History - nationalism in India

• The growth of the national movement in India can be seen from World War I.
• Britishers colonised the people of India and many other countries (eg- Vietnam), so they had a common enemy which tied them together to fight against the British rule in India.
• During WWI - India, being a colony of Britain, faced many economic and political problems.

  1. To wage war, a large sum of money was needed, which was derived by introducting customs duties and income tax on Indians.
• During WWI -

  2. Secondly, India was forced to supply men as soldiers to the British army (forced recruitment) which caused widespread anger among people.

  3. Many parts of India faced shortages of food supply and the spread of Influenza epidemic which added fuel to the fire to fight against the colonial govt.
• When Gandhi came back to India from South Africa in 1915, people saw him as a messiah who would end their suffering (grant independence). From 1915 to 1916, on the advice of his political guru Gopal Krishna Gokhale, he visited many places in India to get first hand experience of people's problems.
• In South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi successfully fought the racist regime with a novel method of mass agitation, which he called satyagraha.
• After arriving in India, Gandhi successfully organised Satyagraha movements-

  1. 1917 - Champaran, Bihar (For indigo farmers who were against oppressive indigo plantation system)
  2. 1917 - Kheda, Gujarat (demanding relaxation of revenue collection due to crop failure)
  3. 1918 - Ahemdabad, Gujarat (increased wages for cotton mill workers)
• After 3 successful regional satyagraha, Gandhi decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha. Due to this, the imperial legislative council passed the rowlatt act in 1919 which gave the British enormous power to suppress political activities and put political leaders behind bars without trial for 2 years.
• Due to Rowlatt Act, Gandhiji launched a hartal on 6 April. Rallies were organised in different cities, workers went on strike nationwide, shops were closed down. As a result, local leaders were picked up in Amritsar by the imperial govt, and Gandhiji was barred from entering Delhi. Martial law was imposed.
• On 10 April, the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession, provoking widespread attacks on banks.
• General Dyer took command and martial law was imposed. On 13th April 1919, Amritsar people gathered to celebrate Baisakhi, unaware of martial law. When General Dyer came to know about this gathering, he fired upon people and killed a large number of them to create fear and feeling of terror and awe. It is marked as a black day in the history of the national movement of India.
• After the WWI ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey, there were rumours that a harsh peace treaty would be imposed on the Ottoman emperor (regarded as the spiritual head of the islamic world). Gandhi saw this as an opportunity to unite Hindus and Muslims for the collective struggle against the imperial forces.
• Khilafat Issue- To defend the Khalifa's powers, a Khalifa committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919. A young generation of muslim leaders led by brothers Muhammed Ali and Shaukat Ali began discussing with Gandhi about the possibility of united mass action on the issue.
• Khilafat Issue and Swaraj issue together led to Non Cooperation movement.
• Non-Cooperation Movement was proposed in Calcutta, September 1920 and was adopted December 1920.
• Gandhi wrote in Hind Swaraj (1909), British rule in India was established only with the cooperation of Indians. If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year and swaraj would come.
• Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages. - Begin with the surrender of titles that the govt awarded, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, foreign goods. In case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.
• The non cooporation movement aimed at achieving self rule through peaceful means
• In February 1922, Gandhi called off the Non-cooperation Movement because of Chauri Chaura incident (Gorakhpur, UP) where a mob killed 22 policemen. This event made him realise that violence could not be tolerated under any circumstances.
• NCM began with middle class participation in cities.

  • Students left govt. controlled institutions. Headmasters and teachers, also lawyers, gave up legal practices.
  • The council elections were boycotted except for in Madras.
  • Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.
  • People began wearing Indian clothes (khadi). Production of Indian textile mills and handloom went up.
• Movement in cities gradually slowed down.

  • Khadi cloth was often more expensive, poor people can't afford them.
  • Students and teachers began going back to govt institutions and jobs, as Indian institutions were slow to come up.
  • Lawyers re-joined govt courts.
• In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra, who was a sanyasi who had earlier been to Fiji as an indentured (trapped/bonded slave) labourer.
• The movement (NCM) here (peasants, Awadh) was against taluqdars and landlords who demanded high rent and a variety of other cesses (special taxes). The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, social boycott of oppressive landlords.
• (Awadh, peasants) Nai-dhobi bandhs were organised. In June 1920, Jawaharlal Nehru began touring villages. By October, the Oudh Kisan Sabha was setup by Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and others. Within a month, 300+ branches had been setup in villages around the region.
• The effort of the Congress was to integrate the Awadh peasant struggle into the wider struggle.
• In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, a millitant guerilla movement spread in the 1920s. They were not allowed to enter the forest, closed large forest areas, not allowed to graze cattle or collect fruits or fuelwood.
• Livelihood of tribals were affected and their traditional rights were being denied. This enraged the hill people. When the govt began forcing them to contribute begar for the road buildings, the hill people revolted.
• The hill people were led by Alluri Sitaram Raju. He claimed he had a variety of special powers.

  • make correct astrological predictions
  • heal people
  • survive bullets
• Rebels thought/proclaimed Alluri Sitaram Raju was an incarnation of God.
• Houses of taluqdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and grain hoards were taken over. In many places, local leaders told peasants Gandhiji declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be re-distributed among the poor. The name of Mahatma was being invoked to sanction all aspirations.
• Alluri Sitaram Raju-

  • Talked of the greatness of Gandhi
  • Persuaded people to wear khadi and quit drinking
  • Asserted India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence.
• Due to Sitaram Raju's beliefs-

  The Gudem Rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officers amd carried on Guerilla warfare for achieving Swaraj. Raju was captured and executed in 1824 but overtime became a folk hero.
• For plantation workers in Assam, swaraj meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed and it meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come. They were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission, and were rarely given permission. (Inland Emigration Act of 1859)
• Inland Emigration Act of 1859-

  • Thousands of workers denied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home
  • They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would get land in their own villages.
  • They never reached their destination, they were brutally beaten and sent back to plantation fields.
• The notion of swaraj was interpreted in their own way, still it was a pan India movement.
• Within the Congress, some leaders were by now tired of the struggles and wanted to participate in elections to the provincial councils that had been setup by the Govt of India Act of 1919.
• C.R Das and Motilal Nehru formed the swaraj party within the Congress to argue for a return to council politics. But young leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose pressed for more radical mass agitation and full independence.
• Worldwide Economic Depression (1929) - Agriculture prices began to fall from 1926 and collapsed in 1930. As the demand for goods and agriculture fell and exports declined, peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests and pay their revenue. This led to the countryside being in turmoil.
• Simon Commission - The new govt in Britain constituted a statutory commission under Sir John Simon to look into the functioning of the constitution system in India & suggest changes. But the commission did not have a single Indian member, they were all British. When the Simon commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan "Go Back Simon".
• The Viceroy, Lord Irwin, announced in October 1929, a vague offer of dominion status for India in an unspecified future, and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution.