These are just some of the ques ... Lets start first ...

Chapter 3

Nationalism in India

Q:1. Define Nationalism.

Ans:1. It is a sense of collective belonging and feeling of oneness among the people. It is based on common interests and aspirations, common historical heritage, and culture and sometimes even a common language. There is political, economic, social, spiritual and emotional bonding. (The growth of Indian nationalism began in the 19th century).

Q:2. Why was the growth of nationalism in colonies linked to anti-colonial movements?

Ans:2.​i. People began to discover their unity in the process of their struggle with colonialism.

ii. The sense of being oppressed under colonial rule provided a shared bond that tied many groups together. E.g. in India, nationalism grew under conditions created by British rule.

iii. However each class and group felt the effects of colonialism differently. They not only had varied experiences and aspirations but also different notions of freedom.

iv. Anti-imperialist movements promoted freedom struggles. Nationalists tried to forge national unity against colonialism. E.g. Indian National Congress

v. But the unity did not emerge without conflict.

Q:3. What was the impact of 1st World War on India?

Ans:3. i. It led to huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increase in taxes. Custom duties were increased and income tax was introduced.

ii. During the war years prices increased and doubled between 1913 and 1918. This led to extreme hardship for the common people.

iii. Villagers were called upon to supply soldiers and forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger.

iv. In 1918-19 and 1920-21 crops failed in many parts of India. This resulted in acute shortage of food.

v. This was accompanied by an influenza epidemic. According to census of 1921, 12 to 13 million people perished as a result of famines and epidemic.

Q:4. What were the contributions of Indians to the 1st World War?

Ans:4. i. India financed the British defence expenditure by way of paying higher taxes. Custom duties were increased and income tax was introduced during the 1st World War.

ii. India supplied soldiers to British during First World War. Mass recruitment was done in rural areas.

Q:5. Explain forced recruitment.

Ans:5. A process by which the colonial state forced people to join the army.

Q:6. What was the idea of Satyagraha?

Ans:6. i. Satyagraha was based on truth and non-violence. It was chief component ofGandhiji’s ideology. He first used this novel method of mass agitation and action successfully in Africa against the racist policies of the government.

ii. Ahimsa or non-violence was an inseparable component of Satyagraha. The Satyagrahi was not to seek vengeance and aggression but remain peaceful. He would hate the evil and unjust practices but not develop hatred or ill will against the evil doer under any circumstances as these lead to violence.

iii. Truth: Satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for the truth. He referred to it as ‘Soul force or true force’ He explained that if the cause was true and if the struggle was against injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight oppression. Truth would ultimately triumph and all goals would be achieved.

iv. The idea was to arouse the conscience of the oppressor about truth and justness with persuasion and not with the force of violence.

v. Satyagraha could assume various forms ~ fasting, non-violent picketing, non-cooperation and even civil disobedience.

Q:7. Briefly explain the 4 satyagraha movements by Gandhiji upto 1918.

Ans 7  (i) fight against racist regime of South Africa, Gandhiji fought against the oppression committed by white rulers there against Indian black population. He fought the racist regime with a novel method of peaceful mass agitation called satyagraha.

(ii) Champaran satyagraha: In 1916, Gandhiji went to Champaran in Bihar to inspirer the peasants against the oppressive system of indigo planters .The government was forced to inquire the injustices committed by indigo planters and to put end to them.

(iii) Kheda (Gujarat): In 1917, Gandhiji organized a satyagraha to support the peasants ofKheda district of Gujarat. They could not pay the revenue due to crop failure and plague epidemic and were demanding that revenue collection to be relaxed.

(iv) Ahmedabad: In 1918, Gandhiji went to Ahmedabad to organize a satyagraha to support the cotton mill workers. They were demanding a rise in their wages.

Q:8 What was the Rowlatt Act? How was Rowlatt satyagraha organized and what were the British reactions?

Rowlatt Act- It gave the government enormous power to repress political activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for 2 years.

Rowlatt Satyagraha-(i) Rowlatt satyagraha was the first nationwide satyagraha launched byGandhiji. It was launched in1919 to oppose the unjust Rowlatt Act passed by the government despite the united opposition of Indian members.

(ii) Gandhiji started non-violent civil disobedience with a hartal on 6th April 1919.

(iii) Rallies were organized in various cities. Workers went on strike in railway workshopsand shops were closed down.

British reaction- (i) Alarmed by the popular upsurge and scared that lines of communication such as railways and telegraph may be disrupted, British government decided to clamp on nationalists.

(ii) Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar and Gandhiji was barred from entering Delhi.

(iii) On 10th April, the police fired on a peaceful procession in Amritsar.

(iv) This provoked a widespread attack on banks, post offices and railway stations.

(v) Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.

Q 9 Write a short note on Jallianwalla Bagh incident.

