Nationalism in India — Class 10 Social Science
History — India and the Contemporary World-II · Chapter 2
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Chapter summary
Key ideas & terms
- Satyagraha
- Gandhi’s method of mass struggle through non-violence and truth-force.
- Rowlatt Act (1919)
- A repressive law allowing detention without trial; sparked nationwide protest.
- Non-Cooperation Movement
- The 1921–22 boycott of British schools, courts, titles and goods.
- Civil Disobedience Movement
- The 1930 movement to break colonial laws, beginning with the Salt March.
- Salt March (Dandi March)
- Gandhi’s 1930 march to make salt, defying the salt monopoly.
- Boycott
- The refusal to use or buy goods or take part in institutions as a protest.
- Picketing
- Peaceful blocking of the entry to shops or offices as a form of protest.
- Bharat Mata
- The personification of India as a mother figure, used to inspire nationalism.
Extra questions & answers
What is satyagraha?
A method of mass agitation based on the power of truth and non-violence; it sought to win over the opponent through moral pressure rather than force.
Why was the Non-Cooperation Movement called off?
After the Chauri Chaura incident of 1922, where a crowd set fire to a police station, Gandhi felt the movement was turning violent and suspended it.
Why did Gandhi choose salt for the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Salt was used by rich and poor alike, and the British monopoly and tax on it symbolised the most oppressive face of colonial rule, uniting people across classes.
How did different social groups view the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Rich peasants wanted lower revenue, poor peasants wanted rent reduction, business classes wanted protection against imports, and workers and women joined for their own hopes and grievances.
How was a sense of collective belonging created?
Through symbols and icons like Bharat Mata, national songs, the tricolour flag, the reinterpretation of history and the collection of folklore.
What were the causes of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy and its effect?
A peaceful crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919 was fired upon by General Dyer’s troops, killing many; it caused widespread anger and intensified the national movement.
Why did Gandhiji start the Non-Cooperation Movement?
To protest against the Rowlatt Act, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the wrong done to the Khilafat, by boycotting British institutions, titles and goods.
How did different social groups participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Rich peasants wanted lower revenue, poor peasants wanted rent reduction, business classes wanted protection for trade, and women and workers joined for their own hopes and grievances.
What was the importance of the Salt March?
By making salt in defiance of the salt law, Gandhiji turned a daily necessity into a powerful symbol of resistance that united people across the country.
How did folklore, songs and images help create a sense of nationalism?
They created a shared cultural identity; figures like Bharat Mata, national songs and a reinterpreted history inspired pride and unity among diverse Indians.
Activity
Read the text carefully. What did Mahatma Gandhi mean when he said satyagraha is active resistance?
Mahatma Gandhi meant that satyagraha was not passive submission to injustice. A satyagrahi actively opposed unjust laws through disciplined non-violence, truth, persuasion and self-sacrifice. Instead of harming the opponent, the satyagrahi appealed to the opponent’s conscience and continued the struggle until justice and truth prevailed.
Activity
The year is 1921. You are a student in a government-controlled school. Design a poster urging school students to answer Gandhiji’s call to join the Non-Cooperation Movement.
ANSWER GANDHIJI’S CALL!
STUDENTS, JOIN THE NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT
Leave government-controlled schools that support colonial rule. Join national educational institutions, wear khadi and boycott foreign goods. Remain peaceful, united and disciplined. By refusing to cooperate with injustice, we can help India achieve swaraj.
NON-COOPERATION TODAY — SWARAJ TOMORROW!
Activity
If you were a peasant in Uttar Pradesh in 1920, how would you have responded to Gandhiji’s call for Swaraj? Give reasons for your response.
I would have supported Gandhiji’s call for swaraj because peasants in Uttar Pradesh suffered under high rents, extra cesses, forced unpaid labour and frequent eviction by landlords. I would have joined peaceful protests and the social boycott of oppressive landlords, hoping that swaraj would bring lower revenue, abolition of begar, security of tenure and protection from exploitation. I would, however, have followed non-violence and avoided looting or attacking anyone.
Activity
Find out about other participants in the National Movement who were captured and put to death by the British. Can you think of a similar example from the national movement in Indo-China (Chapter 2)?
