Nationalism in India · Class 10 History: quick revision, 60 bites

Nationalism in the Colonies

Unity through struggle.

In India, nationalism grew with the **anti-colonial movement**: the shared sense of **oppression** bound different groups together.

Takeaway. One enemy, many hopes.

Effects of the First World War

War at home.

Takeaway. Hardship and anger grew.

Satyagraha

The power of truth.

Takeaway. Persuade, don't force.

Active, Not Passive

Not the weapon of the weak.

Gandhiji: satyagraha is **not passive resistance**; it calls for **intense activity**. It is **pure soul-force**, with no ill-will.

Takeaway. Strength through non-violence.

First Satyagrahas in India

Testing the method.

Takeaway. All three are on the map list.

The Rowlatt Act, 1919

Prison without trial.

Passed **despite united opposition of Indian members**; enormous powers to repress politics; **detention without trial for two years**.

Takeaway. Why Indians were outraged.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha

From hartal to martial law.

Takeaway. Repression escalated.

Jallianwala Bagh

13 April 1919.

A crowd — protesters and **Baisakhi** visitors — gathered in an enclosed ground. **Dyer blocked the exits and fired**, killing hundreds, to 'produce a moral effect'.

Takeaway. Terror as policy.

Brutal Repression

Humiliation.

Crawling orders, flogging, **villages around Gujranwala bombed**. Seeing violence spread, **Gandhiji called off** the movement.

Takeaway. Violence halted the satyagraha.

Limited to the Towns

What was missing?

The Rowlatt satyagraha was widespread but **mostly urban**. Gandhiji wanted a **broad-based** movement — and Hindu-Muslim unity.

Takeaway. Leads to Khilafat and Non-Cooperation.

Don't Mix the Dates

Two dates in April.

**6 April 1919** = hartal against the Rowlatt Act. **13 April 1919** = Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Takeaway. A common slip.

South Africa

Where it began.

In 1913 Gandhiji led Indian workers from Newcastle to Transvaal against **racist laws**; when he was arrested, thousands more joined.

Takeaway. Satyagraha was first tested abroad.

Why Khilafat?

Bringing Muslims in.

After Ottoman Turkey's defeat, a **Khilafat Committee** (Bombay, March 1919) defended the **Khalifa**. Gandhiji joined to build **Hindu-Muslim unity**.

Takeaway. A broad-based movement needed unity.

Hind Swaraj's Argument

Withdraw cooperation.

British rule survived **only through Indian cooperation**. Withdraw it, and it would **collapse within a year**.

Takeaway. The logic of non-cooperation.

Stages of Non-Cooperation

Three steps.

Takeaway. T-B-C.

Calcutta and Nagpur, 1920

Two sessions, one programme.

Takeaway. Both sessions are map items.

Non-Cooperation in the Towns

The middle class moves first.

Students left schools, teachers resigned, lawyers stopped practice; foreign cloth burnt — imports fell from **Rs 102 crore to Rs 57 crore**.

Takeaway. Dramatic economic effect.

Limits in the Towns

Why it slowed.

Takeaway. People drifted back.

Madras and the Justice Party

The exception.

Council elections were boycotted everywhere **except Madras**, where the non-Brahman **Justice Party** contested to gain power.

Takeaway. Not everyone boycotted.

Awadh Peasants

Against talukdars.

**Baba Ramchandra** led peasants against high rents, **begar** and eviction; **nai-dhobi bandhs**; **Oudh Kisan Sabha** (Oct 1920) with Nehru — 300 branches.

Takeaway. Swaraj = end of landlord oppression.

Alluri Sitaram Raju

Guerrilla swaraj.

Gudem Hills tribals revolted against **forest closures** and **forced begar**. Raju praised Gandhi but believed in **force**; executed in **1924**.

Takeaway. Not a Congress-approved method.

Assam Plantation Workers

Freedom to leave.

The **Inland Emigration Act (1859)** confined them. Believing **Gandhi Raj** had come, thousands left for home — stranded by strikes and beaten by police.

Takeaway. Swaraj = freedom of movement.

One Movement, Many Swarajs

Many meanings.

Each group read swaraj in its own way — yet invoking Gandhiji linked them **emotionally to an all-India agitation**.

Takeaway. Local struggles, national identity.

Chauri Chaura and Withdrawal

February 1922.

A peaceful demonstration at **Chauri Chaura (Gorakhpur)** turned violent. Gandhiji **withdrew** the movement: satyagrahis needed **training**.

Takeaway. Non-violence came first.

A Divided Congress

Council or streets?

**Swaraj Party** (C. R. Das, Motilal Nehru): return to council politics. **Young radicals** (Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose): mass agitation, full independence.

Takeaway. Two paths after 1922.

The Depression Hits

Prices fall, anger rises.

Agricultural prices fell from **1926** and **collapsed after 1930**. Peasants could not sell harvests or **pay revenue**.

Takeaway. Countryside in turmoil by 1930.

Go Back Simon

No Indian member.

The **Simon Commission** was to review India's constitution — with **no Indian member**. Greeted in **1928** with **'Go back Simon'** by Congress and Muslim League.

Takeaway. An insult to Indian self-respect.

Irwin's Offer, October 1929

Not independence.

Only a vague **dominion status** at an **unspecified future date**, plus a Round Table Conference. The Congress was not satisfied.

Takeaway. Too little, too vague.

Lahore and Independence Day

Complete independence.