Ans 9 (i) On 13th April 1919, the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place.

(ii) On that day a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh.

(iii) Some came to protest against the government’s new repressive measures. Others had come to attend the annual Baisakhi fair.

(iv) Being from outside the city, many villagers were unaware of the martial law that had been imposed.

(v) Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds.

(vi) His object, as he declared later, was to create a moral effect; to create in the minds ofsatyagrahis a feeling of terror and awe.

Q:10. What was the impact of the Jallianwalla Bagh incident on nationalist movement? How did the British repress people?

Ans:10. i. After the incident, crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns.

ii. There were strikes, clashed with the police and attack on government buildings.

iii. Government responded with brutal repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorize people.

iv. Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, people were flogged and villages were bombed.

v. Seeing wide spread violence, Gandhiji called off the satyagraha.

Q:11. How was the Khilafat Movement Organized in India?

Ans.11. i. A Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March, 1919, to defend theKhalifa’s temporal powers.

ii. Aim: a. To show due respect to the Capital (Khalifa).

​b. To undo the injustices done to Turkey.

iii. A young generation of Muslim leaders like the Ali brothers- Mohd. Ali and Shaukat Ali began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi the possibility of united mass action on the issue.

iv. Gandhiji saw this as a good opportunity to promote Hindu-Muslim unity and to bring more Muslims into a unified National movement and give it a broader base.

v. At the 1920, Calcutta Session of Congress, he convinced other leaders to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat and Swaraj and the programme was ultimately adopted at the 1920 Nagpur session. It began in 1921.

vi. After the decline of the movement in 1922, a large section of Muslims fell alienated from the Congress. The Khilafat Movement failed to influence the British government policy on Turkey.

Q:12. What were the aims of non-cooperation movement?

Ans:12. i. To redress the wrongs done to the people of Punjab and Turkey.

ii. The attainment of Swaraj by the people of India by all legitimate and peaceful means.

Q:13. What was Gandhiji’s idea of non-cooperation in Hind Swaraj? How could it become a movement?

Ans:13. Gandhiji explained that British rule had been established in India with the cooperation of Indians and it had survived only because of this cooperation but if Indiansrefused to cooperate with British rule, it would collapse within one year and Swaraj would be achieved.

i.

Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages.

ii.

It should begin with the surrender of Government titles, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods.

iii.

Then, in case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.

iv.

Through the summer of 1920 Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively, mobilizing popular support for the movement.

Q:14. What were the 5 achievements of non-cooperation movement in towns?

Ans:14. i. Thousands of students and teachers left government controlled educational institutions.

ii. Lawyers gave up legal practice in courts.

iii. Boycott of council elections in most provinces except Madras.

iv. Picketing of liquor shops.

v. Boycott and bonfire of foreign goods.

vi. Decline in import of foreign goods.

vii. Decline in trade and finance of foreign goods due to boycott by many Indian merchants and traders.

viii. Increase in production of Indian textile mills and handloom(Khadi) as the boycottmovement spread, people began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones.

Q:15. Why did non-cooperation movement gradually slowdown in towns?

Ans:15. i. In some places like Madras, the non-Brahmin Justice Party favoured council entry in order to gain power which the Brahmins had denied to them.

ii. Khadi was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and unaffordable by many. It was not easily available everywhere.

iii. Indian educational institutions were slow to come up. So boycott of British institutions was only partially successful.

iv. Lawyers joined back to work in courts.

Q:16. What were the 3 problems of the peasants of Awadh? What were their demands?

Ans:16. PROBLEMS –

i.

Both Ramachandra and a sanyasi leader led the Awadh peasants movement against exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other cesses charged by Talukdars.

ii.

They protested against ‘Begar’, ie forced labour performed by villagers for the landlords without any payment.

iii.

As tenants, they had no security of tenure, being regularly evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land.

DEMANDS –

i.

They demanded reduction of land revenues.

ii.

They demanded abolition of Begar.

iii.

They demanded more security of tenure and rights over leased lands from which they were frequently evicted.

iv.

They also demanded social boycott of oppressive landlords. Eg. Nai-Dhobibandhs were organized to deprive landlords of these services.

Q:17. Critically examine how Congress tried to integrate the Awadh peasent movement with the National Movement.

Ans:17. i. Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru toured Awadh to gather information about peasant grievances and formed the Oudh Kisan Sabha.

ii. Subsequently 300 branches came up in the region as the non-cooperation movement made efforts to integrate peasant struggle.

iii. However, peasant movements did not actually develop according to the Congress’ programme due to violent activities eg looting, attacks on houses of Talukdars and merchants.

iv. The name of Mahatma Gandhi was being used (invoked) to sanction all activities and aspirations.

v. Eg. Redistribution of land to the poor was declared by some local leaders themselves.