Modern History Set 56
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📌 Revolutionary Movements
Q.1) The Ghadar Party, a revolutionary organization aimed at securing India’s independence from British rule, was headquartered in which city?
Ans > San Francisco
- Foundation and Key Figures: The Ghadar Party was initially organized in 1913 by Indian expatriates, primarily Punjabi Sikhs, living in North America, with prominent founding members including Lala Hardayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna, and Taraknath Das.
- Yugantar Ashram: The headquarters of the party was located in San Francisco, USA, and was famously known as the Yugantar Ashram. This site served as the nerve center for publishing their revolutionary weekly newspaper, The Ghadar, which was printed in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, and other languages to reach a wider diaspora.
- Core Ideology: The party explicitly aimed to overthrow British colonial rule in India through an armed, violent revolution rather than constitutional agitation. They attempted to utilize the outbreak of World War I to trigger massive mutinies within the British Indian Army, planning a pan-Indian revolt in February 1915. Although these plans were largely intercepted and crushed by British intelligence under the Defence of India Act 1915, the Ghadarites left a lasting legacy of secular and militant nationalism, deeply inspiring future revolutionary figures like Bhagat Singh.
📌 Nationalist Movement
Q.2) The tragic Komagata Maru incident, which fueled nationalist sentiment among Indians, occurred in which year?
Ans > 1914
- The Voyage: The Komagata Maru was a Japanese steamship chartered by a wealthy Sikh businessman, Gurdit Singh, to transport 376 Indian passengers (consisting of 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus) from Hong Kong to Vancouver, Canada, in April 1914.
- Denial of Entry: Upon their arrival, the deeply discriminatory and racist immigration policies of Canada, specifically the ‘continuous journey’ regulation designed to keep South Asians out, were heavily enforced. The ship was mercilessly denied docking privileges and food supplies, forcing it to return to India after a highly tense two-month legal and physical standoff in the harbor.
- The Budge Budge Riot: When the ship finally returned to Budge Budge near Kolkata in September 1914, British authorities viewed the passengers as dangerous political agitators and attempted to force them onto special trains bound directly for Punjab. A massive riot ensued, and British police opened fire, killing 20 passengers and injuring many more. This tragic, unjust incident heavily fueled anti-British revolutionary activities globally and became a major rallying cry for the Ghadar Party.
📌 Home Rule Movement
Q.3) Annie Besant formally launched her Home Rule League to demand self-government for India in which month and year?
Ans > September 1916
- Strategic Launch: Annie Besant, a highly influential British socialist, women’s rights activist, and leading theosophist, officially launched her All-India Home Rule League in September 1916 with its main headquarters established in Madras (now Chennai).
- Broader Reach: While Bal Gangadhar Tilak had launched his league slightly earlier, Besant’s league was strategically designed to cover the rest of India, including major urban centers like Bombay city, thereby creating a truly vast, nationwide political network. Her organization boasted a much looser structure but heavily relied on her powerful newspapers, New India and Commonweal, to spread nationalist propaganda. Key associates included prominent figures like George Arundale (who served as the organizing secretary), B.P. Wadia, and C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar.
- Primary Objective: The league’s core, non-negotiable demand was obtaining ‘Home Rule’ or complete self-government for India within the framework of the British Empire, directly modeled on the dominion status enjoyed by white colonies such as Australia, Canada, and South Africa. Her agitation was so effective that the British government was forced to arrest her in 1917, which only amplified her popularity and led to her election as Congress President.
📌 Home Rule Movement
Q.4) Bal Gangadhar Tilak established his own Indian Home Rule League earlier than Annie Besant. In which month and year was Tilak’s league formed?
Ans > April 1916
- Earlier Inception: Bal Gangadhar Tilak, having returned from his grueling six-year imprisonment in Mandalay, established the very first Indian Home Rule League during the Bombay Provincial Conference held in Belgaum in April 1916.
- Defined Territory: To avoid any political friction, overlapping work, or leadership clashes with Annie Besant, Tilak’s league was strictly restricted in its operational jurisdiction to the Marathi-speaking regions of Maharashtra (explicitly excluding Bombay city itself), Northern Karnataka, the Central Provinces, and the Berar region. His league was highly organized into six distinct branches.
- Core Demands: Aside from the central, uncompromising demand for Swarajya (self-rule), Tilak’s league heavily campaigned for the progressive formation of linguistic states to protect regional identities and the widespread promotion of education strictly in vernacular languages rather than English. He utilized his highly popular newspapers, Mahratta (in English) and Kesari (in Marathi), to vigorously spread the message of self-reliance and Swaraj to the rural masses, effectively bringing the nationalist movement out of the elite drawing rooms and into the streets of western India.
📌 Political Agreements
Q.5) The historic Lucknow Pact of 1916 was a significant agreement that brought together which two major political entities?
