Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement

2.1 Core concepts

• Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa in January 1915 after two decades abroad; his political mentor was the Moderate leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale, on whose advice he spent a year travelling around British India to know the land and its peoples (NCERT §1, p. 287).
• South Africa was, in historian Chandran Devanesan's words, "the making of the Mahatma" — there he forged satyagraha, promoted inter-religious harmony, and alerted upper-caste Indians to discriminatory treatment of low castes and women (NCERT §1, p. 287).
• At the opening of Banaras Hindu University in February 1916, Gandhiji charged the Indian elite with lack of concern for the labouring poor, calling Indian nationalism a "creation of lawyers and doctors and landlords" — a public announcement of his intent to make nationalism more representative (NCERT §1, pp. 288–289).
• Champaran (1917) — Gandhiji spent much of 1917 in Champaran, Bihar, seeking security of tenure and freedom to cultivate crops of their choice for peasants oppressed by British indigo planters (NCERT §2, p. 289).
• 1918 — two campaigns in Gujarat: a labour dispute in Ahmedabad (better working conditions for textile mill workers) and a peasant struggle in Kheda (remission of taxes after harvest failure) (NCERT §2, p. 289).
• Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919) — Gandhiji called a countrywide campaign against the Rowlatt Act (continuing wartime detention without trial and press censorship on the recommendation of Sir Sidney Rowlatt's committee); protests were especially intense in Punjab (NCERT §2, p. 289).
• Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, April 1919 — a British Brigadier ordered troops to fire on a nationalist meeting; more than 400 people were killed. The Rowlatt satyagraha "made Gandhiji a truly national leader" (NCERT §2, pp. 289–290).
• Non-cooperation Movement (1920–22) — Indians were asked to renounce all voluntary association with the British: stop attending government schools/colleges/law courts and not pay taxes; if successful, swaraj would come within a year. Gandhiji joined hands with the Khilafat Movement (led by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, 1919–20) demanding that the Turkish Sultan/Khalifa retain control over Muslim sacred places — to forge Hindu-Muslim unity (NCERT §2, p. 290).
• The movement unleashed unprecedented popular action: 396 strikes in 1921 involving 6,00,000 workers and a loss of seven million workdays; hill tribes in northern Andhra violated forest laws, Awadh farmers did not pay taxes, Kumaun peasants refused to carry loads for officials (NCERT §2.1, p. 290).
• Chauri Chaura, February 1922 — peasants in this hamlet in the United Provinces attacked and torched a police station, killing several constables; Gandhiji called off the movement, saying no provocation could justify the brutal murder of defenceless men. He was arrested in March 1922 and tried for sedition by Justice C.N. Broomfield (six years' imprisonment) (NCERT §2.1, pp. 290–291).
• Gandhiji's identification with common people — wearing a simple dhoti while other leaders wore Western suits or Indian bandgalas, working daily on the charkha (which broke the boundary between mental and manual labour); historian Shahid Amin traced peasant rumours of Gandhiji's miraculous powers in eastern UP (NCERT §2.2, pp. 292–293).
• After release from prison in February 1924, Gandhiji focused on khadi (home-spun cloth), abolition of untouchability, child-marriage reform and Hindu-Muslim harmony — the constructive programme (NCERT §2.2, pp. 294–295).
• 1928 — Gandhiji blessed the all-India campaign against the all-White Simon Commission and the peasant satyagraha in Bardoli, but did not himself lead either (NCERT §3, p. 295).
• Lahore Congress, December 1929 — Jawaharlal Nehru elected President; proclamation of "Purna Swaraj" (complete independence). 26 January 1930 observed as Independence Day (NCERT §3, p. 295).
• Dandi/Salt March (12 March – 6 April 1930) — Gandhiji walked from his Sabarmati ashram to the sea, making a fistful of salt on arrival; salt was chosen because it was indispensable to every Indian household, and the state's salt monopoly was deeply unpopular. About 60,000 Indians were arrested in the wake of the Salt March (NCERT §3.1, pp. 295–298).
• The Salt March was significant because (i) it first brought Gandhiji to world attention via European and American press, (ii) it was the first nationalist activity in which women participated in large numbers (Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay had persuaded Gandhiji not to restrict the protests to men), and (iii) it forced the British to realise their Raj would not last forever (NCERT §3.2, p. 300).
• First Round Table Conference, November 1930 — held without Congress, an "exercise in futility". Gandhiji released in January 1931; Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) — civil disobedience called off, all prisoners released, salt manufacture allowed along the coast. Gandhiji could obtain only an assurance of talks, not a commitment to political independence (NCERT §3.2, p. 300).
• Second Round Table Conference, London, late 1931 — Gandhiji represented Congress; his claim to represent all of India was challenged by the Muslim League, the Princes, and B.R. Ambedkar (who argued Congress did not represent the lowest castes). Conference was inconclusive (NCERT §3.2, pp. 300–301).
• Government of India Act 1935 promised representative government; in 1937 elections, Congress won eight of 11 provinces. Congress ministries resigned in October 1939 after the British refused to promise independence in return for war support (NCERT §3.2, pp. 301–302).
• March 1940 — Muslim League passed a resolution demanding autonomy for Muslim-majority areas. Cripps Mission (spring 1942) — Sir Stafford Cripps sent by Churchill; talks broke down (NCERT §3.2, p. 302).
• Quit India Movement, August 1942 — Gandhiji's third major movement; he was jailed at once, but younger activists organised strikes and sabotage. Socialist members like Jayaprakash Narayan led underground resistance. "Independent" governments were proclaimed in Satara (west) and Medinipur (east). The British took more than a year to suppress the rebellion (NCERT §4, p. 303).
• June 1944 — Gandhiji released from prison; held meetings with Jinnah. 1945 — Labour government in Britain committed to granting independence. Early 1946 — fresh provincial elections; Congress swept "General" seats, League won an overwhelming majority in reserved Muslim seats (NCERT §4, pp. 303–304).
• Cabinet Mission, summer 1946 — failed to get Congress and League to agree on a federal system; Jinnah called for "Direct Action Day". On 16 August 1946, bloody riots broke out in Calcutta, spreading to Bengal, Bihar, UP and Punjab (NCERT §4, p. 304).
• February 1947 — Lord Mountbatten replaced Wavell; he announced India would be freed but divided. Transfer of power fixed for 15 August 1947 (NCERT §4, p. 304).
• Gandhiji was not present at Delhi's Independence Day festivities — he was in Calcutta, marking the day with a 24-hour fast, the freedom having come "at an unacceptable price" with Partition. Through September–October he visited hospitals and refugee camps (NCERT §5, p. 305).
• Months after Independence are called Gandhiji's "finest hour" — he worked for peace in Bengal, then shifted to Delhi planning to move to riot-torn Punjab. There was an attempt on his life on 20 January 1948. On 26 January he spoke of hope that "the worst is over" (NCERT §5, pp. 305–306).
• On the evening of 30 January 1948, at his daily prayer meeting, Gandhiji was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, who surrendered afterwards. Tributes came from George Orwell, Albert Einstein; Time compared his martyrdom to Lincoln's (NCERT §5, p. 306).
• Knowing Gandhi (sources) — §6.1 public speeches vs private letters (Gandhiji published others' letters in Harijan; Nehru edited A Bunch of Old Letters); §6.2 autobiographies are retrospective and selective, "framing a picture"; §6.3 government records — Home Department's confidential Fortnightly Reports of the Salt March refused to accept any mass response; §6.4 newspapers in English and Indian languages tracked his movements but reflected the publishers' political opinions (NCERT §6, pp. 307–313).

