Civil Disobedience Movement and the Dandi March, Class 10
Updated 14 October 2026 · Fact-checked
The Civil Disobedience Movement began when Gandhiji broke the salt law at Dandi on 6 April 1930. Unlike Non-Cooperation, people were asked to break colonial laws. The board asks about the causes, why salt was chosen, how rich peasants, poor peasants, business classes, workers and women took part, and why dalits and many Muslims stayed away.
Notice that three pressures built up by 1930, and Gandhiji chose salt, which everyone needed, to start the march from Sabarmati to Dandi.
Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.
Understand Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March
The Civil Disobedience Movement was a major mass movement led by Gandhiji after the Non-Cooperation Movement. To understand it, start with the late 1920s. Two forces pushed Indian politics forward. The first was the worldwide economic depression. Agricultural prices began falling from 1926 and collapsed after 1930. Peasants could not sell their harvests or pay revenue, so by 1930 the countryside was in turmoil. The second was the Simon Commission. It reached India in 1928 and had no Indian member, so all parties, including the Congress and the Muslim League, greeted it with 'Go back Simon'.
Lord Irwin's vague offer of 'dominion status' in October 1929 did not satisfy the Congress. In December 1929, the Lahore Congress under Jawaharlal Nehru demanded Purna Swaraj, or full independence. It declared that 26 January 1930 would be celebrated as Independence Day. But the celebrations drew little attention, because complete freedom felt abstract. Gandhiji needed to link freedom to everyday life.
He chose salt. Rich and poor both ate it, and it was an essential food. Gandhiji argued that the salt tax, and the state's control over who could make salt, showed British rule at its harshest. On 31 January 1930, he sent Irwin a letter with eleven demands. They were wide-ranging so that every class could identify with them. The letter was an ultimatum: meet the demands by 11 March or face civil disobedience. Irwin refused. So Gandhiji walked with 78 volunteers for 24 days, over 240 miles, from Sabarmati to Dandi. On 6 April he made salt by boiling sea water.
The key difference from Non-Cooperation is this: people now broke colonial laws, not just refused cooperation. Thousands made salt and protested at government salt factories. Foreign cloth was boycotted and liquor shops picketed. Peasants refused revenue and chaukidari taxes, village officials resigned, and forest people entered Reserved Forests. The government arrested leaders and answered with brutal repression. About 100,000 people were arrested. Gandhiji called off the movement through the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 5 March 1931. The second Round Table Conference failed, and the movement was relaunched in 1932. It had lost momentum by 1934.
Not every nationalist accepted non-violence. A group of young revolutionaries, convinced that peaceful means would never remove the British, met at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi in 1928 and set up the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA), with leaders such as Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das and Ajoy Ghosh. They planned dramatic strikes against whatever stood for British power across India: in April 1929 Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta hurled a bomb into the Legislative Assembly, and later that year there was a bid to blow up a train carrying Lord Irwin. Bhagat Singh was only 23 when the colonial government tried and executed him. At his trial he said he did not want to glorify 'the cult of the bomb and pistol'; what he sought was a revolution in society. So the struggle had more than one strand, and some believed force was needed.
The last idea links back to the chapter's main theme: swaraj meant different things to different groups. Rich peasants wanted lower revenue. Business classes wanted freedom from colonial restrictions on trade. Women joined in large numbers but gained little authority. Industrial workers mostly stayed aloof, except in the Nagpur region, though some used Gandhian ideas like boycott in their own fight against low wages and poor working conditions: railway workers struck in 1930, dockworkers in 1932, and in 1930 thousands of Chotanagpur tin mine workers wore Gandhi caps and joined rallies and boycotts. Poor peasants, workers, dalits and many Muslims had demands the Congress could not or would not fully take up. For Muslims, hopes of a Congress-Muslim League understanding had risen in 1927, when Muhammad Ali Jinnah was willing to give up separate electorates if Muslims were promised reserved seats in the Central Assembly and seats in proportion to their population in Bengal and Punjab. The effort collapsed at the All Parties Conference of 1928, and in 1930 Sir Muhammad Iqbal, as president of the Muslim League, again stressed separate electorates as a safeguard for Muslims as a minority. These were the limits of the movement.
Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March: key facts
- Causes of Civil Disobedience
Depression prices fell from 1926, collapsed after 1930 Simon Commission (1928) all-British Lahore Congress (December 1929) Purna Swaraj demand - Use for 'why was the movement launched' questions.
- Letter to Irwin
- 31 January 1930: eleven demands, including abolition of the salt tax; deadline 11 March
- Shows Gandhiji's strategy of uniting all classes.
- Dandi March
Volunteers 78 Distance over 240 miles, Sabarmati to Dandi Duration 24 days (about 10 miles a day) Salt made 6 April 1930 - Map item: Dandi is a coastal town in Gujarat, reached from Sabarmati.
- Repression
- Abdul Ghaffar Khan arrested April 1930 (Peshawar protests); Sholapur workers' attacks after Gandhiji's arrest; about 100,000 arrested
- Use to explain why Gandhiji called off the movement.
- Gandhi-Irwin Pact
- 5 March 1931: Gandhiji agreed to attend the Round Table Conference in London; political prisoners released
- Second Round Table Conference December 1931 failed; relaunched 1932; lost momentum by 1934.
- Business classes
- Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress (1920), FICCI (1927); led by Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla
- Wanted protection from imports and a rupee-sterling ratio that discouraged imports.
- Industrial workers
Overall mostly aloof, except in the Nagpur region Railway workers strikes 1930 Dockworkers strikes 1932 Chotanagpur tin mine workers Gandhi caps, rallies and boycotts, 1930 - Congress kept workers' demands out, fearing it would alienate industrialists and divide anti-imperial forces.
- HSRA
Founded 1928, Ferozeshah Kotla ground, Delhi Leaders Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das, Ajoy Ghosh April 1929 bomb in the Legislative Assembly - Bhagat Singh did not wish to glorify 'the cult of the bomb and pistol'; he wanted a revolution in society.
- Poona Pact
- September 1932: Depressed Classes got reserved seats, voted in by the general electorate
- Ambedkar had demanded separate electorates; Gandhiji fasted unto death against them.
- Congress-League unity talks
- In 1927 it appeared Congress-Muslim League unity could be forged; the dispute was over representation in future assemblies
- Hope ended at the All Parties Conference of 1928 when M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha opposed compromise.
- Madras session, 1927
- A Congress session held at Madras in 1927
- Map item only: be ready to locate and label Madras on an outline map.
How to answer Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March questions
Board questions here ask you to explain, compare or analyse. Marks go for clear, separate value points, each backed by a fact from the NCERT text.
- 1Read the command word: 'explain' needs reasons, 'analyse' needs reasons with effects, 'compare' needs points on both sides.
- 2Give one value point per mark, and start each point with a bold idea such as 'Salt was used by all'.
- 3Back every point with an NCERT fact: 78 volunteers, 240 miles, 6 April 1930, Patidars and Jats, FICCI 1927, Poona Pact 1932.
- 4For 'why groups joined', name the group, its problem and what swaraj meant to it.
- 5For 'limits', name who stayed away (dalits, many Muslims, most workers, poor peasants' demands) and give the reason.
- 6For comparison with Non-Cooperation, state the key difference: refusing cooperation versus breaking colonial laws.
- 7Keep within word limits: 60 words for 3 marks, 120 for 5 marks.
Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March in real life
The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.
Why salt was a powerful symbol
Suppose students in your school want to protest against a new rule. One group suggests protesting about a fee charged only for the swimming pool, which few students use. Another suggests protesting about a charge on drinking water in classrooms, which every student uses.
Using the idea behind Gandhiji's choice of salt, decide which issue would unite more students and explain why. (3 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Recall why Gandhiji chose salt: used by rich and poor alike.