Ans > The Indian National Congress and the Muslim League
- A United Front: The historic Lucknow Pact was a monumental political agreement reached between the moderate and extremist factions of the Indian National Congress (INC), as well as between the INC and the All-India Muslim League, during their joint sessions in December 1916. This pact was highly significant because it presented a strong, unified Indian demand for immediate self-government and constitutional reforms to the British authorities.
- Acceptance of Separate Electorates: In a major, heavily debated political compromise, the Congress formally accepted the Muslim League’s controversial demand for separate electorates for Muslims in both provincial and central legislatures, a major concession they had previously staunchly opposed since the implementation of the 1909 Morley-Minto Reforms. Furthermore, the pact agreed on a specific weightage system, giving minority Muslim populations more representation than their demographic numbers dictated in certain provinces.
- Role of Jinnah and Tilak: Visionary leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Muhammad Ali Jinnah played highly instrumental roles in drafting, negotiating, and passing this complex pact, with Jinnah being widely hailed by Sarojini Naidu at the time as the true ‘Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity’.
📌 INC Sessions
Q.6) Who presided over the crucial 1916 Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress where the extremist leaders were readmitted?
Ans > Ambica Charan Majumdar
- Reunion of the Congress: The 1916 Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress was a highly significant, watershed moment in modern Indian history because it marked the formal, triumphant readmission of the Extremist faction, heavily led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, back into the primary Congress fold. This reunion occurred exactly nine years after the bitter, physically violent Surat Split of 1907 had fractured the nationalist movement.
- Presidential Leadership: Ambica Charan Majumdar, a highly respected, prominent Moderate leader, veteran politician, and lawyer from Bengal, presided over this deeply historic session. In his powerful presidential address, Majumdar emphasized the absolute necessity of political unity, stating that ‘if the Congress was buried at Surat, it is reborn at Lucknow.’
- Death of Moderates: The timely deaths of staunch Moderate leaders Sir Pherozeshah Mehta and Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1915 had heavily facilitated this reunion, as they had previously been the primary, unyielding opponents to Tilak’s aggressive militant nationalism and his reentry into the constitutional framework of the Congress party.
📌 Mahatma Gandhi
Q.7) Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa, bringing his philosophy of Satyagraha with him, on which exact date?
Ans > January 9, 1915
- Permanent Return: After spending over two highly formative decades in South Africa fighting against brutal racial discrimination and meticulously honing his unique, revolutionary methods of non-violent civil resistance known as Satyagraha, 45-year-old Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi permanently returned to his homeland on January 9, 1915. He officially landed at the Apollo Bunder in Bombay, receiving a massive, hero’s welcome from prominent nationalist leaders.
- Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: To formally honor this deeply historic return and acknowledge the power of the diaspora, the Government of India officially celebrates January 9th every year as ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ (Non-Resident Indian Day), recognizing the massive, ongoing contributions of the overseas Indian community to the nation’s development.
- Political Apprenticeship: Upon returning, Gandhi deliberately refrained from immediate, active political agitation or joining any specific faction. Following the strict, wise advice of his acknowledged political mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Gandhi spent his entire first year keeping his ‘ears open and his mouth shut,’ extensively touring the vast expanse of India by third-class train to deeply observe and understand the horrific socio-economic conditions of the impoverished, rural masses.
📌 Mahatma Gandhi
Q.8) Mahatma Gandhi made his first major public appearance in India in 1916 during the inauguration of which institution?
Ans > Banaras Hindu University
- The BHU Inauguration: Mahatma Gandhi made his very first highly publicized, major political appearance in India during the grand opening ceremony of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in February 1916, an event meticulously organized by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. The inauguration was heavily attended by a glittering assembly of wealthy native princes, high-ranking British viceroys, and elite, English-educated Congress leaders.
- A Stinging Critique: Instead of delivering a customary speech praising the elite gathering, Gandhi delivered a shockingly blunt, highly controversial address that disrupted the entire event. He openly criticized the fabulously wealthy princes for displaying their lavish jewelry in a land of starving millions, and severely chided the Congress leadership for operating entirely in the English language rather than connecting with the masses through vernacular tongues.
- Focus on the Peasantry: He boldly and publicly asserted that there could be no true salvation or independence for India unless the rich elites voluntarily stripped themselves of their extravagant wealth and aligned themselves entirely with the impoverished millions of agricultural laborers, artisans, and poor peasants.
📌 Peasant Movements
Q.9) The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was Gandhi’s first civil disobedience movement in India. It was organized against which exploitative agricultural system?
Ans > Tinkathia
- The Tinkathia System: The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 holds immense historical significance as Mahatma Gandhi’s very first experiment with non-violent civil disobedience in India. It was organized to fight against the brutally exploitative ‘Tinkathia’ agricultural system. Under this draconian colonial arrangement, European planters in the Champaran district of Bihar legally forced impoverished Indian peasants to cultivate indigo dye on exactly 3/20th (Tinkathia) of their most fertile land holdings under highly exploitative, unbreakable contracts.
