CBSE Class 8 · India's Long Road to Independence

Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence: Class 8 Notes and Questions

Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Gandhi returned in 1915 and used satyagraha in local struggles, then led the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), the Civil Disobedience Movement from the Salt March (1930) and Quit India (1942). The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919), the Purna Swaraj resolution (1929), the INA, naval mutiny and Britain's post-war weakness led to independence and Partition in August 1947.

Follow the timeline from Gandhi's return in 1915 through each movement to Independence and Partition in 1947.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence

Gandhi's method. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (born Porbandar, 1869) developed satyagraha ('insistence on truth', based on non-violence or ahimsa, passive resistance and acceptance of suffering) in South Africa. He returned to India in 1915 and joined the Congress on Gokhale's advice. From 1917-18 he applied satyagraha in local struggles: indigo farmers in Bihar, mill workers in Ahmedabad and peasants in Kheda. Vallabhbhai Patel led the Bardoli movement (1928) and got the title 'Sardar'.

Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh (1919). The 1919 Rowlatt Act let police detain anyone without trial. On 13 April 1919 at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Brigadier-General Dyer's troops sealed the exit and fired on an unarmed crowd for about ten minutes (1,650 rounds); official British counts admitted nearly 400 dead and over 1,200 wounded, while Indian estimates exceeded 1,000 deaths. A British inquiry condemned the act without penal action, and Dyer was later removed from India. Tagore returned his knighthood in protest. Udham Singh shot O'Dwyer in London two decades later.

Khilafat and Non-Cooperation (1919-22). The Khilafat Movement (Ali brothers, Maulana Azad) sought to preserve the Caliph's authority after the Ottoman Empire was dismembered. Gandhi saw an opportunity for Hindu-Muslim unity, and the movement merged with Non-Cooperation, promising Swaraj in a year if non-violence held: boycott of foreign goods, schools and courts, and promotion of Swadeshi and khadi. The Congress formally launched Non-Cooperation at Nagpur in December 1920 after Tilak's death in August 1920. Some Congress members and Jinnah had misgivings about mixing religion with the freedom movement; Jinnah left the Congress in 1920. In February 1922 protesters at Chauri Chaura set a police station on fire, killing policemen, and Gandhi called off the movement, a decision several leaders disapproved of; Motilal Nehru and C.R. Das formed the Swaraj Party. The Khilafat Movement ended when the Caliphate was abolished in 1924.

Simon Commission and revolutionaries. The 1927 Simon Commission had no Indian member ('Simon Go Back'). Lala Lajpat Rai was injured in a lathi charge in October 1928 and died two weeks later. The Hindustan Republican Association (Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Chandrashekhar Azad; Kakori train robbery) became the HSRA. Bhagat Singh and associates threw low-intensity bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly 'to make the deaf hear'; he, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in 1931. Women such as Suniti Chowdhury, Shanti Ghosh and Bina Das also acted.

Purna Swaraj and Civil Disobedience. The Motilal Nehru Report (1928) sought Dominion status. At Lahore in December 1929 the Congress demanded Purna Swaraj (complete independence). Gandhi began the Salt March (March-April 1930), a 380 km walk to Dandi, breaking the salt law; over 60,000 people were jailed in the Salt Satyagraha, and many women took part. The Qissa Khwani Bazaar firing in Peshawar (23 April 1930) saw Chandra Singh Garhwali's Garhwal Rifles platoons refuse to fire. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) released non-violent prisoners and allowed limited private salt making; the Congress suspended the movement and attended the Round Table Conference, which produced no breakthrough. The movement was withdrawn in 1934. The Government of India Act of 1935 gave provincial autonomy. The Poona Pact (Gandhi-Ambedkar) replaced separate electorates for the Depressed Classes with more reserved seats.

Idea of separate nations. Muhammad Iqbal (1930) proposed a separate territory for Muslims in the north-west within a federation; most Congress leaders, including Maulana Azad and Abdul Ghaffar Khan, opposed the Two-Nation idea, while Jinnah endorsed Pakistan. NCERT also records the view of the Hindu Mahasabha under Savarkar that Hindus and Muslims were two nations.

