Gandhian Nationalism (1916-1922): Rowlatt Satyagraha, Jallianwala Bagh, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation, ISC Class 11

What Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922) is about

Weightage: CISCE gives no Class XI unit weightage for ISC History. Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922) is topic 5 of the Class XI syllabus (Indian History) and can be asked anywhere in the 80-mark Paper I (Theory, 3 hours). Class XI is examined by the school, so your school sets the paper and decides how many marks each topic carries.Source: CISCE ISC History (851) syllabus, examination year 2028, Class XI

Key concepts

The Rowlatt Act: reasons and main terms

Reasons
1. The Defence of India Act (1915), which gave wartime emergency powers, would lapse after the war; the government wanted to keep such powers permanently.
2. Revolutionary activity in Bengal, Punjab (the Ghadar movement) and elsewhere alarmed officials.
3. Fear of post-war unrest: high prices, demobilised soldiers and the example of the Russian Revolution.
4. A committee under Justice Sidney Rowlatt (the Sedition Committee, 1918) recommended the new law.

Main terms (Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, passed March 1919)

• Persons suspected of 'revolutionary' activity could be arrested without warrant and detained without trial for up to two years.
• Special courts of three High Court judges could try cases without a jury, with no right of appeal; evidence not admissible under ordinary law could be accepted.
• Wide powers to restrict the press and to demand securities.
• It was passed despite the united opposition of the Indian members of the Imperial Legislative Council; Jinnah resigned in protest. Indians summed it up as 'no vakil, no daleel, no appeal' (no lawyer, no argument, no appeal).

Worked example

[4] Why did the British pass the Rowlatt Act, and what were its main terms? (Recall)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Wartime powers under the Defence of India Act were ending; revolutionary activity feared - 1 mark.
2. Recommended by the Sedition Committee under Justice Rowlatt - 1 mark.
3. Arrest without warrant and detention without trial up to two years - 1 mark.
4. Special courts without jury or appeal; press restrictions - 1 mark.

Answer: The government wanted to keep the emergency powers of the Defence of India Act after the war, fearing revolutionaries and post-war unrest, and the Rowlatt (Sedition) Committee recommended a permanent law. The Act allowed arrest without warrant and detention without trial for up to two years, trial by special courts with no jury and no appeal, and restrictions on the press.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha

1. Gandhi called the Act a 'Black Act' and formed a Satyagraha Sabha (February 1919), whose members pledged to disobey it.
2. He called for a nationwide hartal: shops and businesses closed, people fasted and prayed. Delhi observed it on 30 March and most of India on 6 April 1919.
3. The response was huge, especially in towns of Punjab, Gujarat, Bombay and Delhi; Hindus and Muslims joined together.
4. It was the first all-India mass movement led by Gandhi, and it used new groups: the Home Rule Leagues, Khilafat activists and local committees.
5. Gandhi was stopped from entering Punjab and detained (April 1919); the news provoked unrest in Bombay, Ahmedabad and Punjab.
6. In Amritsar two local leaders, Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, were arrested on 10 April; crowds protested, some buildings were attacked and Europeans killed, and the army under General Dyer took control.
7. Shocked by violence, Gandhi withdrew the satyagraha on 18 April 1919, calling it a 'Himalayan miscalculation' to have launched civil disobedience before people were trained in non-violence.

Worked example

[4] Give a general account of the satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act. (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Satyagraha Sabha formed; pledge to disobey the Act - 1 mark.
2. Nationwide hartal (30 March / 6 April 1919) with fasting and prayer - 1 mark.
3. Mass response in towns; Hindu-Muslim unity; Gandhi barred from Punjab - 1 mark.
4. Violence in Punjab and elsewhere; Gandhi withdrew it (18 April) - 1 mark.

Answer: Gandhi set up a Satyagraha Sabha whose members pledged to break the Act, and called a nationwide hartal observed on 30 March in Delhi and 6 April elsewhere, with fasting and prayer. Towns across India responded and Hindus and Muslims joined together. When Gandhi was stopped from entering Punjab and leaders were arrested in Amritsar, violence broke out, and Gandhi withdrew the movement on 18 April 1919.

