Nationalism in India Class 10 Important Questions

Class 10 History Chapter 2 Nationalism in India In Europe Important Questions and answers cover these topics and help students to understand the concepts better. Students can solve these for practice. They may come across some of these questions in the board exam.

Students can clear their doubts from the chapter by solving these CBSE Class 10 History Important Questions and prepare well for the board exams. The links to download the PDF version of these questions are given in a link in this article.

Class 10 History Chapter 2 Nationalism in India Important Questions

1. What was the Rowlatt Act? (2011 OD)

Answer: Rowlatt Act gave the government enormous powers to suppress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. In other words, the Act proposed no appeal, no vakil and no daleel.

2. Why was the Rowlatt Act imposed? (2011 D)

Answer: The imposing of the Rowlatt Act authorized the government to imprison any person without trial and conviction in a court of law.

3. In which session of the Indian National Congress was the demand for ‘Puma Swaraj’ formalized? (2012 D)

Answer: Lahore Session, December 1929.

4. Who composed ‘Vande Mataram’? (2012 D)

Answer: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

5. Who created the first image of Bharat Mata? (2012 D)

Answer: Abanindranath Tagore

6. Why was the Khilafat movement started? (2012 OD)

Answer: Khilafat movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi and the Ali Brothers, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali in response to the harsh treatment given to the Caliph of Ottoman empire and the dismemberment of the Ottoman empire by the British.

7. What combination of colours was there in the ‘Swaraj flag’ designed by Gandhiji in 1921? (2012 OD)

Answer: Red, Green and White.

8. What was the main reason to withdraw the Non-cooperation Movement? (2013 OD)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi called off the Non-cooperation Movement as the movement had turned violent in many places. The Chauri Chaura incident in 1922 turned into a violent dash and 22 policemen were killed. Gandhiji felt satyagrahis were not ready for mass struggles.

9. Which Act did not permit plantation workers to leave the tea garden without permission?

Answer: Inland Emigration Act of 1859.

10. Name two main ‘Satyagraha’ movements organized by Mahatma Gandhi successfully in favour of peasants in 1916 and 1917. (2013 D)

Answer:

Indigo Planters Movement in Champaran, Bihar in 1916.
Peasants Satyagraha Movement was organized in Kheda district in Gujarat in 1917 to support peasants in the demand for relaxation of revenue collection.

11. Who is the author of the famous book ‘Hind Swaraj’? (2014 D)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi.

12. In which novel was the hymn ‘Vande Mataram’ included and who was the novel written by? (2014 OD)

Answer: Novel-Aandamath
Author — Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

13. In which year and place did Mahatma Gandhi organise Satyagraha for the first time in India? (2014 D)

Answer: In 1916, in Champaran, Bihar.

14. Explain the idea of Satyagraha according to Gandhiji. (2014 D)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915 from South Africa. Gandhiji’s novel method of mass agitation is know as ‘Satyagraha’. Satyagraha emphasised truth. Gandhiji believed that if the cause is true, if the struggle is against injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor. A satyagrahi can win the battle through non-violence. People, including oppressors, had to be persuaded to see the truth. Truth was bound to ultimately triumph. Gandhiji believed that dharma of non-violence could unite all India.

15. Explain the effects of ‘worldwide economic depression’ on India, towards late 1920s. (2013 OD)

Answer: In 19th century, colonial India had become an exporter of agricultural goods and an importer of manufactures.
The worldwide economic depression immediately affected Indian trade. India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934. As international prices crashed, prices in India also plunged. Peasants producing for the world market were worst hit. Though agricultural prices fell, the colonial government refused to reduce revenue demands. Peasants indebtedness increased. For example, Jute producers of Bengal. In these depression years, India became an exporter of precious metals, notably gold.

16. Explain any three facts about the new economic situation created in India by the First World War. (2011 D)

Answer: The First World War created a dramatically new economic situation in India:
(i) Manchester imports into India declined as the British mills were busy with war production to meet the needs of the army paving the way for the Indian mills to supply for the huge home market.

(ii) As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs. As a result new factories were set up, new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer hours.

(iii) Cotton production collapsed and exports of cotton cloth from Britain fell dramatically after the war, as it was unable to modernize and compete with US, Germany, Japan. Hence within colonies like India, local industrialists gradually consolidated their position capturing the home market.

17. How did the plantation workers understand the idea of ‘Swaraj’? Explain. (2011 OD)

Answer: For the plantation workers of Assam, “Swaraj” meant freedom to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they all were enclosed and also to be able to keep the link with their native village intact. Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not allowed to leave their tea gardens without permission, which they were rarely given. When they heard of the Non-cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied authorities, left the plantations and headed home.

