Nationalism in India Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms, movements, organizations, acts, and key personalities from the lecture notes on Nationalism in India.

Forced recruitment

A process by which the colonial state forced people to join the army.

Satyagraha

A novel method of mass agitation led by Mahatma Gandhi that emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for truth without physical force.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

A satyagraha movement organised by Mahatma Gandhi in Bihar to inspire peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.

Kheda Satyagraha (1918)

A satyagraha movement organised by Mahatma Gandhi to support Gujarat peasants affected by crop failure and plague who demanded revenue collection relaxation.

Rowlatt Act (1919)

Legislation passed hurriedly through the Imperial Legislative Council that gave the British government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.

Jallianwalla Bagh Incident

An incident on 13 April 1919 where General Dyer blocked exit points and opened fire on a crowd gathered in Amritsar to attend a fair and protest repressive measures, killing hundreds.

Khilafat Committee

A committee formed in Bombay in March 1919 by leaders like Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali to defend the temporal powers of the Ottoman emperor (Khalifa).

Hind Swaraj (1909)

A famous book written by Mahatma Gandhi declaring that British rule in India was established and survived only through the cooperation of Indians.

Boycott

The refusal to deal and associate with people, or participate in activities, or buy and use things as a form of protest.

Picket

A form of demonstration or protest by which people block the entrance to a shop, factory, or office.

Begar

Labour that villagers were forced to contribute without any payment.

Baba Ramchandra

A sanyasi and former indentured labourer in Fiji who led the peasant movement against oppressive talukdars and landlords in Awadh.

Oudh Kisan Sabha

An organization set up in October 1920 headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra, and a few others to address peasant grievances in Awadh.

Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)

A successful peasant movement in Bardoli, Gujarat, led by Vallabhbhai Patel against the enhancement of land revenue.

Alluri Sitaram Raju

A folk hero who claimed special powers and led a militant guerrilla movement of tribal peasants in the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh until his capture and execution in 1924.

Inland Emigration Act of 1859

A colonial law under which tea plantation workers in Assam were not permitted to leave tea gardens without permission.

Chauri Chaura Incident (1922)

A clash in Gorakhpur where a peaceful demonstration turned violent, causing Mahatma Gandhi to halt the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Swaraj Party

A party formed within the Congress by C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru to argue for a return to provincial council politics.

Simon Commission

A Statutory Commission set up in 1928 under Sir John Simon to review India's constitutional system, boycotted by Indian political parties because it contained no Indian members.

Purna Swaraj

The demand for full independence for India, formalised at the Lahore Congress session in December 1929 under Jawaharlal Nehru's presidency.

Salt March

A 240-mile march led by Mahatma Gandhi and 78 volunteers from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi from 12 March to 6 April 1930 to ceremonially violate the British salt tax.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact

A pact signed on 5 March 1931 in which Gandhiji agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference in London and the government agreed to release political prisoners.

Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA)

A revolutionary organisation founded in 1928 at Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi by leaders including Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das, and Ajoy Ghosh.

FICCI

The Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, formed in 1927 by prominent industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla to organize Indian business interests.

Depressed Classes Association

An organisation established in 1930 by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to empower dalits politically.

Poona Pact (September 1932)

An agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar that gave reserved seats to the Depressed Classes in provincial and central legislative councils voted by the general electorate.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

The creator of the first visual image of Bharat Mata who wrote 'Vande Mataram' in the 1870s and included it in his novel Anandamath.

Abanindranath Tagore's Bharat Mata (1905)

A famous painting portraying Bharat Mata as an ascetic, calm, composed, divine, and spiritual figure dispensing learning, food, and clothing.

The Folklore of Southern India

A four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales published by Natesa Sastri, who believed folklore was national literature.

Swaraj Flag (1921)

A tricolour flag (red, green, and white) designed by Gandhiji with a spinning wheel in the centre representing the ideal of self-help.

Quit India Movement (1942)

A non-violent mass struggle for full British withdrawal launched by Gandhiji following the Wardha resolution and endorsed by the AICC in August 1942 with the 'Do or Die' speech.