princely states

After 1947, Sardar Patel, as Home and States Minister, led the integration of more than 500 princely states, with V. P. Menon.

• Junagadh: its Nawab acceded to Pakistan, the people rebelled, and India took over; a plebiscite in February 1948 favoured India.
• Saurashtra states formed the United State of Saurashtra in 1948.
• Kutch became a separate state, and later a part of Gujarat.

9. The Mahagujarat movement

Under the States Reorganisation of 1956, Gujarati areas were put into an enlarged bilingual Bombay State, with Marathi areas. This triggered the Mahagujarat movement, led by Indulal Yagnik through the Mahagujarat Janata Parishad, with student protests and firing in Ahmedabad.

Gujarat was created on 1 May 1960 under the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960, with Ahmedabad as the first capital. The capital moved to Gandhinagar around 1970, and the city was named after Gandhi.

10. After 1960

Two milestones are often asked: the Navnirman movement of 1973 to 1974, a student-led protest against corruption and rising prices that led to the dissolution of the state government, and the Statue of Unity (2018), a 182-metre statue of Sardar Patel on the Narmada.

Common traps GPSC sets here

• Placing Dandi in Saurashtra. It is in South Gujarat, in Navsari district.
• Giving the Sardar title to the Kheda campaign. It followed Bardoli, 1928.
• Mixing the date of Dandi and Quit India. 1930 and 1942.
• Giving 1 May 1956 as Gujarat's formation. It was 1960.
• Placing Champaran in Gujarat. It is in Bihar.

Memory aids

• "1917 Sabarmati, 1918 Kheda and mill strike, 1928 Bardoli, 1930 Dandi": the chain.
• "1956 merged, 1960 made": Bombay State and Gujarat.
• "78 walkers, 24 days, 240 miles": Dandi.

Summary

Gujarat was divided between British districts and princely states. Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram led to the Ahmedabad strike, Kheda, Bardoli and Dandi, and Sardar Patel integrated the princely states.

The Mahagujarat movement ended the bilingual Bombay State, and Gujarat was formed on 1 May 1960.

Exam protocol

• Keep the chain of years in order.
• Say which place is in Gujarat and which is not.
• Link the movement to the state's formation.