Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of Class 12 (second year) History textbook, chapter 11 Mahatma Gandhi & Nationalist Movement which is part of the syllabus of students studying under AHSEC/ASSEB (Assam Board). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
If you notice any errors in the notes, please mention them in the comments
Summary
The chapter talks about Mahatma Gandhi and his role in India’s nationalist movement. It begins by comparing Gandhi to leaders like George Washington and Ho Chi Minh, who were important in their countries’ struggles for freedom. Gandhi returned to India in 1915 after spending many years in South Africa. There, he developed the idea of non-violent protest called Satyagraha. He also worked to bring harmony between religions and highlighted the poor treatment of lower castes and women.
When Gandhi came back to India, the country was already politically active. The Indian National Congress had branches in many cities. Gandhi first spoke publicly at the opening of Banaras Hindu University in 1916. He criticized the rich for ignoring the poor. His speech showed his desire to make the freedom struggle more inclusive of common people.
Gandhi’s first major actions involved helping peasants and workers. In Champaran, he helped farmers fight against British indigo planters. In Ahmedabad, he supported mill workers asking for better conditions. In Kheda, he stood with peasants seeking tax relief after a bad harvest. These efforts made him popular among the poor.
In 1919, the British passed the Rowlatt Act, which allowed them to imprison people without trial. Gandhi called for a nationwide protest. This led to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre where many Indians were killed. This event made Gandhi a national leader. He then started the Non-Cooperation Movement, urging Indians to stop attending British schools and courts. He linked this movement with the Khilafat Movement, which sought to protect the Caliphate.
Gandhi wore simple clothes like a dhoti and used a spinning wheel to make his own cloth. This showed his support for self-reliance and connected him with the poor. People saw him as a savior who could help them against high taxes and harsh officials. Rumors spread about his magical powers. Some believed he could solve their problems just by being there.
In 1930, Gandhi led the Salt March to protest the British salt tax. He walked to the sea to make salt, breaking the law. Many joined him, showing widespread discontent against British rule. Despite arrests and crackdowns, the movement grew stronger. Gandhi’s methods inspired many to join the struggle for freedom.
Later, the focus shifted to negotiating independence with the British. Talks often failed because of disagreements between the Congress, the Muslim League, and the British. Gandhi tried to keep peace but tensions led to violence. The chapter ends with Gandhi’s death in 1948. His life and work left a lasting impact on India’s fight for freedom.
Textbook solutions
Answer in 100-150 words
1. How did Mahatma Gandhi seek to identify with the common people?
Answer : Mahatma Gandhi sought to identify with the common people by dressing like them, living like them, and speaking their language. Unlike other leaders who stood apart from the common folk, Gandhiji empathised and even identified with them. This identification was strikingly reflected in his dress: while other nationalist leaders dressed formally, wearing a Western suit or an Indian bandgala, Gandhiji went among the people in a simple dhoti or loincloth. Meanwhile, he spent part of each day working on the charkha (spinning wheel) and encouraged other nationalists to do likewise. The act of spinning allowed Gandhiji to break the boundaries that prevailed within the traditional caste system, between mental labour and manual labour. Where most politicians talked down to the common people, Gandhiji appeared not just to look like them but to understand them and relate to their lives.
2. How was Mahatma Gandhi perceived by the peasants?
Answer : Mahatma Gandhi appeared to the Indian peasant as a saviour, who would rescue them from high taxes and oppressive officials and restore dignity and autonomy to their lives. Gandhiji’s appeal among the poor, and peasants in particular, was enhanced by his ascetic lifestyle, and by his shrewd use of symbols such as the dhoti and the charkha. Where most politicians talked down to them, Gandhiji appeared not just to look like them, but to understand them and relate to their lives. Peasants, workers, and others interpreted and acted upon the call to “non-cooperate” with colonial rule in ways that best suited their interests, rather than conform to the dictates laid down from above. His identification was strikingly reflected in his dress: while other nationalist leaders dressed formally, wearing a Western suit or an Indian bandgala, Gandhiji went among the people in a simple dhoti or loincloth.
