Important Indian national movements 1885-1947 (Part-1): Explore short notes on the Indian national movement and key figures.
Table of Contents
Important Indian National Movements 1885 to 1947| Short notes on Indian National Movement
Indian National Congress (1885)
The Indian National Congress was founded on 28 December 1885 by Ellen Octavian Hume, other founding members include Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Wacha.
The first session was held in Bombay in 1885 under he chairmanship of Vomesh Chandra Banarjee.
Annie Besant was the first woman president of the Indian National Congress.
Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman president of Indian National Congress
Partition of Bengal (1905)
On July 19, 1905, Lord Curzon
On July 19, 1905 Lord corzin the then viceroy of India announced the partition of Bengal and it was implemented on October 16, 1905.
After partition, Bengal was divided into West Bengal and East Bengal.
On December 12,1911 Lord Hardinge reunited Bengal.
All India Muslim League (1906)
The All India Muslim League (AIML) was founded on December 30 1906 in Dhaka Bangladesh.
The league was founded at a conference under the control of Salim Ullah Khan the Nawab of Dhaka.
The constitution of this league was created in Karachi Pakistan in 1907.
Its first session was held in 1908 in Amritsar Punjab. The first session of the All India Muslim League was presided over by Aga Khan
Split of Congress 1907
The Surat session of 1907 was popularly known as the Surat partition as the Congress split into two groups. That is Moderates and Extremists.
It was headed by moderate party leader Rashbehari Ghosh.
The most prominent leaders of the Extremists were Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal, collectively known as Lal-Bal-Pal trio
Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Madan Mohan Malviya were moderate leaders.
Khudiram Bose hanged (1908)
On April 30, 1908, Khudiram Bose threw a bomb at a vehicle in Muzaffarpur, killing Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford.
This case is also known as the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy Case (1908). Khudiram Bose was sent to Muzzaffarpur jail on charge of conspiring to kill Muzzaffarpur’s Chief Presidency Dandanayak D. H. Kingsford.
He was sentenced to death on July 13, 1908 and hanged to death on August 11, 1908 at the age of 18.
Ghadar Party (1913)
The Ghadar Party was founded by Lala Hardayal on 15 July 1913 in San Francisco (California).
To rid India of revolutionary movements, they used their newspaper Ghadar to spread anti-British and anti-allied propaganda. Notable figures involved included Pandit Kanshi Ram Maroli, Lala Har Dayal, Mohammed Barkatullah, Bhagwan Singh, Taraknath Das, Bhai Parmanand, and Harnam Singh ‘Tundilat’.
Gandhiji’s arrival in India (1915)
On 9 January 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa
Therefore, 9 January is celebrated every year as Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.
At that time he was 45 years, 3 months and 7 days old. Gandhiji went to South Africa in 1893 at the age of 24.
Home Rule Movement
It was movement started to give self-government to India.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak founded the first Home Rule League at the Bombay Provincial Conference in Belgaum in 1916.
The motto of the Home rule Movement was ‘Self-Government for India’.
The term ‘Home Rule’ was adopted from Ireland.
Champaran Movement (1917)
The first Satyagraha movement led by Mahatma Gandhi was the Champaran Satyagraha.
It was started in 1917 in Champaran district of Bihar.
The Champaran Satyagraha was implemented because the peasants were forced to grow indigo in a part of their land. This created a lot of resentment among the farmers. European planters were forcing farmers to grow indigo on 3/20 of the total land (called the Tinkathia system).
Ahmedabad Mill workers Agitation (1918)
Mahatma Gandhi organized the Satyagraha movement among the cotton mill worker in Ahmedabad in the year 1918.
The cotton mill workers demanded a 50% wage increase, but the mill owners were willing to give only a 20% wage increase, Gandhiji went on a hunger strike to support the cotton mill workers.
The result of the satyagraha was that the strike was successful, and the workers received a 35% wage increase.
Kह eda Movement (1918)
The Kheda Satyagraha was an important movement launched in Kheda district of Gujarat, India on March 11, 1918, against the oppressive policies of the British government regarding the payment of land revenue.
The main demand of this movement was to relax revenue collection. The farmers had refused to give revenue to the government.
The people of Kheda were unable to pay the high taxes imposed by the British due to crop failure and plague epidemics.
