Block 3

UNIT 9 CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN
ECONOMY: PRE-COLONIAL AND COLONIAL

Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Characteristics of Pre-colonial Economy
9.2.1 Agriculture
9.2.2 Trade
9.2.3 Handicraft Industries
9.3 Aspects of Colonial Rule
9.4 Evolution of Colonial Rule
9.5 Impact of the Colonial Rule: Western View-point
9.6 Impact of the Colonial Rule: Indian View-point
9.6.1 The Drain theory
9.6.2 De- industrialization
9.7 Phases of the Colonial Rule
9.8 Agriculture under the Colonial Rule
9.8.1 The New Land Settlement
9.8.2 Commercialisation of Agriculture
9.8.3 Impact on Agriculture
9.9 Role of the Colonial State
9.10 Let Us Sum Up
9.11 Key Words
9.12 Answers to Check Your Progress/ Exercises
9.0 OBJECTIVES
The British rule in India did not mean political control only. It extended to every sphere of Indian life-social,
economic and cultural. In the economic field the British rule brought about fundamental changes and
transformed the Indian economy. This unit attempts to deal with the economic changes brought about by the
British rule.
After reading this unit you will:
have an idea about the nature of Indian economy just before the British conquest,
know the ideas of the Western Scholars about the impact of the British rule over the Indian economy, ,
learn about the processes of drain of wealth and de-industrialization, and
be able to assess the role that the colonial state played in the impoverishment of India.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
India was a direct colony of the British and the impact of this colonial rule over the economy, society and
polity of India has been quite deep. Many serious consequences of the British Colonial Rule are still
persisting and this makes the study of colonial phase of India very relevant for understanding many
contemporary aspects of the Indian society. It must be stated at the outset that direct colonial rule leaves a
total impact on the colonized society because every aspect of social life is influenced by colonia
policies of the colonizers. A direct colony (as was the case with India) is under the complete control of the
colonizers and colonial policies and interests penetrate every aspect of social life of a colony.
Another important fact about India is that the colonial rule lasted for a very long time and this longevity of
the colonial rule over India affected the vitals of the Indian society. The long period of British rule over
India provided enough time to the British to establish strong and stable institutions for the governance of
India. The journey of British occupation of India was slow and steady and it passed through various stages.
This evolutionary process provided the British an opportunity to evolve their policies and change their
policies on the basis of experience gained through practice. But before we go into that, we should have a
look at the nature of Indian economy prior to British rule.
9.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF PRE-COLONIAL

ECONOMY
India in the pre-colonial period had a stable economy. Self-sufficient agriculture, flourishing trade and rich
handicraft industries-these were some of the features of the Indian economy. Let us look at them separately.
9.2.1 Agriculture
Agricultural operations were carried on in India by subsistence farmers, organised in small village
communities. Village was more or less a self-sufficient economic unit and its business contacts with the
outside world were limited to payment of land revenue (generally in kind) and the purchase of a few
necessary things from the town nearby. The farmer raised only those crops which he needed for his own use
and shared the same with the village artisan who supplied him with simple manufacture that he needed for
his domestic consumption.
Means of communication were of a primitive type. Therefore, trade in agricultural produce, was somewhat
limited. The farmer usually raised enough produce to feed himself and the non-agricultural members of the
village community. If his crop yielded more than the consumption needs, due to favourable climatic
conditions, he stored that surplus for use in the lean years. Storage of food grains was a common practice
among the pre-colonial agriculturists and constituted, under these conditions, the only remedy against
famines.
This pattern of agriculture continued throughout the medieval times. However, towards the end of the 18th
century the village communities began to break up, under pressure from new forces which imparted
dynamism to the Indian rural economy. This happened mainly because of two factors, (1) The change in the
property relations brought by the introduction of new forms of land tenure which you will study a little later
in this unit, and (2) the development of an active export trade in agricultural produce of India. The contact
with the west through the establishment of the British rule was responsible for both these developments.
9.2.2 Trade
In spite of the fact that the Indian villages were largely self-sufficient units and the means of communication
were primitive, India enjoyed extensive trade both within the country and with other countries of Asia and
Europe. A balance of the imports and exports was maintained. The items imported into India were pearls,
wool, dates, dried fruits and rosewater from the Persian gulf; coffee, gold, drugs and honey from Arabia; tea,
sugar and silk from China; gold, musk and woollen cloth; metals like copper, iron and lead, and paper from
Europe. The main items exported from India were cotton textiles. Besides cotton textiles which were famous
the world over, India also exported raw silk, indigo, opium, rice, wheat, sugar, pepper and other spices,
precious stones and drugs.
The major features of Indian trade in pre-colonial times were (i) a favourable balance of trade and (ii) a
foreign trade most suitable to the level of manufacturing in India. A favourable balance of trade meant an
excess of exports over imports, i.e., India exported more than it needed to import. Since the economy was on
the whole self-sufficient in handicrafts and agricultural products, India did not need foreign imports on a
large scale and continued to enjoy a healthy trade. Secondly, India's foreign trade suited its requirements
very well. In other words, the commodity pattern, so important to any country's foreign trade, was in India's
favour. India exported the items it specialised in; and imported the ones it needed.
One major change that occurred in India's foreign trade from pre-colonial to colonial times was in its
commodity pattern. Although India continued to have an export surplus, the pattern of foreign trade turned
up side down. For instance, from an exporter of cotton textiles, India was converted into an importer of
cotton textiles, thereby ruining India's rich traditional handicrafts.
9.2.3 Handicraft Industries

As discussed above India was a land of extensive manufactures. Indian artisans were famous for their skills
the world over. In fact the reason for India's favourable foreign trade was its excellence in indigenous
production. India indulged in a large scale manufacture of cotton and silk fabrics, sugar, jute, dyestuffs,
mineral and metallic products like arms, metalwares and oil. Towns like Dacca and Murshidabad in Bengal;
Patna in Bihar; Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat; Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh; Burhanpur in Maharashtra;
Jaunpur, Varanasi, Lucknow and Agra in U.P.; Multan and Lahore in the Punjab; Masulipatnam,
Aurangabad and Visakhapatnam in Andhra; Bangalore in Mysore and Coimbatore and Madurai in Madras
were flourishing centres of textile industry. Kashmir specialised in woollen manufactures. Maharashtra,
Andhra and Bengal were prominent centres of ship building industry. India's ships were bought by many
European companies for their use.
India, towards the end of the 18th century was, undoubtedly one of the main centres of world trade and
industry. This status of India was completely destroyed under colonial times. Its beginnings can be traced to
the after-math of the industrial Revolution in England. The machine made cloth of England began to replace
the indigenous manufactures. India's artisans were forced out of production. It was this pressure from the
British goods which led to the decline of the traditional India's centres of economic activity listed above. The
number of weavers also declined.
9.3 ASPECTS OF COLONIAL RULE

Two aspects of the gradual expansion of British occupation of India deserve attention. The experiences
gained by the British in one region of India were either extended or modified in other regions and this
learning through practice made them quite powerful in dealing with the problems of a large colony like
India. The changes in British society demanded different approach to satisfy the interests of emerging social
groups in Britain. The essence of British colonial policies in India was determined by the dynamics of
society which witnessed many changes in Britain. The modern British society progressed through stages like
mercantile capitalism to industrial capitalism and from competitive industrial capitalism to monopoly
industrial capitalism. The interests of mercantile British capitalism lay in trade with India. The interests of
industrial capitalism were, on the other hand, market oriented, in which the Indian colony was to provide
raw maternal and buy manufactured goods from Britain. Thus social and economic changes in Britain
directly influenced British colonial policies in India.
9.4 EVOLUTION OF COLONIAL RULE
The British East India Company got a legal charter for trade from the Mughal ruler in 1600, and soon this
trading company started conquering India. The conquests began in 1757 with the defeat of the Nawab of
Bengal by Robert Clive. The East India Company ruled India for a century, i.e., from the decisive Battle of
Plassey in 1757 to 1857 when Indians fought a war of independence. The British defeated the Indians in this
war and in 1858 Queen Victoria assumed the responsibility of direct rule over India. The rule of East India
Company ended and the British Parliament became directly responsible for the governance of India and this
continued till 1947.
Check Your Progress I
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.

ii) Check your answer with that given at the end of the unit.
1) Read the following statements and mark right (√) or wrong (x).
i) British colonial policies made an impact on every aspect of the Indian society.
ii) British policies in India were influenced by the social and economic changes in Britain.
iii) The performance of indigenous industries improved after the colonial conquest.
iv) Indian agriculture remained unchanged from the pre-colonial to colonial period
2) Write five lines each on the state of agriculture, trade and industries in the pre colonial period.
Agriculture
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Trade
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Industries
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9.5 IMPACT OF THE COLONIAL RULE:

WESTERN VIEW-POINT
What was the impact of British rule over India? It must be clearly stated that sharp differences have always
existed, and continue to persist, among the Indian nationalists and the Western Scholars in their evaluation
of the impact of British colonial rule over the economy, society and polity of India.
According to many western writers, the British rule provided political unity and stability of governance to
India. It has been maintained by the Western scholars that the British rescued India from chaos and provided
political stability. As Morris D. Morris, an American Scholar observes:
"Despite a Hindu tradition of imperial expansion, at no time in Indian history over any large region did a
stable political unit survive for more than a century or a century-and-a-half. There was nothing that
compares with the imperial chronologies of Rome, Egypt, or China. A crucial consequence is that no
tradition of continuous administrative institutions and no persistent bureaucracy ever developed."
Indian political unity, according to them, was a myth, an abstract concept which was concretized into a
reality by the British rulers. In the absence of political unity, the eighteenth century India had very low
levels of "commerce and capital accumulation" and its implication was that the British rule in India had to
deal with very low level of economy. This argument of the western writers challenges the nationalist
argument that India was economically very attractive and profitable for the British.
Second, the western writers have suggested that the history of India revealed a very low level of agricultural
productivity because it was based on a 'non-animal powered agriculture'. According to many western
historians, the absence of any worthwhile technology kept a large portion of India 'virgin land as late as
1800'. Tobacco, potato and peanut cultivation was introduced by the British in India.
Third, according to them, India could not claim any great achievements in manufacturing because it lacked
modem technology. Although India had some excellent craftsmen and produced textiles and a few other
manufactured goods but they were the result of hard work and not of any developed technology. The
evidence for this viewpoint is gathered from the seventeenth century records of the English which point out
the inelasticity of textile productivity in India. W.H. Moreland and many other scholars have used the
evidence of early European travellers to prove that Indian technology was poor. On the basis of such
evidence, Morris D. Moms observes that:
"...the Indian subcontinent was a region in which per capita income was relatively low in the centuries
before 1800. Given the lack of political stability, low agricultural and non-agricultural productivity, and
insignificant commerce no other conclusion is supportable."
If the opinions of Morris D. Morris, W.H. Moreland, or European travelers or British factory records are
accepted that India was underdeveloped when the British gradually conquered it, then the implication is that
the British conquest of India was beneficial for the economy, society and polity of this country. In history
whenever two societies interact, the advanced and well organized society succeeds in establishing its control
over the less advanced society and at the same time the less advanced society gains from the technology and
organization of the advanced society. This is the basic premise of the western writers who view the British
colonial rule as a rule of advanced society over an underdeveloped society. In the process, the
underdeveloped society like India achieved benefits from the British rule and they are enumerated by the
Western scholar:
The British provided political unity and stability to India.

The British developed a system of roads and rail transport which had a positive impact on the economic
development of India.
The British developed irrigation and other public works which facilitated the growth of agriculture, commerce and
manufacturing activities in India.
To sum up, the Western writers have made two points regarding the impact of British rule over India. First,
on the eve of colonial expansion, the British found a highly underdeveloped India with low productivity in
agriculture, very low per capita income and absence of any developed technology or tools for
manufacturing. Second, the benevolent policies of the British helped in the establishment of political unity, a
system of governance and it laid the foundations of economic development in India.
9.6 IMPACT OF THE BRITISH RULE: INDIAN

VIEW-POINT
As against this, the Indian nationalist scholars put forward a different hypothesis. Dadabhai Naoroji, Romesh
Chandra Dutt in the 19th century and Rajni Palme Dutt in the 20th century represented the Indian nationalist
perspective. The question they raised was: why did the British East India Company gradually get involved in
local wars of conquest? Why did the British Queen in 1858 take up the direct responsibility of ruling over
India till 1947? How was it that the East India Company which came to India with a trading capital of
68,000, went on to make fortunes? If the Indian economy was really stagnant, how did it sustain the East
Indian Company and its expenditure?
Two important aspects of British colonial rule over India highlighted by the nationalists were the 'drain
theory' and the theory of 'de-industrialisation'.
9.6.1 The Drain Theory

The drain theory, as formulated by the nationalists, referred to the process by which, a significant part of
India's national wealth, was being exported to England for which India got no economic returns. In other
words, India was made to pay an indirect tribute to the English nation. Needless to say, this drain of India's
wealth to England, in the form of salaries to British officers posted in India, home-charges and the profits
made on the British capital invested in India, benefited England and diminished the sources for investment
in India. Amiya Bagchi observes:
Since after acquiring dominion over India, the East India Company and private traders could appropriate
Indian goods or tribute or profits without really paying for them. Britain did not any longer have to send
bullion to India to balance here accounts. Instead bullion was now sent out from India either to China or to
Britain.
Bagchi's estimate is that 'external drain' from Bengal constituted about 3 to 4 per cent of the gross domestic
material product. If expenditure on wars of the East India Company is added in this period, Bagchi maintains
that "at least 5 to 6 per cent of resources of the ruled land were siphoned off from any possibility of
investment."
An elementary principle of economic development is that surplus is generated for investment but if the
surplus is siphoned off from a colony to the colonizers, the colony gets underdeveloped. This was the impact
of external drain on the economy of India under British colonial rule starting with Bengal after the battle of
Plassey in 1757.
External drain, however, was only one element of British exploitation of India, linked, with other sources of
exploitation like heavy taxation and an unfavourable trade. The British benefited immensely from the
plunder and exploitation of India. Lord Curzon wrote:
India is the pivot of our Empire... If the Empire loses any other part of its Dominion we can survive, but if
we lose Indian the sun of our Empire will have set.
The Company obtained Dewani or civil administration rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765 and this
opened new opportunities for plunder by the Company. The land revenue because of Dewani rights were
remitted by the Company to England. This monopoly plunder and exploitation by the Company continued
till the end of eighteenth century when England moved from mercantile capitalism to industrial revolution
and the emerging industrial capitalists in Britain started demanding the end of Company rule in India.
9.6.2 De-industrialization
Besides the external drain theory, the nationalists argued that British rule led to the deindustrialization of
India. India was an exporter of cotton manufacture and this was how the Company started its trade but
gradually India became an importer of cotton manufacture and thus Indian artisans, craftsmen and important
trading centres collapsed and whatever manufacturing activity existed was destroyed under the impact of
imports of cotton manufacture almost exclusively from Britain. Amiya Bagchi observed: "for more than
seventy-five years up to 1913, India remained the major importer of cotton goods from Britain, often taking
more than forty per cent of the British exports."
Thus the industrialization of England was accompanied by the decline and destruction of Indian cotton
manufacturer. As a result, India witnessed, from the early 19th century onwards, a steady decline in
population dependent on indigenous industries and a consequent over-burdening of agriculture. This proved
injurious to both. its political ramifications have been summed up by Sumit Sarkar:
The sufferings of artisans have to be kept in mind as a significant factor in the understanding of many
movements of our period: both in the way in which de-industrialization stimulated patriotic sentiments
among intellectuals alike in the Moderate, Extremist and Gandhian eras, as well as more directly, in
occasional urban and rural explosions of various types.
The decay of Dacca, Surat, Murshidabad and many other flourishing towns bears testimony to
de-industrialization of India. Sir Charles Trevelyan observed in 1840:
The population of the town of Dacca has fallen from 1,50,00 to 30,000 or 40,000 and the jungle and malaria
are fast encroaching upon the town... Dacca, which was the Manchester of India, has fallen off from a very
flourishing town to a very poor and small one; the distress there has been very great indeed.
9.7 PHASES OF COLONIAL RULE

