AP Board 8th Class Social History Notes 9th Lesson The Making of the National Movement: 1870s-1947
→ India was the people of India – all the people irrespective of class, colour, caste, creed, language, or gender. And the country, its resources and systems, were meant for all of , them.
→ The more important ones of the political associations were the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Indian Association, the Madras Mahajan Sabha, the Bombay Presidency Association, and of course the Indian National Congress.
→ “Poona Sarvajanik Sabha”: the literal meaning of “sarvajanik” is “of or for all the people” (sarva = all + janik = of the people).
→ Though many of these associations functioned in specific parts of the country, their goals were stated as the goals of all the people of India, not those of any one region, community or class.
→ They worked with the idea that the people should be sovereign – a modern consciousness and a key feature of nationalism.
→ The dissatisfaction with British rule intensified in the 1870s and 1880s, The Arms Act was passed in 1878, disallowing Indians from possessing arms,
→ The Vernacular Press Act allowed the government to confiscate the assets of newspapers including their printing presses if the newspapers published anything that was found “objectionable”.
→ In 1883, there was a furore over the attempt by the government to introduce the llbert Bill. The bill provided for the trial of British or European persons by Indians, and sought equality between British and Indian judges in the country,
→ The Indian National Congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay in December 1885.
→ Naoroji, a businessman and publicist settled in London, and for a time member of the British Parliament, guided the younger nationalists.
→ A retired British official, A.O. Hume, also played a part in bringing Indians from the various regions together.
→ The early Congress also raised a number of economic issues. It declared that British rule had led to poverty and famines: increase in the land revenue had impoverished peasants and zamindars, and exports of grains to Europe had created food shortages.
→ The Moderate leaders wanted to develop public awareness about the unjust nature of British rule.
→ By the 1890s many Indians began to raise questions about the political style of the Congress.
→ In Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders such as Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai were beginning to explore more radical objectives and methods.
→ They criticised the Moderates for their “politics of prayers”, and emphasised the importance of self-reliance and constructive work.
→ Tilak raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!
→ In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal.
→ The main British motives were to curtail the influence of Bengali politicians and to split the Bengali people.
→ The partition of Bengal infuriated peopie all over India. All sections of the Congress – the Moderates and the Radicals, as they may be called – opposed it.
→ The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of selfhelp, swadeshi enterprise, national education, and use of Indian languages.
→ Some individuals also began to suggest that “revolutionary violence” would be necessary to overthrow British rule.
→ A group of Muslim landlords and nawabs formed the All India Muslim League at Dacca in 1906.
→ The Congress and the Muslim League signed the historic Lucknow Pact and decided to work together for representative government in the country.
→ After 1919 the struggle against British rule gradually became a mass movement, involving peasants, tribals, students and women in large numbers and occasionally factory workers as well.
→ The First World War altered the economic and political situation in India. It led to a huge rise in the defence expenditure of the Government of India.
→ On the other-hand, business groups reaped fabulous profits from the war.
→ Gandhiji, aged 46, arrived in India in 1915 from South Africa. Having led Indians in that country in non-violent marches against racist restrictions, he was already a respected . leader, known internationally.
→ In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act that the British had just passed. The Act curbed fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers.
→ In 1920 the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa.
→ The Non-Cooperation Movement gained momentum through 1921-22. Thousands of students left governmentcontrolied schools and colleges.
→ In Kheda, Gujarat, Patidar peasants organised nonviolent campaigns against the high land revenue demand of the British.
→ In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor shops were picketed. In the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribais and poor peasants staged a number of “forest satyagrahas”, sometimes sending their cattle into forests without paying grazing fee.
→ In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikhs sought to remove corrupt mahants – supported by the British – from their gurdwaras. This movement got closely identified with the Non-Cooperation Movement.
→ Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, was against violent movements. He abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement when in February 1922 a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaurav..
→ Once the Non-Cooperation movement was over, Gandhiji’s followers stressed that the Congress must undertake constructive work in the rural areas.
→ On 8 April, 1929, Bhagat Singh and B.K, Dutt threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly.
→ Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed on March 23, 1931. Bhagat Singh’s age at that time was only 23.
→ Purna Swaraj would never come on its own. It had to be fought for. In 1930, Gandhiji declared that he would lead a march to break the salt law.