18. Explain the circumstances under which Gandhiji decided to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1931. (2012 OD)

Answer: Gandhiji decided to call off the Civil Disobedience movement in 1931 because:

Political leaders like Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan were arrested. More than one lakh people were arrested.
Government responded with brutal repression and peaceful satyagrahis were arrested. Women and children were beaten up.
It resulted in an uprising in Peshawar in 1930.
Industrial workers in Sholapur attacked police post. In Chittagong, the revolutionaries captured the armoury and a pitched battle was fought between the government troops and the revolutionaries. (any three)

In such a situation, Gandhiji called off the movement and the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed.

19. Explain the reaction of Indian people against the Rowlatt Act passed through the Imperial Legislative Council in 1919. (2012 OD)

Answer: Reaction of Indian people against the Rowlatt Act of 1919:

Rallies were organized against this Act.
Railways, workshops and shops closed down.
The procession in Amritsar provoked widespread attacks on buses, post offices, railway stations, telegraphic lines, etc.
On 6th April Gandhiji held Hartal against this unjust law (Rowlatt Act).
The peaceful demonstration in Jallianwala Bagh led to a violent movement all across the country.

20. How had the First World War created a new economic situation in India? Explain with three examples. (2013 D)

(ii) As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs. As a result new factories were set up, new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer hours.

21. How was Rowlatt Act opposed by the people in India? Explain with examples. (2013 D)

Answer: Gandhiji, who had formed a Satyagraha Sabha earlier, called for a countrywide protest against the proposed Rowlatt Act. Throughout the country, 6 April 1919 was observed as a National Humiliation Day. Gandhiji wanted a non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws. Hartals (Strikes) and rallies were organized in various cities. Workers went on strike in railway workshops. Shops closed down. The movement was non-violent but proved to be effective.

22. Why did Gandhiji decide to launch a nationwide Satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act, 1919? How was it organised Explain. (2016 D, 2015 D, 2014 OD)

Answer: The Rowlatt Act was passed despite the united opposition of the Indian members of Imperial Legislative Council.

The Act gave the government enormous powers to oppress political agitations.
It had allowed the detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. There was no provision for appeal.
The passing of this Act aroused large scale indignation.

Gandhiji, who had formed a Satyagraha Sabha earlier, called for a countrywide protest against the proposed Rowlatt Act. Throughout the country, 6 April 1919 was observed as a National Humiliation Day. Gandhiji wanted a non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws. Hartals and rallies were organized in various cities. Workers went on strike in railway workshops. Shops were closed down. The movement was non-violent but proved to be effective.

23. Which were the two types of demands mentioned by Gandhiji in his letter to Viceroy Irwin on 31st January 1930? Why was abolition of ‘salt tax’ most stirring demand? Explain. (2013 OD)

Answer: Some of the demands were of general interest; others were specific demands of different classes from industrialists to peasants.

On 31st January, 1930 Gandhiji sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands, one of which was the demand to abolish Salt Tax.
Salt was one of the most essential food items consumed by the rich and poor alike and a tax on it was considered an oppression on the people by the British Government.
Gandhiji’s letter was an ultimatum and if his demands were not fulfilled by March 11, he had threatened to launch a civil disobedience campaign.

24. Explain any three problems faced by the peasants of Awadh. (2011 D)

Answer: Three problems faced by the peasants of Awadh were:

Talukdars and landlords demanded exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other taxes from the peasants.
Peasants had to do begar and work at the landlords’ farms without any payment.
As tenants they had no security of tenure and were being regularly evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land.

25. Explain any three reasons for the lukewarm response of some Muslim organizations to the Civil Disobedience Movement. (2011 D)

Answer: Three reasons for lukewarm response of some Muslim organizations to Civil Disobedience Movement were:

After the decline of Non-cooperation-Khilafat movement, a large section of Muslims felt alienated from the Indian National Congress.
The visible and open association of Congress with Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha in mid 1920s made the Muslims suspicious of Congress motives.
The frequent communal clashes not only deepened the distance between the two communities but also there was an important difference over the of representation in the future assemblies that were to be elected.

26. Explain any three effects of the Non-cooperation Movement on the economy of India. (2011 OD)

Answer: The economic sphere was affected by the Non-cooperation Movement:

Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops were picketed and foreign cloth was burnt. The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921-1922. Its value dropped from ₹ 102 crore to ₹ 57 crore.
Many merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade.
People began discarding imported clothes and wearing Indian ones.
The production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up. Use of khadi was popularized.

