Hello everyone, we start Section B of Paper 1, Indian Nationalism- Rise and Factors of Indian Nationalism, , Political Strategies of Freedom Struggle:
There are 5 ten-mark, 3 fifteen-mark, and 1 twenty-mark questions in the last 12 years PYQs.
THE QUESTION OF NATIONALISM
1. From Parishes to Peoples
- 18ᵗʰ-20ᵗʰ c. local communities fused into nations—large, impersonal solidarities imagined through print and shared symbols (Benedict Anderson, imagined communities).
• New norm: the state must mirror the nation (Ernest Gellner, “political and national unit should be congruent”).
2. What Counts as a Nation?
| Scholar | Key Criterion | Limits |
| Ernest Renan | Will, memory, daily plebiscite | Too inclusive |
| Joseph Stalin | Language, territory, economy, culture | Too rigid |
| Ernest Gellner | Nations are products of nationalism | Explains late formation |
Working definition A nation is a large, anonymous community bound by subjective (will, memory), objective (history, language, territory, economy, culture) and ideological (nationalism) ties.
3. Why Does Nationalism Arise? – Competing Schools
Non-modernist – naturalist (inborn sentiment), perennialist/evolutionist (Anthony D. Smith).
Modernist –
• Doctrine-based (Elie Kedourie) • Industrial-structural (Ernest Gellner) • Anti-imperialist (Tom Nairn, colonial elites vs. core capitalism).
No single model fits every case; contexts differ.
4. Indian Nationalism – A Territorial, Plural Project
- Nation emerges under British rule, not in antiquity.
• Refutes colonial sceptics (John Strachey, J. R. Seeley) by calling India a nation-in-the-making.
• Celebrates plurality, consensus, future-oriented unity (echoed by M. K. Gandhi).
5. Mass Stirring before Congress
- Revolts: Sanyasi–Fakir, Santhal, the Great Revolt 1857; Indigo (1859), Pabna League (1873), Deccan riots (1875).
• English education + vernacular press (Bengalee, Kesari, Hindu) nurture critical intelligentsia.
• Provincial bodies—British Indian Association, Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (M. G. Ranade), Indian Association (Surendranath Banerjea)—test political mobilisation.
6. Indian National Congress (1885)
- Convened by A. O. Hume; presided by W. C. Bonnerjee; leaders Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta.
• Goals: legislative reform, anti-racial solidarity, political education.
• Method: petitions and debate—foundation for later mass politics.
7. Historians Debate the Early INC
- Elite bargaining Anil Seal, C. A. Bayly.
• Sincere nation-building J. R. McLane.
• Explicit anti-colonial front Bipan Chandra.
8. Cultural–Ideological Resistance
Bhikhu Parekh: traditionalists | modernists | critical traditionalists | critical modernists.
• Mimicry as ambivalent resistance (Homi K. Bhabha); modernity dissected (Anthony Giddens).
• Reformers fuse reason with faith—Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Dayanand Saraswati, Keshub Chandra Sen, M. G. Ranade, Swami Vivekananda—attacking superstition, caste and gender hierarchy.
9. Legacy by the 1880s
- Popular uprisings expose colonial exploitation.
• Press and universities spread rational critique.
• Associations and the INC supply national forums.
• Rational-universalist reform crafts a multi-cultural civic identity.
Net result: India now possessed the organisations, ideas and shared grievances needed for a nation-wide anti-imperial struggle—a struggle that would ultimately end British rule.
Swadeshi to Satyagraha & Socialism
1 Partition of Bengal → Swadeshi Movement (1905-08)
| Trigger | Programme | Four currents (per Sumit Sarkar) | Organisations & icons | Limits |
| Lord Curzon’s partition plan (administrative pretext, “divide-and-rule” reality) | • Boycott of Lancashire cloth, British schools & councils • Swadeshi industry (Bengal Chemicals, National Jute, porcelain) • National education: Satish Chandra Mukherjee’s Dawn Society, Brahmabandhab Upadhyay’s Saraswat Ayatan, Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan | ① Moderate petitions (Surendranath Banerjee) ② Constructive swadeshi (self-help) ③ Political extremism (passive resistance) – Bal Gangadhar Tilak · Bipin Chandra Pal ④ Revolutionary nationalism (secret violence) | • Anushilan Samiti (Calcutta/Dhaka) • Swadesh Bandhab Samiti in Bakarganj • Mass festivals using Hindu Shakti/Sakta imagery, Tagore’s Ātma-Shakti call | • Alienated many Muslims, Rajbanshis, Namasudras • Costly swadeshi cloth; coercive picketing hurt poor buyers |
Khudiram Bose-Prafulla Chaki (1908) & Manicktala Bomb trials pushed radicals underground but kept the idea of armed struggle alive (defended by Chittaranjan Das).