Bhagat Singh was one such participant. He became a leader of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army, was tried by the colonial government and executed when he was only 23 years old. Alluri Sitaram Raju, who led the tribal rebellion in the Gudem Hills, was also captured and executed by the British in 1924. The attached chapter does not contain Chapter 2 or provide the name of a similar participant from the national movement in Indo-China.
Discuss
Why did various classes and groups of Indians participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Different classes and groups participated because they connected swaraj with their own needs. Rich peasants wanted the government to reduce land revenue after falling crop prices made payment difficult. Poor tenants hoped that unpaid rent owed to landlords would be remitted. Industrialists wanted protection from foreign imports and an end to colonial restrictions on trade. Some workers linked the movement with struggles against low wages and poor working conditions. Women regarded service to the nation as a sacred duty and joined marches, made salt and picketed shops. Although their expectations differed, all these groups saw the movement as a way to resist colonial rule.
Discuss
Read the Source D carefully. Do you agree with Iqbal’s idea of communalism? Can you define communalism in a different way?
I agree with Iqbal’s view that every religious and cultural community should be free to preserve and develop its traditions and that respect for one’s own community need not involve hostility towards others. However, communalism can also be defined as the belief that religion is the main basis of social and political identity and that the interests of different religious communities are separate or opposed. In its harmful form, it creates distrust, demands political power mainly on religious lines and weakens unity among citizens. A democratic society should protect minority rights while giving all citizens equal rights and encouraging cooperation across communities.
Activity
Look at Figs. 12 and 14. Do you think these images will appeal to all castes and communities? Explain your views briefly.
These images might not appeal equally to all castes and communities. Both represent India as Bharat Mata through symbols closely associated with Hindu religious traditions. Figure 14, in particular, shows a trishul, a lion and an elephant, giving the mother figure a strongly religious and powerful form. Such images could inspire many Hindus, but members of other religions or communities might feel that their own traditions were not represented. A national symbol intended for everyone should use inclusive features with which people of all castes, religions and regions can identify.
Write in brief
1. Explain:
a) Why growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement.
Colonial rule subjected people to foreign political control and economic exploitation. Although different groups experienced colonialism in different ways, their shared opposition to foreign rule created a common bond. During struggles against colonial policies, people began to see themselves as members of one nation with a collective interest in freedom. Thus, nationalism in the colonies grew through the anti-colonial movement.
b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India.
The First World War created severe economic and social hardships in India. Defence expenditure rose and was financed through war loans and higher taxes. Customs duties increased, income tax was introduced and prices nearly doubled between 1913 and 1918. Villages faced forced recruitment, while crop failures and an influenza epidemic caused widespread suffering. When these hardships continued after the war, anger against colonial rule increased and created conditions for a broader national movement.
c) Why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act.
Indians were outraged because the Rowlatt Act gave the colonial government extraordinary powers to suppress political activities. It allowed political prisoners to be detained without trial for up to two years and was passed despite the united opposition of Indian members of the Imperial Legislative Council. Indians regarded it as an unjust attack on civil liberties.
d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Gandhiji withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement after a peaceful demonstration at Chauri Chaura turned into a violent clash and a police station was attacked. He believed that the movement was becoming violent in several places and that the participants were not yet sufficiently trained in the discipline of non-violence required for a mass satyagraha.
2. What is meant by the idea of satyagraha?
Satyagraha means a struggle based on truth and non-violence. It rests on the belief that a just cause can be defended without physical force, hatred or revenge. A satyagrahi resists injustice firmly, accepts suffering and appeals to the conscience of the oppressor through peaceful action. The aim is to persuade the opponent to recognise the truth rather than to compel or destroy the opponent.
3. Write a newspaper report on:
a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre
HUNDREDS KILLED IN FIRING AT JALLIANWALA BAGH
Amritsar, 13 April 1919: British troops under General Dyer opened fire on a large gathering at Jallianwala Bagh today. Some people had assembled to protest against the government’s repressive measures, while many villagers had come for the Baisakhi fair and were unaware of martial law. General Dyer entered the enclosed ground, blocked the exits and ordered his soldiers to fire on the unarmed crowd, killing hundreds. He later claimed that his purpose was to create terror and awe among the satyagrahis. News of the massacre has caused anger and protests across northern India.
b) The Simon Commission
SIMON COMMISSION GREETED WITH NATIONWIDE PROTESTS
India, 1928: The Statutory Commission headed by Sir John Simon has arrived in India to examine the working of the constitutional system and recommend changes. The commission has caused widespread anger because all its members are British and not a single Indian has been included. Demonstrators from different political parties, including the Congress and the Muslim League, have united in protest and greeted the commission with the slogan, ‘Go back Simon’. During a peaceful demonstration, nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai was assaulted by the police and later died from his injuries.
