CODE: ICSE-VIB-VIII Hybrid-Notes 2022-2023

Teacher: Chanchal Modi Subject: HISTORY Date:13-01-2023

Topic: The Indian National Movement (1885-1916)

Q.1 State the phases of Indian National Movement.

- The history of the Indian national movement led by the Congress can be divided broadly into three phases:

◆ Early nationalist phase: 1885-1905 ◆ Assertive nationalist phase: 1905-18 ◆ Gandhian phase: 1918-47

Q.2 Who were THE EARLY NATIONALISTS (THE MODERATES) (1885-1905)?

• During its initial years, the Congress was led by leaders who were described by later historians as early
nationalists.
• The members of the Congress during the early nationalist phase belonged mainly to the educated middle-class
intellectual community (lawyers, teachers, journalists, officials, professionals, industrialists and others).
• The important leaders during this period were Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee and Gopal Krishna
Gokhale.

Q.3 What were the beliefs of EARLY NATIONALISTS?

• The early nationalists believed that British rule was a blessing because it had conferred several benefits on
India.
• They felt that at that stage of history, it was in their own interests to remain under the British since they were not
yet ready to govern themselves.
• The early nationalists were convinced that the British could be persuaded to introduce necessary reforms and
the government could be transformed to suit the interests of the Indian subjects.
• They had great faith in the British sense of justice and fair play.

Q.4 What were the objectives of EARLY NATIONALISTS?

• The early nationalists wanted proper participation of the Indians in the government in the near future
• They wanted a gradual move towards self-government in the distant future.

Q.5 What were the methods of EARLY NATIONALISTS?

• The Moderates adopted peaceful and constitutional methods.
• They presented their grievances to the government and waited patiently for the government to pass laws to
remove those grievances.
• They believed that the government would gradually give in to their demands.
• They promoted unity, spread political awareness among the people and built up a strong public opinion through
meetings, lectures and the press.
• They also sent delegations to England to persuade the British government to introduce necessary reforms.

Q.6 What were the Demands of the Early Nationalists?

• The early nationalists wanted the British to introduce certain reforms for the welfare of all sections of Indian
society.
• They believed that the British would grant them their requests if they were convinced that the demands were
reasonable and just.

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Q.7 What was the Contribution of the Early Nationalists?
✦ The early nationalists established a solid foundation which served as a base for a more radical approach in
later years.
✦They spread political awareness among the people and instilled in them a sense of national unity.
✦The people began to think of themselves as members of one single nation the Indian nation. The path for a
united national struggle was laid.
✦The Congress under the early nationalists trained the Indians in political affairs.
✦They educated them in political matters and familiarized them with ideas of freedom, government, democracy,
secularism, nationalism, etc. This knowledge of and training in political affairs helped Indian nationalists to
organize and raise the national movement to the next stage of development.

Q.8 Who were THE ASSERTIVE NATIONALISTS (THE RADICALS) (1905-18)?

✦The transition in the national movement marked the beginning of the second phase of the national movement.
✦ It was known as the assertive nationalist phase and was led by outstanding men like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala
Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh.
✦ Their political beliefs, aims and methods were very different from those of the early nationalists.

Q.9 What were the beliefs of THE ASSERTIVE NATIONALISTS?

✦ The assertive nationalists had no faith in the British sense of justice and fair play.
✦ They believed that the British rule in India was not a blessing but a curse.
✦ They were convinced that the British had no intentions of introducing reforms for the welfare of the Indians.
✦ They realized that the British interests were different and clashed with the Indian interests.
✦ India could never grow and progress under British rule.

Q.10 Name the leaders who led the national movement in its assertive phase.
✦Leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai (left), Bal Gangadhar Tilak (center) and Bipin Chandra Pal (right) led the national
movement in its assertive phase, from 1905 to 1918.

Q.11 What was the objective of ASSERTIVE NATIONALISTS?

✦ The goal of the assertive nationalists was not self-government in 'gradual' stages but immediate freedom
(swaraj) from British rule.

Q.12 What were the methods of ASSERTIVE NATIONALISTS?

✦ The assertive nationalists had no faith in the constitutional methods followed by the early nationalists.
✦ Twenty years of prayers, petitions, appeals, resolutions and representations had failed to yield any concrete
results.
✦ Tilak knew that the British would never concede to the demand for swaraj without a struggle. So, a radical
method of active opposition to the government would have to be adopted.
✦ Swaraj would have to be achieved through a political, anti-government agitation and with the involvement and
support of the masses.
✦ The Congress would have to be transformed from a platform for debates among the westernized, Indian
intelligentsia into a regiment of freedom fighters-united, determined, confident and willing to make sacrifices.

Q.13 Write a short note on THE PARTITION OF BENGAL (1905).

✦ The British partitioned Bengal in 1905 in pursuance of their policy of divide and rule.
✦ After the partition in 1905, the assertive nationalists adopted the methods of boycott, swadeshi and national
education to achieve the goal of swaraj.

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✦ The people were asked to boycott all British goods and use only Indian or swadeshi goods.
✦ The assertive nationalists also saw through the evil designs of the British in dividing on communal lines. This
was Bengal deliberately done to separate the Hindus from the Muslims and destroy the unity between them.
✦ The British policy of divide and rule had created a gap between the Hindu and Muslim communities.

