1. The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation
Impact of war
➢ Huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans
➢ Increasing taxes
➢ Raise in custom duties and introduction of income tax
➢ widespread anger among villagers due to force recruitment in army
➢ shortage of food grains due to involvement of villagers in war
➢ crop failure in 1918 - 19 and 1920 - 21 accompanied by influenza epidemic resulting in death of 12 - 13million
people.
The Idea of Satyagraha
➢ In January 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa and started the movement Satyagraha.
➢ Satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for truth.
➢ If the cause was true and the struggle was against injustice, we can fight the oppressor without any violence.
➢ According to Mahatma Gandhi, people can win a battle with non-violence which will unite all Indians.
➢ In 1917, he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation
system.
➢ In the 1917 , he organised satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat. The peasants were
not able to pay revenue due to crop failure
➢ In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers.
The Rowlatt Act
➢ In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi launched a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act passed through the
imperial legislative council.
➢ What is Rowlatt act ? The Act that gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and
allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
➢ Gandhi wanted nonviolent civil disobedience started with protest (hartal) on 6th April . Rallies organised , strike
amongst workers in railway workshops and shops closed. Communication was disrupted and suppressed
nationalism by britishers. Leaders were picked up from Amritsar and new entry for Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi.
➢ . On April 10th, police in Amritsar fired on a peaceful procession, which provoked widespread attacks on banks,
post offices and railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
➢ On 13th April, the Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. Jallianwala Bagh incident is as follows -
I. A large crowd gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh where a few people came to protest while some came to attend the
annual Baisakhi fair
II. Being away from the city , villagers were unaware of the martial laws .
III. General Dyer blocked all the exit points and opened fire on the crowd killing hundreds.
IV. The purpose of this was to create a terror & awe in the mind of satyagrahis .
V. After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, people became furious and went on strikes, clashes with police and attacks
on government buildings.
VI. Government responded cruelly and bomb attack on Gujranwala
VII. Mahatma Gandhi had to call off the movement as it was turning into a violent war.
SST Page 1
, ➢ Due to limited spread of this movement Gandhi ji wanted to launch more broad based movement , only possible
when Hindus and Muslims unite
➢ Mahatma Gandhi then took up the Khilafat issue by bringing Hindus and Muslims together.. In March 1919, a
Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay.
➢ Why was khilafat committee formed ? The first world war ended with the defeat of Ottoman empire . Imposition of harsh
treaty On ottoman empire was spread as rumour , in order to defend Khalifa's temporal power , this committee was formed.
➢ Young generation of Muslims brothers such as Mohmmad Ali and Shaukat Ali discussed about united action. In September
1920 at Calcutta session of congress , Mahatma Gandhi convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation
movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.
Why Non-cooperation?
➢ According to Mahatma Gandhi, British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians and this thought
in his book named as Hind swaraj(1909) .
➢ Non-cooperation movement is proposed in stages.
I. begin with the surrender of titles that the government awarded and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts
and legislative councils, schools and foreign goods.
II. After Gandhi and Mohamad Ali, campaigned between the supporters and opponents of the movement, finally, in
December 1920 at Nagpur session of congress , the Non-Cooperation Movement was adopted.
2. Differing Strands within the Movement
In January 1921, the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement began. In this movement, various social groups participated,
but the term meant different things to different people.
The Movement in the Towns
➢ The middle-class started the movement and thousands of students, teachers, headmasters left government-
controlled schools and colleges, lawyers gave up their legal practices. Council elections were refused except the
justice party of madras .
➢ In the economic front, the effects of non-cooperation were-
i. The production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up when people started boycotting foreign goods.
ii. Entrance of liquor shops were blocked + Reduced foreign import of cloths
➢ Cause of downfall of NCM in towns :
Khadi clothes are expensive, less Indian institutions for students and teachers to choose from, so they went back to
government schools and lawyers joined back government courts.
Rebellion in the Countryside
➢ In Awadh peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra . The peasant movement started against talukdars and landlords who
demanded high rents and a variety of other cesses. It demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of beggar and social
boycott of oppressive landlords.
➢ Jawaharlal Nehru in June 1920, started going around the villages in Awadh to understand their grievances. In
October, he along with few others set up the Oudh Kisan Sabha and within a month 300 branches had been set up.
In 1921, the peasant movement spread and the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were
looted and grain boards were taken over
➢ In the early 1920s, a militant guerrilla movement started spreading in the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh. The
government started closing down forest areas due to which their livelihood was affected. Finally, the hill people
revolted, which was led by Alluri Sitaram Raju who claimed that he had a variety of special powers. Raju was killed in
1924 and overtime became a folk hero.