World War II and the INA. India was pulled into the war without being consulted; more than 2.5 million Indian soldiers served and at least 87,000 died. The Bengal famine of 1943 killed millions. Subhas Chandra Bose escaped in 1941, sought Axis support, and in 1943 formed the Indian National Army at Singapore and the Azad Hind government. The INA fought with Japan in Burma and north-east India and was militarily defeated, though many admired Bose's courage while others criticised his alliance with Germany and Japan.

Quit India (August 1942). After the Cripps Mission (1942) offered dominion status after the war with provinces allowed to opt out, Gandhi gave the call 'Do or Die' for the British to leave. Leaders were arrested but mass protest continued; Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan kept it alive; the Viceroy called it the most serious rebellion since 1857. Kanaklata Barua, aged 17, was killed in Assam.

Independence and Partition. In 1946 mutinies in the Royal Indian Air Force and Navy showed the army could not be relied upon; the Cabinet Mission failed to bridge differences; 'Direct Action Day' (16 August 1946) brought communal violence in Calcutta; an Interim Government led by Nehru took charge in September 1946. In 1947 Mountbatten had Cyril Radcliffe draw the boundary in five weeks (the Radcliffe Line). Partition brought migration of millions and large-scale violence. NCERT says there was no national consensus on partition and the question is still debated. Sardar Patel integrated over 560 princely states. India became independent on 15 August 1947. NCERT lists causes of Britain's exit: popular movements, revolutionaries, mutinies, Britain's weakened post-war state and worldwide decolonisation.

Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence: key facts

Gandhian movements and dates: Non-Cooperation 1920-22
Civil Disobedience from the Salt March 1930
Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931
Quit India 1942; With the trigger for each.
Key events: Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh 1919
Chauri Chaura Feb 1922
Purna Swaraj Lahore Dec 1929
Cripps Mission 1942
Direct Action Day 16 Aug 1946
Independence 15 Aug 1947; Arrange in order.
Salt March (NCERT figures): March-April 1930
380 km
Dandi in southern Gujarat
over 60,000 jailed in Salt Satyagraha; Symbolic break of salt law.
World War II India figures: More than 2.5 million soldiers
at least 87,000 died
Bengal famine 1943; From NCERT.
Jallianwala Bagh: 13 April 1919
Dyer
1,650 rounds
British figures nearly 400 dead, over 1,200 wounded
Indian estimates over 1,000 dead; Quote both sets of estimates.

How to answer Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence questions

Questions ask for causes, course and consequences of movements, reasons for withdrawal, contrasts among methods, and the factors behind independence.

1Use the frame: trigger, leaders, methods, response, result.
2For withdrawal questions (Chauri Chaura), give the incident and Gandhi's reason, and mention that several leaders disagreed.
3For methods, contrast non-violent mass movements with revolutionary and INA approaches.
4For Partition, give factual causes and consequences, attribute views to NCERT and use neutral language.
5Conclude with the many factors behind independence, not one.

Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence 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 a symbol like salt works

Suppose a town's council taxes drinking water heavily, a tax every household feels, and a march to the river to freely collect water draws thousands.

Why did the Salt March choose a similar everyday item as a symbol?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Salt was needed by all; its tax hit everyone.
Breaking the law was a clear, peaceful and visible act.
It could be repeated across the country.

Answer: The colonial government held a monopoly on salt and charged a high tax on it, so a necessity used by everyone became a symbol of unjust rule. A simple, non-violent act of making salt let ordinary people take part across the country.

Memory hook: Choose a symbol everyone can touch.

Tricks to remember Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

R-J-N-C
Rowlatt, Jallianwala, Non-cooperation, Chauri Chaura.
Use it when: Sequence of events 1919-1922.
Salt 380
380 km to Dandi in 1930.
Use it when: Salt March.
Do or Die
Quit India 1942 = 'Do or Die'.
Use it when: Slogan and year.

Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Where was Non-Cooperation launched? · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

The Congress formally launched the Non-Cooperation Movement at its session in:
(a) Lahore (1929)
(b) Lucknow (1916)
(c) Surat (1907)
(d) Nagpur (1920)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

After Tilak's death in August 1920, the Congress formally launched the movement at Nagpur in December 1920 (1 mark).

