Facts That Matter 

The rise of nationalism in India up to the first decade of the twentieth century.

Nationalism captivated the public imagination and drew members of many social groups.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR, KHILAFAT AND NON-COOPERATION

The First World War altered the economic and political environment in the years after 1919.

The people of India desired independence from the British colonial government. Mahatma Gandhi became their leader, and the fight for India’s freedom became more intense.

THE IDEA OF SATYAGRAHA

In January 1915, Gandhiji returned to India from South Africa, where he had challenged the racist rule using a unique style of public agitation dubbed

Satyagraha.

He organised Satyagraha movements in a number of locations, including Champaran in Bihar and Kheda in Gujarat. These movements were ultimately effective.

THE ROWLATT ACT

1. The Rowlatt Act empowered the British government to control political activity and authorised the detention of political prisoners without charge or trial for two years.
2. Mahatma Gandhi then resolved to initiate a nationwide Satyagraha. Rallies were held in numerous cities, railway workshop personnel went on strike, and businesses were closed.
3. On 13 April 1919 at Amritsar, on General Dyer’s orders, a group of persons was shot in the confined area of Jallianwalla Bagh. Hundreds of innocent individuals have been killed. This agitated Indian minds, resulting in strikes, confrontations with police, and attacks on government facilities.
4. Upon observing the development of violence, Mahatma Gandhi immediately stopped the movement and resolved to organise a more broad-based movement in India.
5. To bring Hindus and Muslims together, Gandhiji launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in favour of both Khilafat and Swaraj at the Congress session in Calcutta in September 1920.

WHY NON-COOPERATION?

Mahatma Gandhi said that British authority in India was founded with the Indians’ help. If Indians continued to resist, British control in India would crumble within a year, and swaraj would follow.

He advocated a staged unfolding of the movement. It should begin with the renunciation of government-awarded titles and a boycott of the civil service, army, police, courts and legislative bodies, as well as schools and foreign commodities.

However, many members of Congress expressed reservations about the measures. Finally, during the Congress session in Nagpur in December 1920, a compromise was reached and the Non-Cooperation plan was accepted.

DIFFERING STRANDS WITHIN THE MOVEMENT

In January 1921, the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement began. This movement drew members from a variety of social categories.

THE MOVEMENT IN THE TOWNS

The movement began with middle-class engagement in cities, which had a significant impact on the British economy. Between 1921 and 1922, foreign fabric imports were halved.

As the boycott campaign gained momentum and more individuals rejected imported garments in favour of Indian ones, production of Indian textile factories and handlooms increased.

However, mobility in cities progressively slower for a variety of reasons.

REBELLION IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

1. The Non-Cooperation movement moved from urban to rural areas. In Awadh, peasants were led by Sanyasi Baba Ramchandra.
2. Jawaharlal Nehru contacted villagers in June 1920 to ascertain their problems.
3. Gandhiji proclaimed that no taxes would be collected and that land would be handed to the poor.
4. Tribal peasants perceived Mahatma Gandhi’s message and the concept of Swaraj differently. They were not permitted to access the forests to graze their cattle or harvest fuelwood or fruits.

As a response, they revolted and stormed police stations, attempted to assassinate British officials, and conducted guerrilla war against the British in order to get Swaraj.

SWARAJ IN THE PLANTATIONS

Plantation workers in Assam, who were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission, believed swaraj meant the freedom to freely enter and exit the confined space, maintaining a connection to the village from which they came, and everyone receiving land in their own communities.

TOWARDS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

1. In 1922, a peaceful rally in a market in Gorakhpur devolved into a violent battle with the police. Mahatma Gandhi immediately suspended the Non-Cooperation Movement upon learning of the occurrence. Now, Indian officials have begun to campaign for complete independence.
2. In 1928, the Simon Commission arrived in India. It was met with the rallying cry ‘Go back, Simon’. The demonstrations were attended by members of all political parties, including the Congress and the Muslim League. A Round Table Conference was convened in 1929, but it did not satisfy the leaders of Congress.
3. In 1929, the Lahore Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, formally demanded Purna Swaraj, or complete independence for India. It was declared that 26 January 1930 would be Freedom Day, during which people would commit to fight for total independence. However, the celebration attracted little notice.

THE SALT MARCH AND THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

Mahatma Gandhi began his historic Salt March (Dandi March) This was the start of the Civil Disobedience Movement, which included members of many social groups.

Thousands of people in various regions of the nation violated the salt prohibition, made salt, and demonstrated in front of government salt mills. Gandhiji was taken into custody.