- Compare: the pool fee affects a few, the water charge affects everyone.
- Link: a shared everyday need makes an abstract cause concrete and unites all groups.
Answer: The drinking water charge would unite more students. Like salt, water is needed by every student, rich or poor, so all can relate to the protest. The pool fee affects only a few. Gandhiji chose salt because an everyday need turned abstract freedom into a cause everyone shared.
Memory hook: What everyone uses, everyone defends.
How participants saw the movement
Imagine a gram sabha meeting where everyone backs a campaign for 'a better village'. A big landowner hopes for lower land tax, a tenant farmer hopes rent will be cancelled, and a shopkeeper hopes for fewer market rules.
Compare this situation with how rich peasants, poor peasants and business classes saw swaraj in the Civil Disobedience Movement. (3 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Rich peasants: swaraj meant lower revenue.
- Poor peasants: wanted unpaid rent to landlords remitted.
- Business classes: swaraj meant no colonial restrictions on trade and industry.
Answer: Like the villagers, each group in 1930 read swaraj its own way. Rich peasants like the Patidars and Jats wanted lower revenue. Poor tenants wanted unpaid rent remitted. Business groups wanted colonial restrictions on trade removed. One slogan united them, but different hopes later caused disunity.
Memory hook: One slogan, many meanings.
Tricks to remember Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March
Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.
Dandi numbers: 78-240-24, then 6 April
78 volunteers walked over 240 miles in 24 days; salt was made on 6 April 1930. The 6 is the date, not the sixth day.
Use it when: MCQs that swap the numbers.
Three causes: D-S-L
Depression, Simon Commission, Lahore (Purna Swaraj). 'Don't Stop Lahore'.
Use it when: Opening lines of any 'why was CDM launched' answer.
Groups that held back: D-M-W
Dalits, Muslims, Workers: 'Did Many Wait?'
Use it when: 5-mark answers on the limits of Civil Disobedience.
NCM vs CDM
Non-Cooperation said 'Don't help'; Civil Disobedience said 'Don't obey'.
Use it when: Comparison questions.
Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March: solved examples
Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.
Example 1: Gandhi-Irwin Pact · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Which of the following was agreed in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 5 March 1931?
(a) Gandhiji agreed to attend a Round Table Conference and political prisoners were to be released
(b) Dalits received separate electorates
(c) India was granted dominion status
(d) The salt tax was abolished
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Recall: by the pact Gandhiji consented to attend the Round Table Conference in London and the government agreed to release political prisoners (1 mark).
Answer: (a) Gandhiji agreed to attend a Round Table Conference and political prisoners were to be released.
Example 2: From an abstract pledge to a mass movement · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
The Independence Day celebrations of 26 January 1930 attracted very little attention. Evaluate how Gandhiji's eleven demands and his choice of salt helped turn the abstract idea of Purna Swaraj into a mass movement. (3 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- The Lahore pledge felt abstract; the eleven demands covered issues of national concern and the needs of particular groups such as factory owners and farmers, so all could identify with them (1 mark).
- Salt was eaten by rich and poor alike and was an essential food, so the salt tax and government monopoly made British oppression concrete for everyone (1 mark).
- Breaking the salt law at Dandi on 6 April 1930 drew thousands into open law-breaking across India, turning the idea into action (1 mark).
Answer: The Lahore pledge felt abstract, so it drew little attention. Gandhiji's eleven demands covered national issues and the needs of groups such as factory owners and farmers, so all could identify with them. Salt, used by rich and poor alike, made the cause concrete, and its tax exposed oppressive British rule. Breaking the salt law at Dandi drew thousands into open law-breaking.
Example 3: Why business support weakened · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Indian business classes supported the Civil Disobedience Movement when it was launched, but after 1931 they were no longer uniformly enthusiastic. Explain why they joined and why their support weakened. Answer in about 120 words. (5 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Wartime profits made merchants and industrialists powerful; they wanted to expand and opposed colonial policies restricting business (1 mark).