Kheda led the peasant movement under the leadership of Gandhiji and Vallabh Bhai Patel.
The Rowlatt Act
The Rowlatt Act was passed on February 6, 1919. Under this act, the government was empowered to put any suspect in jail without trial and sentence.
Mahatma Gandhi called it the ‘Black Act’, this act was passed during the tenure of Lord Chelmsford.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919)
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on April 13, 1919.
On the day of Baisakhi, the British army opened fire on unarmed Indians at Jallianwala Bagh, resulting in the deaths of hundreds there.
The reason behind this incident was the arrest of Indian pro-independence leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal.
Punjab’s Lieutenant Governor Michael O’Dwyer was held directly responsible for this massacre.
After this massacre, Mahatma Gandhi returned the title of Kaiser-e-Hind.
After this massacre, Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood honor.
Khilafat Movement (1919-1922)
The Khilafat movement lasted from 1919-1922. It was an anti- British movement. This movement was started by Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali.
The movement was aimed at pressuring the British government to maintain the authority of the Ottoman Sultan as the Caliph of Islam after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after the war. Through this movement, an attempt was made to unify the Muslim community.
Non- Cooperation Movement
The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched on 1st August 1920, later withdrawn due to the Chauri Chaura incident in February, 1922.
The leader of the Non-Cooperation Movement was Mahatma Gandhi.
Non-Cooperation Movement was adopted in the Nagpur session of Congress in 1920.
During the Non-Cooperation Movement, C. R. Das was the first to be arrested.
Before starting the Non-Cooperation Movement, Gandhiji returned the Kaiser-e-Hind Award.
Chauri Chaura
Mahatma Gandhi called off the Non-Cooperation Movement on February 12, 1922 due to the Chauri Chaura incident.
The incident took place on February 4, 1922 at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh.
In the incident, a mob of farmers participating in the non-cooperation movement clashed with the police and set a police station on fire. In this incident, 22 policemen and 3 civilians were killed.
Swaraj Party (1923)
Swaraj Party was formed after the failure of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
On January 1, 1923, Chittaranjan Das along with Motilal Nehru formed the “Swaraj Party” and became its leader in the Bengal Legislative Assembly.
Swaraj Party demanded to make a constitution for India.
The first session of Swaraj Party was held in Allahabad.
In 1924, Mahatma Gandhi presided over the Belgaum session of the India national Congress. The Belgaum session was the only Congress session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.
Siman Commission (1928)
The Siman Commision was appointed by the British Government in 1927 to review the Government of India Act 1919.
This commission came to India in the year 1928.It was formed to study constitutional reforms and give recommendations to the Government of India.
This commission is popularly known as the Simon Commission after the chairmanship of Sir John Simon.
It was a white commission as there were no Indian members. There were seven British MPs in this commission. The Simon Commission sent by the British Government was boycotted, as no Indian was included in this commission.
This commission published its two-volume report in May 1930.
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Some important questions
In the context of the year 1857 who was betrayed by his friend and was killed by the British as a prisoner?
Ans: Tatya Tope
(Fact: Tatya Tope was betrayed by Raja Man Singh of Narwar.)
Who was the founder of ‘Bharat Sevak Samaj’?
Ans: Gopal krishna Gokhale
(Fact: Bharat Sevak Samaj or The Servants of India Society was formed by Gopal Krishna Gokhale on June 12, 1905 in Pune, Maharashtra.
The purpose of the society was to find and developed pathways of voluntary service for the citizens of India.)
When was the Congress organization divided into liberal and extremist groups?
Ans: 1907
(Facts: The Surat Partition is also known as the annual session of the Congress held at Surat in 1907. The Surat session created two branches of revolutionaries within the Congress called ‘Moderates‘ and ‘extremists‘.)
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Who is the author of the book ‘Young India’?
Ans: Lala Lajpat Rai
(Facts: The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was a compromise between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League.
The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was signed between Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Ambikacharan Majumdar presided over the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in 1916.)
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Who founded the London Indian Society and the East India Association?
Ans: Dadabhai Naoroji
(Facts: In 1865, the London Indian Society was founded under the guidance of Dadabhai Naoroji. It was formed as a forum by Indian students to express political grievances
The East India Association was founded by Dadabhai Naoroji on October 1, 1866. The purpose of this association was to promote public interests and the welfare of Indians.)
