📖 PART 1: The Emergence of Nationalism

By the 1870s and 1880s, Indians began to realise that India was the people of India—all the people irrespective of class, colour, caste, creed, or gender. They realised the British were exercising control over India's resources and lives, and unless this control was ended, India could not be for Indians.

Oppressive British Laws (The Spark)

Law	Year	Impact
Arms Act	1878	Disallowed Indians from possessing arms.
Vernacular Press Act	1878	Allowed the government to confiscate the assets of newspapers if they published anything found "objectionable" against British rule.
Ilbert Bill Controversy	1883	The bill provided for the trial of British or European persons by Indian judges. But when white opposition forced the government to withdraw the bill, Indians were outraged. It highlighted the racial attitudes of the British.

Formation of the Indian National Congress (INC)

• The need for an all-India organisation of educated Indians had been felt since 1880, but the Ilbert Bill controversy deepened this desire.
• The Indian National Congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay in December 1885.
• Early leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, W.C. Bonnerjee, Surendranath Banerji. A retired British official, A.O. Hume, played a part in bringing Indians from various regions together.

🗣️ PART 2: A Nation in the Making (The Moderates)

• Political Demands: They wanted a greater voice for Indians in the government and administration. They demanded that the Legislative Councils be made more representative, and that Indians be placed in high positions in the government (holding Civil Service exams in India as well as London).
• Economic Demands: They declared British rule had led to poverty and famines due to high land revenue and the drain of wealth to Britain. They demanded reduction of revenue, cut in military expenditure, and more funds for irrigation.
• Methods: They felt the British had respect for the ideals of freedom and justice, and if Indians put forward just demands through petitions, articles, and speeches, the British would accept them.

🔥 PART 3: "Freedom is our Birthright" (The Radicals)

By the 1890s, many Indians began to raise questions about the political style of the Congress. In Bengal, Maharashtra, and Punjab, leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Lala Lajpat Rai (Lal-Bal-Pal) emerged.

• They strongly criticised the Moderates for their "politics of prayers" (petitions).
• They argued that people must rely on their own strength, not on the good intentions of the government. They must fight for Swaraj (self-rule).
• Tilak raised the famous slogan: "Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!"

The Partition of Bengal (1905)

• The partition infuriated people all over India. Both Moderates and Radicals opposed it. Huge public meetings and demonstrations were organised.
• The struggle that unfolded came to be known as the Swadeshi movement. It was strongest in Bengal but echoed elsewhere (known as Vandemataram Movement in deltaic Andhra).
• Swadeshi Movement Methods: Mass mobilisation, boycott of British institutions and goods, and setting up of national education enterprises and Swadeshi industries. Radicals advocated revolutionary violence to overthrow British rule.

The Surat Split (1907) & The Muslim League (1906)

• A group of Muslim landlords and nawabs formed the All India Muslim League at Dacca in 1906. They supported the partition of Bengal and desired separate electorates for Muslims.
• The Congress split in 1907 at Surat because the Moderates were opposed to the use of boycott and mass mobilisation, preferring constitutional methods. The two groups reunited in 1915.
• In 1916, the Congress and Muslim League signed the historic Lucknow Pact, agreeing to work together for representative government.

🚶‍♂️ PART 4: The Growth of Mass Nationalism (The Gandhi Era)

After 1919 (post WWI), the national movement became a mass movement involving peasants, tribals, students, and women.

• Economic impact of WWI: Huge rise in defence expenditure led to increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits. Prices soared, causing great difficulty for common people. Villages were forced to supply soldiers (forced recruitment).

Arrival of Mahatma Gandhi

• He spent his first year travelling throughout India, understanding the people. His earliest interventions were in Champaran (1917), Kheda (1918), and Ahmedabad (1918) where he led peaceful strikes for millworkers and peasants.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919) & Jallianwala Bagh

• In 1919, the British passed the Rowlatt Act which curbed fundamental rights like freedom of expression and strengthened police powers (allowing arrest without trial).
• Gandhi called for a nationwide Satyagraha against the Act on 6 April 1919 (observed as a day of humiliation and prayer with strikes).
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919): General Dyer ordered troops to fire on a peaceful, unarmed gathering in Amritsar on Baisakhi day, killing hundreds. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest.

Khilafat Agitation and Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22)

• Khilafat Issue: In 1920, the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan (Khalifa). Indian Muslims were furious. Leaders Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali initiated a full-fledged Non-Cooperation movement with Gandhi's support to protest against the Punjab wrongs (Jallianwala) and the Khilafat wrong, and demand swaraj.
• NCM Methods (1921-22): Thousands of students left government schools and colleges. Lawyers (Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das) gave up practices. British titles were surrendered. Legislatures were boycotted. Foreign cloth was burned in huge bonfires.
• Chauri Chaura Incident (Feb 1922): A peaceful protest turned violent when a crowd set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaura (UP), killing 22 policemen. Gandhi immediately called off the Non-Cooperation Movement as he was strictly against violence.

🚶‍♀️ PART 5: The March to Dandi (Civil Disobedience)

• Purna Swaraj (1929): Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress resolved to fight for Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) at the Lahore session. 26 January 1930 was observed as Independence Day.
• The Salt March (1930): Gandhi declared he would lead a march to break the salt law. The state had a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt. Gandhi argued that taxing salt (an essential item of food) was sinful.
• Gandhi and his followers marched over 240 miles from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi. On 6 April 1930, he broke the law by gathering natural salt and boiling seawater.
• This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Peasants, tribals, and women participated in large numbers. The government responded with brutal crushing of peaceful satyagrahis.

✊ PART 6: Quit India and Later

• The British arrested Gandhi and other leaders immediately. But the movement spread. It specially attracted peasants and the youth who gave up their studies to join it.
• Communications and symbols of state authority were attacked. In many areas people set up their own governments. The rebellion brought the British Raj to its knees.

Towards Independence and Partition

• By the 1940s, the Muslim League (led by Jinnah) had moved a resolution demanding "Independent States" for Muslims in the north-western and eastern areas of the country. They feared Muslims would always play second fiddle in any democratic structure.
• The failure of the Cabinet Mission (1946) to provide a united framework led the League to announce 16 August 1946 as "Direct Action Day" to demand Pakistan. Riots broke out in Calcutta lasting several days, resulting in thousands of deaths. Mass violence spread to northern India.
• Result: Millions were forced to flee their homes. India was eventually partitioned. A new country, Pakistan, was born. Independence Day (15 August 1947) was thus a mix of joy and the pain of immense violence and division.