27. How did the rich peasants and women take part in Civil Disobedience Movement? (2011 OD)

Answer: Role of rich peasants:

Being producers of commercial crops, they were hard hit by trade-depression and falling prices.
As their cash income reduced, they found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue demand.
These rich peasants became ardent supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
For them fight for Swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.

Role of women:

Women participated in protest marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many women went to jail.
Women who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement, came from high-caste families in urban areas and rich peasant households in rural areas.

28. Why did Non-cooperation Movement gradually slow down in cities? Explain any three reasons. (2012 D, 2013 OD)

Answer: The Non-cooperation Movement gradually slowed down in cities for a variety of reasons:

Khadi cloth was more expensive than mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it. As a result they could not boycott mill cloth for too long.
Alternative Indian institutions were not there which could be used in place of the British ones. These were slow to come up.
So students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.

29. Describe the role of the peasants in Awadh in the Non-cooperation Movement. (2012 D)

Answer: Role of the peasants in Awadh in the Non-cooperation Movement:

In Awadh, the peasants’ movement was led by Baba Ramchandra—a Sanyasi who had earlier worked in Fiji as indentured labour.
The movement was against taluqdars and landlords who demanded high rents from the peasants. Peasants had to do ‘bega/ and work at landlords’ farms without any payment. As tenants, they had no security of tenure and could be evicted without any notice.
The peasants’ movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar and social boycott of these landlords.
In many places Nai-Dhobi bandits were organized to deprive landlords of the services of even washermen and barbers.
In 1920, Jawahar Lai Nehru began talking to the villagers and formed ‘Oudh Kisan Sabha’. Within a month 300 branches had been setup in the villages.
As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of taluqdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and grain hoards were taken over.

30. Describe any three major problems faced by the peasants of Awadh in the days of Non-Cooperation Movement. (2015 OD)

Answer: The movement of Awadh peasants was led by:

The peasants’ movement Baba Ramchandra was against talukdars and landlords who demanded extremely high rents and a variety of other cesses from the peasants.
Peasants were forced to work in landlords’ farms without any payment (begar). Peasants had no security of tenure, thus being regularly evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land.
The demands of the peasants were: reduction of revenue, abolition of begar and social boycott of oppressive landlords.

31. Explain any three measures taken by the British administration to repress the movement started against the ‘Rowlatt Act’. (2013 OD)

Answer: British officials were alarmed by the popular upsurge:

The fear that the lines of communication, such as railways and telegraph, might get disrupted, the British Government started even stronger repressive measures.
Local leaders were picked up. Gandhiji was barred from entering Delhi. On 10th April, 1919 the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession.
This provoked widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.

32. Describe any three suppressive measures taken by the British administration to clampdown on nationalists. (2014 D)

Answer: Suppressive measures taken by the British administration were:
(i) The fear that the lines of communication, such as railways and telegraph, might get disrupted, the British Government started even stronger repressive measures. Local leaders were picked up. Gandhiji was barred from entering Delhi. On 10th April, 1919 the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession.

(ii) This provoked widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command. The government replied with further brutalities. The people of Punjab were made to crawl on the streets and salute to all ‘Sahibs’. Some were put in open cages and flogged.

(iii) Newspapers were banned and their editors were arrested. A reign of terror followed. Intellectuals like Rabindranath Tagore renounced their knighthood.

33. Describe the main features of the ‘Salt March’. (2014 OD)
Or
How did the Salt March become an effective tool of resistance against colonialism? Explain. (2015 OD, 2016)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation.

On 31st January, 1930 he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands, one of which was the demand to abolish Salt Tax.
Salt was one of the most essential food items consumed by the rich and poor alike and a tax on it was considered an oppression on the people by the British Government.
Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was an ultimatum and if his demands were not fulfilled by March 11, he had threatened to launch a civil disobedience campaign.
So, Mahatma Gandhi started his famous Salt March accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. The march was over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi.
The volunteers walked for 24 days, about 10 miles a day. Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi wherever he stopped, and he told them what he meant by Swaraj and urged them to peacefully defy the British.
On 6th April, he reached Dandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water. This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

34. “The Congress was reluctant to include the demands of industrial workers in its programme of struggle.” Analyse the reasons. (2015 D)

Answer: Some workers did participate in the civil disobedience movement, selectively adopting some of the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like boycott of foreign goods as a part of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions.

There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dock workers in 1932. Thousands of workers in Chotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest rallies and boycott campaigns. The Congress was reluctant to include the demands of workers as part of its programme of struggle. It felt that this would alienate industrialists and divide the anti-imperial forces.

