 India: growth of modern nationalism connected to anti-

colonial movement

 Being oppressed = shared bond between different groups

 But --> their expeirences, notions about freedom were

different

THE FIRST WORLD WAR, KHILAFAT AND NON-COOPERATION

 War --> a new economic and political situation

 War --> increase in defence expenditure (met by war loans

and increasing taxes, introduction of custom duties and
income tax) --> prices increased (doubled from 1913-18) -->
extreme hardships for common people --> villages called to
supply soldiers --> forced recruitment --> anger

 1918-19 and 1920-21 --> crops failed --> acute food

shortages (accompanied by an influenza epidemic) --> 13
million people perished

 War's end --> people hoped their hardships would end -->
didn't happen

The Idea of Satyagraha

 Mahatma Gandhi (returned Jan 1915) --> came from South

Africa --> had fought racist regime through satyagraha
(novel method of mass agitation) --> emphasised power of
truth and the need to search for truth --> if cause = true,
againstt= injustice, then physical force = unnecessary -->
victory by appealing to oppressor's conscience --> ppl had to
see the truth instead of being forced to accept it through
violence --> ultimate triupmh: truth --> Gandhi believed this
dharma of non-violence could unite all Indians

 1916 Champaran (Bihar) --> peasants against oppressive

plantation system

 1917 Kheda (Gujarat) --> supported peasants affected by

crop failure + plague epidemic = cant pay revenue -->
demanding revenue collection be relaxed
  1918 Ahmedabad (Andhra P.) --> satyagraha movement
amongst cotton mill workers

The Rowlatt Act

 1919: nationwide satyagraha against Rowlatt Act

 The Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial

Legislative Council (despite united opposition of the Indian
members)

 Act --> gave govt. enormous powers to repress political

activities, allowed detention of political prisoners without
trial for two years

 Gandhi --> wanted a non-violent civil disobedience movt.

against such unjust laws, which would start with a hartal on
April 6 1919

 Reaction to the Act --> Rallies were organised, workers went

on strike in railway workshops, shops were closed

 Government's reaction to ppl's rxn to act (+ fear of

disruption of railways and telegraph lines) --> local leaders
were picked up from Amritsar, Gandhi barred from entering
Delhi, police fire on peaceful processsion in Amritsar (10
April)

 This firing --> widespread attack on banks, post offices etc.

--> martial law imposed, General Dyer took command

 13 April: Large crowd (protesters + Baisakhi fair) -->

Jallianwala Bagh massacre (JBM for now)--> most rural ppl
there were unawar of martial law --> Dyer wanted 'too
produce a moral effect' (terror and awe)

 JBM --> crowds took to streets in many north Indian towns

--> strikes, clashes with the police, attacks on govt.
buildings --> govt.: brutal repression, humiliate + terrorise,
satyagrahis forced to rub noses on ground, crawl on streets,
salaam (salute) all sahibs, ppl flogged, villages around
Gujranwala (punjab, now in Pak) bombed --> Gandhi called
off the movt.
  Rowlatt satyagraha --> big, but limited to cities and towns
--> need for more broad-based movt. --> need to unite
Hindu & Muslims --> Khilafat issue

 WW1 --> defeat of Ottoman Turkey --> rumors about harsh

treaty going to be imposed on Ottoman emporer (=spiritual
head of Islamic world = Khalifa) --> Khilafat Committee
formed in Bombay March 1919 to defend Khalifa's temporal
powers --> young Muslim leaders (e.g. Muhammad +
Shaukat Ali) + Gandhi = discussion on united mass action
--> Gandhi saw this ass opportunity to bring Musims under
the umbrella of a unified national movt. --> Calcutta session
of Congress Sep 1920: Gandhi convinced leaders to start
non-cooperation movt. for Khilafat + swaraj

Why Non-cooperation?