- German Synthetic Dyes: By the late 19th century, the rapid invention and mass production of cheap, synthetic chemical dyes in Germany made natural indigo highly unprofitable on the global market. However, instead of freeing the farmers, the greedy European planters demanded massive, completely illegal rent increases (known as sharbeshi) and arbitrary physical taxes (abwab) from the peasants to permanently release them from the indigo obligation.
- The First Satyagraha: Gandhi launched a meticulous, open public inquiry, recording the horrific testimonies of thousands of farmers. His immense moral pressure forced the British government to form an official agrarian committee, which ultimately passed the Champaran Agrarian Act, entirely abolishing the hated Tinkathia system.
📌 Peasant Movements
Q.10) Which local peasant leader from Bihar persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to visit Champaran to investigate the plight of the indigo cultivators?
Ans > Rajkumar Shukla
- Relentless Persuasion: Rajkumar Shukla was a tenacious, ordinary, and largely uneducated indigo cultivator hailing from the Champaran district of Bihar. Despite his humble background, he possessed immense determination and actively sought out Mahatma Gandhi during the highly attended 1916 Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress to highlight the horrific abuses of the Tinkathia system.
- Following Gandhi: When Gandhi initially cited a busy schedule, Shukla relentlessly followed the Mahatma across the country. He trailed Gandhi to Cawnpore (Kanpur), then all the way back to his Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, and finally to Calcutta, famously refusing to leave Gandhi’s side until he secured a strict, concrete promise to visit rural Bihar. Impressed by the peasant’s absolute resolve and stubbornness, Gandhi finally agreed.
- Historical Catalyst: Shukla’s seemingly small act of stubborn determination is historically credited as the direct, monumental catalyst that brought Gandhi face-to-face with the horrific realities of rural, agrarian exploitation, thereby launching Gandhi out of urban elite circles and firmly into mass, grassroots Indian politics for the rest of his life.
📌 Mahatma Gandhi
Q.11) During the Ahmedabad Mill Strike of 1918, Mahatma Gandhi used which method of protest for the first time in India?
Ans > Hunger strike to death (fasting)
- The Plague Bonus Dispute: In 1918, a fierce, highly volatile industrial dispute arose between the wealthy Indian textile mill owners in Ahmedabad and their deeply impoverished factory workers. The conflict centered over the sudden withdrawal of the ‘Plague Bonus,’ a substantial monetary incentive that had been given to retain workers during a devastating epidemic. As inflation caused by World War I soared, workers demanded a 50% permanent wage hike to survive, but the stubborn mill owners offered a mere 20% increase and threatened mass lockouts.
- Gandhi’s Intervention: Anasuya Sarabhai, a social worker, requested Gandhi’s intervention. Gandhi meticulously studied the industry’s finances and advised the workers to strike peacefully, scale down their demand to a more economically reasonable 35% wage increase, and strictly avoid all violence.
- The Fast Unto Death: When the striking workers’ resolve began to dangerously weaken after weeks of starvation and some considered violence, Gandhi undertook his very first ‘fast unto death’ (hunger strike) in India. The sheer, unprecedented moral pressure of his fast forced the frightened mill owners to immediately submit the dispute to an independent arbitration tribunal, which ultimately ruled in favor of the workers, granting them the exact 35% wage hike.
📌 Peasant Movements
Q.12) In the Kheda Satyagraha of 1918, Gandhi organized the peasants to withhold revenue payments. Which prominent leader played a crucial role in mobilizing the peasants alongside him?
Ans > Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- Crop Failure and Taxation: In the Kheda district of Gujarat, agricultural crops failed massively in 1918 due to a severe drought, leading to widespread famine conditions and outbreaks of cholera. According to the established British revenue code, if the crop yield was mathematically less than one-fourth of the normal produce, farmers were legally and rightfully entitled to a total remission of their land revenue for that year. However, the oppressive British administration flatly refused any concessions, aggressively threatening to confiscate lands and cattle if taxes weren’t paid.
- First Non-Cooperation: Gandhi organized the desperate peasants and officially launched a strict ‘no-tax’ campaign, heavily advising them to peacefully withhold all revenue payments to the colonial government, even at the cost of losing their property. This marked his first real, large-scale experiment with non-cooperation.
- Emergence of Patel: A young, highly successful, Western-educated lawyer named Vallabhbhai Patel left his incredibly lucrative legal practice and fully joined Gandhi, becoming his chief lieutenant during this gruelling movement. Patel’s massive, unparalleled organizational skills in mobilizing the rural peasantry were first successfully showcased here, ultimately forcing the government to secretly suspend the tax collection for poor farmers.
📌 British Acts
Q.13) The oppressive Rowlatt Act of 1919, which allowed for imprisonment without trial, was officially known as what?
