Chapter 3
Nationalism in India
Q:1. Define Nationalism.
Ans:1. It is a sense of collective belonging and feeling of oneness among the people. It is based on common interests and aspirations, common historical heritage, and culture and sometimes even a common language. There is political, economic, social, spiritual and emotional bonding. (The growth of Indian nationalism began in the 19th century).
Q:2(A) What are two features of modern nationalism in Europe?
Ans:2. 1. Modern Nationalism in Europe came to be associated with the formation of nation-states with a definite boundary. It also meant a change in people’s understanding of who they were and what defined their identity and sense of belonging.
2. New symbols and icons, new songs and ideas forge new links and redefined the boundaries of communities, It also includes uniformity of law, social and economic system with common aspirations and definite.
Q:2(B) Why was the growth of nationalism in colonies linked to anti-colonial movements?
Ans:2. i. People began to discover their unity in the process of their struggle with colonialism.
ii. The sense of being oppressed under colonial rule provided a shared bond that tied many groups together. E.g. in India, nationalism grew under conditions created by British rule.
iii. However each class and group felt the effects of colonialism differently. They not only had varied experiences and aspirations but also different notions of freedom.
iv. Anti-imperialist movements promoted freedom struggles. Nationalists tried to forge national unity against colonialism. E.g. Indian National Congress
v. But the unity did not emerge without conflict.
Q:3. What was the impact of 1st World War on India?
Ans:3. i. It led to huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increase in taxes. Custom duties were increased and income tax was introduced.
ii. During the war years prices increased and doubled between 1913 and 1918. This led to extreme hardship for the common people.
iii. Villagers were called upon to supply soldiers and forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger.
iv. In 1918-19 and 1920-21 crops failed in many parts of India. This resulted in acute shortage of food.
v. This was accompanied by an influenza epidemic. According to census of 1921, 12 to 13 million people perished as a result of famines and epidemic.
Q:4. What were the contributions of Indians to the 1st World War?
Ans:4. i. India financed the British defence expenditure by way of paying higher taxes. Custom duties were increased and income tax was introduced during the 1st World War.
ii. India supplied soldiers to British during First World War. Mass recruitment was done in rural areas.
Q:5. Explain forced recruitment.
Ans:5. A process by which the colonial state forced people to join the army.
Q:6. What was the idea of Satyagraha?
Ans:6. i. Satyagraha was based on truth and non-violence. It was chief component of Gandhiji’s ideology. He first used this novel method of mass agitation and action successfully in Africa against the racist policies of the government.
ii. Ahimsa or non-violence was an inseparable component of Satyagraha. The Satyagrahi was not to seek vengeance and aggression but remain peaceful. He would hate the evil and unjust practices but not develop hatred or ill will against the evil doer under any circumstances as these lead to violence.
iii. Truth: Satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for the truth. He referred to it as ‘Soul force or true force’ He explained that if the cause was true and if the struggle was against injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight oppression. Truth would ultimately triumph and all goals would be achieved.
iv. The idea was to arouse the conscience of the oppressor about truth and justness with persuasion and not with the force of violence.
v. Satyagraha could assume various forms ~ fasting, non-violent picketing, non-cooperation and even civil disobedience.
Q:7. Briefly explain the 4 satyagraha movements by Gandhiji upto 1918.
Ans 7 (i) fight against racist regime of South Africa, Gandhiji fought against the oppression committed by white rulers there against Indian black population. He fought the racist regime with a novel method of peaceful mass agitation called satyagraha.
(ii) Champaran satyagraha: In 1916, Gandhiji went to Champaran in Bihar to inspirer the peasants against the oppressive system of indigo planters .The government was forced to inquire the injustices committed by indigo planters and to put end to them.
(iii) Kheda (Gujarat): In 1917, Gandhiji organized a satyagraha to support the peasants of Kheda district of Gujarat. They could not pay the revenue due to crop failure and plague epidemic and were demanding that revenue collection to be relaxed.
(iv) Ahmedabad: In 1918, Gandhiji went to Ahmedabad to organize a satyagraha to support the cotton mill workers. They were demanding a rise in their wages.
Q:8 What was the Rowlatt Act? How was Rowlatt satyagraha organized and what were the British reactions?
Rowlatt Act- It gave the government enormous power to repress political activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for 2 years.