The twin processes of the drain and the de-industrialization were carried out extensively through the various
stages of colonial rule. The process itself started from 1757 when with the battle of Plassey, the East India
Company, representing the British mercantile class, took over the Indian control. During the same period a
fundamental change was taking place in Britain by a series of inventions leading to the industrial
Revolution: for example, the spinning-Jenny of Hargreaves in 1764, Watt's steam engine in 1765, water
frame of Arkwright in 1769, Crompton's mule in 1779, Cartweight's power-loom in 1785. Before these
inventions, the Bank of England was established in 1694 and plunder of India helped capital accumulation
and inventions helped in generating the industrial Revolution. The transformation in England created new
interests and East India Company became the target of attacks in England and finally its fate was sealed by
the War of Indian independence in 1857.
The impact of the British rule, in the initial stages has been summed up by R.P. Dutt:
While machine-made cotton goods from England ruined the weavers, machine-made twist ruined
the spinners. Between 1818 and 1836, the export of cotton twist from England to Indian rose 5,200
times.
The same process could be traced in respect of silk goods, woollen goods, iron, pottery, glass and
paper.
The effects of this wholes destruction of the Indian manufacturing industries on the economy of the
country can be imagined. In England the ruin of the old handloom weavers was accompanied by the
growth of the new machine industry. But in India, the ruin of the millions of artisans and craftsmen
was not accompanied by any alternative growth of new forms of industry... The old populous
manufacturing towns, Dacca, Murshidabad, ... Surat and the like, were in a few years rendered
desolate under the 'Pan-Brittanica' with a completeness which no ravages of the most destructive
war or foreign conquest could have accomplished.
The merchant capital of the British, found new opportunities in India, when, Company started its conquests,
in which monopolistic buying of Indian material was undertaken by the revenue earned from India, and they
were exported to foreign markets with maximum profits. The pre-industrial British capital, instead of
making so-called "investments", were buying Indian commodities for profitable exports on the basis of
money earned from revenue in India. Thus, the conquest of India by the British East India Company gave it
the 'power to levy and collect land revenue and other taxes', and, on the basis of the gross profits the
Company exploited Indian commodities. This 'semi-bondage' situation of India made the British mercantile
capitalism earn "tribute from conquest". According to Professor Habib, during the later half of eighteenth
century the total British imports from India increased from 12 per cent to 24 per cent, and the British exports
to India increased from 6.4 per cent to only 9 per cent of the total British exports.
The phase of Merchant Capitalism, gave way to the phase of industrial Capitalism towards the beginning of
the 19th century. Now the emphasis shifted from revenue collection and trade to new forms of surplus
appropriation. Indian economy was now geared to serve the interests of industrial England. India was now
used to provide raw material to the industries of England and a market for the readymade British
manufactured industrial goods. Indian resources continued to be drained out to England, although in
different forms. Similarly, the process of de-industrialization also got accelerated.
After 1857, when the British Government took on direct control of India, some British capital also started
pouring into the Indian market, along with the manufactured goods. This was the result of the accumulation
of capital at an unprecedented level in the leading industrial countries. Now England needed India, not only
as a market for their goods, but also as a favourable ground for the investment of their capital. As a result
India started getting industrialized, but only on foreign capital. All the major industries like Railways, Jute,
Iron and Steel (with the exception of cotton textiles) were being run by British capital. Its result was a
further drain of wealth, as all the profits made on British capital were going back to England.
Thus up to the end of nineteenth century India was sucked by the British during both phases of colonialism,
i.e., during mercantile capitalism and industrial revolution in England.
Check Your Progress 2

ii) Check your answer with at given at the end of the unit..
1) Read the following statements and mark right (√) or wrong (x)
i) There was a basic agreement between the Indian and Western Scholars
regarding the role of British policy towards Indian economy.
ii) The nationalist Scholars felt that the British rule had provided unity and
stability to India.
iii) The drain theory was put forward by the Western Scholars.
iv) The industrialization of England was largely responsible for the de-industrialization of
India.
2) Write fifty words each on the following themes:
Drain of wealth
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De-industrialization
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3) Write 10 lines on the phases of the colonial rule.
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9.8 AGRICULTURE UNDER THE COLONIAL

RULE
Various aspects of a country's economy are interconnected. Agriculture supports industry and industry
develops agriculture. The British agrarian policies in India destroyed prosperous agricultural economy and
brought unparalleled human misery on the people living in the countryside. Even the plantation development
policy of the British in the field of tea, tobacco, jute and indigo did not benefit the Indian people.
What was the basic agrarian policy of the British which led to the destruction of the Indian agricultural
economy?
9.8.1 The New Land Settlement

The disintegration of the Mughal Empire, the gradual conquests of the East India Company and the desire of
the British to extract maximum land revenue in cash made the British evolve a land system in India which
would ensure payment of land revenue and also establish a collaborating class in rural India.
The infamous Permanent land settlement of Lord Cornwallis in 1793 for Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and later
extended to parts of North Madras created a class of zamindars who became "landlords in perpetuity". The
land revenue was fixed on permanent basis, and the zamindars became intermediaries between the rulers and
the peasantry. The amount fixed broke the back of the peasantry. While under this system the peasantry
suffered enormously the landlords and the British rulers benefited. Lord William Bentinck himself observed:
If security was wanting against extensive popular tumult or revolution, I should say that the
Permanent Settlement, though a failure in many other respects and most important essentials, has
this great advantage at least, of having created a vast body of rich landed proprietors deeply
interested in the continuance of the British Dominion and having complete command over the mass
of the people.
Besides the Permanent Settlement, the British evolved the Ryotwari System implemented in Madras
Presidency in 1820 by Sir Thomas Munro. The Ryotwari system had two features. First, the government and
the cultivators would have direct relationship and land revenue will be settled directly between the two
without any intermediary. Second, unlike the system of Lord Cornwallis, Munro's system was based on
periodical re-assessment of land revenue.
Whether the system in some parts of India was Permanent Zamindary settlement, or its minor variant
Temporary Zamindary settlements, or the Ryotwari settlements, landlordism became the system under the
British. It dispossessed the cultivators, moneylenders entered rural India, the tenants were unprotected and
the majority of real cultivators became landless labourers. When real cultivators are dispossessed and
intermediaries and non-cultivating interests emerge powerful, agricultural development suffers and the
majority becomes poor. This happened in India as a result of the policies of the British. The beneficiaries
were landlords and the government and victims were the peasants. In the words of Daniel Thorner:
In no other period of Indian history can be find so large, so well-established, and so secure a group
of landholders as that which grew up and flourished between the 1970s and the 1940s.
The agrarian system as evolved by the British had a built-in system of destruction of agriculture which is
proved by the famines of 1870s and late 1890s and epidemics and slow growth of population.
Agriculture could develop if investments were made in public works either by the government or by the
efforts of the peasants. Naturally poor peasantry could not do it. The British did it in a very limited manner.
Wherever government took initiative in public works, results were encouraging as in the case of the canal
system in Punjab. Since the government and the landlords showed very little interest in public works,
agriculture remained backward. The impoverishment of the peasantry was a glaring fact during the British
rule over India. The agrarian policies pursued by the British increased the number of landless labourers, the
pressure of population on backward village economy and the profitable plantation economy filled the
pockets of the British. The magnitude of rural poverty was graphically described by the saying that the
Indian is born in debt, he lives in debt and he dies in debt. "The vast majority of peasants live to debt to the
moneylender" was stated by the Simon Commission. Even for paying land revenue to the government, the
peasants were obliged to borrow and how could an indebted peasantry develop agriculture?
9.8.2 Commercialisation of Agriculture

The new land settlements, discussed above, brought about a revolution in the property relations. Along with
this, a commercial revolution, know as the commercialization of agriculture, began to take shape in Indian
agriculture around 1860s. Simply put, commercialisation of agriculture meant that the agricultural produce
was oriented towards a market, i.e., agriculture became a marketable commodity. Many factors were
responsible for it:
A rapid development of railway occurred in this period. The length of the railway tracks increased from 288 miles in
1857 to 30576 in 1908. This expansion of the railway facilitated the commercialisation of agriculture.
The opening of Suez canal in 1869 shortened the sea route between England and India by about 3000 miles and brought
the two countries closer to each other for purpose of trade.
Certain technological innovations in England between 1873 and 1886 replaced sailing vessels with modern steam ships.
This brought down the freight rates by half and had a stimulating effect on the export of agricultural produce from
India which grew rapidly both in volume and value.
The Civil war in North America diverted, for the time being, the British demand for raw cotton from the United States
to India. Consequently there was a sudden increase in the export of raw cotton from India after 1862. From 5.6
crore in 1859-60, it rose to 37.5 crore in 1864-65.
The result of all this was a phenomenal increase in the export of agricultural goods from India. The total
value of export went up by more than five hundred per cent from 1859- 60 to 1906-07.
Paradoxically, this increase in foreign demand for Indian agricultural produce did not lead to the
development of Indian agriculture. There were many reasons for this:
the backward agricultural organization in the country.
lack of resources with the farmer for technological improvement,
his unpreparedness for the commercialisation and therefore inability to take till advantage of the opportunities offered,
absence of any increase in the productivity of land, and
the role of colonialism which super-imposed the commercialisation process from the top. It was precisely because of
colonialism that the commercialisation of agriculture emerged as an artificial. forced process which could not lead
to a genuine growth in agriculture. The objective conditions for such a growth had already been destroyed by
colonialism.
However, the impact of the commercialisation was quite far reaching. To begin with, it led to a scarcity of
food. This happened because the increasing demand for cash crops like raw cotton, jute, indigo and opium
etc. was met by substitution of commercial crops for traditional food crops. This was done by the farmers to
increase their profits, as the commercial crops were more paying. But its impact on the food supply of the
country was disastrous. It was reported that one major cause of the famine in 1866 in Bengal and Orissa was
that the best land was cultivating indigo instead of rice.
Yet another impact was a differentiation among the farmers. Although a small section of the farmers, who
had the resources, prospered by shifting completing to the cultivation of commercial crops, the poor farmer
suffered great losses as he had to now depend on a market for his own food requirements.
However, there were some positive aspects also. Regional specialization grew and the village lost its
isolation and got linked with the world market. The farmer, in his choice of crops, came to attach greater
importance to market demands and prices than to his own immediate needs.
9.8.3 Impact on Agriculture

To sum up, agrarian system and policies pursued by the British created stagnant agriculture, indebted
peasantry, galloping landless labouring class, deaths through malnutrition, famines and epidemics. The basic
policy of the British was to extract land revenue whether peasantry could pay it or not. The distress sale of
land to pay land revenue was not discouraged as it was a direct consequence of British land revenue policies.
Professor Irfan Habib aptly describes the situation. He observes:
"The land revenue under the preceding Indian regimes was fixed as a share of the crop, and varied according
to the crop cultivated. The land revenue under the British, whether directly imposed on the ryots or assessed
on the zamindars, was a true tax on land."
Thus revenue collections went up, the prices of foodgrains declined, the rural indebtedness increased and the
rural economy was depressed. The direct appropriation of the agricultural surplus was the sole goal of the
British rule and its direct consequences was impoverishment of the peasantry and stagnation of the rural
economy.
9.9 ROLE OF THE COLONIAL STATE

After 1857 when the British Government directly became responsible for the governance of India, the
foundation of Colonial State was firmly established. The British Colonial state has been characterized as
'benevolent despotism' or a liberal laissez faire state which performed the role of night watchman with
minimal interference in the Indian affairs. This is historical falsehood spread by the western historians. The
powerful colonial state was pro-landlord, pro-moneylender, pro-princess and pro-British economic interests
in India.
The Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858 stated:

"We shall respect the rights, dignity and honour of the Native Princess as our own."
Further, the Queen assured:
"We know, and respect the feelings of attachment with which the natives of India regard the land inherited
from the ancestors, and we desire to protect them in all rights connected therewith, subject to the equitable
demands of the State."
While the above promises of the Queen were only to seek social support and collaboration of the native
princess and landlords, the essence of the abolition of the Company's rule in 1858 was to serve the interests
of the British industrial classes in exploiting Indian market. The main goal of the colonial state established in
1858 was to protect and promote the interests of the British industrial capitalists who were occupying a
leading position in the British Parliament.
The British colonial state completely integrated India with the world capitalist economy and as a colony,
India was subjected to exploitation.
The role of colonial state in the economic development of India as a colony cannot be understood by
emphasizing the establishment of railways by the British or other modernizing activities like the spread of
English language and education. These are peripheral facts in evaluating the role of colonial state in India.
The basic goal of colonial state was to promote British capital and its investment in India for profit and to
achieve this goal, India under the colonial state was made a market for raw material for the British industry
and investment of British capital in sectors of Indian economy which brought profits to the British investors.
The promotion of plantation and mines, jute mills, banking, insurance, shipping, export-import concerns,
railways were all under British who were favoured and patronized by the colonial state if on the one hand,
colonial bureaucracy extended facilities and concessions to the British in India, on the other, it discriminated
against the locals through highly biased and discriminatory tariff and excise policies.
Professor Sumit Sarkar observes:
Behind a facade of laissez faire, government policies often actively promoted European enterprise
(railways under the guarantee system, and the allotment of vast tracts of land to Assam tea planters
at nominal prices, would be two obvious examples) while discriminating against Indians. The
railway network and freight-rates encouraged traffic with ports as against that between inland
centres. The organised money-market was largely under white control……. Most significant of all
perhaps was the fact that nineteenth century Indian economic growth was largely geared to export
needs, and the British controlled the bulk of the external trade of the country through
Exchange Banks, export-import firms and shipping concerns.
The main features of colonial state and its economic policies were geared towards ruthless exploitation of
India. The mechanisms of this exploitation were clear. India was structurally integrated with the world
capitalist economy. India was made an export oriented economy. India was to supply raw material to the
British industry, the British in India worked under the protective umbrella of the colonial state which
protected and safeguarded the interests of British investors. Indian capitalists were obstructed by
discriminatory policies of the British colonial bureaucracy. This colonial state was racial and exploitative
and India as a colony was sucked for British interests.
The beginning of twentieth century and specially two World Wars saw a change in this trend and provided
an opportunity for the development of the Indian capitalist class in the fields of textile, sugar, jute, some
chemical factories and steel plant. The World Wars had an impact on the British economy and the pre-war
situation, in which India was profitable for export of British manufactures and a secure market for profitable
investment, was changing, and, the economy and requirements of second world war, compelled the British
to induce development of indigenous industries under the indigenous capitalists in India.