Ans > The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act
- Official Title: Passed hurriedly by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi in March 1919 despite unanimous opposition from every single Indian member, this draconian, heavily oppressive law was officially named ‘The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act.’ However, it became notoriously known to the Indian public as the Rowlatt Act, named directly after the British judge, Sir Sidney Rowlatt, who chaired the committee that recommended it.
- Draconian Powers: The act essentially sought to extend the extreme, wartime emergency powers of the Defence of India Act (1915) permanently into peacetime. It granted the colonial government massive, unchecked powers to brutally suppress political activities, arrest suspected individuals without a warrant, and imprison political activists in secret trials without juries for up to two years.
- “No Dalil, No Vakil, No Appeal”: Most horrifically, the act completely suspended the fundamental legal right of Habeas Corpus, denying citizens the right to know the charges against them. The terrified Indian public heavily summarized the sheer injustice and tyranny of the act with the incredibly popular, rhyming street slogan: ‘No Dalil, No Vakil, No Appeal’ (No argument, no lawyer, no appeal).
📌 Massacres
Q.14) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, a turning point in India’s freedom struggle, took place on the festival of Baisakhi on which date?
Ans > April 13, 1919
- The Gathering: On April 13, 1919, coinciding with the deeply auspicious harvest festival of Baisakhi, a large, peaceful crowd of over 10,000 people gathered at the enclosed grounds of Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab. While many rural villagers were completely unaware of the strict martial law recently imposed, others were peacefully protesting the highly unjust arrests of prominent, beloved local leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal under the draconian Rowlatt Act.
- The Brutality of Dyer: Acting with unprecedented cruelty, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer entered the walled enclosure with heavily armed Gurkha and Baloch troops, deliberately blocked the only narrow exit, and without giving any prior warning to disperse, ordered his men to open relentless, rapid fire on the unarmed, trapped crowd consisting of innocent men, women, and children.
- The Aftermath: The troops fired exactly 1,650 rounds of ammunition into the thickest parts of the fleeing crowd until their magazines were entirely exhausted. While official British figures criminally understated the casualties at around 379 dead, independent Indian estimates placed the horrific death toll well over 1,000, permanently shattering any remaining Indian faith in British imperial justice.
📌 Protests
Q.15) In deep anguish and protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which prominent Indian renounced his British knighthood?
Ans > Rabindranath Tagore
- Renouncing Honors: Renowned poet, philosopher, and Asia’s first Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, was deeply horrified and emotionally shattered by the sheer, unprovoked brutality of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab. In absolute, highly public protest against the colonial government’s barbaric actions, he officially and immediately surrendered his prestigious British Knighthood. This honor had been personally conferred upon him by King George V in 1915 following the massive global success of his work, Gitanjali.
- The Letter to Chelmsford: Tagore penned a highly powerful, beautifully articulated, and scathing letter to the British Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, famously declaring that ‘the time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part, wish to stand, shorn, of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen who, for their so called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings.’
- Nationalist Solidarity: Tagore’s high-profile, uncompromising rejection of his knighthood served as a massive moral beacon, signaling the total alienation of the elite Indian intelligentsia from the British colonial regime.
📌 British Commissions
Q.16) Which commission was appointed by the British Government to investigate the Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
Ans > Hunter Commission
- Formation: Due to massive, uncontrollable public outrage across India and mounting political pressure within the British Parliament in London, the Government of India announced the formal establishment of the Disorders Inquiry Committee in October 1919. This body is most commonly referred to as the Hunter Commission, named after its chairman, Lord William Hunter, a former Solicitor-General for Scotland. The commission was heavily tasked with thoroughly investigating the bloody disturbances in Bombay, Delhi, and Punjab, with a specific focus on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
- The Verdict: After highly publicized hearings, the commission’s final report severely condemned Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer’s brutal actions, explicitly stating he deeply overstepped his military bounds, held a mistaken concept of duty, and fired without giving the unarmed crowd any reasonable chance to disperse.
- Dyer’s Departure: However, in a shocking display of imperial bias, the commission completely failed to recommend any formal penal, criminal, or even serious disciplinary action against him. Dyer was merely relieved of his active military command and quietly recalled to England, where he was controversially hailed as a ‘savior’ by certain right-wing sections of the British public, further outraging the Indian populace.
📌 Revolutionary Movements
Q.17) Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab during the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, was assassinated in London in 1940 by which Indian revolutionary?
Ans > Udham Singh
- A Vow of Vengeance: Udham Singh was a highly dedicated young Indian revolutionary who was deeply, psychologically scarred by witnessing the horrific Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. He swore a solemn, lifelong vow of vengeance against Michael O’Dwyer, the brutal, unapologetic Lieutenant Governor of Punjab at the time, who had notoriously endorsed, actively supported, and strongly defended General Dyer’s unprovoked firing on unarmed civilians.
- The Assassination: Demonstrating incredible patience and planning, Singh traveled extensively across continents, eventually making his way to London. On March 13, 1940, exactly 21 years after the bloody massacre, Udham Singh cornered O’Dwyer at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society at Caxton Hall in London. He drew a concealed revolver and shot O’Dwyer dead at point-blank range, instantly avenging the martyrs of Amritsar.
