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SSC-Standard General Studies Foundation · Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Nationalism in the Colonies and Livelihoods under Colonial Rule

What to remember

  • The Indian national movement grew from the Congress's petitions (1885) to mass movements under Gandhi, and ended in independence on 15 August 1947.
  • British rule changed the Indian economy: land revenue systems, commercial crops and cheap factory imports hurt farmers and artisans, and the old handloom and craft industries declined.
  • Colonial nationalism was not only Indian: Vietnam, Indonesia and others also fought for freedom.

1. Rise of nationalism in India

Causes: the economic drain, racial discrimination, English education that spread ideas of liberty, a free press, railways and telegraph linking regions, and social reform movements. Early associations such as the Indian Association and the Madras Mahajana Sabha gave way to the Indian National Congress (1885), founded with the help of A.O. Hume. The first president was W.C. Bonnerjee.

Phases

  • 1. Moderates (1885-1905): petitions, prayers, protests; leaders such as Dadabhai Naoroji, G.K. Gokhale and Surendranath Banerjee.
  • 2. Extremists: Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai wanted self-rule and used boycott. Tilak said "Swaraj is my birthright".
  • 3. Gandhian phase (1919-1947): mass movements based on satyagraha and non-violence.

2. Timeline of the movement

YearEvent
1905Partition of Bengal; Swadeshi and boycott begin
1906Muslim League founded
1916Lucknow Pact between Congress and Muslim League
1919Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April, Amritsar)
1920-22Non-Cooperation Movement with the Khilafat movement
1922Chauri Chaura; Gandhi called off the movement
1927Simon Commission (no Indian member) appointed; it arrived in February 1928 and was boycotted
1929Lahore session: Poorna Swaraj resolution under Jawaharlal Nehru
1930Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha); Civil Disobedience Movement
1931Gandhi-Irwin Pact
1932Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar
1942Quit India Movement, "Do or Die", launched 8 August in Bombay
1946Cabinet Mission
1947Independence and Partition, 15 August

Other strands: revolutionary groups (Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad), the Indian National Army under Subhas Chandra Bose, and workers', peasants' and tribal movements.

3. Andhra in the movement

  • In the Swadeshi period (1905-08), agitation spread in the Godavari region and in Rajahmundry, with Bipin Chandra Pal's 1907 tour giving it a boost.
  • Alluri Sitarama Raju led the Rampa rebellion of tribal people in the Eastern Ghats (1922-24) against forest laws and colonial rule.
  • Potti Sriramulu joined the Gandhian movement; his fast for a Telugu-speaking state led to the formation of Andhra State in 1953.
  • Tanguturi Prakasam, known as "Andhra Kesari", and Pingali Venkayya, designer of the national flag's first design, belong to this land.
  • Madras Presidency covered Telugu areas, so much political activity was linked to Madras.

4. Colonial economy

Drain of wealth: Dadabhai Naoroji explained that India's wealth flowed to Britain through salaries, pensions, profits and "home charges", with no return.

Land revenue systems

SystemIntroduced by / areaWho paid
Permanent Settlement (1793)Cornwallis; Bengal, BiharZamindars, with fixed revenue
RyotwariThomas Munro; Madras and BombayIndividual cultivator
MahalwariNorth-western areasVillage community

Revenue was high, and fixed in cash, so farmers borrowed from moneylenders and lost land.

Commercialisation of agriculture: farmers were pushed to grow cotton, jute, indigo, opium, tea and sugarcane for export. Indigo planters forced peasants to grow indigo; the Indigo revolt of 1859-60 in Bengal opposed this. Food crop area fell and famines grew. Famines such as the Bengal famine of 1943 caused huge loss of life.

Railways (first line 1853) helped movement of goods and troops. Benefits for Britain came first, as raw materials were carried to ports and finished goods to the interior.

Modern industry: Cotton mills in Bombay, jute mills in Calcutta and the Tata Iron and Steel Company (set up 1907 at Jamshedpur) developed slowly. Britain protected its own interests.

5. Decline of handloom and crafts

  • In the eighteenth century, Indian cotton and silk cloth sold across the world. Ports such as Masulipatnam (Machilipatnam) on the Andhra coast were famous for printed and painted cloth, and Europeans came there for trade.
  • After the Industrial Revolution, cheap machine-made Manchester cloth entered India nearly duty-free, while high duties were put on Indian cloth in Britain.
  • Spinners and weavers lost work. Weaver towns shrank. Raw cotton went to England and cloth came back.
  • Artisans such as blacksmiths, potters and carpenters lost markets too.
  • Revival efforts: the Swadeshi movement and Gandhi's khadi and charkha tried to revive village cloth making. Handlooms are still a source of rural work today.
  • Andhra's famous handloom and craft products include Kalamkari of Machilipatnam and Srikalahasti, Venkatagiri sarees, Uppada Jamdani sarees, Dharmavaram silk sarees, Kondapalli toys and Etikoppaka toys.

