The Making of the National Movement: 1870s—1947
Answer the following questions:
Q.No. 1) Name some of the important political associations formed during the 1870s and 1880s.
Answer –
The important ones were the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Indian Association, the Madras
Mahajan Sabha, the Bombay Presidency Association, and the Indian National Congress (INC).
Q.No. 2) What were the reasons behind the dissatisfaction with British rule?
Answer –
The reasons behind the dissatisfaction with British rule were –
- The Arms Act which was passed in 1878 disallowed Indians from possessing arms.
- In the same year, the Vernacular Press Act was also enacted in an effort to silence those who were critical of the government.
- The opposition to the Ilbert Bill by the British people. The bill provided the trial of British or European persons by Indians and sought equality between British and Indian judges in the country.
Q.No. 3) What was the Vernacular Press Act?
Answer –
The Act allowed the government to confiscate the assets of newspapers including their printing presses if the newspapers published anything that was found “objectionable”.
Q.No. 4) Write a short note on the establishment of INC.
Answer –
- The Indian National Congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met in Bombay in December 1885.
- A retired British official, A.O. Hume, played a part in bringing Indians from the various regions together.
- Some of the important leaders were Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, W.C. Bonnerji, Surendranath Banerji, Romesh Chandra Dutt, S. Subramania Iyer, among others.
The aims and objectives of the INC were to –
- Found a democratic and national movement
- Act as the main body for nationalist movements.
- To develop a sense of nationalism among the citizens of India.
- To put pressure on the British government and sought equal importance for Indians.
Q.No. 5) Who wrote the book “Poverty and Un-British Rule in India”?
Answer – Dadabhai Naoroji
Q.No. 6) Which Indian Nationalist was the first Indian MP in British Parliament?
Answer – Dadabhai Naoroji
Q.No. 7) What were the demands of the INC during its early years?
Answer –
Some of the demands of the INC were the followings –
- It wanted the Legislative Councils to be made more representative, given more power and introduced in provinces where none existed.
- It demanded that Indians be placed in high positions in the government. For this purpose, it called for civil service examinations to be held in India as well, not just in London.
- the demand for Indianisation of the administration.
- they demanded the separation of the judiciary from the executive, the repeal of the Arms Act, and the freedom of speech and expression.
- Congress demanded a reduction of revenue, a cut in military expenditure, and more funds for irrigation.
Q.No. 8) Name some important radical members in Congress.
Answer –
Bepin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai.
Q.No. 9) Who raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!”?
Answer –
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Q.No. 10) Who partitioned Bengal and when?
Answer –
In 1905, Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal.
Q.No. 11) What was the main objective behind the partition of Bengal?
Answer –
The main British motives were to curtail the influence of Bengali politicians and to split the Bengali people.
Q.No. 12) Who published the Marathi newspaper – ‘Kesari’?
Answer –
Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Q.No. 13) What was the objective of the swadeshi movement?
Answer –
The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of self-help, swadeshi enterprise, national education, and the use of Indian languages.
Q.No. 14) What was another name of the Swadeshi Movement in the deltaic region of Andhra?
Answer –
The Vandemataram Movement.
Q.No. 15) When was the All India Muslim League formed and where?
Answer –
The All-India Muslim League was formed at Dacca in 1906.
Q.No. 16) When did Congress split and why?
Answer-
The Congress split in 1907 into Moderates and Radicals as their ideology of protesting against the British rule was different.
Q.No. 17) What was Lucknow Pact?
Answer –
In December 1916, the Lucknow Pact was signed between the Congress and the Muslim League and they decided to work together for representative government in the country.
Q.No. 18) Explain the economic and political situation in India after the First World War.
Answer –
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.
- The government in turn increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits.
- Increased military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices which created great difficulties for the common people.
- On the other hand, business groups reaped fabulous profits from the war.
- Villages were pressurised to supply soldiers for the British Army and a large number of soldiers were sent to serve abroad but many returned after the war with an
understanding of the ways in which imperialist powers were exploiting the peoples of Asia and Africa and with a desire to oppose colonial rule in India.
Q.No. 19) When did Gandhiji return to India?
Answer –
Gandhiji returned to India in 1915 from South Africa at the age of 46 years.
Q.No. 20) When was Rowlatt Satyagraha started?
Answer –
The Rowlatt Satyagraha was started in 1919.
Q.No. 21) What was the Rowlatt Act?
Answer –
The Rowlatt Act authorized the British Government to imprison any person without trial and conviction in a court of law.
It was passed in March 1919, though every single Indian member of the Central Legislative Council opposed it.
Q.No. 22) When did the infamous incident of Jallianwala Bagh take place and who was the commander of Amritsar at that time?
Answer –
The infamous incident of Jallianwala Bagh took place on 13th April 1919 and General Dyer was the commander at that time.
Q.No. 23) Who renounced the title of ‘Knighthood’ and why?
Answer –
Rabindranath Tagore renounced the title of ‘Knighthood’. He expressed the pain and anger of the country by renouncing his knighthood.
Q.No. 24) What was the Khilafat issue?
Answer –
During the first world war, Turkey allied with Germany and Austria against Britain. So, after the end of the First world war, the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa.
Q.No. 25) Who were the leaders of the Khilafat agitation in India?
Answer –
In India, the leaders of the Khilafat agitation were Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
Q.No. 26) When was the Non-Cooperation Movement started?
Answer –
The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched in 1920 but gained its momentum through 1921-22.
Q.No. 27) What were the actions taken during the Non-Cooperation Movement?
Answer –
During the Non-Cooperation Movement –
- thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges.
- many lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari, and Asaf Ali gave up their practices.
- British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted.
- people lit public bonfires of foreign cloth.
- the imports of foreign cloth fell drastically between 1920 and 1922.
Q.No. 28) After which incident Gandhiji called off the Non-Cooperation Movement and why?
Answer –
After the Chauri-Chaura incident, Gandhiji abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement.
In February 1922 a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaura. Twenty-two policemen were killed on that day. The peasants were provoked because the police had fired on their peaceful demonstration.
Q.No. 29) Who declared ‘Purna Swaraj’ and when?
Answer –
In 1929, under the president-ship of Jawaharlal Nehru, Congress resolved to fight for Purna Swaraj (complete independence). Consequently, “Independence Day” was observed on 26 January 1930 all over the country.
Q.No. 30) From where the Salt March was started?
Answer –
The Salt march was started from the Sabarmati. Gandhiji and his followers marched for over 240 miles from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi, where they broke the government law by gathering natural salt found on the seashore, and boiling sea water to produce salt.
Q.No. 31) Who was the first Indian woman who became the president of INC and when?
Answer –
She was the first Indian woman to become President of the Indian National Congress in 1925.
Q.No. 32) What was the demand put forward by Congress to British Government in order to support them in the Second World War? Did they accept the demand?
Answer –
Congress leaders were ready to support the British war effort. But in return, they wanted that India should be granted independence after the war.
The British refused to concede the demand and the Congress ministries resigned in protest.
Q.No. 33) Who said, “Do or Die”?
Answer –
Mahatma Gandhi
Q.No. 34) When did the Quit India Movement start?
Answer –
The Quit India Movement was started in 1942.
Q.No. 35) What resolution was moved by the Muslim League in 1940?
Answer –
In 1940 the Muslim League had moved a resolution demanding “Independent States” for Muslims in the north-western and eastern areas of the country.
Q.No. 36) Who called Gandhiji the ‘Father of the nation’?
Answer –
Subhas Chandra Bose
Q.No. 37) What was ‘Direct action Day’?
Answer –
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”.