NATIONALISM IN INDIA

1 - FIRST WORLD WAR, KHILAFAT AND NON-COOPERATION

● WW1 - new economic, political situation:

○ Increase in defence expenditure - financed by war loans, increased taxes - custom
duties raised, income tax introduced
○ 1913-1918: prices doubled - extreme hardship for the common person.
○ VIllages called upon to supply soldiers - forced recruitment (conscription) introduced
- caused widespread anger
○ 1918/19, 1920/21: Crops failed - Acute shortage of food - Accompanied by influenza
epidemic
○ According to 1921 census, 12/13 million people died

1.1 - The Idea of Satyagraha

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● Jan. 1915: Mahatma Gandhi returns to India - successfully fought against racist regime in
South Africa.
● Satyagraha
○ Novel method of mass agitation - Emphasised power of truth, need to search for
truth.
bi ○ If cause was true and struggle against injustice - Physical force not necessary.
○ Without being aggressive or seeking vengeance satyagrahi won battle by appealing
to the conscience of the oppressor.
○ People including oppressors had to be persuaded to see truth - not forced to accept -
Truth was bound to triumph ultimately.
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○ Gandhi believed this could unite all Indians.
● 1917: travelled to Champarah, Bihar - inspired peasants to satyagraha against oppressive
plantation system.
● 1917: travelled to Kheda, Gujarat - helped peasants satyagraha against high revenue
collection after crop failure, plague epidemic.
● 1918: travelled to Ahmedabad - organising satyagraha amongst cotton mill workers.

1.2 - The Rowlatt Act

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● Rowlatt Act, 1919 - Hurriedly passed through Imperial Legislative Council despite united
Indian opposition. - allowed govt. to:
○ Repress political activity.
○ Jail political prisoners for upto 2 years without any trial.
● Gandhi wanted Nationwide non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws.
● Rallies organised in cities, railway workshops workers striked, shops closed down
● British - alarmed by upsurge, scared lines of communication (railway, telegraph) would be
disrupted - clamped down on nationalists
● 10 April 1919: Amritsar police fired on peaceful procession, provoking widespread attacks
on banks, post offices, police stations
● Martial law imposed - General Dyer took command
● 13 April 1919: Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - Large crowd gathered in Jallianwala Bagh -
some protesting, some for Baisakhi Fair - General Dyer entered, blocked exit, fired and
 killed hundreds - Declared objective to ‘produce a moral effect’ - creating terror and awe in
minds of satyagrahis
● North Indian towns - crowds protested - strikes, clashes with police, attacks on govt.
Buildings.
● Govt. responded w/ brutal repression, humiliating, terrorising people - satyagrahis forced to
rub their noses on ground, salute all sahibs, people flogged, villages in Gujranwala (now in
Pakistan) bombed - Caused Gandhi to call off movement.
● Rowlatt satyagraha - limited to towns and cities - Gandhi felt need to initiate more
broad-based movement.
● Gandhi believed it necessary to bring together Hindus and Muslims - believed one way was
taking up Khilafat issue - WW1 → defeat of Ottoman Empire → Harsh peace treaty on
emperor, The Khalifa (spiritual head of Islam)
● March 1919 - Khilafat Committee formed in Bombay
● Gandhi, Shaukat Ali toured extensively - Garnered support
● September 1920, Calcutta Congress Session - Gandhi convinced leaders to start NCM for

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Khilafat and Swaraj

1.3 - Why non cooperation

● Book Hind Swaraj (1909) - Declared British rule established and survived because of
cooperation of Indians - would collapse if cooperation stopped
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● Declared it would unfold in stages:
○ Would start by the surrendering of British titles.
○ Boycotting of civil services, army, police, courts, legislative councils.
○ If govt. used repression, launching of a civil disobedience campaign
● Many in Congress reluctant - unwilling to boycott council elections of Nov. 1920, fearing
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movement would lead to popular violence.
● December 1920, Nagpur congress session, compromise agreed, non cooperation
programme adopted.
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2 - DIFFERENT STRANDS WITHIN THE MOVEMENT

● Movement began in Jan. 1921 - Various social groups participated, each with its own
aspirations, definitions of Swaraj.