- They wanted protection against foreign imports and a rupee-sterling ratio that discouraged imports (1 mark).
- Organised through FICCI (1927) under Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla, they gave financial help and refused to buy or sell imported goods, seeing swaraj as freedom from restrictions (1 mark).
- After the Round Table Conference failed, they feared the spread of militant activities and prolonged disruption of business (1 mark).
- They also worried about the growing influence of socialism among younger Congress members (1 mark).
Answer: Indian merchants and industrialists had made huge profits during the First World War and wanted to expand business. They opposed colonial policies that restricted business, seeking protection against foreign imports and a rupee-sterling ratio that discouraged imports. Organised through FICCI (1927) under Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla, they gave financial help and refused to buy or sell imported goods, seeing swaraj as freedom from colonial restrictions. After the Round Table Conference failed in 1931, their enthusiasm faded. They feared the spread of militant activities and prolonged disruption of business. They also worried about the growing influence of socialism among younger Congress members.
Example 4: Limits of Civil Disobedience · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
'Not all social groups were moved by the abstract concept of swaraj.' Explain with reference to dalits and Muslims during the Civil Disobedience Movement. (5 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Congress had long ignored dalits for fear of offending sanatanis; Gandhiji's harijan campaigns did not satisfy dalit leaders (1 mark).
- Dalit leaders wanted reserved seats and separate electorates, believing political power would end social disabilities; participation was limited in Maharashtra and Nagpur (1 mark).
- Ambedkar clashed with Gandhiji at the second Round Table Conference; Gandhiji's fast led to the Poona Pact, 1932, with reserved seats but a general electorate (1 mark).
- After Khilafat declined, many Muslims felt alienated; the Congress was linked with the Hindu Mahasabha and communal riots deepened the gap (1 mark).
- Unity talks failed in 1928 when M.R. Jayakar opposed compromise; Muslims feared domination by a Hindu majority (1 mark).
Answer: Dalits had long been ignored by the Congress, which feared offending conservative high-caste Hindus. Gandhiji's harijan campaigns did not satisfy dalit leaders, who sought political power through reserved seats and separate electorates, so participation was limited, especially in Maharashtra and Nagpur. Ambedkar demanded separate electorates at the second Round Table Conference; Gandhiji's fast unto death led to the Poona Pact (1932), giving reserved seats voted by the general electorate. Many Muslims felt alienated after Khilafat declined, as the Congress grew linked with the Hindu Mahasabha and communal riots spread. Unity hopes ended in 1928 when M.R. Jayakar opposed compromise, and Muslims feared a Hindu majority would submerge their culture.
Example 5: Source: the march to Dandi · 4 marks · Source-basedBoard level
Read the source and answer the questions.
In early 1930, Gandhiji wrote to the Viceroy listing eleven demands. A few were of national concern, and others spoke for groups such as factory owners and farmers. The sharpest demand was to end the salt tax. When the Viceroy refused to talk, Gandhiji set out from his ashram at Sabarmati with 78 trusted volunteers. They walked about ten miles each day for 24 days to reach the coast at Dandi. At every halt, crowds gathered to hear him explain swaraj and urge peaceful defiance. On 6 April he boiled sea water and made salt, breaking the law in public. Soon people across the country were making salt, boycotting foreign cloth and refusing to pay taxes.
(i) Why were the eleven demands made wide-ranging? (1)
(ii) Name the movement that began with this act. (1)
(iii) How was this movement different from the Non-Cooperation Movement? Give two points. (2)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- (i) So that all classes could identify with them and join one united campaign (1 mark).
- (ii) The Civil Disobedience Movement (1 mark).
- (iii) Non-Cooperation asked people only to refuse cooperation (giving up titles, boycotting institutions and foreign goods); Civil Disobedience asked them to break colonial laws (1 mark).
