Gandhian Era & Mass Movements
Gandhian Era & Mass Movements
Mahatma Gandhi transformed the Indian freedom struggle from an elite political movement into a mass revolution. His philosophy of Satyagraha (truth-force), Ahimsa (non-violence), and Swaraj (self-rule) provided a unique framework for resistance. Through movements like Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience, and Quit India, Gandhi mobilized millions of ordinary Indians — peasants, women, workers, and students — against British colonial rule.
Key Dates
Gandhi in South Africa — developed the concept of Satyagraha; fought against racial discrimination; led the Indian community's struggle against the Asiatic Registration Act and poll tax
Gandhi returned to India on 9 January 1915 (observed as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas); founded Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad; spent a year travelling across India on Gokhale's advice
Champaran Satyagraha (Bihar) — Gandhi's first civil disobedience in India against the tinkathia system of indigo cultivation
Kheda Satyagraha (Gujarat) — peasants' struggle for revenue remission during famine; Ahmedabad Mill Strike — first use of hunger strike in India
Rowlatt Satyagraha — Gandhi's first all-India political movement against the 'Black Act' (Rowlatt Act); Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919)
Non-Cooperation Movement — first mass movement under Gandhi; suspended after Chauri Chaura incident (5 February 1922)
Bardoli Satyagraha (Gujarat) — successful peasant movement led by Sardar Patel against enhanced land revenue; Patel earned the title 'Sardar' from the women of Bardoli
Civil Disobedience Movement — began with the Dandi March (12 March - 6 April 1930); salt law violation as symbol of defiance
Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931) — CDM suspended; Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference as the sole Congress representative
Communal Award by PM Ramsay MacDonald; Gandhi's fast unto death in Yerwada Jail; Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar — reserved seats replace separate electorates for Dalits
Quit India Movement (8 August 1942) — 'Do or Die' call; the most militant mass movement; entire Congress leadership arrested
Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (February 1946) — naval ratings in Bombay mutinied; Gandhi and Congress leaders opposed the violent mutiny, preferring non-violent methods
Mahatma Gandhi assassinated on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse at Birla House, New Delhi; his last words were reportedly 'He Ram'
Gandhi in South Africa (1893-1914)
Gandhi went to South Africa in 1893 as a lawyer for a Muslim merchant firm. His experience of racial discrimination (thrown off a first-class train at Pietermaritzburg) radicalized him. He organized the Indian community against discriminatory laws: the Natal Indian Congress (1894), the Tolstoy Farm commune (1910), and passive resistance campaigns against the Asiatic Registration Act (Black Act, 1907) and the poll tax on indentured laborers. He founded the newspaper 'Indian Opinion' (1903) and developed the philosophy of Satyagraha — 'truth-force' or 'soul-force,' distinct from passive resistance. His major influences during this period: Leo Tolstoy ('The Kingdom of God is Within You'), John Ruskin ('Unto This Last' — which he translated into Gujarati as 'Sarvodaya'), Henry David Thoreau ('Civil Disobedience'), the Bhagavad Gita, and the Sermon on the Mount. The Smuts-Gandhi Agreement (1914) partially addressed Indian grievances. Gandhi left South Africa in 1914, having transformed from a timid lawyer into a confident political leader.
Early Satyagrahas in India (1917-18)
Champaran Satyagraha (1917): Gandhi's first civil disobedience in India. Indigo cultivators in Champaran (Bihar) were forced under the tinkathia system to grow indigo on 3/20th of their land and sell it at prices fixed by European planters. Gandhi investigated conditions, defied the government's order to leave, and the government appointed an inquiry committee. The tinkathia system was abolished. Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul Haq, and J.B. Kripalani joined Gandhi here. Kheda Satyagraha (1918): Peasants in Kheda (Gujarat) demanded revenue remission after crop failure. The British initially refused. Gandhi organized a no-revenue campaign. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel emerged as a leader here. The government eventually instructed revenue officials to accept payments from those who could afford it. Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918): Gandhi intervened in a dispute between textile workers and mill owners over the withdrawal of a plague bonus. He used his first hunger strike (fast), leading to a settlement with a 35% wage increase. Anasuya Sarabhai (sister of mill owner Ambalal Sarabhai) supported the workers. These three campaigns established Gandhi's credentials and methods before he entered the national stage.