 Hind Swaraj (1909) = famous book by Gandhi --> says

British rule was est. and maintained with Indian's help, it
would collapse in a year

 Movt. to be unfolded in stages --> first surrender of titles,

boycott of civil services, army, police, courts, legislative
councils, schools, foreign goods --> if govt. repressed -->
civil disobedience

 summer 1920 --> Gandhi + Ali toured, gathered support

 Many Congress members were reluctant to boycott the

council elections scheduled for Nov 1920 --> feared that
movt. might lead to violence--> sep-Dec: intense tussle

 Finally Dec 1920 Nagpur session: compromise worked out,

non-coop programme adopted

DIFFERING STRANDS WITHIN THE MOVEMENT

The Movement in Towns

 Started with middle class participation:

o students left govt. schools

 o headmaster & teachers resigned

o lawyers gave up practice

o council elections boycotted in most provinces except

Madras

 Madras --> Justice Party (of non-Brahmins) felt entering

council was one way of gaining some power (which was
limited to Brahmins)

 Economic:

o foreign goods boycotted

o liquor shops picketed

o foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires

o import of foreign cloth halved b/w 1921-22 (value from

Rs. 102 crore to 57)

o many merchants, traders refused to trade in foreign

goods/finance foreign trade

o imported clothes discarded --> indian worn -->

production of Indian textile mills and handlooms
increased

 But movt. slowed down:

o Khadi was expensive (comparatively) --> poor can't

afford

o no alterante Indian institutions to replace British ones

Rebellion in the Countryside

 movt. drew in peasants and tribals

 Awadh: peasants led by Baba Ramchandra (ex-indentured
labourer from Fiji, sanyasi) --> against talukdars and
landlords (for high rents, cesses/taxes, begar, no security of
tenure of tenants & were regularly evicted so that they
didn't have any rights over the land) --> demanded revenue
reduction, abolition of begar, social boycott of oppressive
landlords

 In many places: nai-dhobi bandhs were organised by

Panchayats to deprive landlords of barbers and washermen

 June 1920: JLN started going around the villages in Awadh,

talking, understanding grievances

 Oct: Oudh Kisan Sabha est., headed by JLN and Baba

Ramchandra --> over 300 branches within a month in
nearby villages

 Non-coop movt. --> integrate Awadh peasant struggle into

the wider struggle

 Peasant movt. --> not on same line as Congress --> 1921:

talukdar's, merchant's houses attacked, bazaar's looted,
grain hoards taken over

 Many places: local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had

declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be
redistributed among the poor

 Name of Mahatma invoked to sanction all actions and

aspirations

 Tribals --> interpreted Gandhi and swaraj in a diff. way

 Gundam Hills (Andhra P.): militant guerilla movt. spread in

the early 1920s (which wouldn't have been approved by the
Congress)

 Here: Brits took away forest entry rights of ppl --> livelihood
affected, traditional rights denied --> then Brits asked ppl to
contribute begar to build road --> ppl angry --> revolt
  Leader --> interesting --> Alluri Sitaram Raju --> said he
could make correct astrological predictions, heal ppl, survive
bullets --> incarnation of god? --> oversold Gandhi, non-
coop movt., persuaded to wear Khadi, give up drinking -->
but said violence = necessary

 Gundam rebels --> attacked police stations, attempted to kill

British officials, carried on guerilla warfare (all for swaraj)

 Raju --> captured, executed 1924 --> folk hero

Swaraj in the Plantations

 Assam:plantation workers' swaraj --> free movt., retaining

link with home village

 Inland Emigration Act (1859) --> plantation workers not

permitted to leave tea gardens without permission

 workers --> believed Gandhi Raj incoming, every1 will be

given land in their own village --> stranded on the way by a
railway and steamer strike --> caught by police, brutally
beaten up

ppl --> had own visions of swaraj --> but related to greater
struggle
5 Feb 1922, Chauri Chaura: non-coop campaigners turned violent
--> police fired --> ppl set fire to police station --> casualties: 3
civilians, 23 policemen --> non-coop movt. stopped

TOWARDS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

 Govt. of India Act 1919: set up elections to the provincial

councils

 ppl in Congress wanted to take part in council elections -->

C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed Swaraj Party within the
Congress