This enraged Sholapur’s industrial workers, who assaulted police stations, municipal buildings, courts, and railway stations. However, the government responded with a programme of ruthless repression.

Gandhiji stopped the campaign once more and made a contract with Irwin on 5 March 1931, agreeing to attend a Round Table Conference in London, but the meetings were fruitless, and he returned dejected.

When he returned to India, he learned that the government had initiated a fresh round of repression. Thus, Mahatma Gandhi restarted the Civil Disobedience Movement with tremendous concern. This time, though, there was little enthusiasm.

HOW PARTICIPANTS SAW THE MOVEMENT

In the countryside, wealthy peasant groups were enthusiastic supporters of the Civil Disobedience Action, but were left disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931 without any revisions to the revenue rates. As a result, when the movement was relaunched in 1932, a sizable number of them declined to join.

Additionally, prominent businessmen and industrial workers initially backed the Civil Disobedience Movement. However, when the campaign was relaunched, they expressed reluctance owing to the Round Table Conference’s failure.

Nevertheless, women played a significant role in the movement. They marched in protest, produced salt, and picketed foreign clothing and liquor stores.

THE LIMITS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Due to congress policy, the nation’s untouchables were excluded from the movement. Numerous dalit leaders emphasised their demands. However, Mahatma Gandhi opposed it, claiming that creating separate electorates for dalits would hinder their assimilation into society.

Finally, Dr. Ambedkar, one of the main champions of dalits, supported Gandhiji’s point, resulting in the September 1932 Poona Pact. It reserved seats in provincial and national legislative councils for the disadvantaged classes (later dubbed the Schedule Castes), although they were to be elected by the general electorate.

Some Muslim political organisations in India responded similarly lukewarmly to the Civil Disobedience Movement. Following the demise of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement, a significant segment of the Muslim community felt excluded from the Congress.

Numerous Muslim leaders and academics have recently expressed worry over the situation of Muslims in India as a minority. They feared that minorities’ culture and identity would be obliterated by a Hindu majority.

SENSE OF COLLECTIVE BELONGING

1. Nationalism spreads when individuals come to feel they are all members of the same nation, when they discover a commonality that unites them. This sense of communal belonging developed in part as a result of shared struggles.
2. Similarly, history and literature, folklore and songs, popular prints and -symbols all contributed significantly to the rise of nationalism.
3. India’s identity became visually linked to the image of Bharat Mata. Bharat Mata’s image has taken on several forms.
4. A tricolour flag (red, green, and yellow) was developed during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. It included eight lotuses, one for each of British India’s eight provinces, and a crescent moon for Hindus and Muslims.
5. Another strategy for creating a sense of nationalism was to reinterpret history.

Indian nationalists began writing history in order to unearth India’s great achievements. They wrote about ancient periods when art and architecture, science and mathematics, and so forth flourished. This splendid era was followed by a period of decline following India’s colonisation. These nationalists exhorted their readers to fight the British in order to reclaim their golden past.

Here you will learn the basics of CBSE NCERT Class 10 History Chapter 3 Nationalism in India in a simple language it is for CBSE English medium students who are studying under Central Board of Secondary Education following NCERT textbook and curriculum for class 10 here you will find all the necessary and important definitions notes suggestion solved question paper sample papers with video lectures made by expert teachers

CBSE NCERT Class 10 History Chapter 3 Nationalism in India are one of the most effective strategies to study for the test. CBSE Class 10 History notes are simply written by subject experts to make sure that students understand each idea easily and remember it for a longer period of time.

NCERT Solved Question Answer CBSE Class 10 History Chapter 03 – Nationalism in India

Question. 1

Explain :

(a) Why the growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement?

Answer : 

1. The rise of modern nationalism in India, as in Vietnam and many other former colonies, is inextricably linked to the Anti-colonial Movement. During the struggle against colonialism, people came to realise their togetherness. The feeling of oppression under colonialism created a common thread that brought many disparate communities together.
2. The European powers regarded their culture as more civilised, modern, and superior than other cultures. They began forcing their culture on the colonies through force. This sparked feelings of nationalism as well.
3. ‘Satyagraha’ was Gandhiji’s strategy against the British. This was also beneficial to the spirit.
4. The anti-colonial movement was a popular uprising against foreign invaders. The spirit of nationalism was reawakened by the united effort.

(b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India?

Answer :  The War ushered forth a new era of economic and political development:

1. It resulted in a massive rise in defence spending, which was supported by war loans and higher taxes, including increased customs fees and the introduction of an income tax.
2. Prices rose dramatically during the war years, more than doubling between 1913 and 1918, causing tremendous hardship for the common people.
3. Villagers were enlisted to provide soldiers, and forced recruitment in rural regions sparked widespread resentment.