Rowlatt Satyagraha-(i) Rowlatt satyagraha was the first nationwide satyagraha launched by Gandhiji. It was launched in1919 to oppose the unjust Rowlatt Act passed by the government despite the united opposition of Indian members.
(ii) Gandhiji started non-violent civil disobedience with a hartal on 6th April 1919.
(iii) Rallies were organized in various cities. Workers went on strike in railway workshops and shops were closed down.
British reaction- (i) Alarmed by the popular upsurge and scared that lines of communication such as railways and telegraph may be disrupted, British government decided to clamp on nationalists.
(ii) Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar and Gandhiji was barred from entering Delhi.
(iii) On 10th April, the police fired on a peaceful procession in Amritsar.
(iv) This provoked a widespread attack on banks, post offices and railway stations.
(v) Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
Q 9 Write a short note on Jallianwalla Bagh incident.
Ans 9 (i) On 13th April 1919, the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place.
(ii) On that day a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh.
(iii) Some came to protest against the government’s new repressive measures. Others had come to attend the annual Baisakhi fair.
(iv) Being from outside the city, many villagers were unaware of the martial law that had been imposed.
(v) Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds.
(vi) His object, as he declared later, was to create a moral effect; to create in the minds of satyagrahis a feeling of terror and awe.
Q:10. What was the impact of the Jallianwalla Bagh incident on nationalist movement? How did the British repress people?
Ans:10. i. After the incident, crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns.
ii. There were strikes, clashed with the police and attack on government buildings.
iii. Government responded with brutal repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorize people.
iv. Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, people were flogged and villages were bombed.
v. Seeing wide spread violence, Gandhiji called off the satyagraha.
Q:11. How was the Khilafat Movement Organized in India?
Ans.11. i. A Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March, 1919, to defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers.
ii. Aim: a. To show due respect to the Capital (Khalifa).
b. To undo the injustices done to Turkey.
iii. A young generation of Muslim leaders like the Ali brothers- Mohd. Ali and Shaukat Ali began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi the possibility of united mass action on the issue.
iv. Gandhiji saw this as a good opportunity to promote Hindu-Muslim unity and to bring more Muslims into a unified National movement and give it a broader base.
v. At the 1920, Calcutta Session of Congress, he convinced other leaders to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat and Swaraj and the programme was ultimately adopted at the 1920 Nagpur session. It began in 1921.
vi. After the decline of the movement in 1922, a large section of Muslims fell alienated from the Congress. The Khilafat Movement failed to influence the British government policy on Turkey.
Q:12. What were the aims of non-cooperation movement?
Ans:12. i. To redress the wrongs done to the people of Punjab and Turkey.
ii. The attainment of Swaraj by the people of India by all legitimate and peaceful means.
Q:13. What was Gandhiji’s idea of non-cooperation in Hind Swaraj? How could it become a movement?
Ans:13. Gandhiji explained that British rule had been established in India with the cooperation of Indians and it had survived only because of this cooperation but if Indians refused to cooperate with British rule, it would collapse within one year and Swaraj would be achieved.
Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages.
It should begin with the surrender of Government titles, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods.
Then, in case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.
Through the summer of 1920 Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively, mobilizing popular support for the movement.
Q:14. What were the 5 achievements of non-cooperation movement in towns?
Ans:14. i. Thousands of students and teachers left government controlled educational institutions.
ii. Lawyers gave up legal practice in courts.
iii. Boycott of council elections in most provinces except Madras.
iv. Picketing of liquor shops.
v. Boycott and bonfire of foreign goods.
vi. Decline in import of foreign goods.
vii. Decline in trade and finance of foreign goods due to boycott by many Indian merchants and traders.
viii. Increase in production of Indian textile mills and handloom (Khadi) as the boycott movement spread, people began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones.
Q:15. Why did non-cooperation movement gradually slowdown in towns?
Ans:15. i. In some places like Madras, the non-Brahmin Justice Party favoured council entry in order to gain power which the Brahmins had denied to them.
ii. Khadi was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and unaffordable by many. It was not easily available everywhere.
iii. Indian educational institutions were slow to come up. So boycott of British institutions was only partially successful.
iv. Lawyers joined back to work in courts.