 But JLN, S.C. Bose --> called for mass agitation --> full
independence
  Conflict --> 2 factors shaped Indian politics at this time (late
1920s):

o 1926-30: Agricultural prices declined --> collapsed in

1920 (Great Economic Depression) --> demand fell,
exports declined --> couldnt sell agricultural products
--> turmoil

o Tory govt. in Britain constituted a Statutory Commission

under Sir John Simon -->set up in response to
nationalist movt. --> had to look into functioning of the
constitutional system in India and suggest changes -->
no Indian member

 1928: came to india --> 'Go Back Simon' --> demonstrations

by all parties

 Oct 1929: Lord Irwin (viceroy) to win them over, announced

a vague offer of 'dominion status' for India in an unspecified
future, and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future
constitution --> did not satisfy Congress leaders

 INC: Radicals became more assertive, liberals and

moderates lost influence (were proposing a constitutional
system within the framework of British dominion)

 Dec 1929: Lahore Congress session under presidency of JLN

--> demand for 'Purna Swaraj' --> 26 Jan 1930 to be
observed as Independence Day --> pledge to fight for
Independence on that day --> attracted little attention -->
Gandhi thought of new things

The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement

 Gandhi --> salt = powerful symbol

 31 Jan 1930: letter to Irwin --> 11 demnds (wide ranging, to

relate to ppl), including abolish of salt tax (salt = consumed
by all, imp. ingredient in food) --> ultimatum --> if Irwin
didn't negotiate (which he didn't), Congress would launch a
Civil Disobedience campaign
 Gandhi+78 trusted followers --> salt march --> 240 miles
from Gandhiji's ashram (sabarmati) to Dandi in Gujarat -->
24 days --> Gandhi talked to ppl in between

 6 Apr: reached Dandi, violated law

 Civil Disobedience = non coop + break laws

 Thousands broke salt law in front of govt. sal factories

 Foreign cloth boycotted

 Liquor shops picketed

 Peasants refused to pay revenue, chaukidari taxes

 Village officials resigned

 Many ppl broke forest laws

 Govt. --> started arresting Congress leaders one by one -->

revolts

 E.g. Abdul Gaffar Khan (Gandhian) arrested in April 1930 -->

angry crowds demonstrated in the streets of Peshawar,
facing armoured cars and police firing

 May 1930: Gandhi arrested --> Sholapur's industrial workers

attacked police posts, municipal buildings, lawcourts, railway
stations (symbols of British rule) --> brutal repression
(attacks+arrests of satyagrahis)

 5 March 1931: Gandhi-Irwin pact: movt. called off, Gandhi

went to Round Table Conference, prisoners released

 Dec 1931: Round Table Conference London --> negotiations

broke down, Gandhi disappointed

 On his return, Gandhi told that govt. was resorting to

repression --> Ghaffar Khan and JLN still in jail, Congress
declared illegal, measures to prevent meetings,
demonstrations, boycotts

 Movt. relaunched 1932 --> lost its momentum by 1934

How Participants saw the Movement

 Contryside: rich peasant communities (e.g. Patidars of

Gujarat and Jats of UP) were active in the movt.--> lost crops
--> couldn't pay revenue --> angered when govt. didnt lower
revenue --> joined movt. --> organised communities, at
times forced reluctant members, to participate in boycott
programmes --> but disappointed when movt. called off in
1931 and refused to participate in 1932

 small peasants --> incomes dwindled --> could not pay rent
to landlord --> wanted it to be remitted --> joined movts. led
by SOcialists and Communists --> but Congress no support
(to not offend rich landlords)

 Businessmen --> reacted against colonial policies that

restricted business activities --> expand business -->
protection against import of foreign goods, a rupee-sterling
foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports -->
organised the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in
1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of
Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927 --> led by
Purshottamdas Thakurdas, G.D. Birla, attacked colonial
control over the Indian economy --> sp movt. --> financial
help, refused to buy or sell imported goods --> but after
failed Round Table Conference, were apprehensive of the
spread of militant activities, worries about prolonged
disruption of business, of growing influence of socialism
amongst the younger members of the Congress

 Industrial working class --> no participation except Nagpur

--> as industrialists came closer to the Congress, workers
stayed aloof --> some did, against low wages, poor working
conditions --> railway workers strike 1930 and dockworkers'
1932