(c) Why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act?

Answer : 

1. The Imperial Legislative Council passed the Rowlatt Act in response to a report by the Sedition Committee, which was chaired by Justice Rowlatt.
2. The black legislation empowered the government and police to suppress political activities and permitted political detainees to be held without charge for two years without being tried.
3. Despite the unanimous opposition of the Indian members of the Council, the Act was enacted. This Act was one of the grounds that prompted Gandhiji to start the Non-Cooperation Movement.

(d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw this Non-Cooperation Movement?

Answer : Gandhiji chose to end the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 for the following reasons:

1. The movement was becoming increasingly aggressive. A peaceful demonstration in a Bazar in Chauri-Chaura, Gorakhpur, devolved into a violent clash in which more than 20 police officers were slain.
2. Before the Satyagrahis to be ready for mass struggle, Gandhiji believed they needed to be properly trained.
3. Some leaders inside the Congress were bored of mass conflicts and wished to run for provincial councils, which were established under the Government of India Act, 1919.
4. Industrialists, labourers, peasants, and others all had their own interpretations of the phrase ‘Swaraj.’ Leaders like Alluri Sitaram Raju claimed that India could only be liberated through the use of force in several locations, including Andhra Pradesh. The Congress, however, did not agree with their beliefs.

Question. 2

What is meant by the idea of Satyagraha ?

Answer :

• It was a way of mass agitation against the oppressor that was nonviolent.
• It emphasised the importance of seeking the truth and the power of truth.
• It implied that if the cause was just and the struggle was for justice, there was no need to utilise physical force to combat the oppressor.
• Instead of being compelled to accept truth through violence, people, including oppressors, had to be persuaded to see the truth.
• The truth was destined to triumph in this battle.

Question. 3 

Write a newspaper report on :

(a) The Jallianwalla Bagh massacre.

(b) The Simon Commission.

Answer : 

(a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre :

Amritsar

13 April 1919

Today is Baisakhi, or Baisakhi Day. Punjabis commemorate this day with pomp and circumstance. The celebration commemorates the tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, establishing the Khalsa Panth or Sikh order on Baisakhi Day, April 13, 1699. In Punjab and Haryana, it also symbolises the start of the harvest season.

A vast crowd of nonviolent demonstrators opposing the government’s stance, as well as pilgrims, gathered in Jallianwala Bagh today to commemorate Baisakhi. Thousands of men, women, and children were present. People had travelled from Amritsar’s surrounding areas. It was a quiet gathering, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

In the city, General Dyer had declared martial law. However, it was not properly announced. It was unknown to those who had arrived from outside.

The Bagh-space was 6 to 7 acres in size and was surrounded on all sides by walls. The gathering was too much for General Dyer to bear. He arrived with his forces and instructed them to fire on the throng for ten minutes, primarily towards the gates through which people were attempting to flee. The shooting continued until the ammunition was depleted. The wounded were left without medical assistance after the slaughter. The precise number of people killed or injured is unknown. It contained individuals of various ages, including children, women, the young, and the elderly. The Punjabi people are being treated unfairly.

(b) Simon Commission : 

New Delhi,

15 January 1928

In reaction to India’s nationalist movement, Britain’s new Tory government has established a Statutory Commission led by Sir John Simon. The Commission will investigate the functioning of India’s constitutional system and provide recommendations for reforms. It’s interesting that, despite the fact that the commission’s purpose is to investigate a -indian issue, no Indian has been selected to its membership. All of the members were from the United Kingdom. This is a heinous crime. Indians must speak out against it and reject the Commission at every level in order for the British government to include Indians in the Commission.

Question. 4 

Compare the images of Bharat Mata in this chapter with the image of Germania in Chapter I.

Answer : Bharat Mata is depicted in two paintings, one by Abanindranath Tagore and the other by an unknown artist. Bharat Mata is depicted as an ascetic figure in Tagore’s painting. She has been depicted as serene, collected, celestial, and spiritual. She is also seen as giving out learning food and clothing. Abanindranath Tagore attempted to create an authentically Indian painting style.Bharat Mata is depicted with a trishul, standing between a lion and an elephant, both symbols of power and authority, in the second depiction. This figure is in stark contrast to Abanindranath Tagore’s. The depiction of Germania by Philip Veet, on the other hand, wears an oak leaf crown, which represents heroism. As a result, there is one similarity between Bharat Mata and Germania: both feature elements of bravery, such as power, authority, and heroism.