History: Nationalism in India

The One Thing

Indian nationalism developed through anti-colonial resistance, political organisation, and mass participation. Gandhian movements united diverse groups through non-violence and non-cooperation, but different communities understood swaraj according to their own social and economic interests.

Chronology

Who and What

• Nationalism: A feeling of unity and shared identity among people who see themselves as part of one nation. In India, it developed through resistance to colonial rule, political organisation, cultural symbols, and shared struggles.
• Mahatma Gandhi: Nationalist leader who returned to India from South Africa in January 1915 and developed mass movements based on non-violence, truth, moral courage, and participation by ordinary people.
• Satyagraha: A Gandhian method of peaceful resistance based on truth, non-violence, and moral courage.
• Swaraj: Self-rule or freedom from colonial control. Different groups understood it in different ways according to their economic and social interests.
• Rowlatt Act: A law passed in March 1919 that allowed the colonial government to arrest and imprison people without trial.
• Jallianwala Bagh massacre: The killing of peaceful protesters at Amritsar on 13 April 1919 by troops under General Dyer during a Baisakhi gathering.
• Khilafat Movement: A movement led by Muslim leaders to defend the position of the Ottoman Caliph. Gandhi supported it as a means of promoting Hindu-Muslim unity.
• Non-Cooperation Movement: The 1920–22 movement encouraging people to withdraw cooperation from colonial institutions and goods. Its programme included surrendering titles, boycotting government schools and colleges, avoiding foreign cloth, and resigning from some government positions.
• Chauri Chaura incident: A violent incident in February 1922 in which protesters set fire to a police station, leading Gandhi to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Simon Commission: A commission appointed in 1927 to suggest constitutional reforms. It was opposed because it had no Indian member.
• Purna Swaraj: Complete independence, adopted as the Congress goal at the Lahore session in December 1929.
• Civil Disobedience Movement: The 1930–34 movement in which people openly broke unjust colonial laws, especially the salt law.
• Salt March: Gandhi’s march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in 1930 to oppose the colonial salt monopoly.
• Dandi March: The approximately 240-mile march led by Gandhi from 12 March to 6 April 1930, ending with the making of salt at Dandi.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact: The agreement signed in March 1931 between Gandhi and the colonial government, followed by Gandhi’s attendance at the Second Round Table Conference in London later that year.
• Poona Pact: The 1932 agreement between B. R. Ambedkar and Congress leaders providing reserved seats for the Depressed Classes in legislatures within a common electorate.
• Collective belonging: The feeling that diverse people share membership in one nation. In India, it was strengthened by common symbols, stories, cultural traditions, and struggles.
• Bharat Mata: The symbolic image of India as a mother figure, used to inspire devotion and national unity.
• Awadh peasant movement: A movement associated with Baba Ramchandra that demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and relief from oppressive landlords.
• Tribal movement in the Gudem Hills: A movement led by Alluri Sitarama Raju against forest restrictions and forced labour.
• Industrial workers: Workers who participated through strikes and boycotts, although Congress often sought to maintain support from industrialists.
• Women in the national movement: Participants in demonstrations, picketing, salt making, and boycotts, although national leadership generally did not grant them equal political roles.

Causes and Consequences

• The First World War caused increased taxes, rising prices, forced recruitment, and economic hardship in India; these conditions strengthened opposition to colonial rule.
• Gandhi’s return to India in January 1915 introduced satyagraha as a method of political struggle. The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, the Ahmedabad mill strike of 1918, and the Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 applied this method to the concerns of cultivators, workers, and peasants.
• The Rowlatt Act, passed in March 1919, permitted imprisonment without trial. Its repression, followed by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919, intensified anti-colonial resistance.
• Gandhi supported the Khilafat Movement to promote Hindu-Muslim unity. Together with the Non-Cooperation Movement, it encouraged people to surrender titles, boycott government schools and colleges, avoid foreign cloth, and resign from some government positions.
• The Chauri Chaura incident in February 1922 involved protesters setting fire to a police station. Because the violence conflicted with Gandhian non-violence, Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Opposition to the Simon Commission arose because it had no Indian member. When it arrived in India in 1928, protesters used the slogan “Simon Go Back”.
• At the Lahore Congress session in December 1929, under Jawaharlal Nehru’s presidency, Congress adopted Purna Swaraj. The observance of 26 January 1930 as Independence Day expressed this demand before 15 August became Independence Day after 1947.
• The Salt March and Dandi March began the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930. Gandhi’s approximately 240-mile journey from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, from 12 March to 6 April 1930, culminated in the making of salt and challenged the colonial salt monopoly.
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed in March 1931, and Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference in London later that year. The Civil Disobedience Movement was relaunched in 1932 but gradually lost force by 1934.
• Different groups participated in the national movement but connected freedom with different demands. The Awadh peasant movement sought reduced revenue, the abolition of begar, and relief from oppressive landlords; the Gudem Hills tribal movement opposed forest restrictions and forced labour; industrial workers used strikes and boycotts; and women took part in demonstrations, picketing, salt making, and boycotts.
• The Poona Pact of 1932 provided reserved seats for the Depressed Classes within a common electorate. It reflected continuing debates about caste representation within the wider nationalist movement.
• Nationalist ideas spread through Bharat Mata images, reinterpretations of history, patriotic songs, folklore, flags, and public celebrations. These encouraged collective belonging, but national unity did not remove differences of class, caste, religion, region, or gender.
• The national movement was powerful but incomplete. Diverse people united against colonial rule, yet they did not always share the same understanding of swaraj or the same political interests.

What Gets Asked

• Explain how the First World War, the Rowlatt Act, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre contributed to the growth of Indian nationalism.
• Compare the aims, methods, and consequences of the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Assess how Gandhi used satyagraha, non-violence, and mass participation in the Champaran Satyagraha, Ahmedabad mill strike, Kheda Satyagraha, Salt March, and Dandi March.
• Explain why different groups—including peasants, tribals, workers, business groups, women, and religious communities—participated in the national movement but understood swaraj differently.
• Evaluate the importance of the Khilafat Movement, the Simon Commission protests, Purna Swaraj, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, and the Poona Pact in the development of nationalism.
• Explain how Bharat Mata, folklore, patriotic songs, flags, public celebrations, and reinterpretations of history created collective belonging, while continuing differences of class, caste, religion, region, and gender limited national unity.