Rowlatt Satyagraha & Jallianwala Bagh (1919)
The Rowlatt Act (March 1919), based on the recommendations of Justice Sidney Rowlatt, allowed detention of political suspects without trial and trials without juries — Gandhi called it a 'Black Act.' He launched the Rowlatt Satyagraha, his first all-India political agitation, with a hartal (strike) on 6 April 1919. In Amritsar, Punjab, on 13 April 1919 (Baisakhi day), General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire on an unarmed crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh (a walled enclosure with limited exits), killing an officially estimated 379 people (Indian estimates: over 1,000) and wounding over 1,200. Dyer imposed crawling orders in certain streets and carried out public floggings. The Hunter Committee (1919-20) was appointed to investigate — it censured Dyer but took no serious action. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest. Udham Singh later assassinated Michael O'Dwyer (the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab who supported Dyer) in London in 1940. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre fundamentally changed India's relationship with British rule and turned Gandhi from a loyalist into a determined opponent of the Raj.
Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22)
Launched in August 1920, this was the first mass movement under Gandhi's leadership. Causes: anger over the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and the Rowlatt Act, the Khilafat issue (abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate by Turkey), and Hunter Committee's inadequate response. Programme: surrender of titles and honorary offices; boycott of legislatures, courts, schools, and colleges; boycott of foreign goods; promotion of Khadi and Swadeshi; national schools and panchayat courts. The Khilafat Movement (led by Ali Brothers — Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad, and Hakim Ajmal Khan) was merged with NCM, achieving Hindu-Muslim unity. Response was massive: thousands returned titles, lawyers like Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, and C. Rajagopalachari gave up practice; national institutions like Jamia Millia Islamia (1920), Gujarat Vidyapith, Kashi Vidyapith, and Bihar Vidyapith were established. Tilak Swaraj Fund collected over Rs 1 crore. The Moplah/Mappila Rebellion (1921) in Malabar (Kerala) began as part of the Khilafat-NCM but turned communal and violent. Gandhi abruptly suspended the movement on 12 February 1922 after the Chauri Chaura incident (5 February 1922), where a mob of peasants set fire to a police station in Gorakhpur (UP), killing 22 policemen. Gandhi was arrested and sentenced to 6 years (released in 1924).
Post-NCM Developments (1922-29)
The withdrawal of NCM caused disillusionment. Two factions emerged: Pro-changers (C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru) wanted to enter legislatures to wreck them from within — they formed the Swaraj Party (January 1923) and won elections to the Central Legislative Assembly and provincial councils, practicing 'responsive cooperation' and obstructionism. No-changers (Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhbhai Patel) followed Gandhi's constructive program of Khadi, village industries, removal of untouchability, and Hindu-Muslim unity. The Swaraj Party declined after the deaths of C.R. Das (1925). Communal tensions rose — the Kohat riots (1924) and others widened the Hindu-Muslim divide. The Simon Commission (1927-28, all-British, no Indian members) was boycotted ('Simon Go Back'); Lala Lajpat Rai died after being beaten during a Simon Commission protest in Lahore (November 1928). The Nehru Report (1928, chaired by Motilal Nehru) demanded dominion status — young radicals including Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru demanded Purna Swaraj (complete independence). The Lahore Congress Session (December 1929) under Jawaharlal Nehru declared Purna Swaraj and 26 January 1930 was celebrated as 'Independence Day' — the date later chosen for Republic Day.
Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)
The CDM began with the iconic Dandi March (Salt March) on 12 March 1930. Gandhi and 78 followers marched 241 miles from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi on the Gujarat coast, arriving on 6 April 1930 to break the salt law by making salt from seawater. The salt law was chosen as a symbol because it affected every Indian regardless of caste, religion, or economic status. The movement spread nationwide: C. Rajagopalachari led a similar march in Tamil Nadu (Vedaranyam March); Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ('Frontier Gandhi') organized the Khudai Khidmatgar (Red Shirts) in the NWFP — the Peshawar massacre (April 1930) saw British troops fire on unarmed protesters; Nagaland saw participation under Rani Gaidinliu (the 'Rani of the Nagas,' a 13-year-old girl who led an armed uprising — Nehru gave her this title). Women participated in large numbers for the first time — Sarojini Naidu led the raid on the Dharasana Salt Works (21 May 1930), witnessed by American journalist Webb Miller, whose reports shocked the world. Surya Sen led the Chittagong Armoury Raid (April 1930) as a revolutionary parallel to CDM. The movement was suspended after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931), relaunched in January 1932 after the failure of the Second RTC, and formally withdrawn in April 1934.