- (iii) The law-breaking took concrete new forms: making salt against the salt law, refusing revenue and chaukidari taxes, and entering Reserved Forests against forest laws (1 mark).
Answer: (i) To let every class identify with them and unite in one campaign. (ii) Civil Disobedience Movement. (iii) Non-Cooperation asked people only to refuse cooperation, such as boycotting institutions and foreign goods; Civil Disobedience asked them to break colonial laws. This meant concrete defiance: making salt against the salt law, refusing revenue and chaukidari taxes, and entering Reserved Forests against forest laws.
Example 6: Case: the HSRA and Bhagat Singh · 4 marks · Case-basedHarder board level
Read the passage and answer the questions.
Some young nationalists had lost faith that peaceful protest alone would ever make the British leave. Meeting at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi in 1928, they formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA); Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das and Ajoy Ghosh were among its leaders. Their plan was to strike at whatever stood for British power. In April 1929 two of them, Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta, hurled a bomb into the Legislative Assembly, and within the same year someone tried to blow up a train in which Lord Irwin was travelling. Bhagat Singh was executed at 23. Facing trial, he said he had no wish to glorify the cult of the bomb and pistol; he wanted society itself to be transformed.
(i) When and where was the HSRA founded? (1)
(ii) Name one action of the HSRA that targeted a symbol of British power. (1)
(iii) Compare the HSRA's methods with Gandhiji's idea of satyagraha, and explain what Bhagat Singh's statement at his trial shows about his real aim. (2)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- (i) In 1928, at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi (1 mark).
- (ii) Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta threw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly in April 1929 (or the attempt to blow up Lord Irwin's train) (1 mark).
- (iii) Satyagraha used non-violence and appealed to the oppressor's conscience; the HSRA believed the struggle could not be won through non-violence and attacked symbols of British power (1 mark).
- (iii) His statement shows that violence was not an end in itself for him; his real aim was a revolution in society (1 mark).
Answer: (i) In 1928, at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, Delhi. (ii) The bomb thrown in the Legislative Assembly by Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta in April 1929. (iii) Satyagraha relied on non-violence and appealing to the oppressor's conscience, while the HSRA believed non-violence could not win and struck at symbols of British power. Yet Bhagat Singh did not glorify the bomb and pistol; his real aim was a revolution in society.
Where students lose marks in Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March
The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.
Mistake: Mixing up the two movements
Both involved boycotts, so students treat them as the same.
Wrong working
Civil Disobedience also asked people to stop cooperating with the British.
Right working
Civil Disobedience asked people not only to refuse cooperation but to break colonial laws, such as the salt law.
Do this: Always name law-breaking as the key difference.
Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks in comparison answers.
Mistake: Getting the Poona Pact wrong
Students remember Ambedkar's demand, not the outcome.
Wrong working
The Poona Pact gave dalits separate electorates.
Right working
It gave reserved seats in provincial and central councils, voted in by the general electorate.
Do this: Remember: reserved seats yes, separate electorates no.
Usually costs: 1 mark in MCQs; a point in 5-mark answers.
Mistake: Wrong Dandi facts
Numbers get swapped under pressure.
Wrong working
Gandhiji walked 24 miles with 240 volunteers.
Right working
78 volunteers, over 240 miles, 24 days, salt made on 6 April 1930.
Do this: Use the 78-240-24 sequence, and remember 6 April is the date, not a day count.
Usually costs: 1 mark per wrong fact.
Mistake: Listing groups without reasons
Students name groups but not what swaraj meant to them.
Wrong working
Rich peasants, businessmen and women joined the movement.
Right working
Rich peasants joined because falling prices made revenue unpayable; businessmen wanted freedom from colonial trade restrictions.
Do this: Group + problem + meaning of swaraj in every point.
Usually costs: Up to half the marks in a 5-mark answer.
Exam tips
- In 'analyse' questions, give both the reason a group joined and why it later held back.
