nationalism in india

how the idea of nationalism grew in india

in india, the growth of modern nationalism is connected to the anti-colonial movement. people began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle with colonialism. the congress, under the leadership of gandh, tried to unite everybody within one movement

affects of the first world war in india

the first world war (1914) created a new economic and political situation in india. india faced various problems such as;

rise in defence expenditure

custom duties were raised and income tax was introduced

prices of food grains doubled between 1913 and 1918

villagers were forcefully enlisted into armies

after the war, there was heavy losses, food shortages and influenza epidemic

satyagraha

gandhi’s method of movement based on truth and non-violence was known as satyagraha. satyagraha emphasised the power of truth. as per gandhi, sathyagrahis could win a battle without being aggressive

first 3 movements led by gandhi to spread the idea of sathyagraha

in 1917, gandhi travelled to champaran in bihar to help peasants fight against the oppressive system

in 1917, gandhi started a sathyagraha movement to support the peasants of kheda in gujarat who were suffering from shortage of food due to crop failure and plague epidemic

in 1918, gandhi went to ahmedabad to organise a movement amongst cotton mill workers

the rowlatt act

the rowlatt act was passed by the imperial legislative council in 1919 but indians opposed the act

according to the act, prisoners could be detained in prison for two years without any trial

response to the rowlatt act

indians opposed this act

gandhi launched a nation wide satyagraha with a hartal

rallies were organised, workers went on strike, shops were closed down

several local leaders ended up getting arrested. gandhi was barred from entering delhi

the police in amritsar opened fire on peaceful procession

martial law was imposed in amritsar and the command of the area was given to general dyer

jallianwala bagh massacre

on 13th april 1919, a large crowd gathered in the jalianwala bagh of amritsar

some gathered to protest against the governments repression while the others came to attend the anual baisakhi fair. many were unaware of the martial law that was imposed

general dyer blocked the exits of the ground and opened fire on the crowd. hundreds were killed in this incident

response to the jalianwala bagh incident

as the news of the massacre spread, strikes, clashes with the police and attacks on government buildings started

the government responded with brute force by humiliating the people. satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets and salute to the sahibis. rabindranath tagore returned his title, knighthood, during this incident

seeing that the satyagraha movement was spreading violence, gandhi called it off

khilafat movement

the first world war had ended with the defeat of the ottoman empire. after the war, there were rumours that a peace treaty was gonna be imposed on the khalifa of the ottoman empire

gandhi believed that by this khilafat issue he could unite the hindis and muslims and launch a nationwide movement

he met with muslim leaders muhammad ali and shaukat ali and formed a khilafat committee in bombay

the congress passed the resolution in its calcutta session in september 1920 to start a non-cooperation movement in support for khilafat and swaraj

non-cooperation movement according to gandhi’s book hind swaraj

according to gandhi in his famous book hind swaraj (1909), the british rule was established in india due to the cooperation of indians. if indians refused to cooperate, british rule would collapse within an year and swaraj would come. his strategy for the non-cooperation movement was as follows;

the movement would begin with the surrender of titles and honours

the movement would boycott civil services, army, police, schools etc.

the british goods would be replaced with domestic goods, or swadeshi, to promote the local industries

in case of government suppression, civil disobedience movement would be launched

non-cooperation khilafat movement in towns

in january 1921, the movement started. it started in the towns with middle-class participation

students and teachers left government schools and lawyers left courts

foreign goods were boycotted and as a result indian production increased

liquor shops were picketed

council elections were boycotted in most provinces except madras

this movement eventually died down as the khadi clothing was too expensive for the poor people, and no alternate institutions were set up so the teachers and students had to go back to school and lawyers went back to courts

peasant movement in awadh

in awadh, the peasant movement developed under the leadership of baba ramachandra

this peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar and boycott of oppressive landlords

in many places, nai-dhobi bandhs were organised by panchayats to deny services to landlords

in october 1920, the oudh kisan sabha, led by jawaharlal nehru and baba ram chandra was set up. many branches spread throughout the region

as the peasant movement spread, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and grain hoards were taken over

tribal movement in andhra pradesh

tribal peasants interpreted the message of gandhi and swaraj

in the gudem hills of AP, a militant guerrilla movement spread under the leadership of alluri sitaram raju

raju convinced people to wear khadi and give up drinking

the gudem rebels attacked police stations, killed british officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj

raju was eventually captured and executed in 1924 and became a folk hero

swaraj in the plantations

according to the inland emigration act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission

when the news of the non-cooperation movement spread to the plantation, they left their jobs and headed home

the plantation workers believed that in gandhi’s rule, everyone would be given land in their own village. however, they were caught by the police and brutally beaten up

why the non-cooperation movement was called off

in 1922, gandhi called off the non-cooperation movement as it was turning violent in many places and satyagrahis had to be properly trained before they were ready for mass struggles

the chauri chaura incident was the main reason behind the withdrawal. it occured in the gorakhpur district of united province

views of swaraj within the congress

leaders within the congress were tired of mass struggles and wanted to participate in the elections set up by the government of india act of 1919. they felt that it was important to oppose british policies within the councils

CR das and motilal nehru formed the swaraj party to argue for a return to council politics while some younger leaders like jawaharlal nehru and subhas chandra bose argued for more mass struggles for full independence

in this situation of debate, two factors shaped indian politics. they were;