Round Table Conferences & Communal Award
Three Round Table Conferences were held in London: First RTC (November 1930 - January 1931) — boycotted by the Congress; attended by the Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha, Liberals, Princely States, and Dalits (represented by B.R. Ambedkar). Second RTC (September-December 1931) — Gandhi attended as the sole Congress representative after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact but failed to reach an agreement on communal representation; the deadlock over minority representation ended the conference inconclusively. Third RTC (November-December 1932) — boycotted by Congress and most Indian parties; largely insignificant; led to the Government of India Act 1935. The Communal Award (August 1932, by PM Ramsay MacDonald) provided separate electorates for depressed classes (Dalits), which Gandhi opposed as it would permanently divide Hindu society. Gandhi undertook a fast unto death in Yerwada Jail (Poona, 20 September 1932). The Poona Pact (24 September 1932) between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar replaced separate electorates with reserved seats within the general electorate for depressed classes, with a significantly increased number of reserved seats (from 71 to 148 in provincial legislatures). Ambedkar felt pressured into the agreement and later criticized it.
Quit India Movement (1942)
The Quit India Movement was launched on 8 August 1942 at the Bombay session of the AICC (Gowalia Tank Maidan, now August Kranti Maidan). Gandhi gave the call 'Do or Die' (Karo ya Maro). The resolution was drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru and moved by Nehru. Causes: failure of the Cripps Mission (March 1942, which offered dominion status after the war but with an opt-out clause for provinces that was unacceptable to Congress), the threat of Japanese invasion advancing through Burma, and rising war-time hardships including food shortages. The British responded with 'Operation Zero Hour' — arresting the entire top Congress leadership (Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad, J.B. Kripalani, etc.) within hours of the resolution being passed. Gandhi was detained at the Aga Khan Palace, Pune, where his wife Kasturba Gandhi and his secretary Mahadev Desai died during detention. Without leadership, the movement became spontaneous and violent — post offices, police stations, railway lines, and telegraph wires were attacked; parallel governments (Prati Sarkar) were established in Satara (Maharashtra, led by Nana Patil), Midnapore (Bengal, Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar), and Ballia (UP). Underground leaders: Jayaprakash Narayan (escaped from Hazaribagh Jail), Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali (hoisted the flag at Gowalia Tank), Usha Mehta (ran an underground Congress Radio at secret locations in Bombay). The movement was brutally suppressed by 1944 (over 10,000 killed, 60,000 arrested), but it made clear that India could not be governed without Indian consent.
Gandhi's Philosophy & Key Concepts
Gandhi's political philosophy rested on key principles: (1) Satyagraha — 'truth-force' or 'soul-force'; not passive resistance but active non-violent resistance to injustice; the Satyagrahi seeks to convert the oppressor, not to defeat him; (2) Ahimsa — non-violence as both a moral principle and a political strategy; extends to thought, word, and deed; (3) Swaraj — self-rule, meaning not just political independence but individual self-discipline and village self-sufficiency; (4) Sarvodaya — welfare of all, inspired by Ruskin's 'Unto This Last'; the antithesis of utilitarianism (greatest good of the greatest number); (5) Swadeshi — use of locally made goods, symbolized by the Charkha (spinning wheel); economic self-reliance; (6) Trusteeship — the rich should consider themselves trustees of their wealth for the good of society; not against private property but against exploitation; (7) Basic Education (Nai Talim/Wardha Scheme, 1937) — craft-centered, mother-tongue education emphasizing learning by doing. His key publications: 'Hind Swaraj' (1909 — critique of Western civilization), 'Young India' (weekly journal, 1919-32), 'Harijan' (weekly, 1933-48), and his autobiography 'My Experiments with Truth' (1927, originally in Gujarati as 'Satya na Prayogo').