Q:16. What were the 3 problems of the peasants of Awadh? What were their demands?
Ans:16. PROBLEMS –
Both Ramachandra and a sanyasi leader led the Awadh peasants movement against exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other cesses charged by Talukdars.
They protested against ‘Begar’, ie forced labour performed by villagers for the landlords 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 –
They demanded reduction of land revenues.
They demanded abolition of Begar.
They demanded more security of tenure and rights over leased lands from which they were frequently evicted.
They also demanded social boycott of oppressive landlords. Eg. Nai-Dhobi bandhs were organized to deprive landlords of these services.
Q:17. Critically examine how Congress tried to integrate the Awadh peasent movement with the National Movement.
Ans:17. i. Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru toured Awadh to gather information about peasant grievances and formed the Oudh Kisan Sabha.
ii. Subsequently 300 branches came up in the region as the non-cooperation movement made efforts to integrate peasant struggle.
iii. However, peasant movements did not actually develop according to the Congress’ programme due to violent activities eg looting, attacks on houses of Talukdars and merchants.
iv. The name of Mahatma Gandhi was being used (invoked) to sanction all activities and aspirations.
v. Eg. Redistribution of land to the poor was declared by some local leaders themselves.
Q:18. Name 2 leaders of Awadh Peasant Movement.
Ans:18. Baba Ramchandra and Jawaharlal Nehru
Q:19. A) Who led the tribal peasant movement in Andhra Pradesh and why?
B) How did they interpret the message of Gandhi and Swaraj?
Ans:19. A) i. Alluri Sitaram Raju led the tribal peasant movement in Andhra Pradesh.
ii. In many forest regions, eg Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, the livelihood and traditional rights of tribals were being denied. The enclosure of forests by the British prevented the tribals from grazing cattle and collecting firewood.
iii. Hill tribals were required to perform beggar or forced labour for road building.
iv. They were poor, illiterate and backward.
B) i. The tribals acknowledged the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi and were inspired by the non-cooperation movement. Eg. Wearing Khadi and giving up drinking.
ii. They, however, interpreted the message of Swaraj differently through violence under the leadership of Alluri Sitaram Raju. They believed that India could be liberated only by the use of force and not by non-violence.
iii. They even organized a militant guerrilla movement and attacked police stations and attempted to kill British officials. This could not be approved by the Congress.
iv. Tribals raised the slogan demanding ‘Swatantra Bharat’ and emotionally relating to an all Indian agitation.
v. When they linked their movement to that of the Congress, they were identifying with a movement beyond the limits of their locality. They imagined that swaraj would be a time when all suffering and all troubles would end.
Q:20. How did plantation workers understand Mahatma Gandhi’s notion of Swaraj?
Ans.20. 1. For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in & out of the confined space in which they were enclosed , and it meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.
2.Under the Inland immigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission.
3. When they heard of the Non-Cooperative movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities , left the plantations and headed home.
4. They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages. They however, never reached their destination. Stranded on the way by a railway and streamer strike, they were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.
Q.21 Why was the Non-Cooperation movement called off?
Ans.21. Gandhiji felt that non-cooperation movement was becoming violent in many places. 22 policemen had been burnt alive when a violent bomb had set fire to a police station at Chauri Chaura in Feb 1922. Gandhiji felt that satyagrahis were not prepared for a non- violent mass struggle and needed to be properly trained.
Q 22 Name the 2 leaders who formed the Swaraj party?
Ans:22. C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru.
Q.23 Name 2 leaders who wanted more radical mass agitation.
Ans:23. Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose.
Q.24 Why did the Simon Commission come to India?
Ans.24 1. Against the background of world economic depression, the new Tory government in Britain constituted a statutory commission under Sir John Simon.
2. Set up in response to the nationalist movement, the commission was to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India an suggest changes.
Q.25. Why did Congress oppose the Simon Commission?
Ans.25. 1. The Simon Commission did not have any Indian members.
2. It held no hope for Swaraj.
Q:26. What is the significance of the Lahore Session of Congress held in 1929?
Ans.26. 1. In the Lahore Session of congress held in 1929, Congress under the President ship of Jawaharlal Nehru formalized the demand of Poorna Swaraj or full independence for India.
