Sure Shot Questions for Board Exams: Nationalism in India | Social Studies (SST) Class 10 PDF Download

Ans: 

• Rising prices: Shortages caused prices to double between 1913 and 1918, resulting in hardship for many.
  
• Higher taxes: Customs duties and taxes were raised, contributing to the cost of living.

Ans: The First World War had significant implications for India's economic and political landscape:

• Increased defence budget: The war led to higher defence spending, which was financed through loans.
• Rising prices: Shortages caused prices to double between 1913 and 1918, resulting in hardship for many.
• Higher taxes: Customs duties and taxes were raised, contributing to the cost of living.
• Forced recruitment: Many were compelled to join the army, leading to widespread discontent.
• Food shortages: Crop failures resulted in acute shortages of food items.
• Epidemic spread: An influenza epidemic caused the death of millions.

These factors fostered a sense of anger and frustration among the Indian populace, setting the stage for future movements for independence.

Ans: (i) Plantation workers had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and the notion of Swaraj. For plantation workers, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed, and it meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.

(ii) Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission, and in fact they were rarely given such permission.

(iii) When they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.

(iv) They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.

Ans: (D) III, IV, II, I

• Champaran Satyagraha (1917): Gandhi’s protest against indigo planters’ exploitation.
• Kheda Satyagraha (1918): Supported peasants against high revenue demands.
• Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919): Nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Act.
• Bardoli Satyagraha (1928): Led by Vallabhbhai Patel against revenue hikes.

Ans: Alluri led tribal resistance against British rule.

• Gudem Hills rebellion: Led armed resistance in Andhra Pradesh (1922–24) against British forest laws, inspired by Gandhi’s ideas.
• Tribal mobilization: United tribes using guerrilla tactics, challenging colonial authority.
• Nationalist inspiration: His rebellion, though localized, symbolized broader anti-colonial resistance.

Ans: People's understanding of nation was of modern states, having centralized powers exercising sovereign control over their own territory.

Ans: The growth of modern nationalism in India was intimately connected to the anti-colonial movement. The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond that tied different groups together. The Congress under Mahatma Gandhi tried to unite these groups within one movement.
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Ans: Anti-colonial movements helped Indians feel united and gave birth to modern nationalism:

• Common struggle against British: People opposed repressive laws like the Rowlatt Act (1919). Gandhi’s Satyagraha brought people together across regions.

• Mass movements: The Indian National Congress, under Gandhi, launched Non-Cooperation (1920–22) where millions boycotted schools, courts, and foreign goods.

• Unity in diversity: Hindus, Muslims, peasants, workers, and students all participated, which created a collective Indian identity.

• Idea of Swaraj: The movements spread the idea that Indians should rule themselves and not accept foreign domination.

Ans: People in India developed a sense of collective belonging through their shared experiences and struggles with colonialism. The anti-colonial movement brought different groups together, despite their varied experiences and notions of freedom. The Congress under Mahatma Gandhi played a crucial role in forging these groups together within one movement, although there were conflicts along the way. Additionally, history, folklore, and new symbols and icons helped redefine the boundaries of communities and create a sense of collective belonging. 

Ans: 

Contribution of Gandhiji towards Satyagraha:

• The concept of satyagraha highlighted the power of truth and the importance of seeking it.
• It proposed that if a cause is just and the struggle is against injustice, physical force is unnecessary.
• A satyagrahi could achieve victory through non-violence, appealing to the conscience of the oppressor.
• Persuasion, rather than coercion, was key to making oppressors recognise the truth.
• Gandhi believed that this principle of non-violence could unite all Indians.

After returning to India, Gandhi led several successful satyagraha movements:

• In 1917, he inspired peasants in Champaran, Bihar, to resist oppressive plantation practices.
• He organised a movement in Kheda, Gujarat, where peasants faced crop failure and were unable to pay taxes.
• In 1918, he initiated a satyagraha among cotton mill workers in Ahmedabad.

Gandhi's approach was rooted in the belief that non-violence is the supreme duty, and he demonstrated this through his actions and teachings.

Ans: (B) IV, II, III, I

• Chauri-Chaura (1922): Violent incident led to Non-Cooperation’s withdrawal.
• Simon Commission (1928): Arrived to propose constitutional reforms, faced protests.
• Dandi March (1930): Launched Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Second Round Table Conference (1931): Gandhi attended to negotiate reforms.

Ans: For plantation workers in Assam, Swaraj (freedom) meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space of the tea gardens where they were enclosed. It also meant retaining a link with their native village. These workers were restricted by the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, which prohibited them from leaving the tea gardens without permission. However, upon hearing about the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations, and headed home with the belief that Gandhi Raj (rule) was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.

Ans: The Inland Emigration Act of 1859 served as a barrier to the freedom of plantation workers in Assam. This act prohibited them from leaving the tea gardens without permission, which was rarely granted. It confined the workers to the plantations and restricted their movement, denying them the freedom to return to their native villages or explore opportunities outside the gardens.