Gandhi & Social Reform
Gandhi's social reform agenda was integral to his political vision. He launched campaigns against untouchability — he called Dalits 'Harijans' (children of God, a term Ambedkar rejected), established the Harijan Sevak Sangh (1932), and opened temples to Dalits (the Vaikom Satyagraha in Kerala, 1924-25, for temple entry, though led by local leaders T.K. Madhavan and K. Kelappan). He promoted Hindu-Muslim unity through personal example, fasting, and political alliances (Khilafat-NCM partnership). He championed women's participation in the freedom movement — the CDM saw women in unprecedented numbers. The constructive programme included: Khadi and village industries (Charkha became the Congress symbol in 1931), removal of untouchability, prohibition of alcohol, basic education, sanitation, communal harmony, uplift of tribal communities (Adivasis), and economic equality. Gandhi's ashrams (Sabarmati in Ahmedabad, Sevagram near Wardha) were models of communal living that rejected caste distinctions. His views on caste evolved — he initially defended varnashrama dharma (social division based on occupation, not birth) but increasingly opposed all caste distinctions. However, Ambedkar and Periyar criticized his social conservatism as insufficient.
Gandhi & the Congress Organization
Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress from an elite debating society into a mass organization. At the Nagpur Session (1920), he reorganized the Congress on a linguistic basis — Provincial Congress Committees were formed along linguistic lines, with district and taluka committees extending the organization to the grassroots. He reduced the Congress membership fee from Rs 4 to 4 annas (quarter rupee), enabling poor peasants and workers to join. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the Congress Working Committee (CWC, the 'High Command') became effective decision-making bodies. Gandhi served as Congress President only once (Belgaum, 1924) but controlled the organization through his moral authority and the loyalty of key leaders (Nehru, Patel, Azad, Rajagopalachari). He was not without challengers: Subhas Chandra Bose won the Congress presidency at Tripuri (1939) against Gandhi's candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya, but Gandhi said 'Pattabhi's defeat is my defeat,' and Bose resigned when the CWC refused to cooperate. Gandhi's strategic decisions — when to launch movements, when to suspend them, whom to negotiate with — defined the freedom struggle's trajectory.
The Constructive Programme
Gandhi's 'Constructive Programme' (1941, revised 1945) was his blueprint for building a new India from the bottom up, complementing the political movements. It included 18 items: communal unity, removal of untouchability, prohibition, Khadi and village industries, village sanitation, new/basic education (Nai Talim), adult education, women's uplift, education in health and hygiene, propagation of Hindi as the national language, love of one's own language, working for economic equality, uplift of kisans (farmers), uplift of labour, uplift of Adivasis, care of lepers, uplift of students, and knowledge and use of nature cure. The Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (1937, also called Nai Talim) proposed: seven years of free, compulsory education in the mother tongue, centered on a productive craft (spinning, carpentry, agriculture), with other subjects taught through the craft. The Zakir Husain Committee elaborated the scheme. During the 1930s-40s, many Congress workers focused on the constructive programme in villages — this built the organizational base that made mass movements possible. The Khadi movement, institutionalized through the All India Spinners' Association (AISA, 1925) and later the All India Village Industries Association (AIVIA, 1935), provided rural employment and became a symbol of national self-reliance.
Bardoli Satyagraha & Peasant Movements
The Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) was a landmark peasant movement in Gujarat. The colonial government increased land revenue in Bardoli taluka (Surat district) by 22%, despite poor harvests and falling agricultural prices. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel organized the peasants for a no-revenue campaign — they refused to pay the enhanced tax, withstood government threats, auctions, and confiscation of property. After months of resistance, the government appointed a committee (Broomfield-Maxwell Committee) which recommended a reduced enhancement of only 6.03%. The women of Bardoli gave Patel the title 'Sardar' (leader) for his leadership. This satyagraha demonstrated that non-violent resistance could work in agrarian contexts and established Patel's reputation as a mass organizer. Other peasant movements connected to the Gandhian framework: the Tebhaga Movement (1946, Bengal — sharecroppers demanded two-thirds of the harvest), the Telangana Movement (1946-51, Hyderabad — armed peasant revolt against the Nizam's oppressive land system), and the Eka Movement (1921-22, UP — peasants protested against rent and revenue demands).
Subhas Chandra Bose & the INA
Subhas Chandra Bose represented the militant nationalist alternative to Gandhi's non-violence. He served as Congress President (Haripura 1938, Tripuri 1939) and formed the Forward Bloc (1939) after resigning from Congress. He escaped British house arrest in Calcutta (1941) and travelled via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union to Nazi Germany, then by submarine to Japan (1943). In Southeast Asia, he reorganized the Indian National Army (INA, originally formed by Captain Mohan Singh in 1942 from Indian POWs captured by Japan) and established the Azad Hind (Free India) provisional government in Singapore (21 October 1943). The INA fought alongside the Japanese in the Imphal-Kohima campaign (1944) but was defeated by the British. The INA trials at the Red Fort (1945-46) — where INA officers Shah Nawaz Khan, P.K. Sahgal, and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon were tried for treason — created a nationwide uproar. The Defence Committee included Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, and Tej Bahadur Sapru. The INA trials, along with the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (February 1946, Bombay), demonstrated that the British could no longer rely on the loyalty of their Indian military forces.