2.1 - Movement in towns

● Movement began with middle-class participation:

○ Students left govt. schools and colleges - headmasters, teachers resigned - Lawyers
gave up practices
○ Council elections boycotted, except in madras - Justice party of non-brahmans
participated - felt it was only way of gaining power
● Economic effects:
 ○ Foreign clothes boycotted - liquor shops picketed - foreign cloth burnt in bonfires
○ 1921-22: Import of foreign goods halved - value fell from 102Cr to 57Cr.
○ merchants, traders refused to deal foreign goods, finance foreign trade.
○ People began discarding foreign cloth, wore khadi.
● Movement slowed down in cities:
○ Khadi cloth expensive - Poor could not afford it
○ For boycotting british institutions, new Indian ones had to come up, which took time -
people began trickling back to british institutions, lawyers returned to practices.

2.2 - Rebellion in countryside

● NCM spread to the countryside - Became struggle for peasants, tribals

● Awadh:
○ Peasants led by Baba Ramchandra - Sanyasi, been to Fiji as indentured labour.
○ Movement against Talukdars, Zamindars - Demanded high rents, other cesses -
Forced to do Begar, work in landlord’s farms without pay - Illegally evicted tenants

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(Bedakhli) - Peasants demanded against.
○ Nai-Dhobi bands formed by panchayat to deprive landlords of nai, dhobi services.
○ June 1920: Jawaharlal Nehru went to villages around Awadh, talking to villagers,
understanding grievances. - Oudh Kissan Sabha set up, over 300 branches.
○ When NCM broke out, congress tried to intergrate Awadh into the main movement.
bi ○ 1921: Houses of talukdars attacked - bazaars looted, grain hoards taken over - in
some places, peasants told that Gandhi ordered not to pay tax, land to be
redistributed.
○ Congress did not approve, Name of gandhi used to sanction all actions.
● Tribal Peasants in Gudem Hills of Andhra:
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○ Militant Guerilla movement spread in early 1920s - Congress did not approve
○ Colonial govt. closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering to graze
cattle or collect firewood, fruits.
○ People’s livelihoods affected, traditional rights denied. When forced to contribute
Begar for road building, they revolted.
○ Led by Alluri Sitaram Raji - claimed he had special power - made correct astrological
predictions, heal people and even survive bullet shots - Rebels proclaimed he was
incarnation of God.
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○ Raju praised gandhi, claimed to be inspired by NCM, persuared people to give up

drinking and wear khadi - but asserted India could only be freed by violence.
○ Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials, carried on
guerrilla warfare.
○ 1924: Raju captured and killed - over time became local hero

2.3 Swaraj in the plantations

● Plantation workers’ interpretation of swaraj - freedom to move in and out of plantations,

retaining link with their villages.
● Inland Emigration Act, 1859 - Plantation workers were not allowed to leave plantations
without permission, which was rarely given.
● When NCM broke out, thousands defied the authorities and left the plantations without
permission - hoped to receive land in their villages.
● Never reached - Stranded by steamer strike - caught by police and brutally beaten.
 ● Visions of movement not defined by Congress programme.
● Communities interpreted swaraj in their own ways, imaginig a time where all suffering and
troubles would go away.
● Tribals chanted Gandhi’s name, demanded ‘Swatantra Bharat’ - emotionally reffering to
all-India agitation.

3 - TOWARDS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

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● Feb. 1922: Gandhi withdrew NCM - felt it was turning violent, satyagrahis needed to be
properly trained.
● Within Congress, some members were tired of mass struggle - wanted to participate in
provincial council elections set up by Government Of India Act, 1919 - oppose British
policies, argue for reforms, demonstrate councils were not democratic.
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● C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru founded Swaraj party within congress - Radical leaders like Nehru
and Subhash Chandra Bose pressed for radical mass agitation, full independence.
● 2 factors shaped Indian politics in late 1920s:
○ Great Depression: Agricultural prices began to fall from 1926, collapsed after 1930 -
demand for agricultural goods fell, exports declined - peasants found it difficult to sell
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produce, pay revenue - By 1930, countryside in turmoil.
○ 1928: new Tory Govt. constituted Statuary Commission under Sir John Simon:
■ Set up to look into functioning of constitutional system, suggest changes -
faced opposition because it had no Indian member.
■ It was greeted with slogans demanding it returned - All parties, INC, Muslim
League, participated in demonstrations against them.
■ Viceroy Irwin announced vague offer - Dominion status in unspecified future,
round table conference to discuss future constitution.
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● Radicals within Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, Bose, became more assertive -
Moderates, liberals lost influence.
● December 1929, Lahore Congress Session: Demand for Purna Swaraj (Full independence)
formalised - 26th Jan. 1930 declared independence day.