- Quote precise NCERT facts like FICCI 1927, Patidars and Jats, Peshawar and Sholapur.
- For map questions, Dandi is a coastal town in Gujarat, reached from Sabarmati; Madras 1927 is simply a Congress session location to mark and label.
- Source passages often describe the march without naming it; spot clues like salt, Sabarmati and 78 volunteers.
- Keep 5-mark answers to five separate points within 120 words.
Practice questions on Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March
Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.
Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Which statement best explains why most industrial workers stayed away from the Civil Disobedience Movement?
(a) As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workers kept aloof.
(b) Gandhiji asked workers not to join the movement.
(c) Workers had already won higher wages in 1930.
(d) The movement did not reach any industrial town.Hint
Think about who was drawing closer to the Congress at the time.
Answer
(a) As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workers kept aloof. Only in the Nagpur region did they join in large numbers.
Q2 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonBoard level
Assertion (A): Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was limited, particularly in the Maharashtra and Nagpur region.
Reason (R): Gandhiji called the 'untouchables' harijan and organised satyagraha to secure them entry into temples.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.Hint
Both statements are true. Did Gandhiji's harijan campaign cause dalits to stay away, or was it something dalit leaders wanted instead?
Answer
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A. Participation was limited because dalit leaders wanted a political solution, reserved seats and separate electorates, and their organisation was strong in that region.
Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level
Explain why rich peasants supported the Civil Disobedience Movement but many refused to join it in 1932. (3 marks)
Hint
Think of commercial crops, the depression and the 1931 pact.
Answer
Rich peasants like the Patidars and Jats grew commercial crops and were hit by falling prices, so they could not pay revenue. For them swaraj meant lower revenue. When the movement was called off in 1931 without revised rates, they felt let down and many refused to rejoin in 1932.
Q4 · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level
Describe the role of women in the Civil Disobedience Movement and the limits of that role. (3 marks)
Hint
Actions, background, Congress attitude.
Answer
Thousands of women came out to hear Gandhiji, joined marches, made salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops; many went to jail. They came from high-caste urban and rich rural families. But the Congress was reluctant to give them positions of authority, keen only on their symbolic presence.
Q5 · 5 marks · Long answerBoard level
Describe the causes and course of the Civil Disobedience Movement from 1928 to 1934. (5 marks)
Hint
Depression, Simon, Lahore, Dandi, spread, repression, pact, relaunch.
Answer
Falling agricultural prices from 1926 left peasants unable to pay revenue. The all-British Simon Commission (1928) met 'Go back Simon' protests. The Lahore Congress (1929) demanded Purna Swaraj. After Irwin ignored his eleven demands, Gandhiji marched to Dandi and made salt on 6 April 1930. People broke salt and forest laws and refused taxes. Repression followed, with about 100,000 arrests. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) paused it; after the second Round Table Conference failed, it was relaunched in 1932 and lost momentum by 1934.
Q6 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Evaluate how far the Congress met the hopes of (a) poor peasants and (b) industrial workers during the Civil Disobedience Movement. (5 marks)
Hint
For each group: what it wanted, what it did, how the Congress responded and why.
Answer
The Congress met these hopes only partly. Poor peasants were small tenants who, as cash incomes fell in the Depression, could not pay rent; they wanted unpaid rent remitted. The Congress refused to back 'no rent' campaigns in most places, fearing it would upset rich peasants and landlords, so poor peasants joined radical movements led by Socialists and Communists. Industrial workers wanted relief from low wages and poor working conditions. Some workers adopted ideas such as boycott in their own protests, and there were railway strikes in 1930, dockworkers' strikes in 1932 and Gandhi-capped rallies by Chotanagpur tin mine workers. But the Congress kept workers' demands out, fearing it would alienate industrialists and divide anti-imperial forces. So both groups' ties with the Congress stayed weak.