4. Compare the images of Bharat Mata in this chapter with the image of Germania in Chapter 1.
Both Bharat Mata and Germania are female allegories used to personify the nation and inspire unity, loyalty and sacrifice. Germania represents the German nation and is shown with symbols such as a sword, armour and the national flag, which suggest courage and power. Bharat Mata represents India as a mother. Abanindranath Tagore’s Bharat Mata is calm, spiritual and ascetic, carrying objects associated with learning, food, clothing and devotion. Another image presents her with a trishul and beside a lion and an elephant, emphasising strength and authority. Thus, both figures turn an abstract nation into a recognisable human image, but they draw upon different cultural and religious symbols.
Discuss
1. List all the different social groups which joined the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921. Then choose any three and write about their hopes and struggles to show why they joined the movement.
The groups that joined the movement included urban middle-class students, teachers, headmasters and lawyers; merchants and traders; peasants and tenants in Awadh; tribal peasants in the Gudem Hills; and plantation workers in Assam. Peasants in Awadh joined because landlords imposed high rents, extra cesses, begar and frequent eviction; they hoped for lower revenue, an end to forced labour and greater security. Tribal peasants joined because colonial forest laws prevented them from grazing cattle and collecting forest produce, while the government forced them to perform begar; they hoped to regain their customary forest rights. Plantation workers joined because the Inland Emigration Act restricted their movement; they understood swaraj as freedom to leave the plantations, return to their villages and obtain land.
2. Discuss the Salt March to make clear why it was an effective symbol of resistance against colonialism.
The Salt March was effective because salt was an essential item used by rich and poor alike. The British tax and monopoly on salt therefore represented the everyday injustice of colonial rule in a form that everyone could understand. Gandhiji marched from Sabarmati to Dandi with 78 volunteers, addressing people along the route and urging peaceful resistance. At Dandi he broke the salt law by making salt from seawater. This simple act enabled ordinary people across India to participate by manufacturing salt, breaking colonial laws, boycotting foreign goods and refusing certain taxes. It transformed the abstract demand for independence into a concrete mass struggle.
3. Imagine you are a woman participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Explain what the experience meant to your life.
Participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement would have changed my life by bringing me out of the private space of my home and into public political action. I would have attended Gandhiji’s meetings, joined processions, made salt and picketed shops selling foreign cloth or liquor. Facing arrest or police repression would have required courage, but it would also have given me a strong sense of dignity and responsibility towards the nation. The experience would have shown me that women could contribute directly to public life, even though the Congress still rarely allowed women to hold positions of authority.
4. Why did political leaders differ sharply over the question of separate electorates?
Political leaders differed because they had conflicting ideas about representation, minority protection and national unity. Leaders such as B. R. Ambedkar believed that separate electorates would allow oppressed communities to choose their own genuine representatives and gain political power against social discrimination. Many Muslim leaders regarded separate electorates as a safeguard against domination by a Hindu majority. Gandhiji opposed separate electorates for the dalits because he feared that they would permanently divide Hindu society and slow social integration. Other nationalist leaders believed that electorates based on communities would weaken a common Indian identity, while minority leaders feared that a joint electorate would leave their interests unprotected.
Project
Find out about the anti-colonial movement in Indo-China. Compare and contrast India’s national movement with the ways in which Indo-China became independent.
The attached file explains India’s national movement but does not contain the chapter on the anti-colonial movement in Indo-China. From this chapter, India’s struggle can be described as a broad mass movement led mainly by the Congress under Mahatma Gandhi, using satyagraha, non-cooperation, civil disobedience, boycotts and the breaking of colonial laws. It brought together peasants, workers, business groups, women, tribals and urban middle classes, although their aims often differed. A reliable comparison with Indo-China cannot be completed from the attached file alone because it does not provide information about Indo-China’s organisations, leaders, methods of struggle or path to independence.