6. Nationalism in other colonies (brief)

Vietnam (Indo-China): France ruled Indo-China from the nineteenth century. Nationalists such as Ho Chi Minh founded the Communist party in the 1930s. Japan occupied Vietnam during the Second World War. Ho Chi Minh declared independence in 1945. The French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu (1954), and the country was divided into north and south. A long war with the USA followed, and the country was united in 1975.

Indonesia: The Dutch rule ended in 1949 after a struggle led by Sukarno.

Other examples: Egypt, Ghana (Kwame Nkrumah), Algeria's long war against France. Common features: leaders who used mass mobilisation, ideas borrowed from European liberty, resistance to economic exploitation and the weakening of Europe after 1945.

Comparison: moderates and extremists

PointModeratesExtremists
MethodPetitions, prayersBoycott, direct protest
Faith in British justiceStrongWeak
LeadersNaoroji, GokhaleTilak, Pal, Lajpat Rai

7. The Gandhian method and mass participation

Gandhi came back from South Africa in 1915. His early local struggles were at Champaran (1917) against forced indigo cultivation, Kheda (1918) for revenue relief in a bad harvest year, and Ahmedabad (1918) for mill workers. These made him a leader of the masses. His method of satyagraha relied on truth, non-violence and willingness to suffer without hating the opponent.

In the Non-Cooperation Movement people gave up government titles, schools, courts and foreign cloth. In the Civil Disobedience Movement they broke the salt law, refused to pay taxes in some places and boycotted foreign cloth and liquor shops. Women, workers and peasants joined in large numbers. Industrial groups supported the movement at times but wanted protection for Indian business.

8. Towards independence

The Government of India Act, 1935 gave provincial autonomy, and Congress ministries came to power in several provinces in 1937. The Second World War began in 1939 and Britain involved India without asking. The Cripps Mission (1942) failed to satisfy Indian leaders. The Quit India Movement followed in August 1942, and leaders were jailed. In 1946 came the Cabinet Mission and the Interim Government. The Indian Independence Act, 1947 created India and Pakistan. The Constituent Assembly later framed the Constitution, adopted on 26 November 1949 and enforced on 26 January 1950.

9. Social reform and the press

Reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Jyotiba Phule and Kandukuri Veeresalingam (in Andhra, a pioneer of widow remarriage and women's education) prepared the ground for national feeling by attacking social evils. Newspapers such as The Hindu, Kesari and Amrita Bazar Patrika carried news and criticism of British policy. Laws like the Vernacular Press Act (1878) tried to control the Indian language press, which shows how important the press had become. Literature, songs and symbols such as the national flag also built a shared identity among people of different regions.

Exam traps

  • Non-Cooperation (1920-22) vs Civil Disobedience (1930) vs Quit India (1942): three Gandhian movements with different aims.
  • Lucknow Pact (1916) vs Poona Pact (1932) vs Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931).
  • Permanent Settlement vs Ryotwari vs Mahalwari: who paid revenue.
  • Poorna Swaraj resolution (Lahore, 1929) vs Dandi March (1930).
  • Jallianwala Bagh (1919) vs Chauri Chaura (1922).
  • Rowlatt Act vs Simon Commission.
  • Swadeshi (use of Indian goods) vs boycott (rejection of foreign goods).
  • Dien Bien Phu (1954) vs Indonesian independence (1949).

One-liners

  • 1. The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885.
  • 2. The Swadeshi movement followed the Partition of Bengal in 1905.
  • 3. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar.
  • 4. Gandhi stopped the Non-Cooperation Movement after Chauri Chaura.
  • 5. The Lahore session of 1929 declared Poorna Swaraj as the goal.
  • 6. The Dandi March was a protest against the salt law.
  • 7. The Quit India slogan was "Do or Die".
  • 8. Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement.
  • 9. Thomas Munro is linked with the Ryotwari system.
  • 10. Dadabhai Naoroji explained the drain of wealth.
  • 11. Machilipatnam was a major cloth port on the Andhra coast.
  • 12. Ho Chi Minh led Vietnam's struggle against French rule.

Practice questions

  1. The Indian National Congress was founded in

    1. 1857
    2. 1885
    3. 1920
    4. 1905
    Answer

    B. 1885

    The first president was W.C. Bonnerjee.

  2. The Partition of Bengal took place in

    1. 1885
    2. 1930
    3. 1919
    4. 1905
    Answer

    D. 1905

    It led to the Swadeshi movement.

  3. The Muslim League was founded in

    1. 1885
    2. 1916
    3. 1906
    4. 1947
    Answer

    C. 1906

    It was formed in Dhaka.