2. It was declared that 26 January 1930 would be celebrated as the Independence Day.
3. To launch a mass civil disobedience movement.
Q.27. What was the significance of Gandhiji’s salt satyagraha?
Ans.27. 1. Gandhihi’s salt march began from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on 12 march 1930. He reached Dardi, a Gujrati coastal town on 6 April 1930 and broke the salt law by manufacturing the salt from sea water.
2. Salt Satyagraha was Gandhiji’s way of relating an abstract idea of freedom to more concert issues of everyday life.
3. He found in salt a more powerful symbol that could unite the nation as salt was consumed by the rich and the poor and all classes of Indian society alike. It was also an essential food item.
4. Salt Satyagraha against the salt tax and government monopoly over it’s production could reveal the most oppressive fact of the British government. It helped to mobilise people in a united campaign.
5. Breaking of the salt law symbolized the non-violent defiance of unjust British laws by the people and became a widespread movement.
Q.28. Give features of Civil Disobedience Movement.
Ans.28. 1. The Congress decided to launch a civil disobedience movement under the leadership of Gandhiji at the 1929 Lahore session of congress to achieve the goal of Purna Swaraj and it involved the participation of masses.
2. Dandi March (12 march1930): the movement began with the salt Satyagraha by Gandhiji
from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi. The aim was to break the unjust salt laws non-violently.
3. In Peshawar, Indian soldiers refused to open fire on tribal demonstrators. Martial law was declared in Sholapur to suppress the masses.
4. Non-violent methods: Refusal to pay taxes, hartals, boycott and bonfire of foreign goods, picketing of shops selling liquor and foreign goods, etc.
5. The Nationalist Movement assumed a wider character as it adopted a racial comprehensive programme for the social and economic reconstructions of India after Independence was attained. This was reflected in the 1931 Karachi Session.
6. Government Reaction- Arrest of more than a lakh satyagrahis, ban on 67 newspapers, police firings. The movement was suspended right after the Gandhi-Irwin pact but revived after the 2nd Round Table Conference.
7. It was finally called off in 1934.
Q:29. Why did Gandhiji call off the Civil Disobedience Movement?
OR
Why was the Civil Disobedience Movement suspended?
Ans:29. 1. Violence – Worried by the developments of civil disobedience movement the colonial government began arresting the Congress leaders one by one. This led to violent clashes. When Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Mahatma Gandhi were arrested, people demonstrated on streets, attacked all structures that symbolized British rule.
2. Burtal Repression – 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.
3. Gandhi-Irwin Pact – By this, Gandhiji consented to participate in a Round Table Conference if London and the government agreed to release the political prisoners.
Q 30 How did the rich peasantry react to civil disobedience movement?
A 30 1. In the countryside , rich peasant communities like the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar pradesh were active in the movement. Being producers of commercial crops, they were very hard hit by the trade depression and falling prices.
2. As their cash income disappeared, they found it impossible to pay the governments revenue demand. And the refusal of the government to reduce the revenue demand led to widespread resentment.
3. These rich peasants became enthusiastic supporters of the Civil disobedience movement, organizing their communities , and at times forcing reluctant members to participate in the boycott programmes.
4. For them the fight for swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.
5. But 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.
Q 31. How did the business classes relate to the civil disobedience movement?
A.31 1. During the 1st world war, Indian industrialists had made huge profits and become powerful. Keen on expanding their business, they now reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities.
2. They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a rupee sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
3. To organise business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial and commercial congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927.
4. Led by industrialists like Purshottam das, Thakurdas and GD Birla , the industrialists attacked colonial attacked colonial control over the Indian economy and supported the Civil Disobedience movement when it was first launched.
5. They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods. Most businessmen came to see Swaraj as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longer exist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints.
6. But after the failure of the Round table Conference, business groups were no longer uniformly enthusiastic. They were apprehensive of the spread of militant activities and worried about prolonged disruption of business as well as of the growing influence of socialism amongst the younger members of the congress.
Q 32 What was the role of women in civil disobedience movement.
A32 1. There was large scale participation of women in the civil disobedience movement. They participated in the salt satyagraha, rallies and protest marches, picketing of shops selling liquor and foreign goods etc.
2. Many women went to jail. Most women belonged to high caste urban families or to rich peasant households.
3. Moved by Gandhiji’s call, they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women. It helped to create an awareness and experience of self-worth, confidence and pride in women.
