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Economic and Political Situation:
- Huge increase in defense expenditure financed by war loans and increasing taxes (customs duties raised, income tax introduced).
- Extreme price rise between 1913 and 1918 caused severe hardship for common people.
- Forced recruitment in rural areas created widespread anger.
- Crop failures in 1918–19 and 1920–21 led to acute food shortages, compounded by an influenza epidemic.

Definition: Satyagraha emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for truth. It suggested that physical force was unnecessary to fight an oppressor if the cause was true and the struggle was against injustice.
Early Movements led by Mahatma Gandhi:
- Champaran (Bihar, 1917): Inspired peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
- Kheda (Gujarat, 1917): Supported peasants affected by crop failure and plague, demanding relaxation in revenue collection.
- Ahmedabad (Gujarat, 1918): Organized a satyagraha movement among cotton mill workers.

Rowlatt Act (1919): Gave the colonial government enormous power to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
Jallianwala Bagh Incident (13 April 1919):
- A large crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar to protest against government repression and attend the Baisakhi fair.
- General Dyer blocked exit routes and opened fire on the unarmed crowd, killing hundreds.
- Resulted in nationwide strikes, clashes with police, and attacks on government buildings.

Khilafat Issue: To defend the Ottoman Emperor (the Khalifa) after World War I, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali formed the Khilafat Committee in Bombay (March 1919).
Unification: Mahatma Gandhi saw this as an opportunity to unite Hindus and Muslims under a unified national movement.
Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–1922):
- Surrender of government titles.
- Boycott of civil services, army, police, courts, legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods.
- Formally adopted at the Nagpur Congress session in December 1920.

Thousands of students left government-controlled schools, headmasters resigned, and lawyers gave up practice.
Council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras.
Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burned in huge bonfires, dropping cloth imports by half between 1921 and 1922.
Slowing Down: Khadi cloth was expensive compared to mass-produced mill cloth, and alternative Indian institutions were slow to establish.

Awadh Peasant Movement: Led by Baba Ramchandra against landlords (talukdars) demanding high rents and begar (unpaid forced labor). Demanded revenue reduction and social boycott of oppressive landlords.
Tribal Movement in Gudem Hills (Andhra Pradesh): Led by Alluri Sitarama Raju against colonial forest restrictions. Employed guerrilla warfare tactics to achieve Swaraj.

Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, tea garden workers in Assam were not permitted to leave without permission.
Workers defined Swaraj as the right to move freely and maintain connections with their home villages, leading thousands to defy authorities and leave plantations.

Non-Cooperation was called off by Gandhi in February 1922 following the Chauri Chaura violent incident.
C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party within the Congress to argue for participation in provincial council elections.

Simon Commission (1928): Set up to review the constitutional system in India, but contained no Indian members; greeted with the slogan "Go Back Simon".
Demand for Purna Swaraj (1929): Lahore Congress session under Jawaharlal Nehru formalized the demand for full independence.
Salt March (1930):
- Salt was chosen as a central unifying symbol consumed by both rich and poor.
- Gandhi sent 11 demands to Viceroy Irwin; upon rejection, he began the 240-mile march from Sabarmati to Dandi with 78 volunteers.
- On 6 April 1930, Gandhi manufactured salt at Dandi, breaking the law and starting the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Rich Peasants (Patidars, Jats): Active supporters affected by trade depression and falling prices; sought reduction in land revenue.
Poor Peasants: Demanded rent reductions and remission of unpaid rent to landlords.
Business Classes: Led by leaders like G.D. Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas; formed FICCI (1927) to protect Indian industries against colonial trade policies.
Industrial Workers: Participated selectively (e.g., Nagpur region) against low wages and poor working conditions.
Women: Participated in large numbers in protest marches, salt manufacturing, and picketing foreign cloth and liquor shops.

Dalit Participation: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar organized the Depressed Classes Association (1930) demanding separate electorates. Conflict with Gandhi was resolved via the Poona Pact (1932), securing reserved seats in provincial/central councils.
Muslim Organizations: Lukewarm response due to growing alienation from the Congress and fears of domination by a Hindu majority.

Visual Representations: The figure of Bharat Mata was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and later painted by Abanindranath Tagore as an ascetic, calm, and divine figure.
Revival of Indian Folklore: Folk songs, ballads, and legends were collected by leaders like Rabindranath Tagore and Natesa Sastri to restore national pride.
National Symbols: A tricolor flag was designed during the Swadeshi movement, and Gandhi designed the Swaraj flag in 1921 featuring a spinning wheel.
Reinterpretation of History: Indian historians wrote about past glorious developments in art, architecture, science, and mathematics to resist colonial views of Indians as backward.