  4. The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was between

    1. Congress and the Communist Party
    2. Gandhi and Ambedkar
    3. Gandhi and Irwin
    4. Congress and the Muslim League
    Answer

    D. Congress and the Muslim League

    It showed unity at that time.

  5. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place at

    1. Lahore
    2. Amritsar
    3. Delhi
    4. Bombay
    Answer

    B. Amritsar

    It happened on 13 April 1919.

  6. The Non-Cooperation Movement was called off after

    1. Dandi March
    2. Quit India
    3. Chauri Chaura
    4. Simon Commission
    Answer

    C. Chauri Chaura

    Violence at Chauri Chaura in 1922 led Gandhi to withdraw.

  7. The Congress adopted the goal of Poorna Swaraj at its session in

    1. Lahore, 1929
    2. Calcutta, 1920
    3. Karachi, 1931
    4. Bombay, 1942
    Answer

    A. Lahore, 1929

    Jawaharlal Nehru presided.

  8. The Dandi March was a protest against the

    1. Vernacular Press Act
    2. Partition of Bengal
    3. Rowlatt Act
    4. salt law
    Answer

    D. salt law

    It began the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.

  9. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed in

    1. 1931
    2. 1947
    3. 1942
    4. 1919
    Answer

    A. 1931

    It paused Civil Disobedience.

  10. The Poona Pact of 1932 was between

    1. Gandhi and Irwin
    2. Gandhi and Ambedkar
    3. Tilak and Gokhale
    4. Nehru and Jinnah
    Answer

    B. Gandhi and Ambedkar

    It dealt with representation of the depressed classes.

  11. The slogan 'Do or Die' belongs to the

    1. Non-Cooperation Movement
    2. Swadeshi Movement
    3. Quit India Movement
    4. Champaran Satyagraha
    Answer

    C. Quit India Movement

    It was given on 8 August 1942.

  12. The Simon Commission was boycotted because it

    1. was led by Gandhi
    2. had no Indian member
    3. was set up by Congress
    4. supported Poorna Swaraj
    Answer

    B. had no Indian member

    It came in 1927.

  13. The Permanent Settlement of 1793 was introduced by

    1. Thomas Munro
    2. Dalhousie
    3. Wellesley
    4. Cornwallis
    Answer

    D. Cornwallis

    Zamindars paid fixed revenue.

  14. The Ryotwari system was linked with

    1. Curzon
    2. Cornwallis
    3. Thomas Munro
    4. Ripon
    Answer

    C. Thomas Munro

    Individual cultivators paid revenue.

  15. In the Mahalwari system, revenue was settled with the

    1. village community
    2. king of the State
    3. money lenders
    4. individual zamindar
    Answer

    A. village community

    It was used in north-western areas.

  16. The 'drain of wealth' theory is associated with

    1. Dadabhai Naoroji
    2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
    3. Subhas Chandra Bose
    4. B.R. Ambedkar
    Answer

    A. Dadabhai Naoroji

    He explained how wealth flowed to Britain.

  17. Commercialisation of agriculture meant farmers were pushed to grow

    1. cash crops for export
    2. only pulses for home
    3. only trees
    4. no crops at all
    Answer

    A. cash crops for export

    Examples: indigo, cotton, jute, opium.

  18. The Indigo revolt of 1859-60 took place in

    1. Assam
    2. Kerala
    3. Punjab
    4. Bengal
    Answer

    D. Bengal

    Peasants opposed forced indigo cultivation.

  19. The first railway line in India was opened in

    1. 1757
    2. 1853
    3. 1905
    4. 1857
    Answer

    B. 1853

    It ran from Bombay to Thane.

  20. Which cloth entering India in large quantity hurt handloom weavers?

    1. Kalamkari
    2. Khadi
    3. Machine-made Manchester cloth
    4. Silk of Kashmir
    Answer

    C. Machine-made Manchester cloth

    It was cheap and entered with little duty.

  21. Which Andhra port was famous for printed and painted cloth?

    1. Anantapur
    2. Nandyal
    3. Machilipatnam
    4. Tirupati
    Answer

    C. Machilipatnam

    Masulipatnam was an old cloth trading port.

  22. Alluri Sitarama Raju led a tribal rebellion in the

    1. Himalayas
    2. Eastern Ghats
    3. Western Ghats
    4. Aravalli hills
    Answer

    B. Eastern Ghats

    It was the Rampa rebellion of 1922-24.

  23. The fast unto death of Potti Sriramulu was for

    1. Poorna Swaraj
    2. removal of Simon Commission
    3. end of salt tax
    4. a separate Telugu-speaking state
    Answer

    D. a separate Telugu-speaking state

    Andhra State was formed in 1953.

  24. Who led the struggle for independence of Vietnam?

    1. Mao Zedong
    2. Sukarno
    3. Nkrumah
    4. Ho Chi Minh
    Answer

    D. Ho Chi Minh

    He declared independence in 1945.