35. Why did the Non-Cooperation Movement gradually slow down in the cities? Explain (2015 D)

Answer: Non-cooperation movement gradually slowed down in the cities for a variety of reasons:

Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it.
Boycott of British institutions posed a problem for the movement to be successful. Alternative Indian institutions had to be set up so that they could be used in place of the British ones.
The institutions were slow to come up. So teachers and students began trickling back to the government schools and even lawyers joined back work in government courts.

36. Why did Mahatma Gandhiji decide to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922? Explain the reasons. (2015 D)

Answer: In February 1922, Gandhiji decided to launch a no tax movement. The police opened fire at the people who were taking part in a demonstration, without any provocation. The people turned violent in their anger and attacked the police station and set fire to it. The incident took place at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh. When the news reached Gandhiji, he decided to call off the Non-cooperation movement as he felt that it was turning violent and that the satyagrahis were not properly trained for mass struggle.

37. Describe the main features of ‘Poona Pact’. (2015 OD)

Answer: The Poona Pact:
(i) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930 demanded separate electorates for dalits in the Second Round Table Conference organised in London.

(ii) When British accepted this demand in the name of Communal Award, Gandhiji started a fast into death. He believed that separate electorates for dalits would slow down the process of their integration into the society.

(iii) Ambedkar and Gandhi came to an agreement with Ambedkar accepting Gandhis position and the result was the Poona Pact of September, 1932.

It gave the depressed classes (later to be known as Schedule castes) reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils.
But, they were to be voted in by the general electorate.

38. Describe the spread of Non-Cooperation Movement in the countryside. (2015 OD)

Answer: The Non-cooperation movement spread to the countryside also. It drew into the struggles of peasants and tribals from different parts of India.
(i) In Awadh, the peasants’ movement led by Baba Ramchandra was against talukdars and landlords who demanded extremely high rents and a variety of other cesses from the peasants. Peasants were forced to work in landlords’ farms without any payment (begar). Peasants had no security of tenure, thus being regularly evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land. The demands of the peasants were—reduction of revenue, abolition of begar and social boycott of oppressive landlords.

(ii) In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh a militant guerrilla movement spread in the early 1920s against the closure of forest areas by the colonial government, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuelwood and fruits. They felt that their traditional rights were being denied.

(iii) For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed. It meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come. Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave tea gardens without permission. In fact the permission was hardly granted. When they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities and left for their homes.

39. “The plantation workers in Assam had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and the notion of Swaraj”. Support the statement with arguments. (2016 OD)

Answer: “The plantation workers in Assam had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and the notion of Swaraj” —

For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed.
Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859 plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission.
Swaraj meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.
When they heard of the Non-cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.
They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own village.

40. What type of flag was designed during the ‘Swadeshi Movement’ in Bengal? Explain its main features. (2016 OD)

Answer: During the ‘Swadeshi Movement’ in Bengal, a tricolour flag—red, green and yellow was designed. It had eight lotuses representing the eight provinces of British India. It had a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.

41. Who had designed the ‘swaraj flag’ by 1921? Explain the main features of this ‘swaraj flag’. (2016 D)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi designed the ‘Swaraj Flag’ by 1921.
Main features of the ‘Swaraj Flag’:

It had tricolours — Red, Green and White.
It had a spinning wheel in the centre.
It represents the Gandhian idea of self-help.
Carrying the flag during marches had become a symbol of defiance and a sense of collective belonging.

42. How did cultural processes help in creating a sense of collective belongingness in India? Explain. (2011 D)

Answer: Though nationalism spread through the experience of united struggle but a variety of cultural processes captured the imagination of Indians and promoted a sense of collective belongingness:
(i) Use of figures or images. The identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as an evidence of one’s nationalism.

(ii) Indian folklore. Nationalists started recording and using folklores and tales, which they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces. So preservation of these became a way to discover one’s national identity’ and restore a sense of price in one’s past.

(iii) Use of icons and symbols in the form of flags. Carrying the tricolour flag and holding it aloft during marches became a symbol of defiance and promoted a sense of collective belonging.

(iv) Reinterpretation of history. Indians began looking into the past to rediscover the glorious developments in ancient times in the field of art, science, mathematics, religion and culture, etc. This glorious time was followed by a history of decline when India got colonized, as Indian history was miserably written by the colonisers.
All these techniques were used to bring the Indian people together against the common enemy, (any three)

43. Evaluate the contribution of folklore, songs, popular prints etc., in shaping the nationalism during freedom struggle. (2017 D)

Answer: History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols—all played an important role in creating a sense of collective belonging leading to the growth of nationalism.

