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It generally refers to loyalty and devotion of a person towards his nation.
No doubt, Indian nationalism developed as a concept during the Indian independence movement fought against the colonial British Raj.
We will study the story from 1920. We will explore how congress sought to develop the national movement . How different social groups participated in the movement and how the feeling of nationalism captured the imagination of people.
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1... The British imposed war expenditure on India. Income tax was introduced.
2.... Price of Custom duties were doubled between 1913-1918.
3... Forced recruitment was made in to the British Indian army.
4... In 1918-19 crops failures resulted in shortage of food materials. Influenza epidemic spread in many parts of India. Millions of people lost their lives.
At this stage a new leader appeared and suggested a new mode of struggle.
The idea of Satyagraha
★ Satyagraha emphasized on the power of truth and need to search for truth.
★ It is introduced by M. Gandhi, a powerful method of struggle.
• In 9th January 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa and started this movement Satyagraha.
• According to Mahatma Gandhi people can win a battle with 'non violence'. This could be done by appealing to the conscience of the oppressor. People including oppressor had to be persuaded to see the truth,instead of being forced to accept truth through the use of violence.
If the causes are true and if the fight was against injustice then physical force was not necessary to fight with the oppressor.
Hunger strike, peaceful demonstration, strike, hartal and non cooperation with the government are some methods of Satyagraha.
First three Satyagraha movement organized by Gandhiji in India***
1... Champaran Movement in Bihar (1916)
2... Kheda movement (1917)
3... Mill worker movement (1918)
In 1916-17 he traveled to Champaran (Bihar) to inspire the peasants(Indigo farmers) to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
In the year 1917, he organised Satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat. Crop failure and plague epidemic made the life of the farmers miserable in the Kheda district of Gujarat. So, they started a movement under Gandhiji's leadership for the demand in reduction of land revenue.
Low wages and poor working conditions forced the cotton mill workers of Ahmedabad to start a movement under Gandhiji's leadership in 1918.
The Rowlatt act(1919)
What is Rowlatt Act?
This act was passed in March-1919.
Passed by- Imperial legislative council,despite opposition by Indian members.
1... The act authorised the British officers to repress political activities and
2... allowed imprison(detention) of political leaders for 2 years without any trail.
Mahatma Gandhi opposing such unjust laws launched nationwide hartal on 6th April 1919.
In 1919 Mahatma Gandhi launched a nationwide Satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt act.
People organised rallies,strikes and closed shops against it.
∆ Finally when the British administration saw that the total society is disrupted then they decided to pick up the local leaders from Amritsar and Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi.
On April 10th, the police in Amritsar fired on a peaceful procession, which provoking widespread attack on banks, post offices and railway stations.
Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
* JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE*
On 13th April, A large crowd gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh; where few people came to protest against the government's repressive measures, while some came to attend the annual Baisakhi fair.
General Dyer entered the area, blocked all the exist points and ordered an opened fire on the crowd killing hundreds.
After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, people became furious and went on strikes, clashes with police and attacks on government buildings.
( Britishers reaction-
≠ Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the grounds,
≠ crawl on streets and
≠ do Salami to all sahib's, people were flogged and
≠ villages were bombed).
Mahatma Gandhi had to call off the movement as it was turning into a violent war.
*KHILLAFAT MOVEMENT*
The First World War had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey. And there were rumours that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman emperor – the spiritual head of the Islamic world (the Khalifa).
To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919.
So a movement was organized by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali(Ali brothers). They began discussing with Gandhiji's for a united mass action.
Mahatma Gandhi also took up the khilafat issue, as it was an opportunity to bring Hindus and Muslims together.
Why non cooperation??
In his famous book, Hind Swaraj (1909) Mahatma Gandhi stated that British rule was established in India due to the cooperation of Indians, and had survived only because of this cooperation. If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year, and swaraj would come.
At congress session in Nagpur, Dec 1920, the non cooperation programmes was adopted.
Under Mahatma Gandhi leadership in 1920, Non cooperation movement was launched.
*NON COOPERATION MOVEMENT*
It should begin with the
1. surrender of titles that the government has awarded
2. boycott of civil services, army police, courts and legislative councils and schools and foreign goods.
Although the movement initiated in 1920 but actually the non-cooperation khilafat movement began in january-1921.
*DIFFERENT STRANDS WITHIN THE MOVEMENT*
1. Movement in the towns-
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However this movement slow down due to a variety of reasons such as
✓ khadi clothes are more expensive, than mass produced mill cloths.
✓ lack of Indian institutions for students and teachers to choose from,; so they went back to government schools and
✓ lawyers joined back government courts due to lack of alternative institutions.
2. The rebellion in the countryside-
The non-cooperation movement spread to the countryside where peasants and tribals where developing in different parts of India.
✓ In Awadh, a peasants movement started(led by Baba Ramchandra) against the talukdars and landlords who demanded higher rents and a variety of other cesses.
✓ It demanded a reduction of revenue, abolition of begar; freelabourer and social boycott of oppressive landlords.
They organised Nai-dhobi bandhs, under which they stopped giving services to landlords and Talukdars.
✓ J L Nehru in June 1920 started going around the villages inorder to understand their grievances.
✓ In October he along with few others set up the Oudh kisan sabha and within a month 300 branches had been set up.
3. Tribal peasants-
✓ In the early 1920s, a militant Guerrilla movement started spreading in the Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh.
Here, as in other forest regions, the colonial government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuelwood and fruits. This enraged the hill people. Not only were their livelihoods affected but they felt that their traditional rights were being denied. When the government began forcing them to contribute begar for road building, the hill people revolted.
This movement was led by Alluri Sitaram Raju who claimed To have special powers, over time he became a folk Hero.