= effect of the worldwide economic depression

= fall of agricultural prices

simon commission

simon commission was constituted under john simon. the main objective of the simon commission was to review the functioning of the constitutional system in india

indian leaders opposed the commission as there were no indians in it

when the commission arrived in india, it was greeted with the slogan “simon go back”

all parties including congress and muslim league participated in the demonstrations

demand for purna swaraj

in 1929, the viceroy lord irwin announced an uncertain offer of dominion status for india and a round table conference to discuss a future constitution

under the presidency of jawaharlal nehru, the lahore congress formalised the demand of purna swaraj for india

it was declared that 26th january 1930 would be celebrated as the independence day

what started the civil disobedience movement and the salt march

on 31st january 1930, mahatma gandhi sent a letter to viceroy irwin with eleven demands, one of those being to abolish the salt tax

irwin was not ready to talk upon the demands and hence gandhi launched the movement

the civil disobedience movement

after irwin refused to listen to gandhi’s demands, he launched the civil disobedience movement. it started off with the salt march, which was from sabarmati ashram to dandi. gandhi broke the salt law by boiling seawater and manufacturing salt. as the movement spread;

foreign clothes were boycotted

peasants refused to pay taxes

village officials resigned

forest people violated forest laws

during the movement, peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten and 100k people were arrested. when abdul gaffar khan got arrested, many violent incidents took place in peshawar

due to this, gandhi called off the movement and signed a pact with irwin in 1931 called the gandhi-irwin pact

relaunching of the civil disobedience movement

in december 1931, gandhi went to london for the second round table conference but he returned disappointed as the british refused to release the prisoners

when gandhi came back to india, he saw that the congress had been declared ilegal and abdul ghaffar khan and jawaharlal nehru were imprisoned

thus, he relaunched the civil disobedience movement. it was continued for a year and lost its momentum

hindustan socialists republican army (HSRA)

many nationalists did not believe in non-violent method for achieving swaraj. in 1928, nationalists like bhagat singh, jatin das and ajoy ghosh founded the HSRA at a meeting in ferozshah kotla ground, delhi

meaning of swaraj for rich peasants

in the countryside, rich peasant communities like patidars of gujarat and jats of UP organised to participate in boycotts. for them, swaraj was a struggle against high revenue

meaning of swaraj for poor peasants

for poor peasants, swaraj was a fight against the payment of rent to their landlords. they joined variety of radical movements in hope that they would not have to pay the rent further

meaning of swaraj for associations

associations like indian industrial and commercial congress and federation of the indian chamber of commerce, under the leadership of GD birla, purushottam thakur das etc, supported the movement in the hope that business restrictions would be lifted

participation of women for swaraj

the movement saw a large scale participation of women

in urban areas, those women came from high-caste families while in rural areas, they came from rich peasant households. they were inspired by gandhi’s call and they began to see service to the nation as their sacred duty

gandhi’s opinions and actions on dalits

dalits and muslims were not actively participating in the movement. for a long time, the congress ignored the dalits because of the fear of sanatanis, conservative high caste hindus

gandhi called dalits harijans, children of god, and believed that swaraj would not come unless untouchability was eliminated. he organised satyagraha for them to secure their entry into temples and access to public facilities. he himself cleaned the toilets and urged the upper class to change their mindset regarding the untouchables

stand of dalit leaders

the dalit leaders wanted a different political solution to the problems of their community

dr BR ambedkar demanded reserved seats and separate electorates. he organised the dalits into the depressed classes association. his views different from gandhi, who believed that separate electorates would slow down the process of their integration into the main society

when british government admitted ambedkar’s demand, gandhi revoluted

eventually, ambedkar accepted gandhi and formed the poona pact (1932) which gave depressed classes reserved seats but not seperate electorate

hindi-muslim clash

after the decline of the non-cooperation khilafat movement, a large section of the muslims felt separated from the congress. the congress came to be more associated with the hindu mahasabha. as a result, there were hindu-muslim clashes

in 1930, sir muhammad iqbal, president of the muslim league demanded a separate electorate for muslims

efforts to unite muslims and the congress

the congress and muslim league made efforts to talk again for unity. the only difference in their opinion was based on the representation in the future assemblies

the leader of the muslim league, muhammad ali jinnah, wanted reserved seats for muslims in the central assembly. he was willing to give up this demand for two conditions

= muslims were assured reserved seats

= representation would be in proportion to the population in muslim dominated provinces (bengal and punjab)

the hindus strongly opposed these demands. many muslim leaders were worried that their identities and culture could submerge under hindu majority

how a sense of collective belonging was developed in india

national movements spread and communities began to develop a sense of collective belongingness. it was through the united struggles, history, fiction, folklore and songs

the image of bharat mata was painted by bankim chandra chattopadhyay (original by abindranath tagore) and he also composed vande mataram song which was sung by freedom fighters

indian folklores and folktales sung by bards

a tricolor flag designed in bengal during the swadeshi movement. it had eight lotuses representing eight provinces and a crescent moon representing hindus and muslims

gandhi then designed a new tricolor flag which is the flag we have today. the chakra represents the gandhian idea of self help

nationalism through indian ancient history

another means of creating a sense of nationalism was by explaining the meaning of history

the nationalist writers urged readers to take pride in india’s past achievements and struggle to overthrow the british rule

however, when the past that was being glorified was hindu and the images celebrated were taken from hindu iconography, the people of other communities felt left out