1) Write about the various land settlement introduced by the British, and their characteristics.
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2) Read the following statements and mark right (9) or wrong (x).
i) The British colonial state has been rightly characterized as a laissez faire state.
ii) The British colonial state integrated Indian economy with the world capitalist economy.
iii) Indian capitalists were protected by the colonial policies.
iv) The two world wars brought about constraints on colonialism.
9.10 LET US SUM UP

While summing up two facts need an emphasis. First, the colonial state was a powerful system of
exploitation of India for the British industrial capital. Second, the pressures of the two world wars and the
situations created by it helped the development of Indian capitalist class and industries in the fields of sugar,
jute, textile, iron and steel and chemicals.
When the British left India, they left a stagnant economy. The development of industries as mentioned above
does not mean that India was an industrial nation on the eve of independence in 1947. An industrial nation
can develop if proper infrastructure is developed along with basic industries like heavy machine tools, steel
and capital goods industries are established to support industrialization. The result of British economic
policies was that India had industries without industrialization, because the colonial state was not interested
in this aspect of economy. Further, Indian agriculture was stagnant. In terms of raw material for industry, the
situation was pretty bad. The direct consequence of British rule over India was low per capita income, low
agricultural output, low level of savings, underdeveloped infrastructure and low level of human skills. Thus
the claim that the British motorized Indian economy is quite hollow in the light of the above description.
9.11 KEY WORDS

Capital Accumulation: The process by which resources of land, labour and entrepreneurship are put
together for industrial development.
De-industrialization: The phenomenon under the Colonial rule under whose impact a large number of
traditional industries declined.
Foreign Capital: Money or resources acquired from outside a nation either from another nation or a
transnational firm.
Gross Profits: Total profits before deductions are made for taxes, depreciation etc.
Laissez Faire: The philosophy in 19th century British which said free trade or trade without restriction was
solution to all economic problems.
Monopolistic: A tendency of capital, resources or industries to come under individual control.
Per Capita income: Money earned per head.
Productivity of Land: Producing capacity of land.
Underdeveloped Society: A society in which development is retarded because of factors like colonial rule
or colonial pressures. This is different from a non-developed or developing societies, where the colonial
factor does not play a strictly significant role, since a direct colonial rule is not there.
9.12 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS/

EXERCISES
1) i) 9 ii) 9 iii) x iv) x

2) Read Section 9.2 and write your own answers.
1) i) X ii) X iii) X iv) 9

Read section 9.6
Read section 9 7
1) Read section 9.8

2) i) x ii) 9 iii) x iv) 9
UNIT 10 INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT-1
Structure
10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 1857: The First War of Independence
10.2.1 Causes
10 2.2 Extent and intensity
10.2.3 Defeat
10.3 EarIy Phase of Nationalism

l0.3.1 Role of the Intellectuals
10.3.2 Role of Colonial state
10.3.3 Emergence of the Indian National Congress
10.4 Moderate and Militant Nationalists

10.4.1 Moderates Aims and Methods
10.4.2 Militants Aims and Methods
10.5 Swadeshi Movement

10.6 Socio-Religious Reform and Cultural Renaissance
10.6.1 Prominent Reformers: Issues and Views
10.6.2 Their Approach
10.6.3 Their Methods
10.7 Let Us Sum Up

10.8 Key Words
10.0 OBJECTIVES
No major development of modern India can be explained and understood without a reference to the Indian
National Movement. The Indian National Movement represented the Indian people's urge to be free from the
foreign yoke. After reading this Unit you will:
understand the upsurge of 1857 in all its dimensions,
be aware of the factors which contributed to the emergence of Indian

Nationalism,
be able to explain the political objectives and the strategies of the early nationalist leadership,
understand the differences of approach between the moderates and militant nationalists,
understand the Swadeshi Movement and its implications for the Indian National
Movement,
be able to identify the process of cultural renaissance, and

know about the various social reform movements during the 19th and early 20th
` centuries.
10.1 INTRODUCTION
In this Unit we introduce you to the various aspects of Indian National Movement during its earlier phase.
Resistance to British rule had always been there, but it was in 1857 that large sections of Indian people in
various regions made a combined effort to overthrow the British. That is why it is often termed as the first
war of independence. Due to certain weaknesses the uprising was crushed by the British but as far as the
struggle was concerned there was no going back. This inspired a new kind of struggle. The intelligentsia,
which earlier believed in the benevolence of British rule now came forward to expose its brutality. Political
associations were formed and the Indian National Congress played a vital role in directing the freedom
struggle. We discuss in this Unit the role of moderates and militant nationalists and the efforts made during
the Swadeshi Movement to involve the masses into the freedom struggle.
This was also a period of cultural renaissance as far as Indian society was concerned. Many social and
religious reformers took up the battle against the social and religious evils that existed in our society. This
contributed immensely towards the making of a new India.
This Unit attempts to give you a glimpse of the issues that were undertaken by the Indian social reformers.
The scope of this Unit is however confined to the period just before the emergence of Gandhi on the Indian
political scene.
10.2 1857: THE FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

In 1857 occurred the Revolt known as India's First War of independence when millions of soldiers, artisans
and peasants made a combined effort to overthrow foreign rule. The Revolts was, however, no sudden
occurrence. It was the culmination of nearly a century-old discontent with British policies and imperialist
exploitation. The British conquered India and colonized its economy and society through a prolonged
process. This process led to continuous resistance by the people through a series of civil rebellions led by
deposed rulers, impoverished zamindars and poligars (landed military magnates in South India) and ex-
officials of the conquered Indian states. The mass base of these rebellions came from the ruined peasants and
artisans and demobilized soliders. Starting with the Sanyasi rebellion and Chuar uprising in Bengal and
Bihar in the 1760s, there was hardly a year without armed opposition or a decade without a major armed
rebellion in one part of the country or the other. From 1763 to 1856 there were more than 40 major
rebellions apart from hundreds of minor ones. Though massive in their totality, these rebellions were,
however, wholly local in character and effects and were isolated from each other.
The revolt of 1857 was, however, to involve millions in large parts of the country and to shake the British
rule to its very roots.
1: Soldiers of 11th irregular cavalry being disarmed (1 August 1857)
10.2.1 Causes
The Revolts of 1857 started on 10 May when the Company's Indian soldiers (sepoys) at Meerut rebelled,
killed their European officers, marched to Delhi, entered the Red Fort and proclaimed the aged and
powerless Bahadur Shah 11 (who still bore the prestigious name of the Mughals) as the Emperor of India.
The Company's sepoys had many grievances against their employers, ranging from declining material and
other service conditions to religious interference and racial arrogance. But basically they reflected the
general discontent with British rule. They were after all a part of Indian society they were 'peasants in
uniform'. The hopes, desires, despair and discontent of other sections of Indian society  they were
reflected in them. The sepoys' rebellion was a product of the accumulated grievances of the Indian people.
The most important underlying cause of the Revolt was the disruption of the traditional Indian economy and
its subordination to British economy and the intense economic exploitation of the country. Above all, the
colonial policy of intensifying land revenue demand led to a large number of peasants losing their land to
revenue farmers, traders and moneylenders. Destruction of traditional handicrafts ruined and impoverished
millions of artisans. The economic decline of peasantry and artisans was reflected in 12 major and numerous
minor famines from 1770 to 1857.
Thousands of zamindars and poligars lost control over their land and its revenues. Hundred of chieftains lost
their principalities. The interference by the East India Company was disliked by many Indian rulers. The
traditional scholarly and priestly classes lost their patronage from the traditional rulers, chieftains, nobles
and zamindars, and were impoverished.
A major cause of the Revolt was the very foreign character of British rule. The British remained perpetual
foreigners in the land. The Indian people felt humiliated in having to obey the orders of 'foreign
tresspassers'.
2: People and Soldiers in the Battle at Bareilly (5 May 1858)
10.2.2 Extent and Intensity

The Revolt of 1857 swept Northern India like a hurricane. Nearly half of East India Company's Indian
soldiers rebelled. Everywhere in Northern India, the soldiers' rebellion was followed by popular revolts of
the civilian population. According to one estimate, of the total number of about 1,50,000 men who died
fighting the English in Avadh, over 1,00,000 were civilians. The Revolt soon embraced a wide area
engulfing Avadh, Rohilkhand, the Duab, the Bundelkhand, Central India, large parts of Bihar, and East
Punjab. There were uprising in Rajasthan at Nasirabad, Nimach and Kota. In Kolhapur also the sepoys rose
in arms. In many of the princely states of these regions, the rulers remained loyal to the British but the
soldiers and people joined the rebels or refused to fight against them. W.H. Russel, who toured India in 1885
as the correspondent of the London Times, wrote:
"In no instance is a friendly glance directed to the white man's carriage

Oh! that language of the eye! Who can doubt? Who can misinterpret it? It is
by its alone that I have learnt out race is not even feared at times by many and
that by all it is disliked."
3: Times currespondent viewing the sacking of Kaiserbagh at Lucknow.

Great strength was imparted to the Revolt by Hindu-Muslim unity. Both at the level of sepoys and the
people as well as at the level of leaders there was full cooperation between Hindus and Muslims. The Revlot
also threw up some courageous and brilliant leaders Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Tantya Tope, Begum Hazrat
Mahal of Avadh, Kunwar Singh, Khan Bahadur or Bareilly, Maulavi Ahmadullah of Faizabad, and Bakht
Khan, the petty officer in the British army who rose to become a General of the rebel army, are some of the
famous names of the Revolt. Above all, the ordinary sepoys and common people fought with exemplary
courage and unselfish devotion.
4: Begam Hazarat Mahal
10.2.3 Defeat
In the end, British imperialism, at the height of its power the world over, succeeded in ruthlessly
suppressing the Revolt. The reasons were many. Despite its wide reach, the Revolt could not embrace the
entire country or all sections of Indian society. Bengal, South India and large parts of Punjab remained
outside its reach since these areas had already exhausted themselves through prolonged rebellions and
struggle against the British. Most rulers of Indian states and the big zamindars remained loyal to the foreign
rulers. Thus, Scindhia of Gwalior, Holkar of Indore, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Rajput rulers of Jodhpur
and many other Rajputana states, the Nawab of Bhopal, the rulers of Patiala and Kashmir, the Ranas of
Nepal, and many other rulers and chieftains gave active support to the British in suppressing the Revolt.
In general, merchants and moneylenders either supported the British or refused to help the rebels. The
modem educated Indians also did not support the Revolt. The leaders of the Revolt fought with courage, but
could neither coordinate their struggle nor evolve a unified high command. Instead, they indulged in
constant petty quarrels. The rebels were short of modern weapons and often had to fight with primitive
weapons such as swords and spikes. They were very poorly organised. The sepoys were brave
but at times there was lack of discipline which affected their military efficiency.
5: Rani Jhansi in Battle field.
Above all the rebels lacked a modern understanding of British colonialism or the nature of the state and
society which was to replace it. They were united by their hatred of the British rule and the desire to restore
pre-British economic, political and social relations, but shared no conception of the political or socio-
economic structure of free India. This was perhaps inevitable. Common all-India feeling and interests were
yet to evolve. Perhaps if the Revolt had lasted a few years, a common modern understanding and national
consciousness would have evolved in the course of the struggle, as it did later; but the rebels were given no
such time- their revolt was crushed by the end of 1858.
This first great struggle of the Indian people to win freedom from British domination was not in
vain. It left an indelible mark on the consciousness of the Indian people and served as a permanent
source of inspiration to the later struggle for freedom.

1) Write in about 100 words the main causes behind the Revolt of 1857.
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2) Which of the following statements are right or wrong ? Mark (9) or (X).
i) The Revolt of 1857 was the first effort at a national level to overthrow British rule.
ii) The revolt of 1857 was only a sepoy mutiny
iii) All the merchants and moneylenders supported the revolt of 1857.
iv) Hindu-Muslim unity gave added strength to the revolt of 1857.
3) i) Give the names of three Indians rulers who supported the British in 1857.
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ii) Give the names of three Indian leaders who opposed the British in 1857.
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10.3 EARLY PHASE OF THE NATIONAL

MOVEMENT
The defeat of the Revolt of 1857 made it clear that uprisings based on old outlooks and social forces could
not defeat modern imperialism. For that, new social forces, new ideologies, a modern political movement
based on an understanding of modern imperialism and capable of mobilizing the masses for nationwide
political activity were needed. Such a movement was initiated during the second half of the 19th century by
modern nationalist intelligentsia. The new movement had a much narrower social base, but was inspired by
new political ideas, new intellectual perception of reality and new social, economic and political objectives.
It also represented new forces and forms of struggle, new leading classes and new techniques of political
organisation.
Many factors were responsible for the rise of this powerful movement. But the decisive factor was the
gradual emergence of the contradiction between the interests of the Indian people as a whole and the
interests of the British rule, which was leading to the increasing underdevelopment of the Indian economy
and society. It was also hampering India's further economic, social, cultural, intellectual and political
developments. Let us briefly have a look at the factors that contributed towards the emergence of organised
nationalism.
10.3.1 Role of Intellectuals

Initially, this process was grasped only by the modern Indian intellectuals. Paradoxically, during this first
half of the 19th century, they had adopted a very supportive approach towards colonial rule:
They had believed that the restructuring of Indian society could occur under British rule because Britain was the most
advanced country of the time.
They hoped that the British would help India get rid of its past backwardness.
The intellectuals, attracted by modem industry and the prospects of modern economic development, hoped that, Britain
would industrialize India and introduce modern capitalism.
They believed that Britain, guided by the doctrine of democracy, civil liberties, and sovereignty of the people, would
introduce modern science and technology and modern knowledge in India, leading to the cultural and social
regeneration of its people.
The emerging unification of the Indian people was an added attraction. Consequently, they supported British
rule even during the Revolt of 1857 and described it as 'providential' or "ordained by Gods that be".
The second half of the 19th century witnessed the gradual disillusionment of the intellectuals, for experience
increasingly showed that that expectations were misplaced and based on a wrong understanding of the nature
and character of British rule. The intellectuals realised that:
In practice, British colonialism was disrupting Indian economy and preventing the rise of modern industry and
agriculture.
Instead of promoting democracy and self-government, British administrators were arguing for the imposition of
permanent benevolent despotism in India.
They neglected the education of the masses, curbed civil liberties and pursued a policy of divide and rule.
Thus, in such a situation what were the intellectuals supposed to do? Gradually, the intelligentsia created
political associations to spread political education and to initiate political work in the country. Raja Ram
Mohan Roy was the first Indian leader to start an agitation for political reforms in India. The Bengal British
Indian Society and other associations were founded in 1840s and 1850s to promote general public interests.
But these associations were local in character and were dominated by wealthy and aristocratic elements.
However, in 1870s and 1880s more modern, explicitly political, and middle class based organizations like
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha in Maharashtra, the Indian Association in Bengal, Madras Mahajan Sabha, and
Bombay Presidency Association came up all over the country.
10.3.2 Role of Colonial State

The open reactionary character of Lytton's Viceroyalty from 1876 to 1880 quickened the pace of Indian
nationalism. We list some of the reactionary methods adopted by Lytton:
The Arms Act of 1878 disarmed the entired Indian people at one stroke.
The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 sought to suppress the growing Indian criticism of British rule.
The reduction of the maximum age for sitting in the Indian Civil Service Examination from 21 years to 19 further
reduced the chances of Indians entering the Civil Service.
The holding of a lavish imperial Durbar (in 1877) at a time when millions of Indians were dying of famine and the
waging of a costly war against Afghanistan at the cost of the Indian economy.
The removal of import duties on British textile imports threatened the existence of the newly rising Indian textile
industry.
All these were clear manifestations of the colonial character of British rule in India. In 1883, the new
viceroy, Lord Ripon, tried to assuage Indian feelings by removing a glaring instance of racial discrimination
by passing the IIbert Bill which would enable Indian district and session judges to try Europeans in criminal
cases. The Government was compelled to amend the Bill by a vehement, racialist agitation led by the
European in India. These factors created a congenial environment for the growth of Indian nationalism.
10.3.3 Emergence of the Indian National Congress

The time was now ripe for the formation of an all-lndia organization which could organise and coordinate
the political activities of Indians all over the country against foreign rule and exploitation. Various attempts
were made in this direction for several years. Surendra Nath Banerjee took the lead by forming the Indian
Association. The idea finally got a concrete shape when a large group of political workers such as Dadabhai
Naoroji, Justice M.G. Ranade, K.T. Telang and Badruddin Tyabji cooperated with A. O. Hume, a retired
English Civil servant, in holding the first session of the Indian National Congress at Bombay in December
1885. The struggle for India's independence was thus launched though on a rather small scale.
7: The First Indian National Congress 1885.
The early nationalist leaders believed that a direct struggle for freedom was not yet on the agenda of history.
Instead, they had first to lay the foundations of such struggle. Would you like to know what were then the
basic objectives of the early Indian nationalists ?
i) One of the basic objectives of the early nationalists was to promote the feeling of national
unity, to weld India into a nation, to help create an Indian people, to meet the imperialist
charge that Indians were not a people or nation but a mere grouping of hundreds of diverse
races, languages, castes and religions.
ii) The second basic objective was to create a national political platform or programme on
which all Indians could agree and which could serve as the basis for all-lndia political
activity.
iii) The third objective was the politicisation of the people and the creation of public interest in
political questions and the training and organization of pubic opinion in the country.
iv) Another important aim of the time was the creation of an all-lndia political leadership. No
movement without a headquarters, that is, a united leadership. Such a leadership on a
country-wide level did not exist in the 1880s. Allied to this was the need to train a common
band of political workers or cadre to carry on political work.
Thus, the basic objectives of the early nationalists can best be summed up as the creation of a broad-based
anti-colonial, nationalist movement on an all lndia basis.