Jallianwala Bagh (13 April 1919)

Events
1. After the arrests of Kitchlew and Satyapal and the riots of 10 April, public meetings were banned in Amritsar, but the ban was not widely known.
2. On 13 April 1919, the day of the Baisakhi festival, a large crowd (many villagers who had come for the fair) gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, a walled ground with narrow exits.
3. General Reginald Dyer arrived with troops, blocked the main exit and, without warning, ordered them to fire on the crowd. Firing continued for about ten minutes until ammunition ran low.
4. Official figures (Hunter Committee) gave 379 killed and over a thousand wounded; Indian estimates were much higher.

Aftermath

• Martial law in Punjab: public floggings, the 'crawling order' in the street where a missionary had been attacked, bombing of crowds in Gujranwala.
• Dyer said he meant to produce a 'moral effect' and teach Indians a lesson.
• Rabindranath Tagore gave up his knighthood; Gandhi later returned his Kaiser-i-Hind medal.
• The Hunter Committee (1919) criticised Dyer, who was removed from command, but he was not punished; many in Britain praised him and raised money for him.
• The Congress's own inquiry condemned the massacre. Indian faith in British justice was broken; moderates and the masses alike turned against the Raj.

Worked example

[4] Describe what happened at Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919 and explain its impact. (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Peaceful crowd (Baisakhi) gathered in an enclosed ground despite a ban - 1 mark.
2. Dyer blocked exits and fired without warning; 379 killed officially - 1 mark.
3. Martial law, crawling order; Hunter Committee; Dyer not punished - 1 mark.
4. Tagore renounced knighthood; faith in British justice lost; led to Non-Cooperation - 1 mark.

Answer: On Baisakhi day a large, unarmed crowd gathered in the walled Jallianwala Bagh, unaware of a ban on meetings; General Dyer blocked the exit and fired without warning, killing 379 according to official figures and wounding over a thousand. Martial law and humiliating orders followed, and Dyer escaped punishment. Tagore renounced his knighthood, Indians lost faith in British justice, and the anger fed directly into the Non-Cooperation Movement.

The Khilafat question and Gandhi's alliance

1. The Sultan of Ottoman Turkey was regarded by many Muslims as the Khalifa (Caliph), the spiritual head of the Muslim world.
2. Turkey fought on the side of Germany in World War I; after the war the Allies planned to break up the Ottoman empire and reduce the Khalifa's control over Muslim holy places. This was confirmed by the Treaty of Sevres (August 1920).
3. Indian Muslims felt betrayed because the British had promised fair treatment of Turkey to win their support during the war.
4. A Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919. Its leaders included the Ali brothers (Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani.
5. Gandhi saw the Khilafat issue as a chance to unite Hindus and Muslims in a single movement. At the Khilafat conference in Delhi (November 1919) he urged non-cooperation, and in June 1920 the Khilafat Committee adopted his programme.
6. Three demands united the movement: justice on the Khilafat issue, redress of the Punjab wrongs (Jallianwala Bagh), and Swaraj.

Worked example

[4] Why did Gandhi support the Khilafat Movement? (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. To build Hindu-Muslim unity in a single national movement - 1 mark.
2. The British had broken wartime promises about Turkey (Treaty of Sevres) - 1 mark.
3. It was a just cause that could be fought by non-violent non-cooperation - 1 mark.
4. Combined with Punjab wrongs and Swaraj, it gave a mass base for non-cooperation - 1 mark.

Answer: Gandhi saw a historic chance to bring Hindus and Muslims together in one movement; he believed the British had broken their wartime promises to Indian Muslims about Turkey; he regarded the cause as just and suitable for non-violent non-cooperation; and linking it with the Punjab wrongs and Swaraj gave the national movement a mass base it had never had.

The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922): programme and course

Adoption

• 1 August 1920: the movement formally began (the day Tilak died).
• September 1920: a special Congress session at Calcutta (president Lala Lajpat Rai) accepted non-cooperation.
• December 1920: the Nagpur session confirmed it, changed the Congress goal to Swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means, and reorganised the party (provincial committees on linguistic lines, a working committee, membership open to all for four annas a year).