Q7 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
A student says: 'The Congress failed in Civil Disobedience because it ignored the poor.' Evaluate this using the cases of poor peasants and the Congress's reasons. (3 marks)
Hint
What did poor tenants want and why did the Congress hesitate?
Answer
Partly true. Poor tenants wanted unpaid rent remitted and joined radical movements led by Socialists and Communists. The Congress avoided 'no rent' campaigns because it feared upsetting rich peasants and landlords. It tried to keep all groups united, so its relationship with poor peasants stayed uncertain rather than one of simple neglect.
Q8 · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level
Read the source and answer the questions.
On 26 January 1930, people across India were asked to take a pledge. It said that Indians, like any other people, had a right to be free, to enjoy what their work produced and to have the basic needs of life. It argued that when a government takes away such rights and oppresses people, they may change it or end it. The pledge charged British rule with exploiting the masses and ruining India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually, and so called for cutting the British connection and gaining Purna Swaraj. The Lahore Congress, held in December 1929 under Jawaharlal Nehru, had fixed this day as Independence Day. Yet the celebrations attracted very little attention.
(i) According to the pledge, what right do people have if a government oppresses them? (1)
(ii) Which Congress session fixed this day as Independence Day, and who presided over it? (1)
(iii) Why did Gandhiji need a concrete issue like salt after these celebrations? Give two points. (2)Hint
Look at the last line of the passage: why did the idea fail to move people, and what could salt add?
Answer
(i) The right to alter or abolish that government. (ii) The Lahore Congress of December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru. (iii) Complete freedom was an abstract idea, so the celebrations drew little attention; Gandhiji had to link it to everyday life. Salt was used by rich and poor alike, and its tax and government monopoly showed oppressive British rule, so all classes could join one struggle.
Q9 · 2 marks · Map workBoard level
On an outline map of India, locate and label: (A) the place where Gandhiji broke the salt law on 6 April 1930; (B) the place where the Congress held its session in 1927. (2 marks)
Hint
A is a coastal town in Gujarat; B is a city on the south-eastern coast.
Answer
(A) Dandi, on the Gujarat coast (1 mark). (B) Madras, the 1927 Congress session (1 mark). Mark each with a dot and write the name beside it.
Q10 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Compare how rich peasants, business classes and industrial workers judged the Civil Disobedience Movement, and give your verdict on why the movement could not hold all three together. (5 marks)
Hint
For each group: what it wanted, how it acted, and when or why its support cooled. Then explain the Congress's balancing act.
Answer
Value points:
- Rich peasants (Patidars, Jats): hit by falling prices, they wanted revenue cut and were keen organisers, but felt let down when the movement ended in 1931 without revised revenue; many stayed out in 1932 (1).
- Business classes: wanted protection from imports and a rupee-sterling ratio that discouraged imports; through FICCI they gave money and refused imported goods, but after the Round Table Conference failed they feared militancy, disruption and socialism (1).
- Workers: mostly kept aloof except in the Nagpur region; some used ideas like boycott in their own fight over wages and conditions, but the Congress left their demands out (1).
- Pattern: each group judged the movement by its own interest, so support rose and fell with what it delivered (1).
- Verdict: to keep a broad front, the Congress avoided demands that would upset one group (no-rent campaigns, workers' demands), which kept it united for a time but meant unity broke down when interests clashed (1).
Model answer: Rich peasants such as the Patidars and Jats joined because falling prices made revenue unpayable; when the movement ended in 1931 without lower revenue, many stayed out in 1932. Business groups, organised in FICCI, funded the movement and boycotted imports to gain freedom from colonial restrictions, but cooled after the Round Table Conference failed, fearing militancy and socialism. Most workers kept aloof, as the Congress, close to industrialists, left their demands out. Each group measured the movement by its own interest. In trying not to offend any one group, the Congress kept a broad front, but it could not stop that unity from breaking when interests clashed.