1. Image of Bharat Mata:

With the growth of nationalism, the identity of the Indian nation came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
Moved by the Swadeshi Movement, Rabindranath Tagore painted the famous image of Bharat Mata. The identity of the Indian nation came to be visually associated with this image. She was portrayed as an ascetic figure—calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
Later this image was painted by many other artists which acquired different forms. This image was circulated in popular prints and devotion to this mother figure was seen as a sign of nationalism.

2. Reinterpretation of History:

The glorification of developments in ancient India in the fields of art and architecture, Science and Mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, craft and trade had also helped in the growth of nationalism.
These nationalist histories encouraged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievement in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions (cultural and economic decline) of life under the British rule.

3. Indian Folklore:

Idea of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.
Folk tales were sung by bards in the villages, to give a true picture of traditional culture, which had been damaged by outside forces.
In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths to revive folk culture.
In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a four volume collection of Tamil folk tales, “The Folklore of Southern India”.

44. Why did Gandhiji decide to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement’ in February, 1922? Explain any three reasons. (2017 OD)

45. Explain any five major problems posed by the First World War in India. (2015 OD)

Answer: The outbreak of the First World War had created a new economic and political situation in India:

The increased defence expenditure was financed by war loans and by raising tax rates, custom duties, etc. There was tremendous price rise during the war years. Between 1913 and 1918, the prices had almost doubled. People, particularly common people, were facing extreme hardships.
Forced recruitment in the army caused widespread anger in the villages.
The failure of crops in many parts of India had created food shortages, leading to the added misery of the people.
In addition to this, there was the outbreak of the great influenza epidemic. Millions of people perished due to influenza and starvation.
The nationalist movement grew stronger during the war years. A large number of Muslims were drawn into the anti-British struggle during the war. The defence of the ‘Caliphate’ (Khilafat) became an important for Muslims. Peasant movements during war period also had helped the nationalist movement to grow stronger.

46. Explain five points about Gandhiji’s idea of ‘satyagraha’. (2011 OD)

Answer: Five points about Gandhiji’s idea of ‘satyagraha’:

According to Gandhiji, satyagraha is not physical force. In the use of satyagraha there should not be any scope of ill-will.
Satyagraha is about soul-force and truth is the very substance of soul and the soul is informed with knowledge.
According to Gandhiji, satyagraha is not the weapon of the weak, instead it can only be used by the strongest of the strong as it totally depends upon mental strength but not on physical strength.
Gandhiji said “Satyagraha is passive resistance, which is about intense activity but in a non-violent manner.” India cannot rival Britain in force of arms as the British worship the war-god and all of them are bearers of arms. Indians can’t compete with them in arms but can only defeat them using the weapon of “ahimsa” alone/ “that is by using mental strength Indians can defeat the British. Tolerance and non¬violence can only become the pillar of strength for the Indians.
Non-violence is the supreme dharma which could unite all Indians. Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive, a satyagrahi can win the battle.

47. What was Gandhiji’s idea behind launching the Non-cooperation Movement? Mention four proposals suggested by Mahatma Gandhi with reference to Non-cooperation Movement. (2011 D)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi felt (in his book Hind Swaraj, 1909) that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians. It has survived because of their cooperation. If the Indians refuse to cooperate, British rule in India will collapse and Swaraj would come.

Proposals suggested by Mahatma Gandhi with reference to Non-cooperation Movement

According to Gandhiji, Non-cooperation could become a movement by unfolding in stages.
It would begin with the surrender of titles that the government awarded and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools and foreign goods.
Then if the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.
Throughout 1920, Gandhiji and Shaukat Ali toured extensively mobilizing popular support for the movement.

48. How could non-cooperation become a movement? Explain with examples. (2014 D)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi felt that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of the Indian people. If the Indians would refuse to cooperate, British rule would collapse.

According to Gandhiji, non-cooperation could become a movement by unfolding in stages.
It would begin with the surrender of titles that the government awarded, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools and foreign goods. Then if the Government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.
Throughout 1920, Gandhiji and Shaukat Ali toured extensively mobilising popular support for the movement.
In the cities, the movement started with middle class participation. Thousands of students left government controlled schools and colleges. Headmasters and teachers resigned and lawyers gave up their legal practices.
The Council elections were boycotted, foreign goods and foreign cloth was boycotted. Traders and merchants also refused to trade in foreign goods.