Answer: (d) Nagpur (1920)

Example 2: Satyagraha (3 marks) · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

What is satyagraha? Give two examples of Gandhi's early satyagrahas in India. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Satyagraha means insistence on truth, based on non-violence, passive resistance and acceptance of suffering (1 mark).
Examples: indigo farmers in Bihar, mill workers in Ahmedabad (1 mark).
Peasants in Kheda against excessive land revenue; Bardoli led by Patel (1 mark).

Answer: Satyagraha, meaning 'insistence on truth', is a method based on non-violence (ahimsa), passive resistance and the acceptance of suffering in the quest for truth, which Gandhi developed in South Africa. In India he applied it in local struggles such as those of indigo farmers in Bihar, mill workers in Ahmedabad facing low wages and peasants in Kheda facing excessive land revenue.

Example 3: Assertion-reason: Purna Swaraj · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): The Congress demanded Purna Swaraj at its Lahore session in December 1929.
Reason (R): Britain was not ready to grant Dominion status, as proposed in the Motilal Nehru Report, and younger leaders such as Nehru and Bose wanted a more radical demand.
(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.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

NCERT links the Purna Swaraj demand to the refusal of Dominion status and the younger leaders' push (1 mark).

Answer: (a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

Example 4: Salt March and after (5 marks) · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level

Describe the Salt March and the course of the Civil Disobedience Movement up to the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Following the Purna Swaraj resolution, Gandhi began the Salt March in March-April 1930, 380 km to Dandi (1 mark).
Salt was a government monopoly with a high tax, so breaking the salt law was symbolic (1 mark).
Movement spread: salt marches elsewhere, boycott of foreign cloth, refusal to pay taxes, women's picketing; thousands arrested (1 mark).
Repression such as the Qissa Khwani Bazaar firing; Garhwali soldiers refused to fire (1 mark).
Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931: release of non-violent prisoners, limited salt making; Congress suspended the movement and joined the Round Table Conference (1 mark).

Answer: After the Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution at Lahore in 1929, Gandhi led a 380-km Salt March to Dandi in March-April 1930 and symbolically made salt, breaking the government's salt monopoly and its high tax. The movement spread widely with salt marches in other places, boycott of foreign cloth, refusal to pay taxes and large participation of women in processions and picketing; thousands were arrested including Gandhi. Repression included the firing at Peshawar's Qissa Khwani Bazaar, where two platoons of the Royal Garhwal Rifles led by Chandra Singh Garhwali refused to fire on the unarmed crowd. In 1931 the Gandhi-Irwin Pact released non-violent political prisoners and allowed limited private salt making; the Congress suspended civil disobedience and agreed to attend the Round Table Conference, which produced no breakthrough.

Example 5: Case: the Quit India movement · 4 marks · Case-basedHOTS / competency

Read the case and answer.

In August 1942 Gandhi gave the call 'Do or Die' and demanded that the British leave India at once. Nearly the entire Congress leadership was arrested, but mass protests and strikes erupted, and students left schools. Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the national flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay and then lived underground for nearly four years, editing bulletins. The Viceroy called it the most serious rebellion since 1857. NCERT says it was brutally suppressed, yet it showed that Britain could no longer rule India without Indian consent.

(i) What slogan did Gandhi give? (1)
(ii) Why did the movement continue even after leaders were arrested? (1)
(iii) Explain two ways in which Quit India helped lead to independence even though it was suppressed. (2)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) 'Do or Die' (1 mark).
(ii) Ordinary people, students and underground leaders such as Aruna Asaf Ali, Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan kept it going (1 mark).
(iii) It sent a strong message that Britain could not rule without Indian consent; it weakened colonial authority and joined other factors (mutinies, wartime exhaustion) behind the British exit (2 marks).

Answer: (i) 'Do or Die'. (ii) Ordinary people, workers and students joined strikes and protests, and leaders such as Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan kept an underground movement going. (iii) Despite its suppression it showed that the British could no longer rule India without Indian consent, and together with later mutinies in the air force and navy and Britain's exhaustion after the war it pushed Britain towards a transfer of power.