Q11 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Why did Gandhiji call off the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1931, and what does the Gandhi-Irwin Pact show about his strategy? (3 marks)
Hint
Look at what happened after the arrests in 1930, then at what each side gained from the pact and what Gandhiji did in 1932.
Answer
Value points:
- Violence and repression: after Abdul Ghaffar Khan's arrest, crowds in Peshawar faced police firing; after Gandhiji's own arrest, Sholapur workers attacked buildings that stood for British rule; the government beat peaceful satyagrahis, women and children and arrested about 100,000 people (1).
- The pact (5 March 1931): Gandhiji agreed to attend the Round Table Conference in London, and the government agreed to release political prisoners (1).
- Strategy (inference): Gandhiji moved between struggle and negotiation; when violence and repression put non-violence at risk he paused and talked, but kept the option of mass action, relaunching the movement in 1932 when talks failed (1).
Q12 · 4 marks · Source-basedHOTS / competency
Read the source and answer the questions.
From around the 1930s, many of those whom society called 'untouchables' began to describe themselves as dalit, meaning oppressed. Gandhiji named them harijan, children of God. He led satyagrahas so that they could enter temples and use public wells, tanks, roads and schools, cleaned toilets himself to give dignity to the sweepers' work, and urged upper castes to give up untouchability. Many dalit leaders looked for a different answer. They organised themselves and asked for seats set aside for them in schools and colleges, and for a separate electorate to elect dalit members to the legislative councils. At the second Round Table Conference, Dr B.R. Ambedkar pressed this demand, and when the British accepted it, Gandhiji began a fast unto death.
(i) What did dalit leaders believe would end their social disabilities? (1)
(ii) Why did Gandhiji oppose separate electorates for dalits? (1)
(iii) Infer why Gandhiji's campaign against untouchability did not bring wide dalit participation in Civil Disobedience. (2)Hint
For (ii) use the chapter, not the passage. For (iii), compare a change of heart among upper castes with political power for dalits themselves.
Answer
(i) Political empowerment: reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate electorate for the councils (1). (ii) He believed separate electorates would slow down the integration of dalits into society (1). (iii) Gandhiji's campaign sought a change of heart among upper castes, while dalit leaders wanted political power of their own to end their disabilities (1). The Congress had long ignored dalits for fear of offending conservative high-caste Hindus, and dalit organisation was strong in Maharashtra and Nagpur, so participation stayed limited and dalits remained wary of the Congress even after the Poona Pact (1).
Test your recall
Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.
1.When and where did Gandhiji break the salt law?Show answer
At Dandi on 6 April 1930.
2.Which Congress session demanded Purna Swaraj?Show answer
Lahore, December 1929, under Jawaharlal Nehru.
3.Which rich peasant communities joined Civil Disobedience?Show answer
Patidars of Gujarat and Jats of Uttar Pradesh.
4.Who founded the Depressed Classes Association in 1930?Show answer
Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
5.Where did industrial workers join in large numbers?Show answer
Only in the Nagpur region.
6.What was the Gandhi-Irwin Pact's date?Show answer
5 March 1931.
Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March: frequently asked questions
Why did Gandhiji choose salt for the movement?
Salt was used by rich and poor alike and was an essential food. The salt tax and the government monopoly over making salt showed the harshness of British rule, so everyone could relate to the protest.
How is Civil Disobedience different from Non-Cooperation?
In Non-Cooperation people refused to cooperate with the British. In Civil Disobedience they also broke colonial laws, for example by making salt, refusing revenue and chaukidari taxes and entering Reserved Forests.
Why did dalits and many Muslims stay away?
Dalit leaders wanted political safeguards like separate electorates, which the Congress did not accept. Many Muslims felt alienated after the Khilafat movement declined and feared domination by a Hindu majority.
Is the Madras 1927 session on the map list?
Yes. Madras 1927 is on the official map list along with Calcutta and Nagpur 1920, Champaran, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Jallianwala Bagh and Dandi.