Takeaway. The goal is now full freedom.

The Eleven Demands

Something for everyone.

Gandhiji's letter of **31 January 1930** mixed general demands with **class-specific** ones, so **all classes could identify** with the campaign.

Takeaway. Unity through wide-ranging demands.

The Power of Salt

Why salt?

Salt was **eaten by rich and poor alike**. The **salt tax and government monopoly** showed the **most oppressive face** of British rule.

Takeaway. A universal grievance.

The Salt March

78 · 240 · 24 · 6.

Takeaway. Civil Disobedience begins.

Non-Cooperation vs Civil Disobedience

Refuse vs break.

Takeaway. A bigger step.

Peshawar and Sholapur

Arrests spark clashes.

Arrest of **Abdul Ghaffar Khan** → clashes in **Peshawar**. Arrest of **Gandhiji** → Sholapur workers attack police posts. About **100,000 arrested**.

Takeaway. Brutal repression followed.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact

5 March 1931.

Gandhiji called off the movement and agreed to attend the **Round Table Conference**; the government agreed to **release political prisoners**.

Takeaway. A pause, not a victory.

The Movement Fades

London to decline.

Takeaway. Rise and fall in four years.

Many Meanings of Swaraj

Same movement, different hopes.

Each group joined Civil Disobedience with **its own aspirations** — so swaraj meant something different to each.

Takeaway. The Congress had to hold them together.

Rich Peasants

Revenue was the issue.

**Patidars** (Gujarat) and **Jats** (UP) grew commercial crops, were hit by falling prices and wanted **lower revenue**. Disappointed in **1931**; many stayed out in **1932**.

Takeaway. Swaraj = lower revenue.

Poor Peasants

Rent was the issue.

Small tenants wanted **unpaid rent remitted**; they joined **Socialist and Communist** movements. The Congress avoided **'no rent'** campaigns.

Takeaway. An uncertain relationship.

Business Classes

Protection from imports.

Wanted **protection from imports** and a **rupee-sterling ratio** that discouraged them. Formed **FICCI (1927)** under **Thakurdas and G. D. Birla**.

Takeaway. Swaraj = no colonial curbs on business.

Business Grows Wary

Why business cooled.

Takeaway. Support was conditional.

Industrial Workers

Mostly aloof.

Few joined except in **Nagpur**; railway (1930) and dock (1932) strikes; **Chotanagpur tin miners**. The Congress kept workers' demands out to keep industrialists on side.

Takeaway. Class tension limited unity.

Women in the Movement

Out of the home.

Marches, salt-making, picketing — **many went to jail**. But Gandhiji saw home and hearth as women's duty; the Congress gave them only a **symbolic role**.

Takeaway. Visible, but not in authority.

Gandhiji and Ambedkar

Heart vs law.

Takeaway. Two paths to dalit dignity.

The Poona Pact

September 1932.

After Gandhiji's **fast unto death**, the Depressed Classes got **reserved seats**, but elected by the **general electorate** — not separate electorates.

Takeaway. Reserved seats, joint voting.

Muslims Stay Away

Distrust grows.

After Khilafat, many Muslims felt **alienated**; the Congress seemed close to the **Hindu Mahasabha**; riots spread. Muslims feared domination by the **Hindu majority**.

Takeaway. Suspicion in 1930.

Jinnah, Jayakar, Iqbal

A compromise that failed.

Takeaway. Representation divided them.

The HSRA

A different path.

Founded **1928** in Delhi. **Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta** bombed the **Legislative Assembly** (April 1929); an attempt was made on **Irwin's train**.

Takeaway. Revolutionaries outside Gandhian methods.

Collective Belonging

Shared struggle, shared symbols.

People felt part of one nation through **united struggles** and through **history, fiction, folklore, songs, prints and symbols**.

Takeaway. Nations live in the imagination.

Bharat Mata

The motherland as a figure.

First created by **Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay**, who wrote **Vande Mataram** (1870s), later in **Anandamath** — sung in the Swadeshi movement.

Takeaway. India as a mother.

Abanindranath's Painting

Calm and divine.

An **ascetic** Bharat Mata — calm, composed, divine — bestowing **learning, food and clothing**.

Takeaway. Devotion to her = nationalism.

Reviving Folklore

Culture of the people.

Takeaway. Folklore as national literature.

Swadeshi Flag vs Swaraj Flag

Two tricolours.

Takeaway. Flags became symbols of defiance.

Reinterpreting History

Answering 'backward'.

Against British claims of backwardness, nationalists wrote of a **glorious ancient past** followed by **decline under colonial rule**, urging pride and struggle.

Takeaway. History as inspiration.

The Problem With Symbols

Who felt left out?

When the glorified past and images came from **Hindu iconography**, people of **other communities felt left out**.

Takeaway. Unifying symbols could also divide.

A Nation With Many Voices

Unity and conflict.

Periods of **unity** alternated with **disunity and inner conflict** — but all voices wanted **freedom from colonial rule**.

Takeaway. Diversity within the struggle.

Quit India

1942.

Takeaway. Immediate transfer of power demanded.

Who Joined Quit India

A true mass movement.

Students, workers, peasants; leaders like **Jayprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia**; women like **Matangini Hazra, Kanaklata Barua, Rama Devi**.

Takeaway. Over a year to suppress.

Three Sessions

Map work.

Takeaway. Congress sessions on the map.

Satyagrahas and Sites

Map work.

Takeaway. Five more places.