2. First World War & Home-Rule ferment (1914-18)
| Wartime issues | Home Rule Leagues (1916-17) | Lucknow Pact (Dec 1916) |
| Heavy taxes, price-rise, conscription → anger among peasants, workers (strikes in Bombay, Madras). Moderates hoped loyalty would fetch reforms (Montagu-Chelmsford proved meagre). | • Annie Besant (all-India, Madras HQ, New India) • Tilak (western India) 60 000 members; mass lectures, vernacular pamphlets. Peter Robb: Government split on how hard to hit the movement; Besant interned (1917) then made INC President. | Wazir Hasan’s “Young Party” aligns Muslim League with Congress. Congress accepts separate electorates to cement Hindu-Muslim unity. Seat quotas criticised by UP Hindu Sabhas, but pact stands as joint demand for self-government. |
3. Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala & nation-wide Satyagraha (1919)
| The law | Mahatma Gandhi’s steps | Regional flash-points |
| Justice Sidney Rowlatt committee → detention without trial, press gag. All Indian members oppose. | • Satyagraha Sabha (Bombay) • Leaflets, hartal (6 Apr 1919) • Gandhi arrested (9 Apr) – sparks protests. | Delhi – Swami Shraddhananda rallies Hindus & Muslims. Lahore – Hartal + Lala Lajpat Rai’s march; martial law. Amritsar – Deportation of Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew · Dr Satyapal → mass at Jallianwala Bagh (13 Apr). Gen Dyer fires: 379 killed; Rabindranath Tagore returns knighthood. |
Effect: Gandhi emerges as pan-Indian leader; shows both power & perils of mass passion → he suspends agitation to preserve non-violence.
4. Gandhi’s village laboratory (1917-18)
| Champaran | Kheda | Ahmedabad |
| Raj Kumar Shukla invites Gandhi; exposes indigo Tinkathia. Refuses magistrate’s expulsion order, joins enquiry → Champaran Agrarian Act 1918 ends system. Judith Brown · Jacques Pouchepadass: peasants active agents, Gandhi negotiator. | Drought-struck peasants (with Mohanlal Pandya · Shankarlal Parikh) demand tax remission. Non-payment pledge → Govt suspends revenue. David Hardiman: no clear economic win, but Gandhi gains Gujarat base. | Mill workers’ wage dispute vs owners (Ambalal & Anasuya Sarabhai). Gandhi mediates, fasts → 35 % rise. First political use of hunger-strike. |
Analysts: A.L. Basham traces roots in Hindu–Jain ahimsa; Sumit Sarkar notes peasants’ own consciousness beyond Gandhi’s emissaries.
5. From romantic terror to socialist revolution (1907-31)
| Phase | People / groups | Acts & trials | Ideological arc |
| Religious–romantic (1907-15) | Chapekar brothers · Khudiram Bose · Prafulla Chaki · Satish Chandra Basu; Anushilan Samiti, Abhinav Bharat (V.D. Savarkar) | Muzaffarpur bombing; Alipore conspiracy; Delhi Bomb 1912 (Rash Behari Bose) | Bankim Chandra’s Anandamath, Swami Vivekananda’s Shakti-manliness; worship of Durga / Kali. Hindu symbolism alienates many Muslims. |
| Ghadar wave (1913-17) | Lala Hardayal · Barkatullah Khan · Raja Mahendra Pratap | Plans to arm revolt from Punjab, failed due to leaks. | Anti-colonial republicanism, hints of socialism. |
| HRA → HSRA (1924-31) | Ram Prasad Bismil · Ashfaqulla Khan · Chandrashekhar Azad · Sachindranath Sanyal form Hindustan Republican Association (United Provinces). After Kakori, leadership passes to Bhagat Singh · Sukhdev · Shiv Verma; rename to Hindustan Socialist Republican Association at Feroz Shah Kotla (1928). | • Kakori train raid (1925) – Bismil, Ashfaq hanged. • Saunders assassination (Dec 1928) avenging Lala Lajpat Rai. • Assembly bomb (Apr 1929) by Bhagat Singh · Batukeshwar Dutt (“make the deaf hear”). • Lahore Conspiracy Case – hunger strike martyr Jatin Das; execution of Bhagat, Sukhdev, Rajguru (23 Mar 1931). | Gazettes The Revolutionary (Nietzsche quote). Explicit socialism, secularism, class war; Naujawan Bharat Sabha mobilises youth across creed. |
| Eastern guerrilla | Surya Sen (Masterda), Kalpana Datta | Chittagong Armoury Raid (Apr 1930) → long jungle warfare; Sen hanged Jan 1934. |
Intellectual well-springs: Mazzini · Garibaldi · American revolution · Irish struggle · Japanese victory 1905 · Russian Revolution 1917. Later revolutionaries study Marxism; embrace worker-peasant alliances.
6. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)
| Launch & trigger | Mass actions | Regional spin-offs | Social reach | End-game |
| • INC Lahore Session (Dec 1929) under Jawaharlal Nehru proclaims Purna Swaraj. • M.K. Gandhi issues eleven-point ultimatum to Viceroy Lord Irwin → ignored. • Salt Satyagraha / Dandi March (12 Mar – 6 Apr 1930). | • Mass salt-law violations from C. Rajagopalachari in Vedaranyam to K. Kelappan in Malabar. • No-tax drives (e.g. Chowkidari Tax in Bihar, Union-Board tax Bengal). • No-rent / no-revenue (Bardoli, Kheda – led by Vallabhbhai Patel). • Forest-law defiance (Maharashtra, Karnataka). • Defence of the tricolour – Tota Narasaiah Naidu, P. Krishna Pillai; Vanara Sena kids. | • Chittagong Armoury Raid (Surya Sen, Apr 1930). • Peshawar: arrest of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan; Gurkha troops refuse to fire. • Sholapur parades create a “parallel govt.” | Women: picketing & revolutionaries Kalpana Datta, Pritilata Waddedar. Business: early backing by G.D. Birla & Marwari houses, waning by 1932 (Homi Mody leads opposition). Peasants: sturdy in Gujarat, Bihar, U.P. Muslims: thinner than 1920-22 owing to communal strain. | • Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 Mar 1931) – salt for personal use, prisoners freed. • 2nd Round-Table Conference (Sep–Dec 1931) fails → crackdown. • Re-launch 1932; Congress outlawed; repression fierce → Gandhi suspends May 1933, withdraws Apr 1934. |
Assessments
- Judith Brown – Gandhi’s charisma welded diverse groups.
- Claude Markovits · Basudev Chatterjee – uneasy Congress-capitalist alliance.
- R.J. Moore · Sumit Sarkar · A.D.D. Gordon – bourgeois fears of disorder hastened the 1931 compromise.
- Bipan Chandra & David Hardiman stress tactical pause / peasant stamina.
7. Ideological spectrum inside nationalism, 1930s
Axis-1 : Gandhi’s “constructive, village-centred” core
- Belgaum-1924 president once; real architect via AICC/Working Committee ( Judith Brown).
- Vision of Swaraj as moral-social revolution (Anthony Parel).
- Political theatre of Salt March ( Dennis Dalton).
Axis-2 : Liberal ‘negotiators’ – Tej Bahadur Sapru · V.S. Srinivasa Sastri
- Mediate at Simon Commission / Round-Tables ( Anil Seal).
- Mass base weak; eclipsed by 1937 elections.
Axis-3 : Congress-Left
| Bloc | Leaders | Line |
| Congress Socialist Party (1934) | Jayaprakash Narayan · Acharya Narendra Deva · Ram Manohar Lohia · Basawon Singh | Socialist programme within INC; popular-front tactics ( Christophe Jaffrelot). |
| Communist Party of India (1925; re-org 1933) | S.A. Dange · M.N. Roy · P.C. Joshi | From “bourgeois-congress” critique → Comintern popular-front ( John Patrick Haithcox). |
| Forward Bloc (1939) | Subhas Chandra Bose | Militancy + socialism; left consolidation ( Leonard Gordon). |
Axis-4 : Revolutionary youth – Bhagat Singh · Chandrashekhar Azad · Surya Sen; HSRA blends nationalism with socialism & secularism ( Sumit Sarkar).
