🇮🇳 Nationalism in India

📝 Introduction

  • Modern nationalism → Led to nation-states and new national identities.
  • In India → Anti-colonial movements + formation of Indian National Congress (INC) and other political organisations → united people.

🌍 World War I (1914–1918) and Its Impact on India

  1. Defence Expenditure Increased 💰
    • Massive rise in defence spending.
    • Supported by war loans & higher taxes (customs duty ↑, income tax introduced).
  2. Inflation 📈
    • Prices doubled between 1913–1918.
    • Life became difficult for common people.
  3. Forced Recruitment 🪖
    • Villagers forced to join army.
    • Many soldiers drawn from the countryside → anger spread.
  4. Famine 🌾
    • Crop failures → food shortages in many parts of India.
  5. Epidemic 🦠
    • 1921 census: 12–13 million deaths due to famine & epidemic.

✊ The Idea of Satyagraha

  • Meaning: Satya (truth) + Agraha (insistence) = Fight injustice through truth & non-violence.
  • Principle: If the cause is true, no need for physical force; convince the oppressor to see truth.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Gandhi’s Early Satyagrahas in India

  • Returned to India in Jan 1915 after success in South Africa.
  • 3 Major Satyagrahas:
    1. Champaran (1916) – Against oppressive indigo plantation system.
    2. Kheda (1918) – Crop failure + epidemic → Revenue remission demand.
    3. Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918) – Workers demanded wage increase.

⚖ Rowlatt Act (1919)

  • Passed quickly by Imperial Legislative Assembly despite Indian opposition.
  • Provisions:
    • Allowed detention without trial for 2 years.
    • Political prisoners could be convicted without normal court procedures.

📢 Gandhi’s Reaction

  • Called for nationwide Satyagraha.
  • Began with hartal on 6 April 1919.

👥 People’s Response

  • Rallies in cities.
  • Railway & telegraph services disrupted.
  • Shops closed.
  • Strikes in railway workshops.

🇬🇧 British Government’s Reaction

  • Local leaders arrested.
  • Gandhi banned from entering Delhi.
  • 10 April 1919: Police fired on peaceful gathering → protests intensified.
  • Attacks on banks, post offices, railway stations.
  • Martial law imposed; General Dyer took command.

💔 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919)

📅 Timeline of Events

  • 10 March 1919 – Rowlatt Act passed (Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act).
  • 18 March 1919 – Gandhi calls for nationwide hartal on 6 April.
  • 9 April 1919 – Ram Navami celebrations see Hindu–Muslim unity → alarms British.
  • 10 April 1919 – Dr. Satyapal & Dr. Kitchlew arrested.
  • 13 April (Morning) – Baisakhi prayers at Golden Temple; gathering at Jallianwala Bagh demanding release of leaders.
  • 13 April (5:30 PM) – General Dyer with 90 troops fires for 11 minutes at unarmed civilians (men, women, children).

📌 Consequences

  • Hundreds killed, many injured.
  • Strikes, clashes with police, attacks on govt property across India.
  • British repression: flogging, village bombings.
  • Gandhi called off movement due to violence.

🪖 Key Figures

  • General Reginald Dyer – Ordered firing; known as “Butcher of Amritsar”.
  • Michael O’Dwyer – Punjab Lt. Governor; supported Dyer’s actions.
  • Martial Law – Banned gatherings of more than two people.

🕌 Khilafat Movement (1919–1924)

  • Cause: Ottoman Turkey lost WWI → Rumours of harsh treaty on Ottoman Sultan (Khalifa – spiritual leader of Muslims).
  • Formation: Khilafat Committee, Bombay, March 1919.
  • Leaders: Maulana Azad, Ajmal Khan, Hasrat Mohani, Muhammad Ali, Shaukat Ali.
  • Gandhi linked Khilafat to Indian independence.
  • 1920: Alliance formed between Khilafat leaders & INC.
  • Pledged joint struggle for Khilafat cause + Swaraj.
  • Donations collected; committee sent funds to Ankara government of Mustafa Kemal.

🚫 Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–1922)

📖 Gandhi’s View (Hind Swaraj, 1909)

  • British rule exists because Indians cooperate.
  • Stop cooperation → System collapses.

📅 Launch

  • Inaugurated 1 August 1920 (linked to Khilafat).
  • Officially launched Jan 1921; adopted in Dec 1920 INC session.

🛠 Stages & Methods

  1. Surrender of titles.
  2. Boycott:
    • Civil services, police, army, courts, legislative councils.
    • Govt schools & foreign goods.
  3. If repression continued → Launch full Civil Disobedience.

🏙 Movement in Towns

  • Teachers resigned.
  • Lawyers left practice.
  • Students quit govt schools.
  • Council elections boycotted (except Madras → Justice Party in power).

💰 Economic Impact

  • Foreign goods boycotted.
  • Liquor shops picketed.
  • Foreign cloth burnt in bonfires.
  • Imports of foreign cloth halved (1921–22).
  • Boost to Indian handloom & textiles.

🌾 Movement in Countryside

  • Awadh peasants led by Baba Ram Chandra (ex-indentured labourer in Fiji).
  • Problems:
    • Forced begar (unpaid labour).
    • High rents & cesses by talukdars/landlords.
  • Demands:
    • Abolition of begar.
    • Reduction of revenue.