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Impact of war
➢ Huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans
➢ Increasing taxes
➢ Raise in custom duties and introduction of income tax
➢ widespread anger among villagers due to force recruitment in army
➢ shortage of food grains due to involvement of villagers in war
➢ crop failure in 1918 - 19 and 1920 - 21 accompanied by influenza epidemic resulting in death of 12 - 13million
people.
The Idea of Satyagraha
➢ In January 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa and started the movement Satyagraha.
➢ Satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for truth.
➢ If the cause was true and the struggle was against injustice, we can fight the oppressor without any violence.
➢ According to Mahatma Gandhi, people can win a battle with non-violence which will unite all Indians.
➢ In 1917, he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation
system.
➢ In the 1917 , he organised satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat. The peasants were
not able to pay revenue due to crop failure
➢ In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers.
The Rowlatt Act
➢ In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi launched a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act passed through the
imperial legislative council.
➢ What is Rowlatt act ? The Act that gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and
allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
➢ Gandhi wanted nonviolent civil disobedience started with protest (hartal) on 6th April . Rallies organised , strike
amongst workers in railway workshops and shops closed. Communication was disrupted and suppressed
nationalism by britishers. Leaders were picked up from Amritsar and new entry for Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi.
➢ . On April 10th, police in Amritsar fired on a peaceful procession, which provoked widespread attacks on banks,
post offices and railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
➢ On 13th April, the Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. Jallianwala Bagh incident is as follows -
I. A large crowd gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh where a few people came to protest while some came to attend the
annual Baisakhi fair
II. Being away from the city , villagers were unaware of the martial laws .
III. General Dyer blocked all the exit points and opened fire on the crowd killing hundreds.
IV. The purpose of this was to create a terror & awe in the mind of satyagrahis .
V. After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, people became furious and went on strikes, clashes with police and attacks
on government buildings.
VI. Government responded cruelly and bomb attack on Gujranwala
VII. Mahatma Gandhi had to call off the movement as it was turning into a violent war.
SST Page 1
, ➢ Due to limited spread of this movement Gandhi ji wanted to launch more broad based movement , only possible
when Hindus and Muslims unite
➢ Mahatma Gandhi then took up the Khilafat issue by bringing Hindus and Muslims together.. In March 1919, a
Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay.
➢ Why was khilafat committee formed ? The first world war ended with the defeat of Ottoman empire . Imposition of harsh
treaty On ottoman empire was spread as rumour , in order to defend Khalifa's temporal power , this committee was formed.
➢ Young generation of Muslims brothers such as Mohmmad Ali and Shaukat Ali discussed about united action. In September
1920 at Calcutta session of congress , Mahatma Gandhi convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation
movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.
Why Non-cooperation?
➢ According to Mahatma Gandhi, British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians and this thought
in his book named as Hind swaraj(1909) .
➢ Non-cooperation movement is proposed in stages.
I. begin with the surrender of titles that the government awarded and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts
and legislative councils, schools and foreign goods.
II. After Gandhi and Mohamad Ali, campaigned between the supporters and opponents of the movement, finally, in
December 1920 at Nagpur session of congress , the Non-Cooperation Movement was adopted.
2. Differing Strands within the Movement
In January 1921, the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement began. In this movement, various social groups participated,
but the term meant different things to different people.
The Movement in the Towns
➢ The middle-class started the movement and thousands of students, teachers, headmasters left government-
controlled schools and colleges, lawyers gave up their legal practices. Council elections were refused except the
justice party of madras .
➢ In the economic front, the effects of non-cooperation were-
i. The production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up when people started boycotting foreign goods.
ii. Entrance of liquor shops were blocked + Reduced foreign import of cloths
➢ Cause of downfall of NCM in towns :
Khadi clothes are expensive, less Indian institutions for students and teachers to choose from, so they went back to
government schools and lawyers joined back government courts.
Rebellion in the Countryside
➢ In Awadh peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra . The peasant movement started against talukdars and landlords who
demanded high rents and a variety of other cesses. It demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of beggar and social
boycott of oppressive landlords.
➢ Jawaharlal Nehru in June 1920, started going around the villages in Awadh to understand their grievances. In
October, he along with few others set up the Oudh Kisan Sabha and within a month 300 branches had been set up.
In 1921, the peasant movement spread and the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were
looted and grain boards were taken over
➢ In the early 1920s, a militant guerrilla movement started spreading in the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh. The
government started closing down forest areas due to which their livelihood was affected. Finally, the hill people
revolted, which was led by Alluri Sitaram Raju who claimed that he had a variety of special powers. Raju was killed in
1924 and overtime became a folk hero.
SST Page 2