- Martyrdom: Instead of attempting to flee, Singh proudly courted arrest. He was subsequently tried for murder and fearlessly hanged at Pentonville Prison in July 1940. He remains a deeply revered, legendary figure in Indian modern history, widely recognized and honored as Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh.
📌 Constitutional Reforms
Q.18) The Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms) introduced which new system of administration in the provinces?
Ans > Dyarchy
- The Concept of Dyarchy: The Government of India Act 1919, fundamentally based on the heavily debated Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, introduced a highly controversial and complex new system of administration known as ‘Dyarchy’ (meaning dual or double government). Crucially, this system was strictly implemented only at the provincial level, completely leaving the powerful central government untouched by democratic accountability. It fundamentally split the provincial administrative subjects into two exact, distinct categories: Reserved Subjects and Transferred Subjects.
- Reserved Subjects: Crucial, powerful portfolios essential for maintaining colonial control—like Police, Land Revenue, Justice, Press, and Finance—were classified as Reserved Subjects and kept strictly under the absolute, dictatorial control of the British Governor and his unelected executive council.
- Transferred Subjects: Conversely, significantly less critical, underfunded portfolios like Education, Public Health, Agriculture, and Local Self-Government were handed over to Indian ministers who were elected and technically responsible to the provincial legislative council. However, because these Indian ministers completely lacked any control over finance or police to enforce their policies, the entire system of Dyarchy proved to be highly frustrating, totally unworkable, and largely a political failure.
📌 Khilafat Movement
Q.19) The Khilafat Movement was organized to protest against the unjust treatment meted out to the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The All India Khilafat Committee was formed in 1919 in which city?
Ans > Bombay
- The Cause: Following the catastrophic defeat of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in World War I, deep anxieties swept through the global Islamic community. Indian Muslims heavily feared that the victorious Allied powers, specifically the British, would completely dismantle the sprawling empire and strip the Ottoman Sultan of his deeply revered, historical title as the Caliph (Khalifa)—the supreme spiritual head of Sunni Muslims worldwide.
- Committee Formation: To fiercely organize nationwide political resistance and pressure the British government to treat Turkey fairly, the All India Khilafat Committee was officially formed in Bombay in early 1919 by prominent Muslim leaders.
- Gandhi’s Alignment: Mahatma Gandhi, demonstrating immense political foresight, saw this massive religious agitation as a highly unique, unprecedented historical opportunity to permanently unite Hindus and Muslims against a common colonial enemy. Gandhi actively and strategically merged the core demands of the Khilafat Committee with his own upcoming, massive Non-Cooperation Movement, arguing that Hindus must fully support their Muslim brethren in their hour of deepest distress to forge unbreakable national unity.
📌 Khilafat Movement
Q.20) Who among the following were the most prominent leaders (the ‘Ali Brothers’) of the Khilafat Movement in India?
Ans > Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali
- The Ali Brothers: The Khilafat Movement in India was most aggressively and publicly spearheaded by the highly dynamic, charismatic siblings, Maulana Shaukat Ali and Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, who became widely and affectionately known simply as the ‘Ali Brothers’. They were fierce anti-imperialists who passionately utilized powerful, hard-hitting journalism to extensively mobilize the Muslim masses.
- Journalistic Agitation: Muhammad Ali famously started and edited the highly influential, radically nationalist English weekly newspaper, The Comrade, as well as the widely read Urdu daily, Hamdard. Both publications fiercely attacked British imperial policies and heavily advocated for pan-Islamic solidarity and complete Indian independence. Because of their uncompromising stance, both brothers faced numerous long imprisonments under brutal sedition laws.
- Other Key Leaders: While the Ali brothers served as the primary public faces and fiery orators of the movement, the massive agitation was deeply and intellectually supported by other highly prominent nationalist figures and theologians, including Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (who published Al-Hilal), Hakim Ajmal Khan, and the poet-politician Hasrat Mohani, making it a formidable anti-British force.
📌 INC Sessions
Q.21) The Non-Cooperation Movement was formally approved and endorsed by the Indian National Congress in December 1920 at which session?
Ans > Nagpur
- Special vs. Annual Session: The Non-Cooperation Movement, Gandhi’s first truly nationwide mass agitation, was initially debated and provisionally passed at a special, highly contentious session of the Congress held in Calcutta in September 1920. However, it was formally, unanimously ratified and heavily endorsed during the regular, monumental annual session held in Nagpur in December 1920.
- Shift in Congress Creed: This Nagpur session represents a massive, fundamental turning point in Indian political history. The Congress officially and permanently abandoned its old, moderate goal of slowly attaining self-government strictly through legal, constitutional means. Instead, it boldly replaced its core creed with the aggressive pursuit of ‘Swaraj’ (self-rule) through peaceful, legitimate, and extra-constitutional mass agitation.