Programme

• Boycott: surrender of titles and honours; boycott of government schools and colleges, law courts, the 1920 council elections and foreign cloth; later, resignation from government service and non-payment of taxes as a final stage.
• Constructive work: national schools and colleges (such as Jamia Millia Islamia, Kashi Vidyapith and Gujarat Vidyapith), panchayats to settle disputes, khadi and the charkha, Hindu-Muslim unity, removal of untouchability, temperance, and the Tilak Swaraj Fund, which raised over one crore rupees.
• Gandhi promised Swaraj within a year.

Course (1921)

• Students left government schools, and lawyers such as C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru gave up practice.
• Foreign cloth was burnt; the value of imported cloth fell from Rs 102 crore (1920-21) to Rs 57 crore (1921-22).
• The Prince of Wales was met with hartals in November 1921.
• The movement spread in different forms: peasants in Awadh (Baba Ramchandra), tribal groups in the Andhra hills, plantation workers in Assam, the Akali movement in Punjab. In Malabar the Moplah (Mappila) rising of 1921 turned violent.
• Repression: tens of thousands were arrested.

Worked example

[4] What was the programme of the Non-Cooperation Movement adopted at Calcutta and Nagpur in 1920? (Recall)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Surrender of titles; boycott of schools, courts, councils - 1 mark.
2. Boycott of foreign cloth; later, resignations and non-payment of taxes - 1 mark.
3. Constructive: national schools, panchayats, khadi, Tilak Swaraj Fund - 1 mark.
4. Goal of Swaraj by peaceful means; Congress reorganised at Nagpur - 1 mark.

Answer: Indians were to surrender titles and boycott government schools, law courts, the councils and foreign cloth, with resignation from service and refusal of taxes held in reserve. Alongside this came constructive work: national schools, arbitration panchayats, khadi and the charkha, Hindu-Muslim unity and the Tilak Swaraj Fund. At Nagpur the Congress adopted Swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means as its goal and reorganised itself to lead a mass movement.

Chauri Chaura and the suspension of the movement

1. By early 1922 Gandhi planned mass civil disobedience, including non-payment of taxes, beginning in Bardoli taluka in Gujarat.
2. On 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district (United Provinces), police fired on a procession; the angry crowd set the police station on fire, killing 22 policemen.
3. Gandhi, convinced that the people were not yet ready for non-violent mass struggle, persuaded the Congress Working Committee at Bardoli (12 February 1922) to suspend the movement and to focus on constructive work.

Reactions

• Many leaders, including Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das and Subhas Chandra Bose, felt the decision was a mistake when the movement was at its height.
• Others argue that the movement was already showing signs of fatigue and violence, and that Gandhi saved it from being crushed.

Aftermath

• Gandhi was arrested in March 1922 and sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
• The Khilafat issue lost meaning when Mustafa Kemal abolished the Caliphate in 1924; Hindu-Muslim unity weakened.
• Some Congress leaders (C. R. Das, Motilal Nehru) formed the Swaraj Party to contest council elections.

Achievements: the Congress became a mass party; fear of the Raj was broken; Hindus and Muslims had worked together; new groups had joined the national movement.

Worked example

[4] Why did Gandhi suspend the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922? Was he right? (Evaluate)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Chauri Chaura (4 February 1922): crowd burnt a police station, 22 policemen killed - 1 mark.
2. Gandhi believed people were not ready for non-violent struggle; Bardoli resolution (12 February) - 1 mark.
3. Critics (Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, Bose) said it was suspended at its height - 1 mark.
4. Defence: violence would have invited crushing repression; fatigue was setting in - 1 mark.

Answer: After a crowd at Chauri Chaura burnt a police station and killed 22 policemen on 4 February 1922, Gandhi concluded that the people were not ready for non-violent mass struggle, and the Working Committee at Bardoli suspended the movement. Critics such as Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das and Subhas Bose thought he had stopped it at its peak; but in his defence, spreading violence would have given the government the excuse to crush it, and signs of fatigue had already appeared.

Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922) in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• The Khilafat Question and the Non-Cooperation Movement
• The Rowlatt Act, Satyagraha and Jallianwala Bagh

Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922): key facts

Gandhi's early satyagrahas

Champaran 1917; Kheda 1918; Ahmedabad 1918

Returned to India January 1915.

Rowlatt Act

March 1919

Detention without trial up to 2 years; no jury, no appeal.

Rowlatt Satyagraha

Hartal 30 March (Delhi) and 6 April 1919; withdrawn 18 April

Satyagraha Sabha; 'Himalayan miscalculation'.

Jallianwala Bagh

13 April 1919, Amritsar

Dyer; 379 killed officially; Hunter Committee.

Khilafat and Non-Cooperation

Khilafat Committee March 1919; Treaty of Sevres August 1920; NCM 1 August 1920; Calcutta September and Nagpur December 1920

Ali brothers; Swaraj in a year.

Suspension

Chauri Chaura 4 February 1922; Bardoli 12 February 1922; Gandhi arrested March 1922

22 policemen killed.

How the school exam asks Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922)

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922)

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

• Rowlatt terms: 'No vakil, no daleel, no appeal'

  No lawyer, no argument, no appeal; plus detention without trial (2 years).

  Use it when: Main terms in brief.

• Three demands of 1920: 'K-P-S'

  Khilafat, Punjab wrongs, Swaraj.

  Use it when: Aims of the Non-Cooperation Movement.

• NCM programme: 'Boycott by day, build by night'

  Boycott: titles, schools, courts, councils, cloth. Build: schools, panchayats, khadi, fund.

  Use it when: Programme answers.

Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922): exam-level solved questions

Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section D style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In a school exam set on the board pattern this is a 8-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 3 + 3 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922)

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

• ✗Mistake: Writing that Jallianwala Bagh was a protest meeting against the Rowlatt Act only

  It leaves out Baisakhi and the arrests that brought people there.

  ✓Do this: Mention the arrests of Kitchlew and Satyapal, the ban, and Baisakhi.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Confusing Calcutta and Nagpur sessions

  Both were in 1920.

  Wrong working

  Non-cooperation was first adopted at Nagpur in September 1920.

  Right working

  Calcutta special session, September 1920 (Lajpat Rai); Nagpur, December 1920.

  ✓Do this: C before N: Calcutta accepted, Nagpur confirmed.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: A list of events with no connections

  The syllabus asks for a connected chronological account.

  ✓Do this: Link each event with 'which led to' or 'as a result'.

  Usually costs: 2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Long description of the Rowlatt Act

  The syllabus wants reasons and terms only in brief.

  ✓Do this: Two reasons and three terms, then move on.

  Usually costs: Time lost for other answers.

• ✗Mistake: Calling Chauri Chaura a place in Gujarat

  Bardoli (Gujarat) and Chauri Chaura (UP) are mixed up.

  ✓Do this: Violence at Chauri Chaura (Gorakhpur, UP); suspension at Bardoli (Gujarat).

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

Practice questions on Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922)

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   Who chaired the committee that recommended the Rowlatt Act?

   Hint

   A judge.

   Answer

   Justice Sidney Rowlatt.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   Where was the Non-Cooperation Movement suspended in February 1922?

   Hint

   A taluka in Gujarat.

   Answer

   Bardoli (Congress Working Committee, 12 February 1922).

3. Q3 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   Which treaty with Turkey (1920) angered Indian Muslims?
   (a) Treaty of Versailles
   (b) Treaty of Sevres
   (c) Treaty of Lausanne
   (d) Treaty of Trianon

   Hint

   August 1920.

   Answer

   (b) Treaty of Sevres.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Very short answerHarder exam level

   Which national university was founded during the Non-Cooperation Movement at Aligarh and later moved to Delhi?

   Hint

   Jamia.

   Answer

   Jamia Millia Islamia (1920).

5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Why did Gandhi call the Rowlatt Satyagraha a 'Himalayan miscalculation'?

   Hint

   Training, violence.

   Answer

   (1) He had launched mass civil disobedience before people were trained in non-violence. (2) The movement led to violence in Ahmedabad, Bombay and Punjab. (3) This gave the government an excuse for martial law and repression. (4) He withdrew it on 18 April 1919 and later insisted on preparation through constructive work before mass struggle.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Explain the findings of the Hunter Committee and the British reaction to General Dyer.