1) Which of the following statements are right or wrong '? Mark (9) or (X).
i) After 1857 it became clear that new methods were needed to defeat imperialism.
ii) The Indian intellectuals always remained loyal to the British.
iii) The British encouraged civil liberties.
iv) Indian economy flourished under British rule.
2) What were the basic objectives of the early nationalists ? Answer in about 10 lines.
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10.4 MODERATE AND MILITANT NATIONALISTS

The most important contribution of the early nationalists, known as Moderate nationalists, was their
economic critique of imperialism and their persistent agitation on economic questions. They analyzed all the
three forms of colonial economic exploitation, that is exploitation through trade, industry and finance. They
clearly grasped that the essence of British colonialism lay in the subordination of the Indian economy to the
British economy. They vehemently opposed the British attempt to develop in India the basic characteristics
of a colonial economy, namely. the transformation of India into a supplier of raw materials, a market for
British manufacturers, and a field of investment for foreign capital.
10.4.1 Moderates: Aims and Methods

The early nationalists constantly agitated for democratic civil rights, a free press, and a democratic and non-
racialist administration. In fact, it was during this period and as a result of political work by the nationalists
that democratic ideas began to take root among the Indian people in general, and the intelligentsia in
particular. The Moderates also agitated for the spread of modern education, science and technology. In the
political field, they demanded reforms that would lead to greater share for Indians in the administration and
the legislative machinery.
The weakness of the early nationalists lay in the narrow social base of the movement. The movement did
not, as yet, have a wide appeal. It did not penetrate down to the masses. The Moderates' political work was
confined to the urban educated middle classes. Their programme and policies, however, were not confined
to the interests of the middle classes. They took up the causes of all sections of the Indian people and
represented the interests of the emerging Indian nation against colonial domination.
The Moderates believed in the methods of constitutional agitation within the tour walls of law. Thus, they
relied on agitation through public meetings and newspapers. They also sent numerous carefully prepared and
argued memorials and petitions to the Government. Though on the surface these memorials, etc., were
addressed to the Government, their real objective was to educate and politicise the Indian people. For
example, Justice Ranade explained to the young G. K. Gokhale in 1891:
You don't realize our place in the history of our country. These memorials are nominally addressed to
Government, in reality they are addressed to the people, so that they may learn how to think in these matters
because politics of this kind is altogether new in this land.
In spite of their political mildness, they aroused intense hostility from the officials. British officials and
statesmen condemned them as disloyal and seditious elements. Lord Curzon, the Viceroy, declared in 1900
that it was his ambition to contribute to the death of the Congress. This was because the Moderate had, on
however small a scale, generated an anti-imperialist awakening in the country. Their powerful economic
critique of imperialism was to serve as the main plank of nationalist agitation in the later years of active
mass struggle against British Colonialism. They had, by their economic agitation, undermined the moral
foundations of British rule by exposing its cruel, exploitative character. Moreover, the political work of the
Moderates was based on a concrete study and analysis of the hard reality of the life of the people rather than
on shallow and narrow appeals to religion and mere emotion. Once a sound basis for a national movement
was laid, mass struggles could come, and did come, in time.
10.4.2 Militant Nationalists: Aims and Methods

The beginning of the 20th century witnessed the development of the Indian National Movement to a new,
higher stage under a new militant nationalist leadership. This was in part the fruition of the earlier nationalist
agitation, and in part the consequence of the reassertion of imperialism at the end of the 19th century. The
symbol of the new imperial assertion, of despotism and 'efficiency', was Lord Curzon the Viceroy since
1899. Political Indians now despaired of getting political concessions from the rulers through political
argument and methods of polite agitation. Indians must, they realized, depend on themselves and take
recourse to mass politics and mass agitation around the goal of independence from Britain.
The social and economic conditions of the country also pointed in the same direction. Economic decay and
stagnation. the fruits of colonial underdevelopment, were beginning to surface by the end of the 19th
century. Symbolic in this respect were the famines that devastated the country from 1987 to 1900, and killed
millions.
Several international events at this time contributed to the growth of militant nationalism. The defeat of the
Italian army by the Ethiopians in 1896 and Russia by Japan in 1905 exploded the myth of European
superiority. Similar was the impact of the revolutionary movements in Ireland, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and
China: a united people, who were willing to make sacrifices, were surely capable of overthrowing foreign
despotic rule even if it appeared powerful on the surface.
A new political leadership now emerged on the scene. The most prominent in it were Bal Gangadhar Tilak,
known as the Lokmanya, Aurobindo Ghose, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai. The new leadership
believed and preached that Indians trust rely on their own efforts, on their own political activity and on their
own sacrifices. Their political work and outlook encouraged self-reliance and self-confidence. Moreover,
they possessed deep faith in the strength of the Indian people and mass action. Once the masses took up
politics, they asserted, it would be impossible for the British to suppress the national movement. They,
therefore, pressed for political work among the masses. They also denied that British rule could be reformed
from within. Swaraj or independence was to be the goal of the resurgent national movement.
10.5 SWADESHI MOVEMENT

Thus, conditions were ready for the national Movement to advance to a higher stage. The spark was
provided when the movement announced its decision to partition the province of Bengal on 20 July 1905.
The decision, as the Government claimed, was allegedly based on administrative grounds. But the people of
Bengal saw it as an effort to divide the nationalistically inclined Bengali people and thus stem the rising tide
of militant nationalism in Bengal and India.
Political agitation was inaugurated by a general hartal and a day of fasting on 16 October in Calcutta. Huge
crowds paraded in the streets of Calcutta and a mammoth meeting of 50,000 was held in the evening. Entire
Bengal, from cities to villages, was reverberating with meetings, processions and demonstrations.
Soon a new form of political action was added. All foreign goods were to he boycotted and Swadeshi or
Indian-made goods along were to he used. In many places public burnings of foreign cloth were organized
and shops selling foreign cloth were picketed. The new leadership also gave a call for passive resistance to
the authorities. This was to take the form of non-cooperation with the Government by boycotting schools
and colleges, the courts, and government services. This part of the programme could not, however, be put
into practice on a significant scale. The new leadership also raised the slogan of independence from foreign
rule. One result was that Dadabhai Naoroji declared in his presidential address to the Congress in December
1906 that the goal of the Congress was "self-government or Swaraj".
The militant leadership succeeded in involving large sections of the rural and urban people in the movement.
In particular, students, women and urban workers participated enthusiastically in the movement. The slogans
of Swadeshi and Swaraj were soon taken up by other provinces. Boycott of foreign cloth was organized on
all-lndia scale. The entire country began to be united in a bond of' common sympathy and common politics.
The Government responded with quick repression. Meetings were banned, newspapers suppressed, political
workers jailed, several leaders deported, and students beaten up. Efforts were made to divide the Moderates
from Militants and Hindus from Muslims. At the same time, the new leadership failed to, discover or
implement new forms of organization and struggle which would correspond to their new and advanced
political understanding. For example, it failed to put passive resistance into practice. Consequently, the
Government succeeded to a large extent in suppressing the movement which did not survive the
imprisonment and deportation of Tilak for 6 years, the retirement from active politics of Bipin Chandra Pal
and Aurobindo Ghose and departare from India of Lala Lajpat Rai.
The youth finding no effective outlet in mass political activity and responding emotionally and heroically to
government repression, increasingly adopted revolutionary terrorism and assassination of hated officials as a
style of politics. Anushilan and Jugantar were the two important revolutionary groups of this
period.However, revolutionary terrorists lacked a mass base and could not continue for long.
But they um made a valuable contribution to the growth of the national movement. As a historian has put it,
"they gave us back the pride of our manhood".
8: Annie Besant
The national movement was in a rather dormant state from 1909 to 1916. But it revived during the First
World War when Annie Besant, an English admirer of Indian Culture and the newly released Lokmanya
Tilak started a popular, all-lndia constitutional agitation under the auspices of the two Indian Home Rule
Leagues. Indian revolutionaries abroad were also very active during the War of special importance was the
establishment of a mass Ghadar (Rebellion) Party in U.S.A. and Canada which had branches in East Asia
and South-East Asia and which tried to organize armed uprisings in India.

ii) Check your answer with that given at the end of the unit
1) Differentiate between the methods adopted by moderates and militant nationalists Answer in
about 10 lines.
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2) Why were the moderate nationalists condemned by the British as seditious elements'' Answer in
about 10 lines
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3) What do you understand by Swadeshi Movement? To what extent was this movement an advance
in terms of methods adopted by earlier nationalists? Answer in about 100 words.
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10.6 SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORM AND

CULTURAL RENAISSANCE
Immense intellectual and cultural stirrings characterized 19th and 10th century India; the intellectual life of
the Indian people began to undergo a radical transformation. Indian intellectuals were aware of the fact that
a vast country like India had been colonized by a handful of foreigners because of the internal weaknesses of
Indian society. They, therefore, launched a critique of the evils existing in the Indian social structure and
culture. In particular, they were aware of India's lag in the fields of science and social knowledge, for along
with colonialism, modern western ideas and culture were also making their entry into India. These were
based on rationalism or belief in science and human reason and humanism or the love of human beings and
confidence in their capacity to progress. Indian intellectuals were powerfully drawn to rationalism and the
humanist conception of society-the conception that every human being is to be respected for his or her own
sake. Their efforts to implement these ideals in different fields have been described by historians as
Renaissance-analogous to the European Renaissance of the 12th-15th centuries.
Even though the forces of religious and social reform and cultural renewal arose at different times and in
different forms and with differing content in different parts of the country, their general perspective was very
similar and they represented more or less a common consciousness and understanding of the ills of Indian
society and their remedies.
10.6.1 Prominent Reformers: Issues and Views

The person who initiated the process of intellectual and cultural awakening was Raja Rammohan Roy. Even
though possessing a great regard for, and learning in, the traditional philosophic systems of the East, he
believed that modern culture, a rational and scientific approach to society and religion based on the
principles of human dignity and equality alone could regenerate Indian society. Rammohan was followed by
a galaxy of intellectuals and religious and social reformers. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Keshub Chandra
Sen, Sayyed Ahmed Khan, Gopal Hari Deshmukh, Jotiba Phule, Swami Dayanand, Justice Ranade,
Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Viresalingam, Narayana Guru, Vivekananda, E.V Ramaswami Naicker arc some
of the names that readily come to mind.
The religious reformers vigorously opposed religious dogmatism and blind faith, rigidity of caste, and
prevalence of meaningless religious rituals, ceremonies and superstitions. Some of them also opposed the
priesthood where it had become too rigid or corrupt. They stood for the reform of existing Hindusim, Islam
and Sikhism. The social reformers attacked the caste system, especially inequality and oppression based on
the caste system. In particular, they condemned the degraded and unequal position of women in Indian
society and argued that women and men were equal in intellect and moral sense. They fought for the
abolition of the practice of Sati; they attacked polygamy or the system of men having more than one wife;
they advocated widow remarriage and education of women; some of them, like Rammohan, argued that
women should have the right of inheritance and property.
The battle against the caste system was also in time taken up by intellectuals and reformers belonging to the
so called "lower castes". Jotiba Phule, Narayana Guru and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar were three of the most
outstanding fighters against the inequities of the caste system. Gandhi linked the struggle against colonialism
with the struggle against untouchability. He made it mandatory for a member of the Congress to refuse to
practise untouchability and to oppose its practice by others. He founded the All India Harijan Seva Sangh to
work for the social, cultural, economic and educational uplife of the harijans.
While the women's cause was taken up mainly by male social reformers in the 19th century, in the 20th
century the women themselves came forward to fight for their own social liberation. A number of women's
magazines, many of them edited by women, appeared and, in the 1930s the women's movement took an
organised form when the All-lndia Women's Conference was formed. The national movement, trade unions
and Kisan Sabhas too took up the cause of women's rights.
It was a result of these reformist efforts and social struggles that complete equality of sexes and a ban on any
discrimination on the basis of sex or caste were enshrined in the Constitution of free India.
All the reformers tried to apply the rational approach to religion and society. They wanted religious and
social thought and practices to be based not on faith but on human reason and the good of humanity.
Opposing blind adherence to authority, they were willing to modify and even abandon religious principles
and inherited social traditions if they contradicted reason or logic or were harmful to society. Swami
Vivekanand, for example, said:
Is religion to justify itself by the discoveries of reason through which every science justifies itself?
Are the same methods of investigation which apply to the sciences and knowledge outside, to be
applied of the science of religion? In my opinion, this must be so, and I am also of opinion that the
sooner this is done the better.
Similarly, Sayyid Ahmed Khan all his life opposed blind obedience to tradition and dependence on
irrationalism and advocated adoption of a critical approach "So long as freedom of thought is not developed,
there can be no civilized life". Even Swami Dayanand, the most conservative of religious reformers, while
holding that the Vedas were infallible, said that they were to be interpreted by normal human beings and not
by a priestly class. In other words, the Vedas meant what individual reason accepted and indicated. Swami
Dayanand, consequently, led a revolt against Hindu orthodoxy.
10.6.2 Their Approach

The religious and social reformers were willing to appeal to tradition in support of their reforms, and often
claimed that they were reviving pure beliefs and practices of the past. Many appealed to the ancient
scriptures. But, interestingly, the past was evoked essentially to support the new outlook, tradition was used
as an instrument to make reform more palatable. And whenever and wherever tradition conflicted with the
suggested reforms, it was declared to be false or even frontally opposed. As pointed out earlier, the ultimate
appeal was not to the past, but to human reason and social good. Justice Ranade, for example, wrote: "The
dead and the buried or burnt are dead, buried and burnt once for all, and the dead past cannot, therefore, be
revived."
Similarly, Gandhiji's entire campaign for the "root and branch removal of untouchability" was based on
humanism and reason. While arguing that untouchability had no sanctions in the Hindu shastras, he declared
that shastras should be ignored if they went against human dignity. Truth, he said, could not be confined
within the convers of a book.
Apart from gains in the field of religious and social welfare, the reformers' work contributed to the growth of
patriotism. It enhanced their self-confidence and confidence in their own culture. Even while contributing to
the opening of their minds to the winds of change and modern ideas, it prevented blind copying of the West.
It was a part of what historian K.N. Panikkar has described as cultural defence against the colonialization of
the culture and ideology of the Indian people. As Jawaharlal Nehru was to put it:
The rising middle classes were politically inclined and were not so much in search of a religion; but
they wanted some cultural roots to cling on to, something that gave them assurance of their own
worth, something that would reduce the sense of frustration and humiliation that foreign conquest
and rule had produced.
After 1920, many nationalists and reformers applied the techniques of Satyagraha and mass agitation and
mobilization to fight for democratization of society and religious reform. This often brought them into
conflict with the colonial authorities, thus directly linking and even merging the reform movements with the
anti-imperialist struggle. Two prime examples of this were the Akali movement for the reform of
Gurudwaras or Sikh temples in Punjab during the early 1920s and Gandhi's struggle against untouchability
during the 1920s and early 1930s.
10.6.3 Their Methods