8. Quit India Movement (1942-45)
| Pre-war build-up | British moves | 8-Aug-1942 “Do or Die” | Underground & regionals | Scholarship |
| • Congress ministries resign (Dec 1939). • Individual Satyagraha ( Visalakshi Menon). • Cripps Mission fails; Gandhi calls offer “post-dated cheque”. | • Viceroy Linlithgow ordinances; bolster Muslim League ( Anita Inder Singh). • Wartime “Denial policy”, Bengal shortages ( Madhushree Mukerjee). | AICC at Bombay: Gandhi’s mantra “Quit India”; arrests within hours. Ordinances: Revolutionary Movements & Special Criminal Courts 1942. | Gujarat – Chhotubhai Purani’s Vyayam Mandal; “Azad Sarkar” ( David Hardiman). Bihar-UP – Guerrilla by Jayaprakash Narayan · Rammanohar Lohia. Bengal – Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar, martyr Matangini Hazra ( Hiteshranjan Sanyal). Satara – Prati Sarkar rooted in Satyashodhak Samaj ( Gail Omvedt). Rumours & famine feed revolt ( Crispin Bates). | • “Spontaneous” vs organized debate – Francis Hutchins · Gyanendra Pandey. • Shows limits of Raj’s power; sets stage for transfer. |
9. Peasants & Nationalism
| Phase | Peasant thrust | Congress stance | Key historians |
| Pre-1917 | Indigo, tribal risings (Birsa Munda). | Minimal; industrialist fears. | R.P. Dutt · A.R. Desai stress bourgeois caution. |
| Champaran (1917) & Kheda (1918) | Anti-indigo Tinkathia; tax remission. | Gandhi links local misery to Raj; keeps class-peace. | Mridula Mukherjee: nationalism awakened peasantry; D.N. Dhanagare · Kapil Kumar: “tension management”. |
| 1920-22 | Awadh Kisan Sabha (Baba Ramachandra); Eka (Madari Pasi). | Support until violence (Chauri Chaura) – movement called off. | Sumit Sarkar on Congress limits. |
| 1930s | All-India Kisan Sabha 1936 (Swami Sahajanand · N.G. Ranga · Indulal Yagnik). | Congress agrarian resolution; wary of zamindar clash; bans dual membership 1938. | Left-peasant studies; Subaltern school ( Ranajit Guha · Shahid Amin · Partha Chatterjee). |
| 1940s | Tebhaga (Bengal), Telangana (Hyderabad). | Approves zamindari abolition but compensates landlords. | Kapil Kumar on Congress compromises. |
10. Working-class & Nationalism
| Milestone | Leaders / unions | Congress link | Scholars |
| Early clubs (1870-90) | Sasipada Banerjee · Narayan Meghaji Lokhande | Congress indifferent; opposes Factory Acts. | Dipesh Chakrabarty · Bipan Chandra. |
| Swadeshi surge (1905-08) | Bombay & Calcutta strikes backing Tilak. | Nationalists court labour for boycott. | Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. |
| AITUC 1920 | Lala Lajpat Rai, B.P. Wadia, Anasuya Sarabhai; Ahmedabad Majur Mahajan (Gandhian). | Gandhi urges conciliation; wary of communists. | Chitra Joshi. |
| Left ascendancy 1927-37 | S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed; Bombay Girni strike 1928; Meerut Conspiracy 1929. | INC uneasy; splits AITUC (Indian TUF 1929, Red TUC 1931). | Rajnarayan Chandavarkar. |
| WW-II & after | Jute strike ’37, Bombay anti-war strikes ’39; RIN Mutiny support ’46. Unions fracture into INTUC (1947) · HMS (1948) · UTUC (1949). | Congress ministries regulate labour; INTUC becomes party arm. | S.K. Chaube · E.M.S. Namboodiripad critique bourgeois orientation. |
Key take-aways across sections
- Gandhian mass-line combined ethical protest with tactical retreats; yet business, communal and class pressures shaped every cease-fire.
- Left currents—CSP, CPI, Forward Bloc—pushed socialism, trade-unionism and radical peasant agendas, forcing Congress to adopt the Karachi Resolution 1931 & later zamindari abolition.