  25. Indonesia was ruled by the

    1. Dutch
    2. British
    3. Portuguese
    4. French
    Answer

    A. Dutch

    It became independent in 1949 under Sukarno.

  26. Which defeat ended French rule in Vietnam?

    1. Waterloo
    2. Dien Bien Phu
    3. Sarajevo
    4. Plassey
    Answer

    B. Dien Bien Phu

    It occurred in 1954.

  27. Gandhi's early struggle in Bihar against forced indigo cultivation was at

    1. Kheda
    2. Bardoli
    3. Champaran
    4. Ahmedabad
    Answer

    C. Champaran

    Champaran was in 1917.

  28. Which was a feature of the Moderates?

    1. Armed revolt
    2. Total boycott only
    3. Refusal of all talks
    4. Petitions and prayers to the British
    Answer

    D. Petitions and prayers to the British

    They had faith in British justice.

  29. Who said 'Swaraj is my birthright'?

    1. Dadabhai Naoroji
    2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
    3. Surendranath Banerjee
    4. G.K. Gokhale
    Answer

    B. Bal Gangadhar Tilak

    Tilak was an Extremist leader.

  30. Consider the statements. 1. The Rowlatt Act allowed detention without trial. 2. The Rowlatt Act was welcomed by Indian leaders. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    It was widely opposed.

  31. Consider the statements. 1. Under the Permanent Settlement, revenue was fixed permanently. 2. Under it, the individual cultivator paid directly to the government. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    Zamindars paid the revenue.

  32. Consider the statements. 1. Handloom decline in colonial India was partly due to cheap imported cloth. 2. Raw cotton was sent from India to England. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    C. Both 1 and 2

    Both are correct.

  33. Consider the statements. 1. The Quit India Movement was launched in 1942. 2. It was launched before the Dandi March. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    Dandi March was in 1930.

  34. Consider the statements. 1. The Swadeshi movement promoted use of Indian goods. 2. Boycott meant rejection of foreign goods. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    C. Both 1 and 2

    Both are correct.

  35. Consider the statements. 1. Vietnam was a French colony. 2. Vietnam was united in 1954. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    It was divided in 1954 and united in 1975.

  36. Which pairing is correct?

    1. Jallianwala Bagh - 1930
    2. Dandi March - 1919
    3. Lucknow Pact - 1942
    4. Poorna Swaraj - Lahore 1929
    Answer

    D. Poorna Swaraj - Lahore 1929

    Poorna Swaraj was the 1929 goal.

  37. The Cabinet Mission came to India in

    1. 1930
    2. 1946
    3. 1919
    4. 1950
    Answer

    B. 1946

    It proposed a plan for the constitution.

  38. Which of these is a famous handloom product of Andhra Pradesh?

    1. Chanderi saree
    2. Uppada Jamdani saree
    3. Banarasi saree
    4. Kanjeevaram saree
    Answer

    B. Uppada Jamdani saree

    Uppada is on the Andhra coast.

  39. Why were famines more severe under colonial rule?

    1. Every farmer owned more land
    2. Railways were absent
    3. Farmers stopped paying taxes
    4. Food crop area fell as export crops grew
    Answer

    D. Food crop area fell as export crops grew

    Commercialisation reduced food crops.

  40. Which Congress leader presided over the 1929 Lahore session?

    1. Sardar Patel
    2. Mahatma Gandhi
    3. Jawaharlal Nehru
    4. Subhas Chandra Bose
    Answer

    C. Jawaharlal Nehru

    Nehru presided and Poorna Swaraj was declared the goal.

  41. Khadi was promoted by Gandhi to

    1. support Manchester mills
    2. increase imports of cloth
    3. close village industries
    4. revive village cloth production
    Answer

    D. revive village cloth production

    It linked self-reliance with the freedom struggle.

  42. Which movement followed the Dandi March?

    1. Non-Cooperation Movement
    2. Khilafat Movement
    3. Civil Disobedience Movement
    4. Quit India Movement
    Answer

    C. Civil Disobedience Movement

    It began in 1930.

  43. Kandukuri Veeresalingam is remembered in Andhra for

    1. the Dandi March
    2. promoting widow remarriage and women's education
    3. forming the Muslim League
    4. leading the Rampa rebellion
    Answer

    B. promoting widow remarriage and women's education

    He was a social reformer.

  44. The Tata Iron and Steel Company was set up at

    1. Bhilai
    2. Rourkela
    3. Vizag
    4. Jamshedpur
    Answer

    D. Jamshedpur

    It began around 1907.

  45. The Indian Independence Act, 1947 created

    1. India and Pakistan
    2. Bangladesh and India
    3. India and Nepal
    4. Burma and Ceylon
    Answer

    A. India and Pakistan

    Independence came on 15 August 1947.

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