- Organizational Restructuring: Furthermore, to facilitate and control this unprecedented mass movement, the Congress was heavily reorganized from top to bottom at Nagpur. Provincial Congress Committees were restructured entirely on a linguistic basis to connect with the vernacular-speaking masses, membership fees were drastically reduced to 4 annas to include the poorest peasants, and a powerful, 15-member Congress Working Committee (CWC) was created to lead the day-to-day operations of the freedom struggle.
📌 Non-Cooperation Movement
Q.22) Mahatma Gandhi abruptly suspended the Non-Cooperation Movement following the violent Chauri Chaura incident, which occurred on which date?
Ans > February 5, 1922
- The Incident: On February 5, 1922, exactly as the massive Non-Cooperation Movement was reaching its absolute peak and Gandhi was preparing to launch massive civil disobedience in Bardoli, a tragic, highly violent incident occurred in the small market town of Chauri Chaura, located in the Gorakhpur district of the United Provinces (modern-day Uttar Pradesh). During a large, peaceful protest against high food prices and liquor sales, heavily armed local police aggressively beat volunteers and then opened unprovoked fire on the massive crowd.
- The Casualties: Enraged beyond control, the mob chased the fleeing police, locked them inside the local police station, and deliberately set the entire structure completely ablaze. Exactly 22 Indian policemen and 3 protesting civilians were brutally killed in the horrific fire.
- The Bardoli Resolution: Mahatma Gandhi, who was strictly, unconditionally committed to the principle of absolute non-violence (Ahimsa), was profoundly shocked and spiritually devastated. Arguing that the Indian masses were clearly not yet disciplined enough for true, non-violent resistance, he immediately and unilaterally suspended the entire nationwide movement by passing the controversial Bardoli Resolution on February 12, 1922, stunning nationalist leaders.
📌 Political Parties
Q.23) The Swaraj Party was founded in January 1923 by leaders who wanted to enter the legislative councils to wreck the government from within. Who were its principal founders?
Ans > C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru
- The “Pro-Changers”: Following Gandhi’s highly controversial, abrupt withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, a massive ideological split emerged within the Indian National Congress. A powerful faction, known as the ‘Pro-Changers’, strongly argued for contesting the upcoming 1923 provincial and central elections. Their strategy was to actively enter the British-created legislative councils not to cooperate, but to aggressively wreck the government machinery from within through constant obstruction.
- Party Foundation: When their political resolution was narrowly defeated by the ‘No-Changers’ (led by Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel) at the Gaya session of the Congress in December 1922, Deshbandhu C.R. Das (the sitting President) and Motilal Nehru (the Secretary) immediately resigned. On January 1, 1923, they formally established the Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party, widely known as the Swaraj Party.
- Legislative Success: Despite being a newly formed splinter group, the Swarajists contested the elections brilliantly and performed exceedingly well. They successfully formed a powerful voting bloc, managed to heavily disrupt daily government business, repeatedly voted down official budgets, and successfully stalled numerous draconian bills in the Central Legislative Assembly.
📌 Revolutionary Movements
Q.24) The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a revolutionary organization, was established in 1924 in Kanpur by Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, and whom?
Ans > Sachindra Nath Sanyal
- Formation in Kanpur: Frustrated by Mahatma Gandhi’s sudden, highly demoralizing withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922, a massive, explosive surge of revolutionary energy captured the younger generation who felt that non-violence had completely failed. In October 1924, this militant youth gathered in Kanpur (Cawnpore) and formally established the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a highly secretive, underground revolutionary organization.
- The Core Founders: The organization was heavily conceptualized and spearheaded by brilliant, radical minds like Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, and the deeply experienced, veteran revolutionary Sachindra Nath Sanyal.
- The Objective and Ideology: The HRA’s explicit, heavily circulated manifesto, famously titled The Revolutionary, clearly outlined their ultimate political goal: to entirely overthrow the oppressive British colonial regime through an organized, massive, nationwide armed rebellion. Their vision was not just removing the British, but establishing a socialist-leaning ‘Federal Republic of the United States of India’ based strictly on universal adult franchise. Sachindra Nath Sanyal’s powerful, biographical book, Bandi Jiwan (A Life of Captivity), served as a core, highly inspirational textbook for these young revolutionaries, teaching them the sacrifices required for armed struggle.
📌 Revolutionary Movements
Q.25) The famous Kakori Train Robbery, executed by members of the Hindustan Republican Association to fund their revolutionary activities, took place in which year?
Ans > 1925
- The Action: Facing a severe, crippling shortage of funds required to purchase firearms, manufacture bombs, and publish revolutionary literature, the members of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) planned a highly audacious heist. On August 9, 1925, heavily armed HRA revolutionaries daringly halted the 8-Down passenger train traveling from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow near the small, isolated railway station of Kakori. They successfully and flawlessly looted the official British government treasury chest, carrying away approximately 8,000 rupees, completely avoiding any theft from regular Indian passengers.