→ Women, however, had to fight for their right to participate in the movement. During the Salt Satyagraha, for instance, even Mahatma Gandhi was initially opposed to women’s participation. Sarojini Naidu had to persuade him to allow women to join the . movement.
→ Provincial autonomy capacity of the provinces to make relatively independent decisions while remaining within a federation.
→ A radical nationalist, with socialist leanings, Bose did not share Gandhiji’s ideal of ahimsa, though he respected him as the “Father of the Nation”.
→ In January 1941, he secretly left his Calcutta home, went to Singapore, via Germany, and raised the Azad Hind Fauj or the Indian National Army (INA).
→ The INA members were imprisoned and tried. People across the country, from all walks of life, participated in the movement against the INA trials.
→ In 1940 the Muslim League had moved a resolution demanding “Independent States” for Muslims in the north-western and eastern areas of the country.
→ From the late 1930s, the League began viewing the Muslims as a separate “nation” from the Hindus.
→ “General” constituencies Election districts with no reservations for any religious or other community.
→ Elections to the provinces were again held in 1946. The Congress did well in the “General” constituencies but the League’s success in the seats reserved for Muslims was spectacular.
→ After the failure of the Cabinet Mission, the Muslim League decided on mass agitation for winning its Pakistan demand. It announced 16 August 1946 as “Direct Action Day”.
→ Many hundred thousand people were killed and numerous women had to face untold brutalities during the partition.
→ Partition also meant that India changed, many of its cities changed, and a new country Pakistan was born.
→ So, the joy of our country’s independence from British rule came mixed with the pain and violence of partition.
→ SOVEREIGN : The capacity to act independently without outside interference .
→ PUBLICIST : Someone who publicises an idea by circulating information, writing reports, speaking at meetings,
→ REPEAL : To undo law; to officially end the validity of something such as a law.
→ REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE : The use of violence to make a radical change within society,
→ COUNCILt : An appointed or elected body of people with an administrative, advisory or representative function.
→ KNIGHTHOOD : An honour granted by the British Crown for exceptional personal achievement or public service.
→ PICKET : A person or a group standing or marching near a place (at a factory or store) as part of a strike or protest,
→ MAHANTS : Religious functionaries of Sikh gurdwaras.
→ ILLEGAL EVICTION : Forcible and unlawful throwing out of tenants from the land they rent.
→ PROVINCIAL AUTONOMY : Provincial autonomy is defined as the capacity of the provinces to make relatively independent decisions while remaining within a federation.
→ GENERAL CONSTITUENCIES : Election districts with no reservations for any religious or other community.
→ NATIONALISM : Identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the
→ POONA SARVAJANIK SABHA : The literal meaning of “Sarvajanik” is “of or for all the people” (sarva = all + janik = of
the people).
→ RACISM : The-belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to
distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
→ MONOPOLY : Exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action.
→ IMPOVERISH : Make (a person or area) poor.
→ EMPHASIZED : Give special importance or value to (something) in speaking or writing,
→ POLITICS OF PRAYERS : The politics of prayers was a term used in context with
the moderates who felt that the British were not as harsh as they seemed to be and infact had respect for the ideals of freedom and justice, and would accept the just demands of Indians
→ ADMINISTRATIVE CONVENIENCE : Making it easier for ruling.
→ IMPERIALIST POWERS : Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other territories and peoples.
→ SATYAGRAHA : a policy of passive political resistance, especially that advocated by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule in India.
→ HUMILIATION : The action of humiliating someone.
→ PUNJAB WRONGS : It refers to Jallianwalla Bagh massacre that occurred on 13 April, 1919 in Amritsar on Baishakhi day.
→ INQUILAB ZINDABAD : The famous-slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad was given by Mauiana Hasrat Mohani, After bombing the Central Assembly in Delhi the slogan was shouted by Bhagat Singh. It was one of the rallying cries of the Indian independence movement.
→ DO OR DIE : Usecf to describe a critical situation where one’s actions may result in victory or defeat.
→ DIRECT ACTION DAY : Direct Action Day (16 August 1946), also known as the 1946 Calcutta Killings, was a day of nationwide communal riots. It led to large-scale violence between Muslims and Hindus in the city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) in the Bengal province of British India.