3.1 - The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement

● Gandhi used salt to unite Indians

● 31 Jan. 1930: Gandhi sent a letter to viceroy Irwin with 11 demands - Some were of general
interest - others specific to different classes - demands wide-ranging so that all Indians
could identify with them - most stirring - abolition of salt tax and of Govt. monopoly on salt
production.
● Gandhi’s letter was ultimatum - If not fulfilled by 11 Mar., Congress would launch Civil
Disobedience campaign.
 ● Gandhi, 78 volunteers started Salt March - Started from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad,
Reached Dandi, Gujarat on 6th April, 1930. - Ceremonially broke law by boiling sea water,
manufacturing salt.
● This started Civil Disobedience Movement - People not only asked not to cooperate but
also break colonial laws:
○ Salt law broken
○ Peasants refused to pay Chaukidari Tax, Revenue
○ Village officials resigned
○ People violated forest laws - went into reserved forests - collected wood, grazed
cattle.
● Colonial govt. began arresting Congress leaders - violent clashes started
● April 1930: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan arrested - angry crowds demonstrated in Peshawar
(Pakistan) - faced by armoured cars, police firing - many killed.
● Gandhi Arrested 1 month later - Sholapur industrial workers attacked police posts,
municipal buildings, courts, railway stations.

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● Govt. responded with brutal repression - peaceful satyagrahas attacked, women, children
beaten, and over 1 lakh arrested.
● Gandhi called off movement, entered Gandhi-Irwin Pact - Gandhi consented to participate in
second round table conference in London - Govt. agreed to release political prisoners.
● December, 1931: Gandhi went to London - Negotiations broke down, he returned in Jan
1932.
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● Govt. began new cycle of repression - Ghaffar Khan, Nehru arrested, Congress declared
illegal, meetings, demonstrations, boycotts prevented.
● Gandhi relaunched civil disobedience movement but lost momentum by 1934.

3.2 - How Participants Saw the Movement

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● Rich peasants - Jats(Haryana, UP), Patidards(Gujarat):
○ producers of commercial crops - hard hit by agricultural depression - impossible to
pay high govt. Revenue.
○ They became enthusiastic supporters of CDM - Organised communities, forced
reluctant members to join, participated in boycott programmes.
○ They were disappointed that CDM called off without revenue rates reduced - in 1932,
many refused to participate.
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● Small tenants cultivating rented land:

○ Small tenants found it difficult to pay landlords rent - they wanted rent to be remitted -
Joined Socialist and Communist movements.
○ Congress unwilling to support ‘no rent campaigns’ - fear of upsetting landlords, rich
peasants.
● Merchants, industrialists:
○ During WW1, they made huge profits, became powerful.
○ They wanted protection against imports, rupee-sterling exchange ratio discouraging
imports.
○ Formed Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress (1920) and Federation of Indian
Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI, 1927)
○ Led by Purshottamdas Thakurdas, G.D Birla - Industrialists attacked colonial control
of the economy, supported CDM - Gave financial assistance, refused to buy, sell
imported goods.
 ○ They imagined swaraj as time when restrictions on business no longer exist - Trade
and industry allowed to flourish without constraints.
○ After failure of Round Table Conference, businessmen apprehensive - Scared of
militant activities, prolonged disruption of business, growing Socialism amongst
younger congressmen.
● Industrial workers
○ Did not participate in CDM in large numbers, except in Nagpur - Industrialists came
closer to congress, workers stayed aloof.
○ Some workers did participate - selectively adopting some Gandhian measures, like
boycott of foreign goods, in protest against low wages, poor conditions
○ Strikes by railway workers in 1930, dock workers in 1932 - 1930: Chootanagpur tin
mine workers wore gandhi caps, participated in protest rallies, boycott campaigns.
○ Congress reluctant to include workers, felt it would alienate industrialists, divide anti
imperial forces.
● Women:

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○ During Salt march, thousands of women came to listen to him - participated in
protest marches, broke salt law, picketed foreign cloth, liquor shops. Many arrested.
○ From high-caste families in urban areas, rich peasant households in rural areas.
○ Began to see service to nation as sacred duty of women.
○ This did not mean radical change in social position of women - Gandhi convinced
that duty of women was to look after the home and hearth, be good mothers, wives -
bi for long time, congress reluctant to give women positions of authority - only symbolic
presence.