4 however, this increased public role did not bring any radical change in their position because the attitude of the people towards women remained unchanged. They were still considered fit only domestic responsibilities.
5. It also took some time for women to hold positions of authority within the Congress organization as congress was keen only on their symbolic presence.
Q.33 Who were the Dalit?
A.33 Dalit were a social group of untouchables. From around 1930s they began to call themselves dalit, being oppressed by upper castes and were economic and socially backward and lacked political empowerment.
Q.34 Why did the political leaders differ sharply over the question of separate electorates?
A.34 1. Leaders of the Muslim League like Muhammad Ali Jinnah was willing to give up the demand for separate electorates if Muslims were assured reserved seats in the Central Assembly and representation in proportion to population in the Muslim dominated provinces (Bengal & Punjab). In 1930, Mohd Iqbal reiterated the importance of separate electorates for Muslims as a safeguard for their minority political interests.
2. Leader of depressed classes like BR Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for Dalits to solve the problem of social disabilities through political empowerment. The British agreed and granted the Communal; Award but Ambedkar had to change his stand and accept reserved seats to be elected by general electorate.
3. Gandhiji strongly opposed the system of separate electorates for Dalits as it would slow down the process of integration into society. In Poona Pact of 1932, his position was accepted by Ambedkar. Congress had opposed the system since 1909 as it hampered the unity of National Movement.
Q.35 Why did some Muslim political organisations gave a lukewarm response to the Civil disobedience Movement?
A.35 1. After the calling off of the Non-Cooperation movement in 1932 a large section of the Muslims felt alienated. The Muslim league adopted separatist tendencies.
2 Many Muslim leaders were concerned about the status of Muslims as a minority. They feared that their identity and culture might be suppressed under the domination of a Hindu majority.
3. They grew suspicious of the congress in the mid-20s as the congress openly and visibly associated with the Hindu religious Nationalist groups, e.g., Hindu Mahasabha, which displayed lack of cooperation.
4. Differences between Congress and Muslim League arose over representation in legislatures. All effects at renegotiating alliances and forging unity to resolve issues failed.
5. When at the 1928 All Parties Conference MR Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed efforts to compromise, all hope for negotiations disappeared. Therefore, there was a lukewarm response to the Civil Disobedience movement by some Muslim political organisations.
Q.36. Briefly write about any 5 cultural processes through which Nationalism captured people’s imagination.
How did paintings and songs promote nationalism?
A.36. 1 Identification of the Indian Nation with figures and images. Devotion to the mother figure of Bharat Mata which was reflected as an ascetic, calm, composed, divine and spiritual figure was an evidence of one’s Nationalism. It was circulated in popular prints in different forms. Paintings depicting the various symbols or ideas of sacrifice, even of popular national leaders, gave the image of nationalism.
How did folklore promote nationalism in India?
2. Revival of Indian folk tradition or folklore and old tales, legends, songs, nursery rhymes, ballads, myths etc, gave a true picture of culture that had been corrupted and destroyed by outside forces. It helped to discover India’s identity and glorify India’s past. Nationalistic literature and patriotic songs like “Vande Mataram” developed patriotic feelings. They were a manifestation of the peoples real thoughts and characteristics.
3. How did flags and other symbols promote nationalism in India?
Use of icons and symbols by nationalist leaders were meant to unite the people, example the red, green, yellow tricolour flag of the Bengal Swadeshi Movement presented the unity of all 8 provinces through 8 lotuses. The crescent moon represented Hindus and Muslims. A later tricolour with Gandhiji’s spinning wheel stood for self-help. Flags became the symbol of defiance of British rule.
4. How did re-interpretation of History promote Nationalism in India?
Development of Nationalism through representation of Indian History on a Nationalistic basis; the great achievements like art, architecture, science, maths, law, philosophy, craft, trade, etc., were highlighted. This not only represented the decline under colonialism but also tried to restore a sense of self-pride. It encouraged people to struggle to improve the conditions under British rule.
5. United struggle and Nationalism
The sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united common struggles and organised movements against the colonial government, example various groups and classes of Indians were brought together by Congress movements especially Gandhiji’s leadership. The Nationalist forged a national unity despite differences and conflicts between groups. Therefore what was emerging was a Nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.
