Nationalism in India and the Civil Disobedience Movement

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key historical terms, leaders, events, and organisations surrounding the Civil Disobedience Movement and Indian Independence struggle.

Swaraj Party

A political party formed within the Congress by C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru to argue for a return to council politics created under the Government of India Act of 1919.

Simon Commission

A Statutory Commission set up by the British Tory government under Sir John Simon to review the Indian constitutional system; it was boycotted with the slogan 'Go back Simon' because it contained no Indian members.

Lala Lajpat Rai

A nationalist leader who was assaulted by British police during a peaceful demonstration against the Simon Commission and later succumbed to his injuries.

Purna Swaraj

The official demand for full independence formalised by the Congress under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru at the Lahore Congress in December 1929.

Independence Day Pledge (26 January 1930)

A pledge adopted by the Congress declaring 26 January 1930 as Independence Day, asserting the inalienable right of the Indian people to freedom and to alter or abolish an oppressive government.

Salt March (Dandi March)

A 240-mile march led by Mahatma Gandhi with 78 trusted volunteers from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi from March to April 1930 to violate the salt law by manufacturing salt from sea water.

Abdul Ghaffar Khan

A devout disciple of Mahatma Gandhi whose arrest in April 1930 led to massive demonstrations and confrontation with armed police in Peshawar.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact

A pact signed on 5 March 1931 between Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin, under which Gandhi agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference and the British government agreed to release political prisoners.

Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA)

A revolutionary organisation founded in 1928 at Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi by Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das, Ajoy Ghosh, and others to target symbols of British power.

Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta

HSRA revolutionaries who threw a bomb into the Legislative Assembly in April 1929 to protest colonial oppression and call for revolution.

Patidars of Gujarat and Jats of Uttar Pradesh

Rich peasant communities producing commercial crops who enthusiastically joined the Civil Disobedience Movement to demand reductions in high land revenue demands.

Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress

An organisation formed in 1920 by Indian merchants and industrialists to coordinate business interests and challenge British economic constraints.

Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI)

An organisation formed in 1927 led by Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla to oppose colonial control over the Indian economy.

Baba Ramchandra

A leader who organized distressed peasants in Uttar Pradesh during 1918–19.

Alluri Sitarama Raju

A tribal leader whose arrest in May 1924 brought an end to a two-year armed tribal struggle.

Depressed Classes Association

An organisation established by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in 1930 to represent the interests of untouchables/Dalits.

Sanatanis

Conservative high-caste Hindus whom the Congress feared alienating, leading to historical delays in addressing untouchability.