3.3 - Limits of Civil Disobedience

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● Untouchables:
○ From 1930s, called themselves Dalit (oppressed).
○ Congress ignored them - fear or offending upper-caste conservative Hindus.
○ Gandhi declared Swaraj would not come if untouchability was not eliminated.
○ He called untouchables “harijan” (children of god), organised satyagraha to obtain
entry into temples, access to public wells, tanks, roads, schools - himself cleaned
toilets to dignify work of bhangi (sweepers), persuaded upper caste to change their
heart and give up sin of untouchability.
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○ Dalit leaders keen on different political solution - organised themselves, demanded

reserved seats in educational institutions, and separate electorate.
○ They believed political empowerment would solve problems of social disabilities.
○ Dalit participation in CDM was limited, especially in Nagpur, Maharashtra region.
○ B.R. Ambedkar organised Dalits into depressed classes association in 1930, clashed
with Gandhi at Round Table Conference, demanded separate electorates for Dalits.
○ Govt. conceded demand, Gandhi began fast unto death - He believed it would slow
down process of integration into society.
○ September 1932: Poona pact - depressed classes given reserved seats, but voted in
by general electorate.
○ Dalits however still apprehensive of Congress.
● Muslims:
 ○ Muslim organisations were lukewarm about CDM - after decline of
Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement, Muslims felt alienated from Congress - It
became more associated with Hindu associations like Hindu Mahasabha.
○ Relations b/w Hindus and Muslims worsened - religious processions with militant
fervour organised - riots, clashes caused.
○ Congress, Muslim league tried to negotiate alliance - By 1927: unity looked possible
- differences arose over question of representation in future assemblies.
○ Muhammad Ali Jinnah willing to give up demand for separate electorates if reserved
seats were given in central legislatures and representation according to populations
in Muslim-dominated regions (Punjab and Bengal).
○ 1928: All-Party Conference - M.R Jayakar of Hindu Mahasabha opposed
compromise.
○ When CDM started, there was atmosphere of suspicion, distrust b/w communities.
Large sections of muslims alienated from congress, could not respond to call of
united struggle.

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4. THE SENSE OF COLLECTIVE BELONGING
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● Nationalism - when people believe they are part of 1 nation - when they discover unity.
● Sense of collective belonging came party through experience of united struggles - but also
a variety of cultural processes.
● History, fiction, folklore, songs, popular print, symbols played part in making of nationalism.
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● Idea of nationalism most often symbolised by a figure or image - Identity of India visually
symbolised with image of Bharat Mata.
● First created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay - wrote Vande Mataram in 1870s as hymn
to motherland, later included in novel Anandmath.
● Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore - Ascetic Figure - Calm, composed, divine, spiritual -
dispensing learning, food, clothing.
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● Nationalists revived Indian folklore - They recorded folktales sung by bards and toured
villages to gather folk songs and legends - These gave a true picture of traditional culture
that had been corrupted by outside forces - They believed it was necessary to preserve this
folk tradition and discover one’s identity, restore a sense of pride in one’s past.
● Rabindranath Tagore collected ballads, nursery rhymes, myths - led the movement for folk
revival.
● In Madras, Natesa Sastri published 4-volume collection of Tamil folk tales The Folklore of
Southern India - believed folklore to be ‘national literature’ and ‘the most trustworthy
manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics’.

● Nationalist leaders began using symbols and icons to unify people

● In Bengali Swadeshi movement, tricolour (red, green, yellow) flag adopted - contained 8
lotuses, one for each province of British India, and a crescent moon symbolising Hindus
and Muslims.
 ● 1921: Gandhi designed Swaraj flag - it was tricolour (red, white, green) - contained spinning
wheel in centre symbolising self-help - It was used as a symbol of defiance.

● British thought India to be backward, primitive, incapable of governing itself.

● Indians looked into the past, discovered great achievements - wrote about glorious times
when art, architecture, science, mathematics, religion, culture, law, philosophy, crafts, trade
flourished.
● They claimed this was followed by decline, when India was colonised.

● This was not without problems - When Hindu past and images were glorified, other
communities felt left out.

Map-
1. Champaran, Bihar - First satyagraha

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2. Kheda, Gujarat - satyagraha
3. Ahmedabad, Gujarat - First urban satyagraha
4. Amritsar, Punjab - Jallianwala Bagh massacre
5. Chauri Chaura, UP - End of Non-cooperation movement
6. Dandi, Gujarat - End of salt march
7. Congress sessions-
bi a. Calcutta - September 1920
b. Nagpur - December 1920
c. Madras - 1927
d. Lahore, Pakistan - 1929
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