Nationalism in India - Q&A

CHAPTER 1.2: Nationalism in India

1. Name the writer of the novel Anandamath. 1 Mark

Ans: [Delhi 2017] Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay is the writer of the novel Anandamath.

2. Name the writer of the book 'Hind Swaraj'. 1 Mark

Ans: [All India 2017] Mahatma Gandhi is the writer of the book Hind Swaraj.

3. Who wrote the song 'Vande Mataram'? 1 Mark

Ans: [Foreign 2017] The song 'Vande Mataram' was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

4. State the slogan with which Simon Commission was greeted in 1928 in India. 1 Mark

Ans: [CBSE 2016] Simon Commission arrived in India and was greeted with the slogan 'Simon go back'.

5. Why did Gandhiji decide to launch a nationwide Satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act 1919? Explain any three reasons. 3 Marks

Ans: [All India 2010, 2014, Delhi 2015, 2017] Gandhiji decided to launch a nationwide Satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act, 1919 due to the following three reasons:

1. The Rowlatt Act was passed hurriedly by the Imperial Legislative Council despite the opposition by the Indian members.
2. The Rowlatt Act gave enormous power to the government for repressing the political activities.
3. According to this Act, the government can detain the political prisoners without trial for a period of two years.

6. Evaluate the contribution of folklore, songs, popular prints etc. in shaping the nationalism during freedom struggle. 3 Marks

Ans: [Delhi 2017]

1. Folklores, folk songs, prints, icons and symbols etc. helped in unifying the Indians and inspired a feeling of nationalism in them. The image of India was first visualized as Bharat Mata by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and also a hymn "Vande Mataram" was written by him in 1870s. This hymn was later included in his novel Anandamath and sung during the swadeshi movement in Bengal.
2. The image of Bharat Mata was portrayed as calm, composed, divine and spiritual which acquired different forms in different years by different artists. This image of India developed the ideas of nationalism in India.
3. The Indian folklores were revived and the folk tales were recorded and sung by bards which gave a true picture of the traditional Indian culture and tells how it was ruined by the Britishers.
4. Rabindranath Tagore led the movement for the revival of the folks and thus collected ballads, nursery rhymes and myths. Tamil folk tales were published by Natesa Shashtri in his book The folklore of southern India which was a massive four volume collection.
5. A tricolor swadeshi flag, using red, green and yellow was designed during the swadeshi movement in Bengal which had 8 lotuses for the representation of the 8 provinces and a crescent moon for symbolizing the Hindus and the Muslims.
6. A tricolor Swaraj flag was designed by Gandhiji in the year 1921 using the colours red, green and white. A spinning wheel was in the centre of the flag which represented the Gandhian ideal of self-help.

7. Why did Gandhiji decide to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922? Explain any three reasons. 3 Marks

Ans: [Delhi 2015, All India 2017] Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 due to the following three reasons:

1. The Non-Cooperation Movement was turning violent in many places.
2. To train the Satyagrahis for mass struggle.
3. Some of the Congress leaders were not willing to continue the non-cooperation because they were tired of the mass struggle, wanted to participate in the council elections and they wanted to criticize the British policies within the council.

55. Evaluate the role of business classes in the 'Civil Disobedience Movement'. 5 Marks

Ans: [All India 2017]

The Indian merchants and the industrialist became rich and powerful due to huge profits they made during the First World War. Thus they started opposing the colonial policies which restricted their business to expand. They had two demands — protection against the import of foreign goods and a favourable exchange ratio of rupee and sterling.

In the year 1920 and 1927, Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries were formed respectively by the Indian merchants and industrialist to organize their business interest. Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla were the prominent industrialist who supported the Civil Disobedience Movement, given financial assistance, refused to buy and sell the foreign goods and attacked the colonial control.

According to the merchants and the industrialists, the meaning of Swaraj was expansion of trade and business without restrictions by the colonial government. But they were disheartened due to the failure of the Round Table Conference.

56. How did Non-Cooperation Movement start with participation of middle class people in the cities? Explain its impact on the economic front. 5 Marks

Ans: [Delhi 2018]

1. In January 1921, the non-cooperation Khilafat movement was started in which different social groups participated with different aspirations from the Swaraj. This movement was started with the middle class people of the towns and cities. The students left the schools and colleges, the teachers and headmasters resigned and the lawyers gave up their practices.
2. The council elections were also boycotted except in Madras. The Justice Party which was a party of the non-Brahmins in Madras felt that power can be acquired only through the council elections.
3. The economic effects of the Non-Cooperation Movement — foreign goods boycotted, liquor shops picketed, foreign clothes were burnt, import of the foreign clothes reduced by half, the value of import dropped, merchants and traders refused the trade of foreign goods, production of Indian mills and handloom rose.

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