Ans: The participation of workers in the Non-Cooperation Movement had a significant outcome:

• Thousands of plantation workers in Assam defied colonial authorities.
• They left the tea gardens, believing that Gandhi Raj would grant them land in their villages.
• However, their journey was interrupted by a railway and steamer strike.
• Many were arrested by the police and faced brutal beatings.
• Despite not reaching their destination, their actions demonstrated their defiance against colonial rule.
• This participation reflected their aspirations for a better future.

(ii) The British saw Indians as backward and primitive.

(iii) In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements.

(iv) They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade flourished.

(v) This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline when India was colonised.

(vi) These nationalist histories advocated the readers to be proud of India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

(vii) A growing anger against the colonial government and hope of reviving the glorious past infused a strong sense of patriotism in Indians.

(viii) They fought back for their rights and finally, in 1947 achieved it in form of independence and freedom from British Raj.

1. People who had left their jobs, colleges to support this movement had to come back because they had to support their families and themselves. So they came back to their jobs. People found the use of khadi to be expensive and so started buying British factory-made textiles again.

2. There was widespread violence too. Due to the incident known as Chaura-Chauri, Gandhiji was compelled to stop this movement.

3. Also, Gandhiji felt that the people of India are not ready for this type of mass satyagraha movement.

Ans: 

Congress's reluctance to allow women in authority:

• For a long time, Congress believed that women's primary role was to care for the home and family.
• Gandhiji viewed women as essential as mothers and wives, limiting their roles in leadership.
• Congress was mainly interested in having women present for symbolic purposes.

Women's participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement:

• During the Salt March, many women left their homes to listen to Gandhiji.
• Women took part in protest marches, made salt, and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops.
• Some women even faced imprisonment for their involvement.

Ans: In the Civil Disobedience Movement different social groups were involved. They were :

Industrial working class - They did not participate in large numbers. The workers who participated followed Gandhian strategy and boycotted foreign goods. They did not participate with the Congress.

Rich peasants - Rich peasants particularly the Patidars of Gujrat and the Jats of U.P. were active in the movement. They organized communities and also participated in the boycott movement of Gandhi. For them fight for Swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.

Poor peasants - Poor peasants were the small tenants who cultivated on rented lands. They participated in the movement to fight against the rich landlords. They joined the movement led by Socialists and Communists.

Business class - Businessmen joined the movement in order to get protection against import of foreign goods. However, the failure of Round Table Conference curbed their enthusiasm in the movement.

Muslims joined the movement to raise their demand of greater representation since they felt alienated from the Congress.

Ans:

• Mahatma Gandhi found salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On 31st January 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating wide-ranging eleven demands.
• All classes of Indian society identified with the broad-ranging demands. The most stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax.
• Salt was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production revealed the most oppressive face of British rule.
• In the Dandi march, the volunteers walked for 24 days, about 10 miles a day. Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi wherever he stopped, and he told them what he meant by swaraj and urged them to peacefully defy the British.
• On 6th April, he reached Dandi and ceremonially violated the law by manufacturing salt from boiling seawater. This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• People were now asked not only to refuse cooperation with the British, as they had done in 1921-22, but also to break colonial laws.
• Thousands of people broke the salt law in different parts of the country, manufactured salt, and demonstrated in front of government salt factories.
• As the movement spread, foreign cloth was boycotted, and liquor shops were picketed. Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes, village officials resigned, and in many places, forest people violated forest laws.

Ans: Gandhiji opposed the British salt tax and its monopoly over its production. He demanded the abolition of the salt tax. To protest against this unjust law, he organized the famous Dandi March, where he and his followers marched to the Arabian Sea and made their own salt by evaporating seawater.

Ans: The rich peasants supported the Civil Disobedience Movement due to several key reasons:

• They were hit hard by the trade depression and falling prices of commercial crops.
• As producers, they faced significant economic hardships.
• They viewed the movement as a way to combat the exploitation and oppression they experienced.
• The refusal of the government to reduce revenue demands led to widespread resentment.

These factors motivated them to actively participate and organise their communities in support of the movement.

Ans: (b)

(1) Formation of Swaraj Party: 1 January 1923 

(2) Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress: 31 December 1929 

(3) Formation of Depressed Class Association: August 1930 

(4) Gandhi-Irwin Pact: 5 March 1931

Ans: The Civil Disobedience Movement had certain limitations, including:

(a) Lack of industrialists' participation: The industrialists did not actively participate in the movement, which affected its economic impact.

(b) Limited demands of workers: The Congress was reluctant to include the demands of workers as part of its program of struggle, which limited the scope of the movement.

Ans:

(i) The nationalist histories urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

(ii) In the nineteenth century the Indian nationalists began recording folk songs sung by bards and they toured different villages to gather folk songs and legends.

(iii) They believe that tales give a true picture of traditional culture that has been corrupted and damaged by outsiders.

(iv) Indians began to look into the past to discover India’s greatest achievements.

(v) They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade flourished.