   Hint

   Censure without punishment.

   Answer

   (1) The Hunter Committee (1919) held that Dyer had acted wrongly in firing without warning and continuing after the crowd began to disperse. (2) He was removed from command and retired, but faced no criminal trial. (3) The House of Lords and much of the British press praised him; a fund was raised for him. (4) Indians concluded that British justice would not protect them, strengthening the demand for Swaraj.

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] What were the main features of the Congress reorganisation at Nagpur (1920)?

   Hint

   Goal, provinces, membership, leadership.

   Answer

   (1) The goal became Swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means. (2) Provincial Congress Committees were organised on linguistic lines. (3) A Working Committee of fifteen members gave the Congress a permanent leadership. (4) Membership was opened to all adults for a fee of four annas a year, making it a mass party.

8. Q8 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] Why did the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation alliance break down after 1922?

   Hint

   Suspension, Kemal, riots, Moplah.

   Answer

   (1) The suspension of the movement after Chauri Chaura disappointed Khilafat leaders. (2) Mustafa Kemal abolished the Caliphate in 1924, removing the common cause. (3) The violence of the Moplah rising and its communal aspects caused bitterness. (4) Communal riots in the mid-1920s and rival organisations widened the gap.

9. Q9 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] 'Gandhi was right to suspend the Non-Cooperation Movement.' Give arguments for and against.

   Hint

   Principle and tactics.

   Answer

   For: (1) non-violence was the core of satyagraha, and continuing after Chauri Chaura would have turned it violent; (2) the government would have used violence as an excuse for brutal repression. Against: (3) the movement was at its height and the government was under pressure; (4) one local incident should not have stopped a national movement, as Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das and Bose argued.

10. Q10 · 8 marks · Long answerHarder exam level

    [8] (a) State the reasons for and the main terms of the Rowlatt Act. [4]
    (b) Explain the impact of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on the national movement. [4]

    Hint

    (a) two reasons, two terms; (b) four effects.

    Answer

    (a) Reasons: end of Defence of India Act powers; fear of revolutionaries and post-war unrest (Sedition Committee under Rowlatt). Terms: arrest without warrant and detention without trial up to two years; special courts with no jury or appeal; press restrictions. (b) (1) Moderates and masses alike lost faith in British justice. (2) Tagore renounced his knighthood; Gandhi later returned his medal. (3) The 'Punjab wrongs' became a demand of Non-Cooperation. (4) Gandhi turned from co-operation to non-cooperation, giving the movement a mass base.

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. 1.What did Gandhi form to oppose the Rowlatt Act?Show answer

   A Satyagraha Sabha (February 1919).

2. 2.Which two leaders were arrested in Amritsar on 10 April 1919?Show answer

   Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal.

3. 3.Name the Ali brothers.Show answer

   Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.

4. 4.Who presided over the Calcutta special session of 1920?Show answer

   Lala Lajpat Rai.

5. 5.By how much did imports of foreign cloth fall in 1921-22?Show answer

   From Rs 102 crore to Rs 57 crore.

6. 6.How many policemen were killed at Chauri Chaura?Show answer

   22.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Rowlatt Act March 1919: detention without trial (2 years), no jury, no appeal; Jinnah resigned.
• ☐Satyagraha Sabha; hartal 6 April 1919; Gandhi barred from Punjab; withdrawn 18 April.
• ☐Jallianwala Bagh 13 April 1919: Baisakhi; Dyer; 379 killed (official); Tagore renounced knighthood; Hunter Committee.
• ☐Khilafat Committee March 1919; Ali brothers, Azad; Sevres August 1920; demands K-P-S.
• ☐NCM 1 August 1920; Calcutta September, Nagpur December 1920; boycott plus constructive work; cloth imports Rs 102 to 57 crore.
• ☐Chauri Chaura 4 February 1922 (22 police killed); Bardoli 12 February; Gandhi jailed March 1922.

Gandhian Nationalism (1916–1922): frequently asked questions