- Regional “parallel governments” from Tamralipta to Prati Sarkar demonstrated local initiative beyond central directives.
- Peasants and workers were never passive; they re-interpreted nationalist idioms to fight tax, rent, wage and land grievances, sometimes outrunning Congress control.
- Scholarly debate—Brown, Moore, Sarkar, Markovits, Hardiman, Mukherjee, Chandavarkar—revolves around whether Congress channelled or contained these radical energies.
Thus the 1930-47 decade shows an ever-widening social coalition, but also the constant negotiation between moral-symbolic mobilisation and hard economic/class realities.
Scholars Index;
Muzaffar Ahmed | Shahid Amin | Benedict Anderson | Chandrashekhar Azad | Surendranath Banerjea | Sasipada Banerjee | A.L. Basham | Satish Chandra Basu | Crispin Bates | C. A. Bayly | Homi K. Bhabha | Sabyasachi Bhattacharya | G.D. Birla | Ram Prasad Bismil | W. C. Bonnerjee
Subhas Chandra Bose | Rash Behari Bose | Khudiram Bose | Judith Brown | Reginald Dyer | S. K. Chaube | Claude Markovits | Prafulla Chaki | Dipesh Chakrabarty | Partha Chatterjee | Basudev Chatterjee | Bankim Chandra Chatterjee | Bipan Chandra | Bipin Chandra | Bipin Chandra Pal
Jacques Pouchepadass | David Hardiman | Dayanand Saraswati | Dennis Dalton | A. R. Desai | Dadabhai Naoroji | Ranajit Guha | John Patrick Haithcox | Christophe Jaffrelot | Francis Hutchins | Ernest Gellner | Anthony Giddens | Leonard Gordon | A.D.D. Gordon | Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Mazzini | Gyanendra Pandey | Wazir Hasan | Lala Hardayal | Matangini Hazra | A. O. Hume | Lord Irwin | Elie Kedourie | K. Kelappan | Barkatullah Khan | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew | Kapil Kumar | Lord Linlithgow | Ram Manohar Lohia
Madhushree Mukherjee | Mridula Mukherjee | Mahatma Gandhi | M.N. Roy | Mohanlal Pandya | Muzaffar Ahmed (duplicate removed) | N. G. Ranga | Peter Robb | P. C. Joshi | P. Krishna Pillai | Pherozeshah Mehta | Raja Mahendra Pratap | Raj Kumar Shukla | Raja Rammohan Roy | Ram Prasad Bismil (duplicate removed)
R. J. Moore | R.P. Dutt | Sachindranath Sanyal | Satish Chandra Mukherjee | Hiteshranjan Sanyal | Tej Bahadur Sapru | Dayanand Saraswati (duplicate removed) | S. A. Dange | John Strachey | Sidney Rowlatt | Anthony D. Smith | Tom Nairn | Tota Narasaiah Naidu | V. D. Savarkar | V.S. Srinivasa Sastri
Sumit Sarkar | Swami Sahajanand | Swami Shraddhananda | Swami Vivekananda | Surya Sen | Keshub Chandra Sen | Surendranath Banerjea (duplicate removed) | Shahid Amin (duplicate removed) | Shankarlal Parikh | Shiv Verma | Sukhdev | Bal Gangadhar Tilak | Brahmabandhab Upadhyay | Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar | Indulal Yagnik
Vallabhbhai Patel | Visalakshi Menon | Gail Omvedt | Jawaharlal Nehru | Jayaprakash Narayan | Annie Besant | Peter Robb (duplicate removed) | Anthony Parel | Anil Seal | C. Rajagopalachari | Lord Curzon | Lord Linlithgow
Practice Questions (Write before 4 p.m.)
Question 1. Comment on Satyagraha and Indian Nationalism. [2023/10m]
Question 2. Differentiate moderate nationalism from extremist / militant nationalism in terms of their objectives and means.. [2017/15m]
Question 3. National movement in India was anti-imperialist and increasingly radical in its socio economic and political programmes. Discuss. [2019/20m]
📌 Model answers drop this evening on the Telegram channel: https://t.me/psirbyamitpratap – keep notifications on.
See you tomorrow on Day 16. Keep practicing!
—Amit Pratap Singh & Team
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