INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT — FROM EARLY NATIONALISM TO INDEPENDENCE

PRERNA FOR IAS

         Mehnat Aapki, Guidance Humari

         Roz ki Prelims Practice — Experts ke Saath

INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT — FROM EARLY NATIONALISM TO INDEPENDENCE

1. Emergence of Indian Nationalism

• The Indian National Movement developed gradually during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as opposition to British colonial rule, economic exploitation and political discrimination increased.
• Modern education, newspapers, socio-religious reform movements, improved communication and growing awareness of colonial economic policies contributed to national consciousness.
• The movement eventually united diverse regions and communities around the demand for political rights and independence.

2. Foundation of the Indian National Congress

• The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885, with A.O. Hume playing an important organisational role.
• Early leaders included Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjea and Pherozeshah Mehta.
• The early nationalists demanded greater Indian participation in administration, reduction of military expenditure and economic reforms.
• NIOS notes that the INC helped create a consciousness among Indians that they belonged to a single nation. (NIOS Digital)

3. Rise of Assertive Nationalism

• By the beginning of the twentieth century, leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai advocated more assertive political methods.
• The Partition of Bengal in 1905 stimulated the Swadeshi and Boycott movements.
• Indigenous goods, national education and economic self-reliance became important instruments of political mobilisation.

4. Gandhi and the Beginning of Mass Politics

• Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915 and gradually transformed nationalism into a broad mass movement.
• His early struggles included the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, Ahmedabad Mill dispute and Kheda Satyagraha of 1918. (Gandhi Heritage Portal)
• Gandhi introduced Satyagraha, non-violence and mass participation as major instruments of anti-colonial resistance.

5. Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh

• The Rowlatt Act of 1919 permitted extraordinary restrictions and detention without ordinary judicial safeguards, creating widespread opposition.
• Gandhi called for a nationwide protest against it.
• On 13 April 1919, British troops under General Dyer fired upon an unarmed gathering at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, profoundly intensifying anti-colonial feeling. (Gandhi Heritage Portal)

6. Non-Cooperation Movement

• Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920, linking it with the Khilafat agitation.
• Indians were encouraged to boycott government schools, law courts, titles and foreign goods and to promote khadi and swadeshi.
• The movement became the first truly large-scale mass mobilisation under Gandhi.
• It was withdrawn in 1922 after the violent Chauri Chaura incident.

7. Civil Disobedience Movement

• The Congress declared Purna Swaraj or complete independence as its objective at the Lahore session of 1929.
• Gandhi began the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, challenging the colonial salt law through the famous Dandi March.
• Civil disobedience spread across India through tax refusal, salt manufacture, boycott and peaceful protest.
• It brought women, peasants, students and urban groups into political activity on an unprecedented scale. (Gandhi Heritage Portal)

8. Revolutionary and Other Streams

• The national movement was not confined to Gandhian politics.
• Revolutionaries such as Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil and Surya Sen challenged British rule through militant methods.
• Subhas Chandra Bose later organised the Indian National Army and sought to achieve independence through armed struggle.
• Peasant, worker, tribal, student and women’s organisations also contributed to the broader struggle.

9. Quit India Movement and Final Phase

• In August 1942, the Congress launched the Quit India Movement with Gandhi’s call of “Do or Die.”
• The British immediately arrested major national leaders, but protests, strikes and underground resistance continued in many regions.
• After the Second World War, the INA trials, naval ratings’ uprising, growing political pressure and Britain’s weakened position accelerated the transfer-of-power process.
• India finally became independent on 15 August 1947, although independence was accompanied by Partition and widespread communal violence. (NIOS Digital)

10. Historical Significance

• The National Movement transformed anti-colonial protest into a struggle involving peasants, workers, students, women, professionals and the middle classes.
• Its most enduring achievements were the development of national unity, democratic political consciousness, civil resistance and the demand for self-government.
• Different ideological streams—moderate, revolutionary, socialist, Gandhian and constitutional—contributed in distinct ways.
• The freedom struggle therefore represents not a single movement but a long, diverse and evolving national struggle that culminated in independence in 1947.