49. How did different social groups conceive the idea of ‘Non-Cooperation’? Explain with examples. (2014 OD)

Answer: Various social groups participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement, each with its own specific aspiration. All of them responded to the call of ‘Swaraj’ but the term meant different things to different people.
Movement in the cities:

Thousands of students from government controlled schools, headmasters, teachers resigned and left the school.
Lawyers gave up their legal practices. The Council elections were also boycotted in most provinces.

Movement spread to the countryside:
(i) In Awadh, the peasants’ movement led by Baba Ramchandra was against talukdars and landlords who demanded extremely high rents and a variety of other cesses from the peasants. Peasants were forced to work in landlords’ farms without any payment (begar). Peasants had no security of tenure, they were regularly evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land. The demands of the peasants were: reduction of revenue, abolition of begar and social boycott of oppressive landlords.

(iii) For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed. Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers
were not permitted to leave tea gardens without permission which was hardly granted. When they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities and left for their homes.

50. How did the Civil Disobedience Movement come into force in various parts of the country? Explain with examples. (2016 OD)

Answer: Civil Disobedience Movement came into force in various parts of the country:
(i) Gandhiji led the salt march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi with his followers starting the Civil Disobedience Movement.

(ii) Thousands in different parts of the country broke the salt law, manufactured salt and demonstrated in front of government salt factories.

(iii) In the countryside, the rich Patidars of Gujarat and Jats of Uttar Pradesh were active in the movement. As rich communities were very hard hit by the trade depression and falling prices, they became enthusiastic supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

(iv) As the depression continued and cash invoice dwindled, the small tenants found it difficult to pay the rent. They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlords to be remitted and thus they joined the movement.

(v) Merchants and industrialists supported the movement by giving financial assistance and also by refusing to buy and sell the imported goods.

(vi) The industrial working class of Nagpur region also participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Railway workers, dock workers, mineral of Chota Nagpur etc. participated in protest rallies and boycott campaigns

51. How did people and the colonial government react to the Civil Disobedience Movement? Explain. (2012 D)

Answer: Reactions of people to the Civil Disobedience Movement:
(i) Mahatma Gandhi’s famous ‘Dandi March’ from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi and violating the law by manufacturing salt marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

(ii) As the movement spread, foreign cloth was boycotted, liquor shops were picketed and peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes. Village officers resigned and forest people ventured into reserved forests to collect wood and graze cattle, thereby violate forest laws.

Reactions of colonial government to the Civil Disobedience Movement:

Worried by the reaction of the people the colonial government began arresting the Congress leaders one by one.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested in Peshawar and later Mahatma Gandhi was arrested which led to violent clashes in many places.
The Government followed a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten and about 1,00,000 people were arrested.

52. Why did Gandhiji start the ‘Civil Disobedience Movement’? Explain any four features of Civil Disobedience Movement. (2013 OD)

Answer: Non-fulfillment of demands made by Gandhiji on behalf of all the members of the Congress led to the launching of the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.

Gandhiji’s ‘Dandi March’ marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Gandhiji started his march with 78 volunteers from his ashram at Sabarmati to the Gujarat coastal town of Dandi. On 6th April, Gandhiji reached Dandi and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water.

Features of Civil Disobedience Movement:

People were now asked not only to refuse cooperation with the British but also to break colonial laws.
Foreign cloth was boycotted and people were asked to picket liquor shops.
Peasants were asked not to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes.
Students, lawyers and village officials were asked not to attend English medium schools, colleges, courts and offices.

53. “Dalit participation was limited in the Civil Disobedience Movement”. Examine the statement. (2013 D)

Answer: The abstract concept of ‘Swaraf did not move the nation’s ‘untouchables’, who from around the 1930s had begun to call themselves dalit or oppressed. The Congress had ignored the dalits, for the fear of offending the Sanatanis, the conservative high caste Hindus.

Gandhiji persuaded upper castes to change their heart. He himself cleaned toilets to dignify the work of the bhangi. He called the untouchables, Harijans, organized satyagraha to secure them entry into temples and access to public wells, tanks and schools.

The dalit leaders were keen on a different political solution. Political empowerment, they believed would resolve the problems of their social disability. They began demanding reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate electorate that would choose dalit members for the Legislative Council.

54. “Some of the Muslim political organizations in India, were lukewarm in their response to the ‘Civil Disobedient Movement’.” Examine the statement. (2013 D)

Answer: Muslim response was lukewarm to the Civil Disobedience Movement as a large section of Muslims felt alienated from the Congress.

