NOTES
Academic Year: 2025-26 Subject: History Grade & Div: 10
Lesson: Nationalism in India
Topic:Nationalism in India Prepared By: Simbu A.V
Homework Classwork For Reference Evaluation Revision
Nationalism in India
Short Notes:-
1. How did the First World War help in the growth of national movement in
India?
Ans. The First World War created a new economic and political situation.
It led to a huge increase in defense expenditure which was financed by increasing
taxes. It led to extreme hardship for common people.
Forced recruitment from rural areas into the army caused wide spread anger.
During that time crops failed in many parts of India resulting in acute shortage of
food.
Before the war the British had given promises to Indians but after the war they did
not fulfill the promises.
In 1915, Gandhiji returned to India and he started a new mode of struggle-
Satyagraha based on truth and non-violence.
2. Explain the idea of Satyagraha according to Gandhiji?
Ans. The idea of Satyagraha emphasized the power of truth and the need to search
for truth.
According to Gandhi, if the cause was true, if the struggle was against injustice, then
physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor.
Gandhiji believed that this Dharma of non violence could unite all the Indians for
achieving swaraj.
3. What were the earliest satyagrahas of Mahatma Gandhi?
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Ans. Gandhi started his first Satyagraha in 1917 in Champaran in the state of Bihar
against Indigo plantation system.
In 1917, Gandhiji organized Kheda Satyagraha in Kheda in the state of Gujarat and
supported peasants to get relaxation in revenue .
In 1918 Gandhiji organized Satyagraha in Ahmadabad in Gujarat and supported
cotton mill workers for getting higher wages and better working condition.
4. What was Rowlatt Act 1919?
Ans.
It gave power to British to suppress political activities.
It allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
5. Describe the incident and impact of the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre?
Ans. On 13th April the Jallianwalla Bagh incident took place.
A large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla Bagh.
Some came to protest against Rowlatt act and others came to celebrate Baisakhi
festival.
Many villages unaware of the Martial law. During that time General Dyer blocked the
exit point and fired on the crowd.
Thousands of people were killed and this brutal incident was known as Jallianwalla
Bagh massacre.
6 . Explain the meaning of the 'Khilafat movement'. Examine the role of Gandhiji
in it.
I. The Ottoman Turkey was badly defeated in the First World War.
II. There were rumours spread that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the
Ottoman emperor; he was the spiritual head of the Islamic world (the Khalifa).
III. To protect the Khalifa’s temporal power, a Khilafat committed was formed in Bombay in
March 1919 .
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IV. This committee had leaders like muslim brothers- Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
They discussed with Mahatma Gandhi about this issue.
V. Gandhiji saw this was a good opportunity to bring the Hindus and Muslims together on a
common platform.
At the Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, he conviced other leadres of the
need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat for getting swaraj.
7. What was Gandhiji's idea behind launching the non cooperation movement as
stated in his book 'Hind Swaraj'?
Ans. In his book Hind Swaraj Gandhiji stated that British rule was established in
India with the cooperation of Indians.
If Indians refused to co-operate, British rule would collapse within a year and Swaraj
would come.
8. Mention three main proposals with reference to non cooperation
movement as suggested by Gandhiji?
Or
How was non cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi?
Ans. -
It should begin with the surrender of the titles that the government awarded.
Boycott of civil services, army, police, court, legislative councils, schools and foreign
goods.
In case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be
launched.
9. Explain Participation of various social groups in Non- cooperation movement.
A) The Movement in the Towns/Cities
The movement started with middle-class participation in the cities.
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Thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges, headmasters
and teachers resigned, and lawyers gave up their legal practices.
The council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras.
Economic Front
Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge
bonfires. The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922.
People began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones, production of
Indian textile mills and handlooms went up.
B) Rebellion in the Countryside (NCM in the village Awadh)
In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra sanyasi who had earlier been to
Fiji as an indentured labourer.
The movement here was against talukdars and landlords.
Peasants had to do begar and work at landlords' farms without any payment.
The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, and abolition of begar.
In many places nai-dhobi bandhs were organised by panchayats.
By October, the Ouch Kisan Sabha was set up headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba
Ramchandra and a few others.
As the movement spread, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked,
bazaars were looted.
C) NCM among the tribals
In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, NCM was against forest law and forced begar.
Here NCM was led by Alluri Sitaram Raju. He claimed that he had a variety of
special powers: he could make correct astrological predictions and heal people, and he
could survive even bullet shots.
He persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking. But at the same time he
asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force.
The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and
carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj.
Raju was was captured and executed in 1924.
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D) NCM in the plantation workers in Assam
Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to
leave the tea gardens without permission, and they were rarely given such permission.
When they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers left the
plantations and headed home.
They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their
own villages.
But,on the way by a railway and steamer strike, they were caught by the police and
brutally beaten up.
10. Why did the Non cooperation movement gradually slow down in the cities?
Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and poor people
could not afford to buy it.
For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set up in
place of the British ones. These were slow to come up.
So students and teachers began back to government schools and lawyers joined back
work in government courts.
11. Why did Mahatma Gandhi decide to withdraw NCM?
Ans.
In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw NCM because of Chauri-
Chaura incident.
He thought that Satyagrahies should be properly trained.
Within the Congress some leaders were tired of mass struggles. They wanted to
participate in the Council election
[Link] was Simon Commission? Why did the people oppose the Simon commission?
Ans. Simon commission was sent by the Tory government in Britain under the
chairmanship Sir John Simon. They came to India to look into the functioning of the
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constitutional system in India and suggested some changes. The problem was that the
commission did not have a single Indian member. They were all British.
When Simon commission came to India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan 'Go
back Simon'.