Nationalist intellectuals and leaders saw that not only Indian culture had to be renovated and modernized but
also made popular. For this purpose they advocated, on the one hand, the spread of modern education and,
one the other, the development of modern Indian languages.
Though the colonial authorities initially, from 1830s to 1860s, encouraged modern education, they soon
began to drag their feet when they found that many among the newly educated Indians were taking to
nationalism. Indians now took to promoting schools and colleges on their own. During the Swadeshi
agitation and the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-22), the nationalists gave a call for a system of National
Education outside the colonial framework. Hundreds of National Schools and Colleges and several National
Universities came up at that time. But it was, in the main, through the Indian languages press and literature
that cultural renaissance and cultural struggle was carried on:
i) From the beginning of the 19th century nationalist and modern Indians, made Indian languages the
vehicle for the popularization of their reformist and nationalist ideas. To enable Indian languages to
play this role successfully, they undertook such humdrum tasks as preparation of primers, etc. For
example, both Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Rabindranath Tagore wrote Bengali primers
which are being used till this day. From the 1860s, nationalist leaders agitated for inclusion of
Indian languages in the college curriculum and for a bigger role for them in the educational system.
In fact, the spread of modern ideas among the mass of people occurred primarily through Indian
languages. The most important role in this respect was that of the press; and once again pioneering
work was done by Rammohan Roy who brought out journals in Bengali, Persian and Hindi to spread
scientific, literary and political knowledge among the people. In Maharashtra, a similar role was
played by Gopal Hari Deshmukh, popularly known as Lokhitavadi. Hundreds of Indian language
newspapers and journals made their appearance during the 19th century. They were started not as
profit-making business enterprises, but as labour of love and social commitment with a view to
disseminate nationalist and reformist ideas among the people.
There is hardly a major modern Indian political or social figure who did not edit or write for the
popular Indian language press. The Amrit Bazar Patrika, Som Prakash, and Sanjivani in Bengali;
Rast Goftar and Gujarat Samachar in Gujarati; Indu prakash, Dhyan Prakash , Kesari and
Sudharak in Marathi; Swadesmitra in Tamil; Andhra Prakasika, Andhra Patrika in Telugu;
Matrubhoomi in Malayalam; the Hindi Pradeep, Elindustani, Aj and Pratap in Hindi; Azad,
Akbar-i-Am and Koh-i-Noor in Urdu; and Utkal Dipika in Oriya, were some of the major
newspapers of the time.
ii) Modern literature in Indian languages in the form of poetry, novels and short stories, and essays was
the second form though which cultural renaissance and patriotic sentiments were manifested as well
as promoted. From about the middle of he 19th century, powerful literary trends emerged in nearly
all the Indian languages. Already by 1860s, patriotic poems and songs in Bengali and other
languages had made their appearance. These two genre of literature were to become major
instruments of mass political agitation and mobilization in the 20th century. Almost every Indian
language was to throw up major poets during the 10h and 20 the centuries. Rabindranath Tagore and
Kazi Nazrul Islam in Bengali; Bharatendu Harishchandra and Maithili Sharan Gupta in Hindi;
Muhammad Iqbal, Altaf Hussain Hali and Josh Malihabadi in Urdu; Subramaniya Bharati in Tamil;
Kumaran Asan, and Vallathol in Malayalam; Lakshminath Bezbarua in Assamese, were some of the
major poets of 19th and 20th centuries.
Nationalist drama had its beginnings in 1860 with Dinabandbu Mitra's play Nil Darpan which dealt with the
British indigo planters' oppression of the peasants. India also produced powerful novelists and short story
writers who took up nationalist and reformist themes, often dealing with class and caste oppression and the
sorry plight of women in Indian society. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sarat Chandra, Rabindranath Tagore
and Prem Chand were some of the major writers whose novels and short stories were translated and
published in nearly all the Indian languages. Essays were another genre through which Indian nationalists
and reformers spread their ideas. Some of the major essayists of the 19th century were Gopal Hari
Deshmukh, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar and Viresalingam. Cultural renaissance was also manifested in music,
painting and other arts and later in films.
The person who strode the cultural scene for over 60 years was Rabindranath Tagore who left his mark on
almost every aspect of literature-poetry, novel, short story, drama and essays. In his old age he also took to
painting. He was a major inspiring figure of the Swadeshi Movement. In 1919, he renounced the title of a
Knight (sir) in protest against the Jallianwalla massacre. In 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for
literature. He also founded the Vishwabharati University at Shantiniketan to promote Indian culture and to
impart national education.

1) Which of the following statements are right or writing. Mark (9) or (X).
i) Religious reformers supported dogmatism and blind faiths.
ii) Sati and polygamy were attacked by reformers.
iii) Struggle against untouchability was a matter of great importance for Gandhi.
iv) The Indian language newspapers contributed in the growth of nationalist feelings.
v) The play Nil Darpan dealt with the condition of emigrant Indians.
2) Discuss in about five lines the issues taken up by reformers in relation to upliftment of women.
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10.7 LET US SUM UP

The first war of independence demonstrated that the Indians were no longer prepared to accept servitude.
However, the failure of the rebellion demonstrated the weaknesses of the struggle. The Indian middle class
came forward to initiate a new form of struggle based on creating an anti-colonial awareness at an all India
level. The repressive policies of the colonial administration helped the task of the early nationalists. They
carried out a campaign through press and petitions. Soon there emerged a section among the nationalist
leaders who wanted to shed away the constitutionalist approach and adopt other methods of struggle. They
came to be known as militant nationalists.
The British continued with their repressive policies, and the partition of Bengal gave a new turn to the
national movement. The Swadeshi Movement, though still not fully a mass movement, was a major step
towards mass mobilization. Another new trend was the emergence of revolutionary terrorism.
There was yet another aspect to the national movement. Many social and religious reformers, guided by
rationalism and humanism fought against the evils that existed in Indian society. The press and literature
contributed immensely towards a new awakening in India.
10.8 KEY WORDS

Dogmatism: Uncritical acceptance of any belief or ideology.
Mass Mobilization: Process of bringing mass of people together for a definite political objective.
National Consciousness: Awareness of belonging to a nation
(a) through a process of struggle and self-realization, and
(b) through education and mobilization by the nationalist leaders.
Nationalism: An ideology which emerged in opposition to colonial domination, secondly it offered itself as
a social, political, economic alternative to colonialism. In contrast to Europe where it arose due to the need
of a united market, in India it arose as a specific need of Indian people to find an alternative to colonial rule.
Patriotism: Feeling of loyalty towards one's own nation.
Zamindars: Permanent holders of land in the countryside whose share of revenue was fixed by the British
Government.
EXERCISES
1) See sub-sec. 10.2.1
2) i) 9ii) X iii) X iv) 9
3) i) For example, Scindhia of Gwalior
Holkar of Indore
Nizam of Hyderabad
ii) Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi
Kunwar Singh
Tantya Tope
1) i) 9 ii) X iii) X iv) X
2) See Sub-sec. 10.3.3
1) See Sub-sec. 10.4.1 and 10.4.2
2) See Sub-see. 10.4.1
3) See section 10.5
1) i) X ii) 9 iii) 9iv)9 v) X
2) See Sub-see. 10.6.1

UNIT 11 INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT-2
Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 The Emergence of Gandhi
11.2.1 Official Response
11.2.2 Non-Cooperation and Khilafat
11.2.3 Aftermath
11.3 Civil Disobedience Movement
11.4 The Revolutionary Movement
11.5 The Socio-Economic Content of Swaraj
11.5.1 Emergence of Communist and Socialist Groups
I1.5.2 Role of Nehru
11.5.3 Impact on Congress
11.6 Peasants, Working Class and State People's Movements
11.6.1 Peasant Movements
11.6.2 Working Class Struggles
11.6.3 Movement in Princely States
11.6.4 Other Movements
11.7 Towards Freedom
11.7.1 Congress Ministries
11.7.2 Second World War and India
11.7.3 Quit India Movement
11.7.4 Independence
11.8 Let Us Sum Up
11.9 Key Words
11.0 OBJECTIVES
The Indian National Movement was gradually developing into a mass movement. After reading this Unit,
you should be able to:
understand the significance of the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi on the Indian political scene,
known about the characteristics of the Non-Cooperation, Khilafat and Civil Disobedience Movements,
grasp the socio-economic content of Swaraj and understand the part played by the leadership and various peasants and
working class movements in achieving it,
know about the development of Indian National Movement during the Second World War, and finally
learn how independence was achieved.

11.1 INTRODUCTION
After the First World War the Indian National Movement entered into a new phase. With the emergence of
Gandhi, the element of mass mobilisation was introduced. Till the coming of independence three major mass
movements were launched; Non-Cooperation (1920-22), Civil disobedience (1930-34) and Quit India
(1942). Besides these mass movements the revolutionary movement, peasants and working class movements
and state people's movements also played a vital role in the struggle for freedom.
In this period sufficient emphasis was laid on the socio-economic content of Swaraj. The Communist Party
of India and the Socialist groups within the Congress pointed out towards economic emancipation of the
masses along with the importance of the struggle for independence.
This Unit, in dealing with the various above mentioned aspects, ultimately introduces you to the various
events which brought about independence.
11.2 THE EMERGENCE OF GANDHI

The third and the last phase of the national movement began in 1919 when the era of popular mass
movements was initiated.
During the First World War the Allies  Britain, France and the U.S.A. had declared that the World War
was being fought in defence of democracy and the right of nations to self-determination. But after their
victory they showed little willingness to end the colonial rule. The Indians had not only cooperated with the
war effort but had considerably suffered also. They hoped of getting due returns. But they were very soon
disenchanted. While the British Government made a half-hearted attempt at constitutional reform, it also
made it clear that it had no intention to part with political power; and a new leader Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi, took command. The new leader kept in mind the basic weakness of the previous leadership and
sought to remove them. He had evolved a new form of struggle-non-cooperation-and a new technique of
struggle-Satyagraha-which would not remain a mere programme but were capable of being put into practice.
He had already put them to test in South Africa while fighting for the rights of immigrant Indians. Gandhi
also took up the cause of peasants in Champaran (Bihar) and the working class in Ahmedabad (Gujarat).
This was also a period of rising prices and epidemics in various parts of the country. In many regions the
peasants had been subjected to extortions in the name of war effort. Gandhi responded to the growing anger
and militancy of the Indian people after the end of the World War and created the organisation and
techniques that would give the movement a mass base.
11.2.1 Official Response

Throughout the war, the Government had carried on repression of militant nationalists. It now decided to
acquire further powers to meet the nationalist challenge. In March 1919 it passed the Rowlatt Act (the
Indians called it a Black Act) which authorised the Government to imprison any person without trial. The
Indian sentiment was outraged. In February 1919, Gandhi started a Satyagraha Sabha whose members were
committed to disobeying the Act and thus to court arrest. Thus, Gandhi took the first step towards making
the national movement a movement of mass political action, rather than of mere agitation. Simultaneously,
he urged the Congress to increasingly rely on the peasants and artisans. Symbolic of the new emphasis was
to be the use of Khadi or hand-spun, hand-woven cloth.
10: A Pamphlet Against Rowlatt Act.
Almost the entire country came to life in the next two months. Strikes, hartals, processions and
demonstrations became the order of the day. At this time occurred the notorious Jallianwala Bagh incident in
Amritsar when, on 13 April 1919, a peaceful crowd was trapped in an enclosed garden by a unit of the
British army and fired upon with rifles and machine-guns. Thousands were killed and wounded. A wave of
horror ran through the country. The brutality of colonial rule was exposed once again. Simultaneously, the
British Government broke its war-time pledge of treating Turkey generously after the war and put into
jeopardy the control of the Sultan of Turkey, who was also regarded by many as the Caliph or religious head
of the Muslims thus producing deep resentment among Indian Muslims.
11.2.2 Non-Cooperation and Khilafat

Gandhi and the National Congress decided in September 1920 to launch a non-violent non-cooperation
movement and continue it till the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs were removed and Swaraj established. Gandhi
gave the slogan "Swaraj in a year". The people were asked to boycott government affiliated schools and
colleges, law courts and legislatures and foreign cloth and to surrender officially-conferred titles and
honours. Later the programme would be extended to include resignation from government service and mass
civil disobedience including the non-payment of taxes. National schools and colleges were to be set up.
People were asked to practise handspinning and produce khadi, to give up untouchability and promote and
maintain Hindu-Muslim unity. Provincial Congress Committees were now to be organised on a linguistic
basis. The Congress organization was to reach down to the village level and its membership fee was to be
reduced to 4 annas (25 paise of today) per year to enable the rural and urban poor to become members.
This first mass movement assumed during 1920-22 unprecedented proportions.
Lakhs of students left schools and colleges. Hundreds of lawyers gave up their practice. Majority of voters
refused to participate in elections to the legislatures. The boycott of foreign cloth became a mass movement,
with thousands of bonfires of foreign cloth lighting the Indian sky. Picketing of shops selling foreign cloth
and of liquor shops was also very successful. In many regions the factory workers aud peasants were at the
forefront.
Gandhi was, however, not satisfied. On 4 February, 1922 occurred the Chauri Chaura incident when a
Congress procession of 3,000 peasants was fired upon by the police and in retaliation the angry crowd burnt
the police station causing the death of 22 policemen. Gandhi took a very serious view of the incident.
Feeling that the people were not yet properly trained in non-violence, he called off the entire movement on
February 1922.
The movement had, however, far-reaching consequences:
i) It had for the first time brought millions of peasants and urban poor within the sphere of
nationalism. In fact, all sections of Indian society had been politicised: peasant, workers, artisans,
shopkeepers, traders, lawyers, doctors, other professionals and white-collar employees. Women had
been drawn into the movement. The movement had reached the remotest corners of the land. In fact,
Gandhi based his entire politics on the militancy and self-sacrificing spirit of the masses. He brought
them to the forefront of the national struggle. He transformed it into a mass movement.
ii) The people of India were imbued with fearlessness. They were no longer afraid of the might of
British imperialism. As Nehru was to comment later that Gandhi made a man of him. This was true
of the entire nation.
It must be understood in this respect that, for Gandhi, non-violence was not a weapon of the weak and the
cowardly. Only the strong could practise it. Gandhi repeatedly said that he preferred even violence to
cowardice. He wrote in 1920:
Where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advice violence. I would
rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honour, than that she should, in a cowardly
manner, become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonour.
The most important consequence of the Non-Cooperation Movement was the tremendous self-confidence
and self-esteem which Indian people gained. Indian people had begun a war against colonial rule. No
temporary retreat in a battle could deflect the people from their march towards the goal. As Gandhi wrote on
23 February 1922, after the withdrawal of the movement:
It is high time that the British people were made to realize that the fight that was commenced in
1920 is a fight to the finish, whether it lasts one month or one year or many months or many years
and whether the representatives of Britain re-enact all the indescribable orgies of the Mutiny days
with redoubled force or whether they do not.
11.2.3 Aftermath
After the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement leaders like C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed
the Swarajist Party. The Swarajists believed that they will Fight the British in legislature. The Swarajists
fought elections, gained considerable victories and successfully obstructed work in many provincial
legislatures.
In November 1927 the British declared the formation of Simon Commission to look into the constitutional
aspects. This Commission had exclusively Englishmen as members. The Indians regarded it as a great insult.
The Commission was boycotted when it landed in India. All over the country there were demonstrations
with the slogan "Simon go back".
The scenes of Non-Cooperation days reappeared. The demonstrators were dealt with bullets and batons by
the Government. Lala Lajpat Rai succumbed to the injuries which he received in the police lathi charge at
Lahore.

1) Which of the following statements are right (9) or wrong (X)?
i) Gandhi kept in mind the basic weaknesses of the earlier leadership and tried to remove
them.
ii) Indian masses welcomed the Rowlatt Act.
iii) Khilafat was aimed at removing the wrongs done by the British in Turkey
iv) The Congress did not accept a linguistic basis for organising its provincial
committees.
2) What were the far reaching consequences of the Non-Cooperation Movement'?