2.2 Definitions to memorise

2.3 Diagrams / processes to remember

• Fig. 11.1 (p. 286) — Crowds gathered on the banks of the Sabarmati River to hear Gandhiji speak before starting the Salt March, 1930.
• Fig. 11.2 (p. 287) — Mahatma Gandhi in Johannesburg, South Africa, February 1908.
• Fig. 11.4 (p. 291) — Foreign cloth being collected to be burnt in bonfires during the Non-cooperation Movement, July 1922.
• Fig. 11.5 (p. 292) — Mahatma Gandhi with the charkha — "the most abiding image of Indian nationalism". In 1921 during a South India tour, Gandhiji shaved his head and began wearing a loincloth to identify with the poor.
• Fig. 11.6 (p. 296) — Dandi March, March 1930.
• Fig. 11.7 (p. 297) — Satyagrahis picking up natural salt at the end of the Dandi March, 6 April 1930.
• Fig. 11.9 (p. 301) — Second Round Table Conference, London, November 1931, where Gandhi opposed separate electorates for "lower castes".
• Fig. 11.12 (p. 303) — Women's procession in Bombay during the Quit India Movement.
• Fig. 11.15 (p. 306) — Popular print of Gandhiji's death, showing Nehru and Patel beside his pyre with Gandhi blessing them from a heavenly realm.
• Fig. 11.17 (p. 313) — Popular print of "the tree of nationalism" — Gandhi as the central figure surrounded by small images of other leaders and sages.
• Timeline (p. 314) — 1915 return; 1917 Champaran; 1918 Kheda + Ahmedabad; 1919 Rowlatt + Jallianwala Bagh; 1921 Non-cooperation + Khilafat; 1928 Bardoli; 1929 Purna Swaraj; 1930 Civil Disobedience/Dandi; 1931 Gandhi-Irwin + 2nd RTC; 1935 Government of India Act; 1939 Congress ministries resign; 1942 Quit India; 1946 Noakhali visit.

2.5 Timeline / Key events

2.4 Common confusions / NTA trap points

• 1918 was the year of BOTH the Ahmedabad mill strike AND the Kheda peasant satyagraha — students often place one of them in 1917 with Champaran. Champaran (Bihar, indigo planters) is 1917; Ahmedabad (mill workers) and Kheda (peasants, tax remission) are 1918.
• The Salt March ran 12 March to 6 April 1930 — not "12 March to 12 April"; the salt-making at Dandi was on the morning of 6 April 1930 (Fig. 11.7 caption, p. 297).
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was March 1931, not 1930; civil disobedience was called off by the pact, not launched by it. The Pact allowed salt manufacture along the coast and released prisoners — but did NOT secure any commitment to political independence (NCERT §3.2, p. 300).
• At the Second Round Table Conference, Gandhi's claim to represent all India was challenged by three parties: Muslim League, the Princes, and Ambedkar — not by the British government. Distractor "Hindu Mahasabha" is wrong.
• Khilafat Movement (1919–20) was led by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, NOT by Gandhi; Gandhi sought to conjoin it with Non-cooperation. The demand was that the Khalifa retain control over Muslim sacred places — not the creation of Pakistan.
• The Cabinet Mission was 1946, the Cripps Mission was 1942 — both are easy to confuse. Cripps was sent in spring 1942 by Churchill; Cabinet Mission was summer 1946.