Q.14 Write a short note on The Surat Split (1907).

✦ The partition of Bengal briefly brought the early nationalists and the assertive nationalists together.
✦ The early nationalists supported the radical methods of political agitation—swadeshi and boycott-to protest
against the partition of Bengal. However, the unity between the two groups was short-lived.
✦ Cracks between the two wings of the Congress began to appear in the course of the movement against
partition.
✦ The early nationalists and their assertive counterparts failed to agree on various aspects of the swadeshi and
boycott movement, and in 1907, at the Surat session of the Congress, the early nationalist leaders expelled the
assertive nationalist leaders from the Congress.
✦ The latter continued to function as a separate group till 1916. In the meantime, the British crushed the
swadeshi movement. Tilak was sentenced to six years of imprisonment.

Q.15 Write about THE MUSLIM LEAGUE (1906).

✦ The Muslim League was established in December 1906, under the leadership of Nawab Salimullah Khan in
Dacca (now known as Dhaka).
✦ Aga Khan and others also joined the Muslim League. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a prominent Congress leader,
joined the Muslim League in 1913.
✦The League served as a political platform for upper-class Muslims. It supported the partition of Bengal.
✦The League demanded special safeguards for Muslims in government service. In 1906, it appealed to the
Viceroy for separate electorates. This meant that the Muslim voters would elect Muslim representatives.
✦ The introduction of separate electorates sounded the death knell of national unity. It was the first definite step
on the road to the partition of India

Q.16 What were the main objectives of the Muslim League?

-The main objectives of the Muslim League were as follows:
✦To promote among the Muslims a feeling of loyalty towards the British government.
✦To protect and the promote political rights of the Muslims
✦To prevent feelings of hostility towards other communities.

Q.17 How did the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 had a significant effect on the national
movement?
✦As a colony of the British empire, India was automatically drawn into the war.
✦Initially, there was an outburst of loyalty and the Indian nationalist leaders supported the British government
with men and money.
✦More than a million Indian soldiers were sent overseas to join the British army and a hundred million pounds
were given to the British government.
✦The British and their allies declared that they were fighting the war to make the world 'safe for democracy' and
to promote the right of all nations to form self-governments.
✦This led the Indian nationalists to believe that a grateful Britain would reward India's loyalty and fulfil its
demands for self-government.

However, as the war dragged on, the hopes and expectations of the Indian leaders began to wane.

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Q.18 What led to the formation of HOME RULE LEAGUE?
✦The British continued to ignore the Indian demands for reform.
✦By 1915, Tilak (who was released in 1914 after 6 years of imprisonment) was convinced that the British had no
real intentions of granting any concessions to the Indians.
✦ The Congress was passive and inactive at this time, dominated by the early nationalists who had lost the
support and respect of the people.
✦Tilak realized the need to revive the national spirit and enthuse and energize people.

Q.19 Where and under whose leadership TWO HOME RULE LEAGUES (1916) formed?
✦Two Home Rule Leagues were formed in 1916, one under the leadership of Tilak and the other under the
leadership of Annie Besant.

Q.20 What was the main aim of the HOME RULE LEAGUES?
✦The main aim of the Leagues was to achieve self-government within the British empire after the war.

Q.21 Write a short note on THE LUCKNOW SESSION OF THE CONGRESS (1916).
✦Another important development during the war was the change in the attitude of the Muslims towards the British
government.
✦The pro-British attitude of the Indian Muslims became anti-British.
✦Large sections of the educated Muslims began to support the nationalist movement.
✦Nationalist Muslims like the Ali brothers, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, and Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad spread nationalist ideas among the Muslims.
✦Abul Kalam Azad criticized the British policy of divide and rule and urged Muslims to join in the struggle against
the real enemy-British imperialism.
✦The changed attitude of the Indian Muslims brought the League and the Congress close to one another. The
growing unity between them led to the signing of the Lucknow Pact in 1916.
✦Under the Lucknow Pact, the League, jointly with the Congress, put forward the demand for a Dominion Status
for India. This was an important step towards Hindu-Muslim unity.

Q.22 Write the definitions of the KEY WORDS.

✦Early nationalists were the nationalist leaders who led the Congress in its initial years.
✦Assertive nationalists were those leaders of the Congress who believed in the radical method of active
opposition to the British government.
✦Swaraj means self-rule. It refers to the end of foreign rule.
✦Partition of Bengal was done in 1905 by Lord Curzon on communal lines, destroying the unity between the
Hindus and the Muslims.
✦Boycott of foreign goods refers to the refusal to use British goods.
✦Swadeshi means the use of indigenous goods, i.e. goods produced and made in India.
✦Muslim League served as a political platform for upper-class Muslims. Its establishment checked the growth of
national unity and weakened the national movement.
✦Separate electorates refer to the voting population of the country, divided into different electorates based on
factors like religion, caste, occupation, etc. For example, it meant that Muslim voters could elect Muslim
representatives.
✦Home Rule Leagues were formed under Tilak and Annie Besant with the aim to achieve self-government
within the British.
✦The Lucknow Pact was signed between the Muslim League and the Congress in 1916, regarding a joint
scheme of political reforms in India.

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 Group and Private tuitions available from Grade VI to X
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