Gandhi's Role in Partition & Final Days
Gandhi opposed the partition of India until the very end, calling it the 'vivisection of the motherland.' He suggested that Jinnah be offered the Prime Ministership of a united India — a proposal rejected by Nehru and Patel. When the Cabinet Mission Plan failed and communal violence escalated after Direct Action Day (16 August 1946, Great Calcutta Killings), Gandhi walked barefoot through the riot-torn villages of Noakhali (East Bengal, October 1946 - March 1947) to restore communal peace — his 'greatest experiment' in non-violence. During the Partition violence (August 1947), when Punjab and Bengal burned, Gandhi's presence in Calcutta — staying at Hydari Mansion with Shaheed Suhrawardy (former Muslim League Premier of Bengal) — was credited with preventing large-scale violence in the city. Lord Mountbatten called it a 'one-man boundary force.' Gandhi then went to Delhi, where he undertook a fast unto death (January 1948) to stop anti-Muslim violence and to pressure the Indian government to release Rs 55 crore owed to Pakistan. The fast succeeded but angered Hindu extremists. On 30 January 1948, Nathuram Godse, a member of the Hindu Mahasabha, assassinated Gandhi at Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), New Delhi, during his evening prayer meeting. His last words were reportedly 'He Ram.'
Legacy & Historical Assessment
Gandhi's legacy is both celebrated and debated. His achievements: transforming the freedom struggle into a mass movement involving millions of ordinary Indians; developing Satyagraha as a viable political tool that influenced later movements worldwide (Martin Luther King Jr.'s Civil Rights Movement, Nelson Mandela's anti-apartheid struggle, Aung San Suu Kyi's democratic movement in Myanmar); insisting on the moral dimension of politics; championing religious pluralism and Hindu-Muslim unity. Criticisms: his stance on caste reform was considered too gradual by Ambedkar and Periyar; his term 'Harijan' was rejected by Dalits as patronizing; his withdrawal of movements (Chauri Chaura, CDM) disappointed radical nationalists; his views on women's roles were seen as patriarchal by some; his early writings (in South Africa) contained racially insensitive remarks about Black Africans. The UN declared 2 October (Gandhi's birthday) as the International Day of Non-Violence in 2007. Einstein said of Gandhi: 'Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.' Gandhi's ashrams, writings, and methods remain relevant to contemporary struggles for justice and human rights worldwide.
Key Legislation & Context
Several legislative acts formed the backdrop to Gandhian movements. The Rowlatt Act (1919): allowed detention without trial, trials without juries for political cases — triggered Gandhi's first all-India movement. The Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms): introduced Dyarchy in provinces (transferred subjects under Indian ministers, reserved subjects under British control) — Gandhi rejected it as inadequate. The Government of India Act 1935: provincial autonomy, federal structure (never implemented due to princely states' refusal), separate electorates continued, franchise expanded — Congress swept the 1937 provincial elections, winning in 7 of 11 provinces. Congress ministries (1937-39) implemented significant reforms including the Wardha Education Scheme, prohibition, debt relief for peasants, and limited land reforms before resigning in 1939 over the Viceroy's declaration of war without consulting Indian leaders. The August Offer (1940, by Linlithgow): offered dominion status after the war and Indian participation in the War Advisory Council — rejected by Congress. The Cripps Mission (1942): offered dominion status with an opt-out clause for provinces — rejected by both Congress (Gandhi called it 'a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank') and the Muslim League.
Relevant Exams
Gandhian movements are the most extensively tested area of Modern Indian History across all exams. UPSC Prelims asks about the chronology of movements, specific features of each (e.g., why salt law was chosen for CDM), the Poona Pact, Gandhi's philosophy, and the Bardoli Satyagraha. SSC and RRB exams test factual recall — Chauri Chaura date, Dandi March distance, QIM resolution venue. CDS exams ask about the military and organizational aspects. Matching movements with their causes, features, and outcomes is a perennial question format.