Answer in about ten lines.
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11.3 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

A new wave of political enthusiasm arose in 1928 and 1929. The youthful Jawaharlal Nehru became the
president of the National Congress at its historic Lahore session of 1929. The Congress passed at this session
a resolution declaring Poorna Swaraj (complete independence) to be its goal. 26 January 1930 was fixed at
the first Independence Day on which tricolour flag would be hoisted and the people would take the pledge
that it was "a crime against man and God to submit any longer" to foreign rule. On 12 March 1930, the
Congress started the second Civil Disobedience Movement with the famous Dandi March by Gandhi.
Consequently, lakhs of Indians broke the salt law by manufacturing and selling illegal salt. Lakhs offered
Satyagraha or non-violent resistance. Millions participated in hartals, demonstrations and boycott of foreign
goods and liquor in many parts of the country, the peasants refused to pay land revenue and rent and had
their land confiscated. A notable feature was the wide participation of women. Another was the extension of
the movement to the Pathans of North-Western Frontier Province and Nagaland and Manipur in North-
Eastern India. The British Government ceased to exist in peshawar from 24 April to 4 May.
A temporary truce was signed through Gandhi-lrwin Pact in March 1931; but the struggle was resumed in
the beginning of 1932. No mass movement could, however, last for ever and the struggle gradually waned
and had to be withdrawn in mid-1934. In the mean time the Round Table Conferences which were called by
the British in London failed to evolve any formula regarding the political situation in India.
11.4 THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT
Revolutionary terrorism as a form of political activity emerged in the 20th century in spurts-first after the
petering out of the Swadeshi Movement and then again after the withdrawal of Non-Cooperation Movement.
It was pursued by a generation of highly motivated nationalist youth who found themselves disillusioned
with the activities of the dominant political groups. Fired with enthusiasm and devoted to the cause of
independence for India these young people increasingly took to violent action against the Government
offices, property and officials.
One major cause of the emergence of revolutionary terrorism was the creation of political vacuum every
time any major political movement was either exhausted or withdrawn. An organised form was given to the
revolutionary movement with the formation of the Hindustan Republican Association in 1924. The
Government responded with immediate repression. Consequently, a number of Hindustan Republican Army
(HRA) activists were arrested and tried in the famous Kakori Conspiracy case in 1925. In 1928, owing
largely to the influence of socialist ideas the name was changed to Hindustan Socialist Republican
Association (HSRA). Chandra Shekhar Azad, whose name you all must be familiar with, was the leader of
this organisation. Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru, Ramprasad Bismil, Sukhdev and Batukeshwar Dutt were some of
the leading revolutionary activists in the 1920s.
14: Bhagat Singh
One major limitation of revolutionary terrorism was a lack of long-term vision. Although endowed with
unquestionable patriotism and capable of threatening the State apparatus, their movement tended to be short
lived and was suppressed by the Government.
Although defeated and suppressed these revolutionaries contributed to the cause of nationalism in no small
measure. They became a source of inspiration for the youth and the stones of their sacrifices helped in
keeping the flames of nationalism alive and burning.
11.5 THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTENT OF
SWARAJ
From the beginning the national movement had a pro-people or rather pro-poor people orientation. The
entire economic critique of colonialism and agitation on economic questions by the Moderates was
developed around the problem of the poverty of the Indian people. Their programme of industrial
development and taxation reform was designed to tackle this problem. In fact, their programme of economic
reforms was quite radical by contemporary standards. The commitment to the poor was further strengthened
as a result of the emergence of Gandhi as the main leader of the movement and the impact of the Russian
Revolution of 1917. From 1919 onwards, the movement continuously defined itself further and further in a
radical direction, as a strong left wing developed inside the Congress. The left wing did not confine its
politics to the struggle against imperialism. It simultaneously raised the question of internal class oppression.
11.5.1 Emergence of Communist and Socialist Groups

1920s witnessed a general radicalization of Indian youth and the emergence of Communist and Socialist
groups. Students and youth associations were organized all over the country from 1928 onwards. Hundreds
of youth conferences were organized during 1928 and 1929. Moreover, the Indian youth increasingly took to
socialist ideas. The Revolutionary Terrorists led by Chander Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh also turned to
socialism and changed the name of their organization from Hindustan Republican Association to Hindustan
Socialist Republican Association. In one of his last letters, Bhagat Singh wrote:
"The peasants have to liberate themselves not only from foreign yoke but also from the yoke of
landlords and capitalists."
Socialist ideas became even more popular during the 1930s as the world was shaken by economic
depression. The Communist Party was reorganized after 1935 under the leadership of P.C. Joshi and the
Congress Socialist Party was founded in 1934 under the leadership of Acharya Narendra Dev and Jai
Prakash Narayan. Subhash Chandra Bose had already emerged as a powerful left-wing leader of the
Congress in the mid-1920s.
11.5.2 Role of Nehru

It was Jawaharlal Nehru who became the symbol of socialism and socialist ideas in India after 1929. The
notion that freedom could not be defined only in political terms but must have a socio-economic content,
began increasingly to be associated with his name.
Nehru became the president of the historic Lahore Congress of 1929. He was elected to the post again in
1936 and 1937. As president of the Congress and as the most popular leader of the national movement after
Gandhi, Nehru repeatedly toured the country, travelling thousands of miles and addressing millions of
people. In his presidential speeches, as also in his popular speeches, Nehru propagated the ideas of socialism
and declared that political freedom would become meaningful only if it led to the. economic emancipation of
the masses and would therefore be followed by the establishment of a socialist society.
At the Lahore session of the Congress in 1929, Nehru had already declared his commitment to
socialism:
I am a socialist and a republican, and I am no believer in kings and princess, or in the order which produces
the modern kings of industry, who have greater power over the lives and fortunes of men than even the kings
of old, and whose methods are as predatory as those of the old feudal aristocracy.
He also said that India's poverty and inequality could be ended only by the adoption of a socialist
programme.
Nehru's commitment to socialism found a clearer and sharper expression during 1933-36. Answering the
question as to which direction India was going in October 1933, he wrote: "Surely to the great human goal
of social and economic equality, to the ending of all exploitation of nation by nation and class by class".
And, in December 1933, he wrote: "The true civic ideal is the socialist ideal, the communist ideal". Nehru
put his commitment to socialism in clear and unequivocal terms in his presidential address to the Lucknow
Congress in 1936:
I am convinced that the only key to the solution of the world's problems and of India's problems lies
in socialism.... That means the ending of private property, except in a restricted sense, and the
replacement of the present profit system by a higher ideal of cooperative service.... I see no way of
ending the poverty, the vast unemployment, the degradation, and the subjection of the Indian people
except through socialism.
16: A Congress procession during Luknow Congress 1936.
11.5.3 Impact on Congress

The growth of the radical forces in the country was soon reflected in the programme and policies of the
Congress. A major point of departure was the resolution of Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy passed
by the Karachi session of the Congress on the urging of Jawaharlal Nehru. The resolution declared: "in order
to end the exploitation of the masses, political freedom must include real economic freedom of starving
millions". The resolution guaranteed the basic civil rights of the people:
15 Jawaharlal Nehru
equality before the law irrespective of caste, creed or sex,

elections on the basis of universal adult franchise, and
free and compulsory primary education.
The resolution further promised:
substantial reduction in rent and revenue,

exemption from rent in case of uneconomic holdings,
relief from agricultural indebtedness and control of moneylending,
better conditions for workers including a living wage, limited hours of work and
protection of women workers,
the right to organise and form unions by workers and peasant, and
state ownership or control of key industries, mines and means of transport.
Radicalism in the Congress was further reflected in Faizpur congress resolutions and the Election Manifesto
of 1936 which promised:
radical transformation of the agrarian system,

substantial reduction in rent and revenue,
scaling down of rural debts and provision of cheap credit,
abolition of feudal levis,
security of tenure for tenants,
a living wage for agricultural labourers, and
the right to form trade unions and peasant unions and the right to strike.
Later in 1945 the Congress Working Committee adopted a resolution recommending abolition of
landlordism.
During 1938, when Subhash Chandra Bose was its president, the congress got committed to economic
development and set up a National Planning Committee under the Chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru
and other leftists and Gandhi also argued for the public sector in large-scale industries as means of
preventing concentration of wealth in a few hands. In fact, a major development of the 1930s was the
increasing acceptance of radical economic policies by Gandhi. In 1933, he agreed with Nehru that, "without
a material revision of vested interests the condition of the masses can never be improved. He also accepted
the principle of land to the tiller. He declared in 1942 that "the land belongs to those who will work on it and
to no one else".
The National congress had from its inception in 1885 opposed the use of Indian army for suppressing or
conquering other nations in the interests of British imperialism. It had also gradually developed a policy of
anti-imperialism and extending support to national movements in Asia and Africa. In the 1930s, under the
guidance of Nehru, it adopted a more above foreign policy. It took a strong anti-fascist stand and extended
full support to the people of Ethiopia, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and China in their struggle against aggression
by the three Fascist powers, Italy, Germany and Japan. It recognized that struggle against imperialism and
Fascism were aspects of a common struggle on a world scale.


i) Women took prominent part in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
ii) HRA was converted into HSRA due to the influence of socialist ideas.
iii) Nehru offered socialism as a remedy for the poverty of Indian masses.
iv) The Congress did not oppose the use of Indian army by the British for
conquering other countries.
2) Discuss in about ten lines the basic features of the Karachi Resolution.
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11.6 PEASANTS' WORKING CLASS AND STATE

PEOPLE'S MOVEMENTS
The National Movement deeply influenced the already existent anti-British feelings amongst the peasants
and the workers. They were actively involved in the freedom struggle after 1917. The emergence of socialist
ideas also created a deep impact on the peasants and the working class. They linked their economic and
social grievances with the struggle for freedom. Similarly, there emerged State People's Movements in the
princely states of India.
11.6.1 Peasant Movements

The Indian peasantry had a long history of uprisings against their oppression by the British, landlords and
moneylenders. The National Movement gave an impetus to this movement and brought them in the
mainstream of the freedom struggle.
The agrarian relations varied in different parts of the country. Yet there were certain grievances which could
be listed as prevailing in all the regions:
high land revenue demand

exorbitant rents,
forced labour and supplies,
evictions from holdings and insecurity of tenure,
low wages for agricultural labour,
indebtedness, etc.
The peasants along with their own initiatives now looked upon the Congress for support. We briefly discuss
some of the peasant movements here:
i) Champaran
The peasants in Champaran were forced to cultivate indigo by the European planters. They faced all kinds of
extortions at the hands of the planters. Raj Kumar Sukul, a ruined peasant took up the cause of indigo
peasants. In 1916 he went to Lucknow Congress session and spoke from the Congress platform about the
plight of Champaran peasants. It was Raj Kumar Sukul who brought Gandhi to Champaran (in 1917) to see
for himself the plight of peasants. A movement was launched and ultimately the Government had yield to
certain demands of the peasants.
ii) Awadh
In Awadh there was no security of tenure for the peasants and they had to pay Nazarana (extra premium) to
get and retain their holdings. Forced labour, rasad (forced supplies) and various other forms of illegal ceases
were extorted by the landlords. During 1918 many Kisan Sabhas (Peasant associations) were organised.
Baba Ram Chandra, who had earlier been an indentured labourer in Fiji, started organising the peasants and
built up a strong movement. In June 1920, he marched with about 500 peasant to Allahabad in order to draw
the attention of Gandhi. In December 1920 a massive peasant meeting was held in Ayodhya. Temples and
Mosques were thrown open to the peasants for stay. In January 1921, massive peasant uprising took place in
Awadh. In many villages peasants established Swaraj. The Government crushed the uprising with a heavy
hand. Many peasants lost their lives in police firings. The massacre of peasants at Munshiganj in Rai Bareili
district sent a wave of anger throughout the country. The Government was compelled to pass the
Oudh Rent (Amendment) Act in 1922. An important feature of this movement was that it was during this
period that Jawaharlal Nehru experienced the misery of the peasants and took up their cause.
17: Baba Ram Chandra
iii) Malabar
At about the same time, peasant discontent broke out in the Malabar district (now in Kerala). Here too the
Mappila tenants complained of insecurity of tenure, high rents and illegal dues. The peasant protest
developed in a massive fashion as a result of its becoming a part of the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat
Movements. The protest soon took the form of an armed uprising. The peasants attacked Government
offices, courts and police stations, burnt records, looted the treasuries, and attacked unpopular landlords.
Unfortunately, the Government was successful in giving the uprising a communal turn and succeeded in
suppressing it.
iv) Andhra
As a result of the Forest Laws introduced by the British there was considerable resentment among the tribals
all over the country. Alluri Sitarama Raju, inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movements, started organising
the tribals in the 'Rampa' region in Andhra, Village panchayats were started and a strong anti-liquor
campaign was initiated. Raju held Gandhi in high esteem but he believed that violence was necessary to oust
the British. The movement soon took a violent turn. Raids were carried on police stations. A guerilla type of
war went on between the armed forces and the followers of Raju. Ultimately Raju was captured by the
British and shot dead. Till today Raju remains a legendary figure in the region.
v) Bardoli
In 1928, under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the peasants of the Bardoli taluka of Gujarat
organised a no-tax campaign against the official effort to enhance land tax by nearly 30 per cent. The
peasants demanded that the Government should appoint an independent tribunal to enquire into the
enhancement. The peasants refused to pay the enhanced tax, resisted all official attempts to coerce them,
organised a neartotal boycott of all Government officials and locked up their houses and fled to the
neighbouring Baroda territory along with their cattle. In the end their demand for an enquiry had to be
accepted and the enhancement was reduced to about 6 per cent. There were also tribal and peasant uprisings
in Udaipur and Mewar under the leadership of Motilal Tejawat and in Darbhanga under the leadership of
Swami Vidyanand. In Bihar Swami Sahajanand Saraswati organised the Bihar Kisan Sabha.
A new, nation-wide awakening of the peasantry to their class defence occurred during the 1930s. The
symbol of this awakening was the establishment of the All-lndia Kisan Sabha in 1936. The main demands
around which the peasants mobilised were reduction in rents and land tax, abolition of illegal levies such as
begar or vethi by the zamindars, reduction of debt, ending of oppression by the landlords and moneylenders,
restoration of illegally seized lands, and security of tenure as tenants. The main forms of peasant
mobilisation were through meetings, conferences, demonstrations, peasant marches, formation of kisan
sabhas, non-payment of rent and taxes, and satyagraha.
Peasant movements acquired a fresh thrust after 1945 as freedom approached. The demand for abolition of
the zamindari system now acquired greater urgency all over the country. The most militant of the post-war
struggles was the Tebhaga struggle by the share-croppers of Bengal who said that they would pay not 1/2
but 1/3rd of the crop to the jotedars (intermediary landlords). Similarly, there emerged a very strong peasant
movement in Telangana. Both these movements were directed by the Communist leadership.
Though the peasant struggles before 1947 were organised around immediate demands which would lessen
the rigour of the exploitation and oppression by the state, landlords, and moneylenders, their long term effect
was to prepare the climate for basic transformation of the agrarian structure, system of credit, and peasants
relationship with the state.
11.6.2 Working Class Struggles

There was a rapid growth of working class struggles and trade unionism in the 1920s. There had been a
steady increase in the numerical strength of the workers since the 1860s as modern industry, mining and
railways had developed, though in a stunted manner. From the beginning, workers were subjected to
inhuman and unscrupulous exploitation in the form of low wages, long hours of work and horrible
conditions of work and living. Even so, despite occasional spontaneous protest it took a long time for the
workers to organise themselves in trade unions. The Swadeshi movement inspired the first major struggles,
particularly, by the railway workers of Bengal. There was a wave of spontaneous strikes in almost every
industry during 1918 to 1920 as a result of rise in prices during and after World War I and contemporary
nationalist ferment. The lead was given by railway workers, who were subjected to racial discrimination (the
European staff was given high wages) apart from economic and class oppression. To coordinate working
class struggles, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was founded in October 1920. Lala Lajpat
Rai, the famous nationalist leader, was its first president. C.R. Das, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Bose
were some of the other nationalist leaders who presided over the AITUC session.
A fresh upsurge of workers strikes occurred during 1928-29. There was a general strike by jute workers in
Bengal. There was a long strike lasting for two months in railway workshop at Kharagpur. The South Indian
Railway and East Indian Railway workers went on strike. Another strike was organised in the Tata Iron and
Steel Works at Jamshedpur. The most important strike of the period was in Bombay textile mills. Nearly
1,50,000 workers remained on strike for over five months. The strike was conducted by the legendary Girni
Kamgar Union. The last of this wave of strikes occurred on the G.I.P Railway in Bombay.
The Government was unnerved by this strike wave. In 1929 they arrested 31 labour leaders and put them on
trial for conspiring against the King and the Government. Their trial came to be popularly known as the
Meerut Conspiracy Case. Simultaneously, they appointed a Royal Commission (Whitley Commission) to
investigate conditions of workers in India and to make recommendation for their amelioration.
During the Civil Disobedience Movement the working class in Sholapur played a heroic role in opposing the
British.
Major strikes occurred during 1935 and 1936 at Calcutta, Ahmedabad, and Kanpur. The formation of
Congress Ministries in 1937 and the consequent expansion of civil liberties led to another spurt in workers,
organisation and struggles. Trade union membership increased by 50 per cent in 1938 over that in 1937.
Massive strikes occurred in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Kanpur during 1937-38.
11.6.3 Movement in Princely States

The British had permitted hundreds of princely states to exist where colonial domination was exercised
indirectly through Indian rulers who were totally subservient to the British but who ruled their states
autocratically. Appalling economic, political and social conditions prevailed in most of them. They spent
most of the state revenue on themselves and their courtiers and official. Since the British Indian Government
was there to defend them against internal protest or revolt, they freely indulged in gross misgovernment.
As the national movement developed in British India, the people of the princely states were also influenced.
All-lndia States people's Conference had already come into existence in 1927 to coordinate political
activities in the states. These activities increased under the impact of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Popular struggles were organised in many states including Kashmir, Jaipur, Rajkot, Hyderabad and
Travancore. Praja Mandals were organised in a large number of states with the development of democratic
and national consciousness.
The National Congress in the beginning kept itself aloof from these movements. But after 1937 it supported
them and opposed the princes efforts to suppress them. It urged the princes to grant civil liberties to their
people and to introduce democratic representative government. In 1938, the Congress defined it goal of
independence so as to include the independence of the states. In order to emphasise the close links between,
and in fact integration of, the freedom struggle in India and struggle for democratic government in the states,
Jawaharlal Nehru became the president of the All-lndia States People's Conference in 1939. The States
People's Movement contributed towards the integration of princely states into the Indian Union.
11.6.4 Other Movements