✓ He convinced people to wear "khadi" and give up drinking according to Gandhian ideas.
✓ Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj.
✓ ALLURI SITARAM RAJU was captured and executed in 1924, overtime became a folk hero.
*SWARAJ IN THE PLANTATION *
For plantation workers in Assam freedom meant right to move freely in and out and retaining a link with the village from were they had come.
Under the Inland emigration act of 1859 plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission.
The plantation workers believed that in Gandhi raj, everyone would be given land in their own village.
After they heard of The non-cooperation movement, thousands of workers left the plantation and headed home but unfortunately they never reached their destination and were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.
Non cooperation movement was withdrawn because-
1. As the movement turned violent killing 22 policeman in Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur (UP).
2. Seeing this violence, the movement was withdrawn.
*TOWARDS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE*
Some of the Congress leaders wanted to participate in elections to the provincial councils that had been set up by the Government of India Act of 1919.
They were now tired of mass struggles. They felt that it was important to oppose British policies within the council's.
Swaraj party was formed by C R Das and Motilal Nehru.
Young leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and subhas Chandra Bose pressed for more radical mass agitation and for full independence.
In the late 1920, Indian politics again shaped because of two factors-
1. World wide depression-
2. The falling agriculture prices(from 1926- collapse after 1930).
*SIMON COMMISSION*
This was constituted by- John Simon.
The objective of the commission was to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes..
In 1928, Simon commission arrived in India and it was greeted by the slogan go back Simon.
*DEMAND FOR PURNA SWARAJ*
Lord Irwin announced in oct-1929, a vague offer of dominion status for India.
Congress leaders were unsatisfied, specially the radicals.
In December 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru in the Lahore session formalised the demand of Purna Swaraj or full independence for India.
It was declared that 26 January 1930 would be celebrated as independence day..
*THE SALT MARCH AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE*
On 31st January 1930 Mahatma Gandhi sent a letter to viceroy Irwin stating 11 demands.
Among the demands the most important was the demand to abolish the salt tax which is consumed by the rich and poor.
the demands needed to be fulfilled by 11 March or else Congress would start a civil disobedience campaign.
the famous salt march was started by Mahatma Gandhi and accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers.
The march was over to 240 miles from Gandhi's ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi (Gujarat).
On 6 April,1930 he reached Dandi(took 24 days) and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water. This marked the beginning of the civil obedience movement.
this movement spread across the country and salt law was broken in different parts of the country. Manufactured salt and demonstrated in front of government salt factories.
As the movement spread-
✓ liquor shops were picketed
✓Foreign clothes was boycotted,
✓peasants refused to pay revenue and
✓ people violated forest laws.
*CALLING OFF THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT*
Government arrested congress leaders.
Violent clashes happened in many places; government responded with brutal pression.
In April 1930 Abdul Gaffar Khan,a devout discipline of Mahatma Gandhi was arrested.
Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in month letter which lead to attack on all structures that symbolises British rule(specially in Sholapur).
BY witnessing such horrific situation Mahatma Gandhi decided to call of the movement and enter into a pact with Irwin on 5th March 1931.
In Gandhi Irwin pact, Gandhiji agreed to participate in the 2nd round table conference in London.
British government agreed to free political prisoners. But talks failed, Britishers didn't keep their promise,
So Gandhi return to India and was disappointed and relaunch the civil disobedience movement.
It continued for almost a year but by 1934 it lost its momentum.
*HOW PARTICIPANTS SAW THIS MOVEMENT*
1. Rich peasants- For them, Swaraj was a struggle against high revenue.
2. Poor peasantry- They wanted unpaid rent to be remitted. Congress didn't support no rent campaign.
3. Business classes- wanted protection against imports of foreign goods and rupee sterling foreign exchange ratio.
Formed India Industrial and commercial congress in 1920 and federation of the Indian chambers of commerce and industries (FICCI) in 1927.
Purushottam Thakurdas and G D Birla supported the civil disobedience movement when it was first launched.
But after the failure of the second round table conference, business groups were no longer uniformly enthusiasm.
4. Industrial workers- stayed aloof except in Nagpur.
5. Women- participate in protest marches.
But congress was unwilling to allow women to hold any positions.
The limits of civil disobedience-
The Poona pact of September 1932 gave the depressed classes reserved seats in provincial and Central legislative councils.
after the decline of non cooperation khilafat movement, Muslims felt alienated from the Congress due to which the relations between Hindus and Muslims worsened.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah was willing to give up the demand for separate electorates if Muslims were assured reserved seats in the central assembly and representation in proportion to population in the Muslim dominated provinces .
nevertheless, the hope of resolving the issue at the all parties conference in 1928 disappeared when M. R. Jaykar of the Hindu mahasabha strongly opposed efforts at compromise.
The sense of collective belonging
How does NATIONALISM spread?
NATIONALISM spread when people begin to believe that they are all parts of the same nation.
The United struggles for independence help them in building the the sense of collective belonging.
History's and fiction and socks popular prints and symbols all played a part of in the making of nationalism.
finally in the 20th century The Identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata. bankim Chandra chattopadhyay created the image and in the 1870 is he wrote vande Mataram as a hymn to the mother land.
Rabindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
In late 19th century India national list begin recording folk tales sung by birds and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends.
during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal it tricolour flag red green and yellow was designed which had eight lotuses representating 8 provinces of British India and a Cresent moon representating in Hindus and Muslims.
By1921, Gandhiji designed the Swaraj flag a tricolor( red green and white ) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing The Gandhian ideal of self help.
Conclusion
in the first half of the twentieth century, various groups and classes of Indian came together for the struggle of independence.
the Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi attempted to resolve differences and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another.
In other words, what is emergency was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.
* A small flow chart**
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