Nationalism in India (1915–1942) – Exam Review Notes

Emergence of Nationalism in India

• Modern Indian nationalism grew out of the anti-colonial struggle; unity forged through shared experience of British oppression
• Indian National Congress (INC) under Mahatma Gandhi sought to integrate diverse classes & regions into a single movement

Impact of the First World War

• War = sharp rise in defence expenditure; financed by loans & higher taxes → price rise $\,(1913!\to!1918)$ doubled
• Forced recruitment of soldiers & influenza–famine deaths $\,12\text{–}13$ million (census $\,1921$) created widespread discontent

Gandhian Satyagraha (Truth-Force)

• Non-violent, active resistance based on moral persuasion, not physical force
• Early satyagraha campaigns:
  • Champaran $\,(1917)$ – indigo tenants vs. planters
  • Kheda $\,(1917!–!18)$ – revenue remission after crop failure
  • Ahmedabad $\,(1918)$ – mill-workers’ wage dispute

Rowlatt Act & Jallianwala Bagh $\,(1919)$

• Rowlatt Act: detention without trial up to $2$ years; nation-wide hartal $6$ April
• Jallianwala Bagh $13$ April: General Dyer opened fire on enclosed crowd → hundreds killed; triggered country-wide protests & brutal repression

Khilafat & Non-Cooperation Movement $\,(1920!–!22)$

• Khilafat Committee (Ali brothers) allied with Gandhi; INC adopted Non-Cooperation at Nagpur $\,(Dec\,1920)$
• Programme: surrender titles, boycott councils, schools, courts, foreign cloth; possible civil disobedience if repressed

Urban Phase

• Students, teachers, lawyers resign; boycott of foreign goods halves cloth imports (value: $\text{Rs}\,102\rightarrow57$ crore)
• Decline: costlier khadi, lack of alternative institutions, students & professionals drift back

Rural & Tribal Currents

• Awadh peasants (Baba Ramchandra) vs. talukdars; demands: rent reduction, abolition of begar
• Gudem Hills (Alluri Sitaram Raju): guerrilla revolt against forest laws; admired Gandhi yet advocated force
• Assam plantation workers: broke Inland Emigration Act $\,(1859)$, attempted long march home believing in “Gandhi Raj”

Withdrawal

• Chauri Chaura violence $\,(Feb\,1922)$ → Gandhi suspends movement; internal INC split → Swaraj Party (C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru) enters councils

Towards Civil Disobedience $\,(1928!–!34)$

• Simon Commission $\,(1928)$ with no Indians → slogan “Go Back Simon”
• Lahore Congress $\,(Dec\,1929)$ under Jawaharlal Nehru proclaims $\textit{Purna Swaraj}$; pledge on $26$ Jan $1930$

Salt March & Launch

• Gandhi’s $240$-mile Sabarmati–Dandi march $12\,Mar!–!6\,Apr\,1930$; broke salt law; mass violation across India
• Civil Disobedience: refusal to pay revenue, break salt & forest laws, boycott cloth/liquor, resignation of officials
• Repression: $\approx100\,000$ arrests; Gandhi-Irwin Pact $5$ Mar $1931$ (INC joins Round Table)
• Movement revived $\,1932$ after failed London talks; waned by $\,1934$

Social Bases & Aspirations

• Rich peasants (Patidars, Jats): wanted revenue reduction; withdrew when demand unmet
• Poor tenants: sought rent remission; limited INC support
• Business classes (FICCI $\,1927$): desired protection & end to colonial restraints; aided financially, but wary after $1931$
• Workers: selective participation (strikes $1930,\,1932$); INC avoided wage issues to keep business support
• Women: high-caste urban & rich rural women joined marches, picketing, went to jail; INC kept them in symbolic roles
• Dalits: Gandhi’s temple-entry, removal of untouchability; Ambedkar’s Depressed Classes Association $\,(1930)$ sought separate electorates → Poona Pact $\,(Sept\,1932)$
• Muslims: post-Khilafat alienation; communal tensions, demand for safeguards; Jinnah–INC negotiations failed; Iqbal $\,(1930)$ argued for Muslim autonomy

Cultural Symbols & Collective Belonging

• Bharat Mata image (Bankim’s $\textit{Vande Mataram}$ $\,1870s$; Abanindranath Tagore $\,1905$) personified nation
• Folklore collection (Tagore, Natesa Sastri) to recover “true” culture
• Flags: Swadeshi tricolour (red–green–yellow, $1905$); Gandhian tricolour with charkha $\,(1921)$ symbolized self-help
• Re-writing history showcased ancient glory to counter colonial narratives; however, Hindu imagery sometimes alienated minorities

Quit India Movement $\,(Aug\,1942)$ (brief)

• Wardha $14$ July & Bombay $8$ Aug INC resolutions: “Do or Die” → mass upsurge paralysed administration; eventually suppressed after >1 year

Key Dates (memory aid)

• $1915$ Gandhi returns
• $1919$ Rowlatt Act & Jallianwala
• $1920$ Non-Cooperation starts
• $1922$ Chauri Chaura, suspension
• $1928$ Simon Commission protests
• $1930$ Salt March, Civil Disobedience
• $1931$ Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 2nd RTC
• $1932$ Poona Pact; CDM fizzles
• $1942$ Quit India

Core Terms

• $\textbf{Satyagraha}$: force of truth through non-violent resistance
• $\textbf{Boycott}$: refusal to use/associate with colonial goods & institutions
• $\textbf{Begar}$: unpaid forced labour
• $\textbf{Purna Swaraj}$: complete independence

Take-away Concepts

• Nationalism in India intertwined with economic hardship, cultural revival & mass mobilization
• Gandhian strategy: broad-based, non-violent, symbolic (salt), yet periodically withdrawn to curb violence
• Social unity fragile; class, caste, religious, gender interests shaped participation & defined limits of nationalist consensus