The Congress members were seen as associates of Hindu religious nationalist groups like Hindu Mahasabha.
After the Non-cooperation Movement, relations between Hindus and Muslims worsened as each community organized religious processions, provoking Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and riots.
The important differences were over the of representation in the future Assemblies that were to be elected.
When Civil Disobedience Movement started, there was an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust between communities. Muslims feared that they would be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority in Independent India.

55. How did different social groups participate in Civil Disobedience Movement? Explain with examples. (2014 D)

Answer: (i) Rich peasant communities, like the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh, became active in the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Being producers of commercial crops, they were hard hit by trade-depression and falling prices.
For them fight for Swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.

(ii) Small tenants had been cultivating rented land of landlords. They were not interested in the lowering of the revenue demand.

They wanted unpaid rent to be remitted.
They often joined the radical movements led by the socialists and communists.

(iii) Merchants reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities. They wanted protection against import of foreign goods and wanted a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.

(iv) Industrialsits formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920.

They formed the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927.
They refused to sell or buy imported goods. They gave financial assistance and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement.

(v) Another important feature of the Civil Disobedience Movement was large-scale participation of women.

They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many women went to jail.
These women came from high-caste families in urban areas and rich peasant households in rural areas.

56. Explain with examples the role of industrialists in the freedom struggle of India. (2014 D)
Or
Explain the attitude of the Indian merchants and industrialists towards the civil Disobedience Movement. (2015 OD)

Answer: Role of merchants and the industrialists in the Civil Disobedience Movement:

Merchants reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities.
They wanted protection against import of foreign goods and wanted a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
Industrialists formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920.
They formed the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927.
They refused to sell or buy imported goods. They gave financial assistance and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Industrialists like G.D.Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas attacked colonial control over the Indian economy.

57. “The Civil Disobedience Movement was different from the Non-Cooperation Movement”. Support the statement with examples. (2016 D)

Answer: The Civil Disobedience Movement was different from the Non-Cooperation Movement in the following ways:
Non-Cooperation Movement:

The people were asked not to cooperate with the government.
Foreign goods and foreign cloth were boycotted. In many places merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign traders.
Students left the government owned schools and colleges and lawyers gave up legal practices.
Civil Disobedience Movement:
- People were asked not only to refuse cooperation with the British but also to break colonial laws.
- The countrymen broke the salt law by manufacturing salt by boiling sea water at Dandi.
- Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari tax.
- Village officials resigned from their jobs. Forest people violated forest rules and laws.

58. Who was Alluri Sitaram Raju? Explain his role in inspiring the rebels with Gandhiji’s ideas. (2012 OD)

Answer: Alluri Sitaram Raju was the tribal leader of the peasants in Andhra Pradesh. He claimed that he had a variety of special powers.
He inspired the rebels with Gandhiji’s ideas in the following ways:

Raju inspired them by talking of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi.
He said that he was inspired by the Non-cooperation Movement.
He persuaded people to wear khadi and to give up drinking.
He asserted that India could be liberated only with the use of force.

59. Describe the actions taken by the British administration against the nationalists who opposed the Rowlatt Act. (2012 OD)

Answer: Alarmed by the popular upsurge and scared that lines of communication would be disrupted, the British administration decided to clamp down on nationalists as such.

Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar.
Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi.
On 10th April, the police at Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession provoking the public.
Martial law was imposed.
General Dyer took command.

60. Explain the impact of Jallianwala Bagh incident on the people. (2014 OD)

Answer: (i) Jallianwala Bagh Incident. On 13th April 1919, a crowd of villagers who had come to attend a Baisakhi fair, gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh. Being from outside the city, many were not aware of the martial law that had been imposed as a repressive measure.

(ii) Some people had also gathered to protest against the government’s repressive measures.

(iii) General Dyer with his British troops entered the park and closed the only exit point without giving any warning to the assembled people and ordered the troops to fire at the crowds, killing hundreds. This brutal act of General Dyer provoked unparalleled indignation.

(iv) As the news of Jallianwala Bagh spread, crowds took to the streets in many North Indian towns. There were hartals, clashes and attacks on government buildings.

(v) The government replied with further brutalities. The people of Punjab were made to crawl on the streets and salute to all ‘Sahibs’. Some were put in open cages and flogged.

(vi) Newspapers were banned and their editors were arrested. A reign of terror followed. Intellectuals like Rabindranath Tagore renounced their knighthood.

61. How did the ‘Non-Cooperation Movement’ spread in cities across the country? Explain its effects on the economic front. (2015 OD, 2012 D)

Answer: In the cities, the Non-Cooperation Movement started with middle class participation.

Thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges. Headmasters and teachers resigned and lawyers gave up their legal practices.
The Council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras. Where the Justice Party, the party of the non-Brahmans, feet that entering the council was one way of gaining power.
Foreign goods and foreign cloth was boycotted. Traders and merchants also refused to trade in foreign goods.

The economic sphere was affected by the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops were picketed and foreign cloth was burnt. The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921-1922. Its value dropped from ₹ 102 crores to ₹ 57 crores.
Many merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade.
People began discarding imported clothes and wearing Indian ones.
The production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up. Use of khadi was popularised.

62. Why did Mahatma Gandhiji decide to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement? Explain. (2016 OD)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi decided to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement because:

Worried by the development of Civil Disobedience Movement the colonial government began arresting the Congress leaders one by one.
This led to violent clashes in many places.
When Abdul Ghaffar khan, a devout disciple of Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in April 1930, angry crowds demonstrated in the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured cars and police firing. Many were killed.
A month later, when Mahatma Gandhi was arrested industrial workers in Sholapur attacked the police force, municipal buildings, law courts, railway stations and all other structures that symbolized British rule.
A frightened government responded with the policy of brutal repression. The peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten and about 1 lakh people were arrested.

63. Why did Mahatma Gandhi relaunch the Civil Disobedience Movement with great apprehension? Explain. (2016 OD)

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March, 1931.

By this Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhiji committed to participate in a Round Table Conference in London and the government agreed to release the political prisoners.
In December 1931, Gandhiji went to London for the conference, but the negotiations broke down and he returned disappointed.
Back in India, he discovered that the government had begun a new cycle of repressive measures.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru were both in jail and the Congress had been declared illegal.
A series of measures had been imposed to prevent meetings, demonstrations and boycotts.
Thus, with great apprehension Gandhiji relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement.

64. “Nationalism spreads when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same nation.” Justify the statement. (2015 D, 2013 D)
Or
How did people belonging to different communications, regions or languages develop a sense of collective belonging? Explain with examples. (2014 OD)

Answer: History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols—all played an important role in creating a sense of collective belonging leading to the growth of nationalism.
Image of Bharat Mata:

(i) With the growth of nationalism, the identity of the Indian nation came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata (as it had happened in Germany and France: Germania in Germany and Marianne in France).

(ii) This image was first created and popularized by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In 1870, he wrote Vande Mataram as a hymn to the motherland. This song was widely sung during the Swadeshi Movement.

(iii) Moved by the Swadeshi Movement, Rabindranath Tagore painted the famous image of Bharat Mata. The identity of the Indian nation came to be visually associated with this image. She was portrayed as an ascetic figure—calm, composed, divine and spiritual.

(iv) Later this image was painted by many other artists which acquired different forms. This image was circulated in popular prints and devotion to this mother figure was seen as a sign of nationalism.

Icons and Symbols (Flag):

During the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, tricolour flag (red, green and yellow), with eight lotuses (depicting eight provinces of British India), was designed.
Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag by 1921—a tricolour (red, green and white) with a spinning wheel in the centre.
Carrying the flag during marches became a symbol of defiance and a sense of collective belonging.

Reinterpretation of History:

The glorification of developments in ancient India in the fields of art and architecture, Science and Mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, craft and trade had also helped in the growth of nationalism.
These nationalist histories encouraged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievement in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions (cultural and economic decline) of life under the British rule.

Indian Folklore:

Idea of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.
Folk tales were sung by bards in the villages, to give a true picture of traditional culture, which had been damaged by outside forces.
In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths to revive folk culture.
In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a four volume collection of Tamil folk tales, “The Folklore of Southern India”.

65. “Plantation workers had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas and the notion of ‘Swaraj.” Support the statement. (2017 D)

Answer: “The plantation workers in Assam had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and the notion of Swaraj” —

For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed.
Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859 plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission.
Swaraj meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.
When they heard of the Non-cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.
They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own village.

66. How did the Colonial Government repress the ‘Civil Disobedience Movement’? Explain. (2017 OD)

Answer: The British Government reacted very strongly to the movement of Indians against the passage of the Rowlatt Act

British officials were alarmed by the popular upsurge. The fear that the lines of communication, such as railways and telegraph, might get disrupted, the British Government started even stronger repressive measures.
The colonial government began to arrest the Congress leaders. Gandhiji was barred from entering Delhi. On 10th April, 1919 the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession.
This provoked widespread attacks and people began to attack the symbols of British rule. There were attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
The government’s repression was quite brutal. Even women and children were beaten up. About 1,00,000 people were arrested.