[Link] Lahore session of the INC in December 1929
An Indian National Congress session was held at Lahore in December 1929 under the
presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru.
The Lahore Congress demanded 'Purna Swaraj' or Complete Independence.
It was declared that 26 January 1930 would be celebrated as Independence Day.
It was decided to launch civil disobedience movement.
14. How did salt become an effective tool of resistance against the British
Government in India during 1930s?
Ans. On 31st January 1930, Gandhiji send a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating 11
demands. The most important demand was to abolish the salt tax.
Salt was consumed by rich and poor alike and it was one of the most essential items of
our food.
According to Salt law, the British had a Monopoly right over the production of salt
and they imposed the tax on salt.
Gandhi's letter stated that if the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the Congress
would launch a civil disobedience campaign. But Irwin was unwilling to negotiate.
So that Mahatma Gandhi and his trusted 78 followers started salt march from
Sabarmati to Dandi where he violated the salt law by manufacturing salt ( on 6 April
1930).
It was the beginning of civil disobedience movement.
15. What was Gandhi Irwin Pact?
According to Pact, Gandhiji agreed to participate in the second Round Table
Conference in London and British agreed to release the political prisoners.
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In December 1931, Gandhiji went to London for the conference, but the negotiations
broke down and he returned disappointed.
16. How Participants saw the Civil Disobedience Movement?
A) Participation of rich peasants
Rich peasants could not pay the government’s revenue.
The government was not ready to reduce the revenue. This led to wide spread hatred
among the peasants and began to support CDM.
For them Swaraj meant reduction in taxes.
B) Participation of Poor Peasants
The small tenants found it difficult to pay their rent to the landlord.
The Congress was unwilling to support the poor tenants because it might upset the
rich peasants.
For them Swaraj meant reduction in land rent.
c) Participation of business class/Industrialists.
17. Explain the participation of Industrialists/business class in Civil
Disobedience Movement.
During first world war, Indian merchants and industrialists earned huge profit. But
after the war British tried to prevent the expansion of Indian industry and imported
foreign goods to India.
Business class wanted protection against imported foreign goods.
To protect their interest,t they formed the Indian industrial and commercial Congress
in 1920 and federation of the Indian chamber of commerce and industries (FICCI) in
1927.
The two prominent industrialist who supported the civil disobedience movement were
Purushothamdas Thakurdas and G D Birla.
They gave financial help to the movement.
d) Participation of Industrial Workers
The congress did not support industrial workers.
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Industrial working class except in Nagpur region did not participitate in the civil
disobedience movement.
In 1930 thousands of workers in Chotta Nagpur mine wore Gandhi caps and
participated in rallies and boycott campaign.
e) Participation of Women
18. Explain the participation of Industrialists/business class in Civil Disobedience
Movement.
They participated in protest marches, salt march manufactured salt, picketed
foreign cloth and liquor shops.
Many of them went to jail.
In the areas women from rich and upper caste, they more closely associated with
the movement.
Being inspired by Gandhi, they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty
of women.
Gandhi was convinced that it was the duty of women to look after home and
hearth, be good mothers and good wives.
For a long time the congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position of
authority within the organization.
20. Explain Limitations of Civil Disobedience Movement
1. Participation of Dalits
Dalits or untouchables did not actively participate in the movement.
Dalit leaders demanded separate electorate for the Dalits.
Dr BR Ambedkar, the leader of the Dalits formed an association in 1930 called the depressed
class association.
He clashed with Mahatma Gandhi at the second round table conference by demanding
separate electorate for them.
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Mahatma Gandhi disagreed the demand of Dr BR Ambedkar and started a fasting unto
death.
Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji's position and the result was the Poona pact of
September 1932.
It gave reserved seats for the depressed class in provincial and central legislative
council through general election.
[Link] of Muslims
Muslims did not actively participate in the movement.
22. Differences between Non Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement.
NCM CDM
NCM was launched in 1921 CDM was launched in 1930
The Non-Cooperation Movement was CDM was launched to protest the arrival of
launched due to the anger of Rowlatt Act and Simon Commission and unjust laws of British
the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. government.
NCM began with surrender of the CDM began with the breaking of the
titles, boycott of British goods and colonial laws such as Salt law and
institution. Forest laws.
NCM demanded Swaraj CDM demanded Purna Swaraj or
complete independence.
The Sense of Collective belonging
23. How did cultural process help in creating a sense of collective belonging in India.
Explain?
a) Bharat Mata
The image of Bharat Mata was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay .
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In 1870 he wrote the national song Vande Mataram.
Later it was included in the his novel Anandamatha and widely sung during the Swadeshi
movement in Bengal.
Abanindranath Tagore painted the famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting, Bharat
Mata was portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
b) Folklore and songs
Nationalist believed that folktales gave a true picture of traditional culture.
In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore began collecting Ballads and nursery rhymes.
In Madras, Natesha Shastri published a four volume of collection of Tamil folk tales, the
folklore of southern India.
c) Use of icons and symbols
Swadeshi flag : During the swadeshi movement in Bengal a tricolour flag -red, green and
yellow was designed.
It had eight lotuses representing eight British provinces and crescent moon representing
Hindu and Muslim unity.
Swaraj flag : A tricolour flag-red, green and white was designed by Mahatma Gandhi in
1921.
It had spinning wheel representing Gandhiyan ideal of self help.
d) Re-interpretation of history
The British saw Indians as backward and primitive and incapable governing themselves.
In response, Indians began discovering our great achievements in the past. They wrote about
glorious development in the ancient times when art and architecture, science and
mathematics , religion and culture, law and philosophy, craft and trade had flourished.
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