CH-9

CLASS-8
THE MAKING OF THE NATIONAL
MOVEMENT:1870s-1947
IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGIES

Sarvajanik: All the people.

Sovereign: Being independent without outside

interference.

Publicist: Someone who publicises an idea by

circulating information, writing reports, speaking at
public meetings.

Moderate: A person who is against taking extreme

action.

Radical: A person who welcomes new ideas or

opinions.

Revolutionary Violence: The use of violence to make a

radical change within society.
Knighthood: An honour granted by the British crown
for exceptional personal achievement or public
service.

Picket: A person or a group of people protesting

outside a building or shop to prevent others from
entering.

Mahants: Religious functionaries of Sikh gurdwaras.

Illegal eviction: Forcible and unlawful throwing out of

tenants from the land they rent.

Purna Swaraj: Complete independence.

Provincial Autonomy: Capacity of the provinces to

make relatively independent decisions while
remaining within a federation.

General Constituencies: Election districts with no

reservations for any religious or other community.

Refugee: One who has been forced to leave his

country or home due to some political, religious or
social reasons.

TIME LINE

1878 – The Arms Act was passed.

1878 – The Vernacular Press Act was passed.

1883-The Ilbert Bill was introduced.

1885- The Indian National Congress was founded.

1905 – Viceroy Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal.

1906- The All- India Muslim League was established.

1915 – Mahatma Gandhi came to India from South

Africa.

1919 – Rowlatt Satyagraha started. The Jallianwala

Bagh massacre took place.

1920 – Khilafat Movement started.

1921-22 -The Non-Cooperation Movement gained

momentum.

1922 – Gandhiji called off the Non-Cooperation

Movement.

1929 – The Congress resolved to fight for Puma

Swaraj.

26 Jan 1930 – Independence Day was observed all

over the country.
1930 – Mahatma Gandhi launched Dandi March(Salt
March).

August 1942 – The Quit India Movement started.

1947 – India got independence. Pakistan emerged as a

new country.

1. Why were people dissatisfied with British rule in

the 1870s and 1880s?
AnswerThe dissatisfaction against British rule
was intensified in the 1870s and 1880s.
(a) The Arms Act was passed in 1878, which
disallowed Indians from having arms.
(b) Same year the Vernacular Press Act was also
enacted to silence the critics of the government.
•The Act allowed the government to confiscate
the assets of newspapers including their printing
presses if the newspapers published anything
“objectionable”.
(c ) In 1883, there was a furore over the attempt
by the government to introduce the Ilbert Bill.
•The bill provided for the trial of British or
European persons by Indians, and sought
equality between British and Indian judges in the
country.
•But the British (white) forced the government to
withdraw the bill.

2. Who did the Indian National Congress wish to

speak for?
Answer.
The Congress was composed of the representatives,
not of any one class or community of India, but of all
the different communities of India. Hence, the party
wished to speak for the masses in the fight for
freedom.
3. What economic impact did the First World War
have on India?
Answer.
a) The First World War altered the economic and
political situation in India.
b)It led to a huge rise in the defence expenditure of
the Government of India.
c) The government, in turn, increased taxes on
individual incomes and business profits.
d)Increased military expenditure and the demands
for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices,
which created great difficulties for the common
people.
 e) On the other hand, business groups reaped
fabulous profits from the war.
f) The first world war caused a decline in imports
from other countries into India.
4. What did the Muslim League resolution of 1940 ask
for?
Answer.
In 1940 the Muslim League had moved a resolution
demanding “Independent States” for Muslims in the
north-western and eastern areas of the country. The
resolution did not mention partition or Pakistan.
5. Who were the Moderates? How did they propose
to struggle against British rule?
Answer.
a) The Moderate leaders wanted to develop public
awareness about the unjust nature of British rule.
b)They published newspapers, wrote articles and
showed how British rule was leading to the
economic ruin of the country.
c) They criticised British rule in their speeches and
sent representatives to different parts of the
country to mobilise public support.
d) They felt that the British had respect for the
ideals of freedom and justice and so would accept
the just demands of Indians.
 e) What was necessary, therefore, was to express
these demands and make the government aware
of the feelings of Indians.
6. How was the politics of the Radicals within the
Congress different from that of the Moderates?
Answer.
a) In the fight for swaraj, the radicals advocated
mass mobilisation and boycott of British
institutions and goods.
b)Some individuals also began to suggest that
“revolutionary violence” would be necessary to
overthrow British rule.
c) Moderates, on the other hand, wanted to follow
the rules, the laws and the order posed by the
British.
d)They followed the ‘practise of prayers’ which the
radicals totally opposed.
7. Discuss the various forms that the Non-Cooperation
Movement took in different parts of India. How did
people understand Gandhiji?
Answer.
Different places in the country showed different
reactions, given below:
a. At Kheda in Gujarat, Patidar peasants organised
nonviolent campaigns against the high land revenue
demand of the British.
b. In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor
shops were picketed.
c. In the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and
poor peasants staged a number of “forest
satyagraha”, sometimes sending their cattle into
forests without paying grazing fee.
d. In Sind (now in Pakistan), Muslim traders and
peasants were very enthusiastic about the Khilafat
call.
e. In Bengal too, the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation
alliance gave enormous communal unity and strength
to the national movement.
f. In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikhs sought to
remove corrupt mahants – supported by the British –
from their gurdwaras.
People thought of Gandhiji as a kind of messiah, as
someone who could help them overcome their misery
and poverty. Gandhiji wished to build class unity and
not class conflict. Yet, peasants could imagine that he
would help them in their fight against zamindars, and
agricultural labourers believed he would provide them
with the land. At times, ordinary people credited
Gandhiji with their own achievement.
8. Why did Gandhiji choose to break the salt law?
Answer.
The Salt March related the general desire of freedom
to a specific grievance shared by everybody and thus
did not divide the rich and the poor. Hence, in 1930,
Gandhiji declared that he would lead a march to break
the salt law.

9. Discuss those developments of the 1937-47 period

that led to the creation of Pakistan.
Answer.
The developments of 1937-47, which led to the
creation of Pakistan, are given below:
a. A two-nation theory – Initially the Muslim league
never mentioned Pakistan to be the nation of Muslims
however; since the 1930s, it started demanding a
separate country for Muslims.
b. Provincial elections of 1937 – The elections were a
decisive factor for Muslim league to decide that
Muslims are a minority in India and they have to have
a separate nation for them for their just
representation in the politics.
c. Rift between congress and Muslim league – When
congress rejected the Muslim league’s offer for a joint
congress-league government in united provinces, the
league decided to part ways forever.
d. Failed talks – No discussion could turn out to be
successful, where both Congress and Muslim league
could come to a conclusion of a single nation. British
too, at the end of 2nd world war, opened negotiation
talks with both congress and the league. However, it
turned futile.
e. Provincial elections of 1946 – Muslim league’s
spectacular victory on the seats reserved for Muslims
gave them the confidence to create a separate nation.
f. Mass agitation – The failure of cabinet mission of
1946 led to the mass agitation led by the Muslim
league.
g. Partition was finalised and Pakistan was born.

OUR WORLD THEN AND NOW

1. What were the demands made by Muhammad Ali
Jinnah after the Congress victory in the 1937
elections? What was the result?
Ans-
(a) Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted the Congress
to form coalition governments with the Muslim
League in all the provinces.
(b) He also wanted the Congress to recognise the
League as the only representative body of all
Muslims in India.
c) The Congress rejected these demands . The
League refused to cooperate with the Congress
henceforth, and Jinnah gradually became a
supporter of the two-nation theory.