Where students lose marks in Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Wrong order of Gandhi's movements
Dates not learnt.
Wrong working
Quit India (1942), then Salt March (1930), then Non-Cooperation (1920).
Right working
Non-Cooperation 1920-22, Civil Disobedience 1930, Quit India 1942.
Do this: Learn 20-30-42.
Usually costs: 1-2 marks.
Mistake: Giving only one set of casualty figures for Jallianwala Bagh
Incomplete reading.
Wrong working
400 people died.
Right working
Official British counts nearly 400 dead and over 1,200 wounded; Indian estimates over 1,000 dead.
Do this: Quote both with attribution.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Describing Partition in one-sided terms
Emotive writing.
Wrong working
One community alone caused Partition.
Right working
NCERT says it resulted from disagreements between small sections of communities, British encouragement of differences, and rushed planning; there was no national consensus.
Do this: Use attributed, balanced statements.
Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

Exam tips

Learn years and triggers in pairs: Rowlatt 1919, Chauri Chaura 1922, Lahore 1929, Salt March 1930, Quit India 1942.
Include the role of women and of ordinary people (Sarojini Naidu, Aruna Asaf Ali, Kanaklata Barua) when asked about participation.
For Partition, use words such as 'displacement', 'communal violence' and 'rushed boundary', and attribute judgements to the textbook.
In essays on independence, mention multiple factors, as NCERT does.

Practice questions on Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence

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
Who was the Viceroy with whom Gandhi signed a pact in 1931?
(a) Linlithgow
(b) Irwin
(c) Mountbatten
(d) Curzon
Hint
The pact bears his name.
Answer
(b) Irwin
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
Why was the Simon Commission boycotted in 1927-28? (2 marks)
Hint
Membership.
Answer
The Simon Commission, sent to study constitutional reform, had no Indian member, which showed the British refusal to consult Indians about their own future. It was met with the slogan 'Simon Go Back!' and black flags.
Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Describe the formation and fate of the Indian National Army. (3 marks)
Hint
Bose, Singapore 1943, Azad Hind, Burma and north-east India.
Answer
Subhas Chandra Bose escaped from India in 1941, sought help from Britain's enemies and reached Singapore in 1943, where he formed the Indian National Army from Indian prisoners of war and volunteers and declared the Azad Hind government. The INA fought alongside the Japanese army in Burma and north-eastern India, particularly Manipur and Nagaland, but was militarily defeated and failed to set up a base in India. Many Indians admired Bose's courage, while others criticised his alliance with Nazi Germany and Japan.
Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): The Cripps Mission of 1942 was rejected by most Indian leaders.
Reason (R): It promised dominion status after the war but allowed provinces to opt out of post-war India.
(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
What was insufficient?
Answer
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q5 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Historians have debated why Britain left India in 1947. Using the chapter, explain at least four factors and say why NCERT warns against crediting a single cause. (5 marks)
Hint
Gandhian movements, revolutionaries, uprisings, mutinies, post-war weakness, decolonisation.
Answer
NCERT notes that the earlier view credited mainly Gandhi, non-violence and Congress policies, but historians now recognise several factors. Mass movements such as Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India showed that India could not be ruled without consent. Numerous revolutionary actions and popular uprisings unsettled colonial rule. The mutinies in the Royal Indian Air Force and Navy in 1946 showed that the British could no longer rely on the Indian military to maintain the empire. Britain was exhausted after World War II and the worldwide trend towards decolonisation meant that the age of empires was ending. Because all of these worked together over decades, explaining independence by one cause would ignore the sacrifices of generations of Indians and the changing world situation.

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.What was the length of the Salt March?Show answer
380 km, to Dandi, a coastal village in southern Gujarat.
2.Who drew the Radcliffe Line?Show answer
Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer, given five weeks.
3.Which pact followed Gandhi's fast over separate electorates for the Depressed Classes?Show answer
The Poona Pact.
4.Who formed the Indian National Army in 1943?Show answer
Subhas Chandra Bose.
5.What title did Patel get after Bardoli?Show answer
Sardar.

Gandhian Movements, World War II and Independence: frequently asked questions

What was the Non-Cooperation Movement?

A mass movement (1920-22) under Gandhi to boycott foreign goods, schools and courts and promote Swadeshi, called off after Chauri Chaura.

What was the Quit India Movement?

The 1942 mass movement launched by Gandhi with the call 'Do or Die', demanding that the British leave India at once.

When did India become independent?

On 15 August 1947, with Partition into India and Pakistan.