Note must be taken of two other sets of powerful movements. One was the movement for linguistic
provinces. Initially developed outside the nationalist framework to promote the languages and cultures of
different regions, they were rapidly incorporated into the national movement, and in 1921 the Congress
reorganised its provincial committees on the basis of language. The national movement fully accepted that
India is a country of immense linguistic and cultural diversity and that its unity has to be based on the
principle of "Unity in Diversity".
Similarly, the "lower castes" organised many movements in different parts of the country against upper caste
social and economic domination. There was the Satyashodhak Samaj Movement and the Non-Brahmo
Movement of the Marathas in Maharashtra, and the Self-Respect Movement and Anti-Brahmin movements
in South India, and the movement of the Harijans or Scheduled Castes led by Dr B. R. Ambedkar. Most of
them gradually faded away as the national movement itself included struggle against caste oppression in its
programme.

ii) Check your answer with that given at the end of the unit..
1) In column 'A' some important peasant movement are given and in column 'B' their leaders. Match
'A' with 'B'.;
A B
i) Awadh a) Rajkumar Sukul
ii) Champaran b) Sita Ram Raju
iii) Andhra c) Motilal Tejawat
iv) Darbhanga d) Baba Ram Chandra
v) Udaipur and Mewar e) Swami Viyanand
2) Discuss in about ten lines the growth of working class movement in 1921's and 1930's.
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3) Discuss in about five lines the attitude of Congress towards the princely States
People's Movement.
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11.7 TOWARDS FREEDOM

In this section we discuss in brief the process from 1937 on wards through which India achieved
independence. By this time the national movement was on a firm footing with all sections of the masses
participating in the struggle.
11.7.1 Congress Ministries

In 1935, a new Government of India Act had been passed and elections were to be held in 1937. There was a
debate within the Congress whether it should participate in the elections or not. Ultimately it was decided to
participate in this election and an all out effort was made to achieve success. The Congress leaders toured
vast parts of the country and there was tremendous enthusiasm amongst the masses.
The Congress swept the polls in Madras, Bombay, Central provinces, Orissa, Bihar and United Provinces.
Now the question was whether the Congress should take up office or not? After a lot of debate and thinking
the decision taken was in favour of office acceptance. The Congress formed the Government under the new
system of provincial autonomy in the provinces where it had absolute majority.
Later it succeeded in forming coalition governments in Assam and North-Western Frontier Province. Within
the narrow limits of power conferred on them, the Congress administration in the provinces tried to give
relief to the people and introduced many radical reforms:
political prisoners were released
police powers were curbed
civil liberties were encouraged and expanded
greater attention was paid to education and health
the ministries attempted to give relief to the peasantry through legislation for
debt-relief, restoration of lands lost by the peasants in recent years, and security
of tenure
attempts were made to give relief to workers.
The ministry period had a symbolic achievement as well. It established the Congress's credentials in not only
launching movements, but also running effective administration. It also put the withdrawal of British firmly
on the political agenda. The people were now convinced that independence was now only a matter of time.
11.7.2 Second World War and India

The start of the Second World War in September 1939 confronted the Congress with a difficult choice. As
we have seen earlier, it was in full sympathy with the victims of fascist aggression and it was keen to help
the anti-fascist forces led by the Allies, Britain and France. But how could, it argued, a colony help in other
nations fight for freedom, when it was itself enslaved. It, therefore, demanded that the British give proof of
their devotion to freedom and democracy by putting political power into Indian hands and promising full
freedom after the war. This would enable the Indian people to contribute fully through men and materials to
war effort. The British would not oblige. As Winston Churchill was to put it later, he had not become the
war-time Prime Minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.
The Congress ordered its ministries to resign in protest. But it still did not want to impede the British war
effort by giving a call for a massive anti-British struggle. At the same time, the patience of Congress
leadership and the masses was getting exhausted. Gandhi now decided to initiate a limited Satyagraha on a
individual basis by a few selected individuals in every locality. The individual Satyagraha had two aims: On
the one hand, it gave expression to the Indian people's strong political feelings, on the other hand, it gave the
British Government further opportunity to avoid confrontation and accept Indian demands. By the end of
May 1941, more than 25,000 satyagrahis had been arrested and sentenced.
Two major changes occurred in 1941. Having occupied western Europe, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet
Union on 22 June 1941. And on 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the US fleet at Pearl
Harbour in the Pacific. Advancing rapidly through Philippines, Indo-China (Vietnam), Indonesia, and
Malaya, Japan began to overrun Burma in March 1942, and thus brought the war to India's borders.
The Indian leaders, released from prisons in early December, were worried about India's defence. They were
also concerned about the safety of the Soviet Union and China. They were once again ready to fully
cooperate in the war effort if India was granted the substance of power. The British Government too was
under pressure from its American and Chinese allies.
In March 1942, it sent the Cripps Mission to negotiate with Indian leaders. But negotiations soon broke
down because the British were not willing to accept the demand for the immediate transfer of power. The
Indian people were embittered and felt that time had come for a final assault on imperialism.
11.7.3 Quit India Movement

The All-lndia Congress Committee met in Bombay on 8 August 1942 and passed the famous "Quit India"
resolution, proposing to start a final mass struggle for freedom. Addressing the Congress delegates on the
night of 8 August, Gandhi asked the people to "Do or Die", "We shall either free India", he said, "or die in
the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery". The British Government struck before
the movement could be started. Early in the morning of 9 August, it arrested Gandhi and other Congress
leaders and kept them in jail for the duration of the war. A spontaneous popular upsurge arose everywhere.
There were hartals and strikes all over. The Government's reply was large-scale arrests and repeated lathi
charges and firings. The angry people took to violent action and attacked the symbols of British authority-
police stations, post offices, railway stations. They cut telephone and telegraph wires and railway lines. In
several parts of the country. the people set up parallel governments.
18: Gandhi Asking British to Quit India (a cartoon).
19: Congress Bulletin in Kannad (9 August 1942)
The Government now launched full machinery of repression. Over 10,000 persons died in police and
military firings.
In the meanwhile another front for freedom had been opened in South-East Asia. Subhash Bose had escaped
from India in March 1941. In 1943, he went to Japan and South-East Asia where he organized thousands of
Indian army soldiers and officers, who had surrendered to the Japanese, into the Indian National Army. The
INA marched along with the Japanese army towards India's borders to free India from the foreign yoke. But
Japan collapsed in 1944-45 and Subhash Bose, it appears, was killed in an aeroplane accident.
11.7.4 Independence
With the end of the war, India's freedom struggle entered a new phase. The Indian people were in an angry
mood. The new struggle took the form of a massive movement against the trial of the soldiers and officers of
the INA which finally forced the Government to set them free. Throughout 1945-46 there occurred
numerous agitations, strikes, hartals, demonstrations, etc., all over the country. In February 1946, the naval
ratings at Bombay revolted. There was a massive demonstration in Bombay in sympathy which the ratings.
The army shot over 250 persons on the streets of Bombay in an effort to suppress the popular upsurge.
20: Bose Inspecting Andaman Jail.
In any case, despite having won the war, Britain was face with a new situation. The entire world balance of
power had changed. Britain, weakened by the war, was no longer a world power. Its economic and military
power had been shattered. Moreover, the entire colonial system had collapsed. France and Holland had been
occupied and weakened; Germany, Italy and Japan had been defeated. The Soviet Union supported India and
other colonial countries aspiration for freedom; nor was the U.S.A. averse to these aspirations. In any case, it
would not support Britain in any effort at total suppression of the national movement in India.
21: Mahatma Gandhi
Within Britain itself, the political situation did not favour a renewed effort at suppression of the national
movement. The British army, recruited from the citizens, was tired and sick of war and had no stomach left
for waging a virtual war of suppression. The Labour Party, which was more sympathetic to India, defeated
the Conservative Party in elections in mid-1945. In any case, the British people would not support a policy
of colonial reassertion.
Within India, the colonial apparatus of administration and repression was breaking down. The bureaucracy
was no longer 'reliable'. The police was restive. The army was no longer loyal. Even apart from the RIN
Revolt, there had occurred numerous strikes, etc., in the army and airforce. And, above all, as brought out
earlier, there was the determination of the Indian people to no longer agree to be ruled by the alien power.
The Labour Government (of Britain) decided to heed the voice of the times. It decided to withdraw from
India after nearly 200 years of colonial rule. On 15 August 1947, India celebrated with joy its first day of
freedom, though its joy was marred by the fact that not one but two independent states-India and Pakistan-
had come into existence in the sub-continent.

1) Discuss in about five lines the reforms introduced under the Congress ministries
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………….…...........................................................................

i) Fascist aggression was condemned by the Congress.
ii) The slogan of the Quit India Movement was 'do or flee'.
iii) The Indian National Army fought along with the Japanese army against the
British.
iv) Conservative Party won the election in 1945 in England.
11.8 LET US SUM UP

We have been seen in this Unit how the Indian National Movement gradually developed towards its goal of
achieving independence. The shift from moderate means to mass movements was a major achievement for
the movement and this shift was brought about by the efforts of Gandhi. During this period three major mass
movements were launched under the Congress leadership. Along with and within the Congress movement
we find the emergence of Communist and Socialist groups. Their contribution was of much significance not
only in terms of achieving political independence but also for gaining economic and political freedom.
During this period the peasants and workers movements also took an organised form-particularly with the
formation of All India Kisan Sabha and the All India Trade Union Congress. In the princely states, the
people fought for democratic rights and they linked their struggles with the national movement. Ultimately
the struggle of the Indian people and the changing international scenario forced the British to Quit India and
India became a free nation on 15 August 1947.
11.9 KEY WORDS
Adult Franchise: Right of vote to every adult irrespective of caste, sex, income, religion.
Conservative Party: A British political party which was rightist and dominated by the interests of landlords
and merchants.
Exploitation: The historical phenomenon of one class living off the surplus produced by another, e.g., land
lords living off the peasants produce.
Fascist: An extreme right wing political ideology which arose as a reaction to communists, social democrats
and labour movements in 20th century Italy and Germany.
Feudal Levies: Obligations of extra economic nature like that of begar or forced labour.
Indebtedness: The phenomenon of moneylender keeping long term hold over sections of rural or urban
poor.
Labour Party: A British political party distinct from conservatives and communists which argued for
advancing labours interests.
Landlordism: The phenomenon of Zamindars of medieval times being converted into permanent landlords
under the British permanent settlement.
Non-Violence: Basis of Gandhi's philosophy for conducting struggles without hurting the enemy.
Picketing: A peaceful agitational action to prevent routine work and to express protest.
Radicalisation: A sharp or slow swing of a movement, thought or idea towards the left.
Salt Law: The British law imposing a tax on Indians producing salt.
Satyagraha: Struggle against domination, based on validity of truth.
Socialism: The broad philosophy calling for equal socio-economic redistribution of resources and wealth.
11.10 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) i) 9ii) X iii) 9 iv) X
Check Your P20gress 2
1) i) 9 ii) 9 iii) 9iv) X

1) i) d ii) a
2) i) 9 ii) X iii) X iv) 9

UNIT 12 VALUES OF THE INDIAN
NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Structure
12.0 Objectives
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Secularism
12.2.1 What is Secularism?
12.2.2 Practice of Secularism
12.2.3 Gandhi and Nehru
12.3 Socialism and Planned Economic Development
12.4 Democracy and Civil Liberties
12.4.1 Nature of the Colonial state
12.4.2 Nationalist struggle for Democratic Rights
12.5 Humanism
12.5.1 Sources of Humanism
12.5.2 Struggle for Humanism
12.5.3 The British Role
12.6 Universal Brotherhood and Peace
12.6.1 Some Early Instances
12 6.2 Struggle Against Fascism
12.7 Let Us Sum Up
12.8 Key Words
12.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you will,
have idea of some of the important values which came in and through the national movement,
be able to assess how these values developed, and

pin point the contrasting roles played by the British and the nationalists in the development of these values.
12.1 INTRODUCTION
As you have learnt in Units 11 and 12, the struggle against British imperialism was the central theme of the
national movement. But the basic essence of the movement was not confined only to anti-imperialism it also
upheld and preached universally accepted values of secularism, socialism, democracy and humanism. Not
only that, it also simultaneously practised and thereby popularised these values. A sustained propagation of
these values finally led to their incorporation in the constitution of India. In this Unit you are going to
familarise yourself with the values of the national movement.
12.2 SECULARISM
India is the home of major religions and during the course of history has emerged as a truly plural society.
People in India believe deeply in religion which influences their way of life. In such a situation strong
tolerance of religious differences only can avoid social disharmony and conflicts. A policy of divide and
rule, as followed by the British, could, in this context, engineer feelings of religious conflicts and cleavages.
The nationalist leadership had correctly responded to this challenge by strengthening the value of secularism
in a multi-religious society.
12.2.1 What is Secularism?

Secularism in India meant four things:
i) First, the nationalist leadership preached and tried to promote the spirit of religious tolerance among
the people.
ii) Second many reforms movements were undertaken to remove superstition and blind faith among the
believes.
iii) Third, equality of all religions was emphasised by the nationalist leadership.
iv) Fourth, separation of religion and politics was sought to be emphasised.
12.2.2 Practice of Secularism

Reform movements were started by Raja Rammohan Roy, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekanand
and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa among the Hindus. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan played and important role in
reforming the Muslims of India. A three fold method was adopted:
i) These reformers did not attack any other religion
ii) They emphasised the rationalist and reformist elements among various religions,
iii) It was emphasised that the various religious identities were within the higher identity of the Indian
nation.
This tradition of religious reform and tolerance was further strengthened by Mahatma Gandhi and Abul
Kalam Azad who were believers in religion but continuously promoted religious reform and tolerance of
each other's religions. Gandhi, e.g., started the 'constructive work' programme which worked for Hindu-
Muslim unity which helped unify the people-a primary task by any reckoning.
The task had to be performed in the face of the British attempt to promote the "Two Nation Theory" and
separate electorate for Hindus and Muslims in India. The Indian nationalists responded to this by assuring
the protection and respect of religious freedom to the minorities and also by promising that they would build
up the Congress as a secular platform. The Indian National Congress fought against separate electorate by
mobilizing all communities irrespective of their religious beliefs, in the struggle for Swadeshi, boycott of
foreign goods and Swaraj.
Further contribution of nationalists to secularism was:

the idea of a system of national secular education.
Iinking the concept of secularism to the struggle for social justice and equality.
12.2.3 Gandhi and Nehru

The struggle for secularism revolved around Gandhi's and Nehru's conceptions of secularism. Their different
conceptions must be brought out to show the two traditions of secularism in India.
Gandhi believed in spiritualisation of politics, but, he was firmly committed to the equality and tolerance of
all religions. Gandhi derived his politics from religion but in struggling against religious divisions and
fanaticism and in emphasising the relationship between national unity and spirit of tolerance, he took the
struggle for secularism forward. He made it clear that state should have nothing to do with religion, which is
a personal affair. He gave the state the responsibility of looking after secular affairs like welfare, health,
communication, foreign relations, currency etc.
Nehru, in contrast, linked the struggle of secularism to complete scientific rationality. Religion for him bred
blind faith and ignorance. For him the essence of science was to doubt and to know. So for him in the fight
for secularism, there was no place for religion at all.
It is with these twin traditions of secularism that the nationalist leadership fought against communal
organisations like the Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. It also opposed the British practice of religious
discrimination on similar grounds. The strength of values of secularism then, were again in built in the
strength and weakness of the two fights.