- The Crackdown: The sheer audacity of the robbery severely jolted and humiliated the British administration, leading to a massive, highly coordinated, and ruthless police crackdown across Northern India. This resulted in the rapid arrest of almost all top-tier HRA leaders.
- The Executions: Following a lengthy, highly publicized trial known globally as the Kakori Conspiracy Case, four prominent, beloved revolutionaries—Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Singh, and Rajendra Lahiri—were brutally sentenced to death by hanging. The executions heavily crippled the original HRA, forcing younger members like Bhagat Singh to reorganize it later into the HSRA.
📌 Revolutionary Movements
Q.26) Which veteran revolutionary leader fled to Japan and later founded the Indian Independence League to organize Indians in Southeast Asia?
Ans > Rash Behari Bose
- The Escape: Rash Behari Bose was a highly elusive, brilliant veteran revolutionary who masterminded some of the most daring anti-British plots of the early 20th century, most notably the audacious 1912 bomb assassination attempt on Viceroy Lord Hardinge in Delhi, and the massive but ultimately failed 1915 Ghadar Mutiny. To evade massive, relentless British manhunts and certain execution, he successfully fled India and sought permanent political asylum in Japan in 1915, living for years under the assumed Japanese name P.N. Thakur.
- Organizing the Diaspora: Operating safely out of Tokyo for decades, he spent his entire life heavily organizing the massive Indian expatriate communities scattered across Southeast Asia to actively support the armed freedom struggle. Recognizing the geopolitical opportunity of World War II, he formally established the Indian Independence League (IIL) in 1942.
- Passing the Baton: Crucially, he was highly instrumental in raising the very first incarnation of the Indian National Army (INA) alongside Captain Mohan Singh. Demonstrating immense grace, he later formally and voluntarily handed over the supreme leadership of both the IIL and the INA to Subhas Chandra Bose in Singapore.
📌 Revolutionary Movements
Q.27) To protest against the draconian Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Act, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a harmless bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly in which year?
Ans > 1929
- “To Make the Deaf Hear”: On April 8, 1929, the brilliant young revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt executed a highly dramatic, meticulously planned protest in Delhi that shocked the British Empire. They deliberately hurled two low-intensity, completely harmless bombs from the visitor’s gallery directly into the crowded floor of the Central Legislative Assembly. As the smoke cleared, they threw thousands of red leaflets which explicitly stated their profound motive: the action was not intended to kill or injure anyone, but rather ‘to make the deaf hear.’
- The Protested Acts: The explosive action was a highly symbolic protest against the forceful passage of two deeply unpopular, draconian laws: the Public Safety Bill (aimed at arbitrarily deporting communist organizers) and the Trade Dispute Act (aimed at severely restricting the fundamental rights of labor unions to strike).
- Courtroom as a Platform: Instead of fleeing the chaotic scene, both men bravely stood their ground, continuously shouting revolutionary slogans like ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (Long Live the Revolution), and peacefully courted arrest. They brilliantly utilized their subsequent highly publicized, national trial as a massive propaganda platform to successfully broadcast the anti-imperialist, socialist ideology of the HSRA to the entire Indian nation.
📌 Revolutionary Movements
Q.28) The Chittagong Armoury Raid of 1930, a daring revolutionary action in Bengal, was masterminded by which leader?
Ans > Surya Sen
- Master Da: The Chittagong Armoury Raid remains one of the most daring, meticulously planned, and heroic revolutionary actions in the history of Bengal. This highly audacious guerrilla strike was masterminded and flawlessly executed by Surya Sen, a deeply beloved, highly respected local school teacher who was affectionately known as ‘Master Da’ by his devoted followers.
- The Raid: On the night of April 18, 1930, Sen and his dedicated group of young men and women—operating under the banner of the Indian Republican Army (Chittagong Branch)—simultaneously attacked the main police armory and the auxiliary forces armory. They successfully captured the weapons, severed all vital telegraph and telephone communications, and completely destroyed the railway lines connecting Chittagong to the rest of India, temporarily liberating the city from British control.
- Proclaiming Independence: After capturing the armory, Surya Sen proudly hoisted the Indian national flag outside the police lines, took a formal military salute, and officially proclaimed the establishment of a Provisional Independent Revolutionary Government. Though the British army eventually crushed the uprising, Sen evaded capture for years until he was finally arrested in 1933 and brutally hanged in 1934.
📌 British Commissions
Q.29) The Simon Commission, an all-white statutory commission appointed to review the constitutional progress in India, arrived in the country in which year?
Ans > 1928
- Premature Appointment: The Government of India Act of 1919 legally mandated a comprehensive, official review of its constitutional working after exactly ten years. However, the ruling Conservative government in Britain, fearing an upcoming electoral defeat to the Labour Party, prematurely appointed the Indian Statutory Commission in November 1927, heavily led by Sir John Simon. The commission officially arrived in India in February 1928.