 1930s: thousands of workers in Chotanagpur tin mines wore

Gandhi caps, protest rallies, boycott campaigns --> But
congress no support as it would alienate industrialists, divide
the anti imperial forces

 Women --> much wow --> salt march: listened to Gandhi,

protest marches, manufactured salt, picketed foreign cloth
and liquor shops, jailed also --> were the high-class in urban
 and rich peasant household in rural areas --> remained
symbolic --> no change in their ACTUAL position

The Limits of the Civil Disobedience

 Not all groups moved by the abstract concept of Swaraj -->

e.g. untouchables (dalit/oppressed)

 Congress --> didnt do anything for untouchables, didnt want

to offend sanatanis

 But Gandhi --> called them Harijan (children of God), got

them entry in temples, public facilities, tanks, wells, roads,
schools --> cleaned toilets to make himself seem equal to
Bhangis (sweepers) --> pursuaded upper caste

 But Dalit leaders went for political empowerment of dalits

 Thus, limited to Nagpur, Maharashtra region, where their

organisation was strong

 B.R. Ambedkar (who organised the dailts into the Depressed

Classes Association in 1930) --> Round table conference -->
demanded separate electorates for Dalits --> got it -->
Gandhi fasted unto death, saying it would slow their
integration with the society --> Ambedkar accepeted
ultimately --> Poona Pact (sept 1932) --> gave reserved
seats in provincial and central legislative councils, but they
were to be voted in by the general electorate

 But Dalit movt. = apprehensive of COngress' national movt.

 Muslim --> declining relations with Congress after the

decline of the Non-coop Khilafat movt. --> Congress became
more associated with the Hindu groups e.g. Hindu
Mahasabha --> deepening distance between Hindus and
Muslims, clashes, riots

 Muslim League, Congress tried to make alliance --> seemed

possible in 1927 --> imp. differences were over the question
of representation in the future assemblies that were to be
elected --> Muhammad Ali Jinnah (a Muslim league leader)
agreed to give up demand for separate electorates, in return
for aussred reserved sears in the Central Assembly,
 representation in proportion with population in Muslim
dominated areas (Punjab & Bengal) --> hopes disappeared in
1928 at the All Parties Conference when M.R. Jayakar (of
Hindu Mahasabha) opposed efforts at compromise

 Muslim leaders --> expressed worries about Muslim minority

THE SENSE OF COLLECTIVE BELONGING

 Nationalism --> mainly through united struggles, but also

through history, fiction, folklore, songs, popular prints, etc.

 20th c.: India came to be recognised as Bharat Mata

 Image first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

--> wrote Vande Mataram in 1870s --> included in his novel
Anandamath, widely sung during the Swadeshi movt.

 Abanindranath Tagore --> painted Bharat Mata 1905 -->

portrayed an ascetic figure, calm, composed, divine, spiritual
--> acquired different forms --> nationalism

 Nationalism --> through a movt. to revive Indian folklore -->

nationalists toured, recorded --> believed that these tales
gave a true picture of traditional culture (which had been
damaged by foreigners) --> preservation of folklore =
preservation of national identity = restore pride in one's past

 Bengal: Rabindranath Tagore led this movt.

 Madras: Natesa Sastri --> massive 4-volume collection of

Tamil folktales, The Folklore of Southern India. --> believed
folklore = national literature = 'most trustworthy
manifestation of people's real thoughts and characteristics'

 During Swadeshi movt. --> tricolour flag designed (red,

green, yellow) --> eight lotuses (8 provinces of British India),
crescent moon (Hinus, Muslims)

 1921: Gandhi designed Swaraj Flag --> tricolour (red, green,

white), spinning wheel at the centre (self-help) --> carrying
flag = symbol of defiance
  Reinterpretation of history: instead of thinking Indians as
backwards, looked at achievements, glorious dev in math,
sc, arts, arch, etc. --> decline during colonisation

 Problem: when these past images/folklores were from Hindu

stuff, other communities felt left out

Conclusion

 anger against colonial govt. --> unision

 Congress, Gandhi --> tried to organise ppl's grievances into

a movt.

 But diverse country, diverse Swaraj meanings, diverse

everything --> Congress tried to resolve differences but this
caused both unity and disunity