1) It can be said from the above that secularism is
a) persecution of one religion by another
b) domination of one religion over other religions
c) a theory and practice where religious tolerance, equality, freedom from blind
faith and superstition and separation of politics from religion is evolved
d) a vigorous combination of religion and politics.
2) It may be said that
a) Nehru believed that religion should be the basis of politics
b) Gandhi believed that politics was derived from religion
c) Nehru believed that basis of politics had to be scientific
d) Gandhi and Nehru shared the same vision of secularism

e) both b) and c are correct
3) List some contributions of the nationalists towards promoting secularism.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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12.3 SOCIALISM AND PLANNED ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT
The poverty and economic degradation of India was a direct consequence of the British rule. In this context
two interrelated tasks had to be performed by the leadership for patriotic mobilisation, i.e.,
the leadership had to educate the masses against the disastrous policies of the colonisers.
the people had to be concretely made to understand the alternative solutions to the pressing problems of poverty and
deprivation.
The nationalist and the communist leadership went on to define a concrete socialistic programme of
economic planning and development. In this the leaders of the freedom struggle were inspired by the
development and social reconstruction in the Soviet Union.
Two aspects of economic planning were clearly emphasised and propagated:
First, agrarian India will be transformed and absentee landlordism will be abolished.
Second, planned development will not emphasise the production aspect only. Production was to be linked with
distribution.
Nehru further linked up these facets with the national movement. In various annual sessions of the Congress
the meaning and context of socialism was concretised and it was conveyed that Swaraj would include the
principles of socialism.
Practice of Socialism: In 30s and 40s, socialism for the masses assumed great significance. Following
events concretised this:
The Kisan Sabhas and the trade union of the workers were formed to organize the peasantry and industrial workers in
the struggle for freedom of socialism. The All India Trade Union Congress first met in Bombay on 31 October
1920, while the All India Kisan Sabha met first in 1936. Many important leaders came to be associated with the
Kisan Sabhas and trade union movement. Swadeshi, thus meant both self rule and socialism.
The pro-poor orientation and concern in the Congress pronouncements and annual sessions. While Gandhi talked of the
semi-starved millions and tried to identify them with his simple life-style, Nehru distinctly went on to observe that
the Congress represented not only the nationalist urge of India but also 'to a large extent the proletarian urges for
social change'.
In 1938 the Congress appointed a national planning committee to work out programmes for industrialization and
development of rural society. Development of Khadi and village industries was considered integral to
industrialization of India.
In 1931 the Karachi session of the Congress had passed a key resolution on fundamental rights and economic policy.
The resolution declared: "in order to end the exploitation of the masses, political freedom must include real
economic freedom of starving millions". The resolution guaranteed the basic civil rights of the people, i.e.,
a) equality before the law irrespective of cast, creed and sex
b) elections on the basis of universal adult franchise
c) free and compulsory primary education,
and promised further:
a) substantial reduction in rent and revenue.
b) exemption from rent in case of uneconomic holdings.
c) relief of agricultural indebtedness and control of money lending.
d) better conditions for workers, including a living wage, limited hours of work and protection of
women workers.
e) the right to organize and form unions by workers and peasants.
f) state ownership or control of key industries, mines and means of transport.
After Karachi Session the Faizpur Congress in 1936 promised:
a) radical transformation of the agrarian system,
b) abolition of feudal levies,
c) the right to strike for peasant and trade unions.
These events were to consolidate the meaning and value of socialism and planning for the Indian people.
The British opposition to socialism and fears of communist conspiracy, as manifested in the Kanpur and
Meerut conspiracy cases, only highlighted the difficulty faced by the national movement in propagating
socialist values.

1) Socialism came to be identified by the nationalists in the 40s as:
a) a distant, meaningless goal
b) British rule plus planned development
c) Swaraj plus planned economic development
d) Unplanned development
2) By 1936 the Indian National Congress had popularised socialism as:
a) Swaraj plus radical transformation of the agrarian system, abolition of feudal levies, right to
strike for peasant and trade unions and state ownership of key industries, mines and
transport.
b) Swaraj plus agrarian reform only.
c) Swaraj without the right to strike for peasant and trade union.
d) Only right to strike for peasant unions.
3) Write five lines on Socialism and Swaraj.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………….…...................................................................................................
12.4 DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Fight for democracy and civil liberties was to become integral to the fight for Indian freedom. After all the
British rule by nature was oppressive, and, fighting for freedom from its despotism meant fighting for
democratic values. For this the spirit of democratic culture was undoubtedly important.
12.4.1 Nature of the Colonial State

The colonial state was in the main repressive. The legal and the political system it created was
discriminatory and obstructive to people's participation in the governance of the country. Combined with its
police and army might, the legal political system only served the interests of the British rule. In this context,
the suggestion by some British scholars, that, democracy was a gift by the British to the Indians should not
be uncritically accepted. The British did not train the Indians in self- governance through Acts of 1909, 1919
and 1935. Rather at every step Indians struggled for democratic participation. And at every step this attempt
was truncated by limited concessions.
12.4.2 Nationalist Struggle for Democratic Rights

The nationalists compelled the British, in spite of stiff opposition, to concede:
right to vote,
system of elections and representation to Indians.
At the same time Congress conducted elections within its own organizational structure to inculcate the
values of democracy and democratic functioning. Decisions to launch struggles were taken through open
debates and struggles were conducted in open. Democratic right to dissent was granted in the Congress.
When these procedures were taken in the mass struggles of non-violent direct action the foundations of these
procedures were tested. Though at times certain unilateral withdrawals like the 1922 withdrawal of Non-
Cooperation or 1931 withdrawals of the Civil Disobedience Movement pointed to the weakness of these
procedures. Nonetheless a definite beginning had been made.

1) In the colonial state the legal political system
a) served the interests of the people
b) was democratic
c) had no elements of democratic institutions
d) had democratic institutions which were limited and made to serve the colonial state, with the
repressive might of army and police.
2) The nationalists
a) accepted the colonial legal political system
b) accepted the limited concessions of democratic participation
c) fought against limited concessions and for democratic rights.
3) What were democratic concessions extracted by the nationalists?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………..…...............................................................................................................
12.5 HUMANISM
The national movement brought to surface a new humanism of the Indian people. Any struggle has its
humanistic dimensions which help mobilize people of different concerns in a common brotherhood.
12.5.1 Source of Humanism

The humanism of national movement drew upon two sources:
i) a scientific rationality, which taught that the backward and obscure institutions like caste, ritualistic
religion and bonded labour, sati, etc. were obstacles to human development.
ii) a sense of cultural identity of India, which meant belonging together the diverse cultural strands of
India into the national mainstream.
12.5.2 Struggle for Humanism

The struggle of humanism started with the efforts of social reformers to directly attack the caste system,
system of untouchability and attacks on various systems of feudal bondages and sati. While Rammohan Roy
had relied on scientific rationality to achieve this, people like Vivekananda or Swami Dayanand invoked the
Indian cultural heritage to attack such practices and pointed out the inconsistencies of such practices with
Indian cultural values. It was pointed out that these practices had made our culture a handmaiden of
exploitation of man by man. Vivekananda particularly stressed this in his little known pamphlet, "Why I am
a Socialist".
We also see the growth of anti-caste movements in this period. Mahatma Phule, e.g., organised the lower
castes against the dominant Brahminical ideology in Maharashtra.
With the national movement we can see three distinct strands drawing their inspiration from above:
i) One strand can be identifies with Nehru. Taking inspiration from the scientific humanism, Nehru
went to the extent of advocating a socio-economically humane system. Accepting Marxism as the
basis for such a society, his humanism drew deeply from the socialist humanism of countries like
Russia. The essential characteristics of this humanistic system were founded on the basis premise of
"each according to his needs to each according to his work" rather than the monetary hierarchies of
the west or the backward system of caste and religious hierarchies of the undeveloped countries.
ii) Gandhi was to stress on our cultural heritage. Rejecting caste and religious distinctions, he used
arguments from his religion to justify a human brotherhood.
This understanding shaped his efforts of Hindu-Muslim unity during Khilafat or the terrible days of
communal riots in the 1920s and the 1940s. Similarly he coined a new phrase Harijans for the
untouchables and actively worked amongst them to promote their well being.
iii) The third main strand was represented by Dr. Ambedkar. He integrated the more militant anti-upper
caste movements into the nationalist struggle and also found them a new identity. Similar role was
played by the 'Justice' movement in Madras or Sri Narayana Guru in the awakening of Ezhavas in
Kerala.
12.5.3 The British Role

The British attitudes to the humanistic trends within the national movement differed over time. In the initial
phases they supported such humane measures as anti-sati campaign of Rammoham Roy etc. But, with the
integration of this humanism with the national movement, there was a complete ruthless suppression. During
the national movement phase, actually, one saw the most brutal manifestation of the inhuman system the
British rule was. The example of killing hundreds of innocent people in the Jallianwala bagh massacre
stands out as the most outstanding instance of their inhumanism. The national movement however gained
with the sacrifice of these martyrs as the people realised that a human alternative in the national movement
was much better than the British rule.

1) National Movement's humanism drew from two sources. They were:
a) Pity and love for the downtrodden
b) Despair and disgust about the British rule
c) Happiness and pleasure about the way the British rule functioned
d) A scientific rationality and a sense of cultural identity which taught that backward and
superstitious values be removed and a national cultural mainstream be founded.
2) Vivekananda said that
a) Casteist and ritualistic religious practices were the best Indian values
b) Caste and rituals were a man-made creation for exploitation of man by man
c) Ritualistic religion was god given and should be followed.
3) Mention the three humanist strands of the Indian national movement. How were
they different from each other?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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12.6 UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND PEACE

The national movement was to reach across its boundaries towards internationalism. I this it continued its
anti-imperialist thrust and combined its human and rational values also.
12.6.1 Some Early Instances

From 1885 onwards itself the nationalists opposed the use of Indian army and India's resources to serve British interests
in Africa and Asia.
In February 1927, Nehru, on behalf of the National Congress, attended the Congress of oppressed nationalities at
Brussels organised by political exiles and revolutionaries from the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America
suffering from economic or political imperialism. Nehru was subsequently elected an executive council member of
the League against imperialism, which was born at this Congress.
In 1937 when Japan launched an attack on China, the National Congress passed a resolution calling upon the Indian
people "to refrain from the use of Japanese goods as a mark of their sympathy with China".
12.6.2 Struggle Against Fascism

The 1930s saw the emergence of a major authoritarian tendency in Western Europe. Pressures of labour and
peasant movements combined with the economic depression created an anti-democratic ideology in the
forms of Nazism in the Germany and Fascism in Italy. In 1930s its combination threatened to engulf the
entire developed world and its colonies. Britain was also threatened. In this context the national movement
had to take a stand.
Drawing upon its humanistic and democratic values the Indian National Congress, under Nehru's guidance,
took a stand against fascism. In spite of the fact that the national movement was growing tremendously,
India refused to go with fascism to strengthen its battle against British rule. Correctly giving the growth of
an international democratic order the first priority, the Indian National Congress, though it did not join the
Second World war, refused to give any material or moral support to Germany or Italy.
To conclude, Indian national movement's foreign policy stances were consistent with the democratic and
human values it was propagating. It was this consistency which enabled a non-aligned policy to emerge in
the post independence period.

1) The National Movement's Internationalism
a) was linked to its nationalist values
b) was delinked from its nationalist struggle
c) had no importance are all.
2) The National Movement

a) supported the fascists to gain an advantage over the British
b) supported the British war effort
c) neither supported the British war effort nor did they support the fascists to take advantage
over the British
12.7 LET US SUM UP

.
Following key points emerge from our discussion on the values of the Indian National Movement:
The values of secularism, socialist development, democracy, humanism and internationalism emerged through a
process of struggle and were not a gift of the British.
The British, infact, strongly opposed the development of these values and thereby made the struggle harder.
These values were not limited to national boundaries but made their impact internationally as well.
12.8 KEY WORDS

Absentee Landlordism: In colonial India the phenomenon of owners of large lands remaining absent from
the land living' perhaps in cities or towns and drawing on large rents. This rent was usually a huge
proportion of the produce of the toling tiller.
Agricultural indebtedness: The phenomenon of poorer cultivating sectors of agricultural classes being
forever in debt to the moneylender. The moneylender usually, advanced money on exhorbitant rates to
enable the cultivator to buy seeds and other agricultural equipment. Unable to pay it, the cultivator was
caught in a trap, where he had to go again for money. This way the moneylender kept a tight grip on the
agriculture classes and exploited the situation in many ways. Anti-moneylender riots of 1876 in Maharashtra
were one aspect of protest against this practice.
Constructive Work: Programme for uplifts of downtrodden and promoting Hindu-Muslim unity started by
Gandhi after the withdrawal of the Non-cooperation Movement.
Economic Depression: Phenomenon of extreme economic crisis when there is over production and glut.
Consequence is unemployment and drastic fall in prices.
Linguistic Formations: The recognized social formations in India by the nationalists with language as the
basic criterion for different identities. The nationalists gave scope for cultural diversities to flourish and also
brought them into mainstream of nationalism.
Rationalist: One believing in reason. Historically rationalist thought associated with the beginning of
Renaissance.
Reformist: One believing in positively modifying or amending society to make it better suited to times.
Separate Electorates: The British move to divide Hindus and Muslims as separate voting constituents and
with right to separate representatives through elections.
Two Nation Theory: The theory which says that historically India was composed for two nations: One
Hindu and One Muslim.
Uneconomic Holding: Land holding of small size, usually not even producing bare subsistence for the tiller.

EXERCISES
1) (c) 2 (e) 3 See Sub-sec. 12.3.2
1) (c) 2 (a) 3 See Sub-sec. 12.4.2
1) (d) 2 (c) 3 See Sub-sec. 12.4.2
1) (d) 2 (4) 3 See Sub-sec. 12.5.2
1) (a) 2 (c)
SOME USEFUL BOOKS FOR THE BLOCK
Chandra, Bipan 1971: Modern India, N.C.E.R.T. New Delhi.
Desai, A.R. 1959: Social Background of Indian Nationalism, Bombay.
Dutt, R.P 1947: India Today, Bombay,
Paviov, V.1 1978: Historical Premises for India's Transition to Capitalism, Moscow.
Routhermund and Kulke 1968: History of India. Manohar, New Delhi.
Sarkar, Sumit 1983: Modern India, Macmillan, New Delhi.
Sitarammya, Pattabbi (2 vols. ) 1946-47: History of Indian National Congress, Bombay.
Tara Chand (4 vols.) 1961-72: History of the Freedom Movement in India, Delhi.

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UNIT 9 CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN

ECONOMY: PRE-COLONIAL AND COLONIAL

9.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF PRE-COLONIAL

9.2.3 Handicraft Industries

9.3 ASPECTS OF COLONIAL RULE

Check Your Progress I

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.

9.5 IMPACT OF THE COLONIAL RULE:

The British provided political unity and stability to India.

9.6 IMPACT OF THE BRITISH RULE: INDIAN

9.6.1 The Drain Theory

9.7 PHASES OF COLONIAL RULE

Check Your Progress 2

2) Write fifty words each on the following themes:

3) Write 10 lines on the phases of the colonial rule.

9.8 AGRICULTURE UNDER THE COLONIAL

9.8.1 The New Land Settlement

9.8.2 Commercialisation of Agriculture

the backward agricultural organization in the country.

lack of resources with the farmer for technological improvement,

9.8.3 Impact on Agriculture

9.9 ROLE OF THE COLONIAL STATE

The Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858 stated:

Further, the Queen assured:

Professor Sumit Sarkar observes:

Check Your Progress 3

9.10 LET US SUM UP

9.11 KEY WORDS

Monopolistic: A tendency of capital, resources or industries to come under individual control.

Per Capita income: Money earned per head.

Productivity of Land: Producing capacity of land.

9.12 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS/

1) i) 9 ii) 9 iii) x iv) x

Check Your Progress 2

1) i) X ii) X iii) X iv) 9

Check Your Progress 3

1) Read section 9.8

10.3 EarIy Phase of Nationalism

10.4 Moderate and Militant Nationalists

10.5 Swadeshi Movement

10.7 Let Us Sum Up

understand the upsurge of 1857 in all its dimensions,

be aware of the factors which contributed to the emergence of Indian

be able to identify the process of cultural renaissance, and

10.2 1857: THE FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

10.2.2 Extent and Intensity

"In no instance is a friendly glance directed to the white man's carriage

3: Times currespondent viewing the sacking of Kaiserbagh at Lucknow.

4: Begam Hazarat Mahal

Check Your Progress 1

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.

iv) Hindu-Muslim unity gave added strength to the revolt of 1857.

10.3 EARLY PHASE OF THE NATIONAL

10.3.1 Role of Intellectuals

10.3.2 Role of Colonial State

10.3.3 Emergence of the Indian National Congress

7: The First Indian National Congress 1885.

Check Your Progress 2

10.4 MODERATE AND MILITANT NATIONALISTS