- The “All-White” Insult: The primary, explosive controversy surrounding this commission was its entirely ‘all-white’ composition; it consisted strictly of seven British Members of Parliament. The absolute, deliberate exclusion of any Indian members was universally seen as a massive, unforgivable insult to Indian dignity, clearly implying that Indians were intellectually and politically unfit to decide their own constitutional future or govern themselves.
- Nationwide Boycott: This blatant racism triggered massive, unified, and highly aggressive nationwide protests. The commission was greeted everywhere with coordinated black flags, massive hartals (strikes), and deafening, angry chants of ‘Simon Go Back!’ The boycott successfully and uniquely united historically divided groups, including the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League faction led by Jinnah, and various radical youth leagues across the subcontinent.
📌 Protests
Q.30) Which prominent nationalist leader died due to severe lathi blows sustained while leading a peaceful protest against the Simon Commission in Lahore?
Ans > Lala Lajpat Rai
- The Lathi Charge: On October 30, 1928, while peacefully leading a massive, heavily attended black-flag demonstration against the arrival of the all-white Simon Commission at the Lahore railway station, veteran nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai (widely revered as ‘Sher-e-Punjab’ or the Lion of Punjab) was brutally targeted by colonial police. The local Superintendent of Police, James A. Scott, ordered a completely unprovoked, highly violent lathi (baton) charge to disperse the crowd and personally assaulted the elderly Rai, striking him repeatedly on the chest.
- The Prophetic Quote: Despite being severely injured and bleeding, Lajpat Rai stood tall and delivered a roaring, deeply defiant speech that very evening, famously predicting: ‘The blows struck at me today will be the last nails in the coffin of British rule in India.’ Tragically, he never fully recovered and succumbed to his severe internal injuries on November 17, 1928.
- Vengeance by the HSRA: His tragic death massively enraged the Indian youth. Revolutionary leaders Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar of the HSRA solemnly vowed to avenge his murder by assassinating Scott. In a historical case of mistaken identity, they fatally shot John P. Saunders, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, in December 1928, an act that deeply escalated the revolutionary struggle.
📌 Quick Summary — Modern History Set 56
- Ghadar Party: Revolutionary group headquartered at Yugantar Ashram, San Francisco.
- Komagata Maru: 1914 incident where an immigrant ship was turned back by Canada.
- Annie Besant: Launched her All-India Home Rule League in September 1916 from Madras.
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Formed his restricted Home Rule League earlier in April 1916.
- Lucknow Pact (1916): Historic agreement uniting the Congress and the Muslim League.
- Congress Reunion: Ambica Charan Majumdar presided over the 1916 session readmitting extremists.
- Gandhi’s Return: Returned permanently from South Africa on January 9, 1915.
- First Public Speech: Gandhi spoke bluntly to elites at the BHU inauguration in 1916.
- Champaran Satyagraha (1917): Gandhi’s first civil disobedience against the Tinkathia indigo system.
- Rajkumar Shukla: The peasant who persistently convinced Gandhi to visit Champaran.
- Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918): Gandhi’s first use of a hunger strike (fast unto death) in India.
- Kheda Satyagraha (1918): First non-cooperation involving peasant tax-withholding; emergence of Sardar Patel.
- Rowlatt Act (1919): Known legally as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act.
- Jallianwala Bagh (1919): Dyer’s brutal massacre on Baisakhi, April 13.
- Knighthood Renounced: Rabindranath Tagore surrendered his title in protest of the massacre.
- Hunter Commission: Appointed to investigate the 1919 Punjab disorders, condemning Dyer but sparing punishment.
- Udham Singh: Assassinated Michael O’Dwyer in London in 1940 to avenge Jallianwala Bagh.
- 1919 Reforms: Introduced Dyarchy (dual governance) in the provinces.
- Khilafat Movement: Organized in Bombay in 1919 to protect the Ottoman Caliph.
- Ali Brothers: Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali spearheaded the Khilafat agitation.
- Non-Cooperation: Formally adopted by the Congress at the Nagpur session in December 1920.
- Chauri Chaura (1922): Violent mob incident on Feb 5 that led Gandhi to suspend the Non-Cooperation Movement.
- Swaraj Party: Founded in Jan 1923 by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru to enter legislative councils.
- HRA Founded: Sachindra Nath Sanyal and others established the revolutionary group in 1924.
- Kakori Robbery: 1925 train heist executed by the HRA to fund the revolution.
- Rash Behari Bose: Escaped to Japan and formed the Indian Independence League.
- Assembly Bomb (1929): Thrown by Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt to protest draconian bills.
- Chittagong Raid (1930): Daring armory capture led by Surya Sen (Master Da).
- Simon Commission: Arrived in 1928; fiercely boycotted because it had zero Indian members.
- Lala Lajpat Rai: Died from injuries sustained during a police lathi charge protesting the Simon Commission.
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