3. Why did the salt laws become an important issue of struggle?
Answer : The salt laws became an important issue of struggle because the state monopoly over salt was deeply unpopular. In every Indian household, salt was indispensable, yet people were forbidden from making salt even for domestic use, compelling them to buy it from shops at a high price. The salt tax was at times even fourteen times its value. The government destroyed the salt it could not sell profitably, thereby taxing the nation’s vital necessity, preventing the public from manufacturing it, and destroying what nature manufactures without effort. The salt monopoly was thus a fourfold curse. It deprived the people of a valuable easy village industry, involved wanton destruction of property that nature produces in abundance, the destruction itself meant more national expenditure, and an unheard-of tax of more than 1,000 per cent was exacted from a starving people.
4. Why are newspapers an important source for the study of the national movement?
Answer : Newspapers are an important source because they tracked Mahatma Gandhi’s movements and reported on his activities. They also represented what ordinary Indians thought of him. Newspaper accounts, however, should not be seen as unprejudiced. They were published by people who had their own political opinions and world views. These ideas shaped what was published and the way events were reported. Accounts published in a London newspaper would be different from the report in an Indian nationalist paper. While these reports reflect the fears and anxieties of officials unable to control a movement, they still provide insights into how events were perceived and represented during the national movement.
5. Why was the charkha chosen as a symbol of nationalism?
Answer : Mahatma Gandhi was profoundly critical of the modern age in which machines enslaved humans and displaced labour. He saw the charkha as a symbol of a human society that would not glorify machines and technology. The spinning wheel could provide the poor with supplementary income and make them self-reliant. What he objected to was the craze for machinery as such, particularly labour-saving machinery, which led to thousands being without work and thrown on the open streets to die of starvation. He wanted to save time and labour for all, not just a fraction of mankind, and desired the concentration of wealth in the hands of all rather than a few. Khaddar did not seek to destroy all machinery but regulated its use and checked its weedy growth, using machinery for the service of the poorest in their own cottages. The wheel itself was considered an exquisite piece of machinery.
Short essay-type answers
6. How was non-cooperation a form of protest?
Answer : Non-cooperation was a form of protest where Indians who wished colonialism to end were asked to stop attending schools, colleges, and law courts, and not pay taxes. In sum, they were asked to adhere to a “renunciation of (all) voluntary association with the (British) Government”. If non-cooperation was effectively carried out, India would win swaraj within a year. To further broaden the struggle, Mahatma Gandhi joined hands with the Khilafat Movement that sought to restore the Caliphate, a symbol of Pan-Islamism which had recently been abolished by the Turkish ruler Kemal Attaturk. Non-cooperation entailed denial, renunciation, and self-discipline. It was training for self-rule. As a consequence of the Non-Cooperation Movement, the British Raj was shaken to its foundations for the first time since the Revolt of 1857.
Students stopped going to schools and colleges run by the government. Lawyers refused to attend court. The working class went on strike in many towns and cities: according to official figures, there were 396 strikes in 1921, involving 600,000 workers and a loss of seven million workdays. The countryside was seething with discontent too. Hill tribes in northern Andhra violated the forest laws. Farmers in Awadh did not pay taxes. Peasants in Kumaun refused to carry loads for colonial officials. These protest movements were sometimes carried out in defiance of the local nationalist leadership. Peasants, workers, and others interpreted and acted upon the call to “non-cooperate” with colonial rule in ways that best suited their interests, rather than conform to the dictates laid down from above.
7. Why were the dialogues at the Round Table Conference inconclusive?
Answer : The dialogues at the Round Table Conference were inconclusive because Mahatma Gandhi opposed the demand for separate electorates for the Depressed Classes, while Ambedkar supported it. Mahatma Gandhi stated his arguments against separate electorates for the Depressed Classes, saying that separate electorates to the “Untouchables” would ensure them bondage in perpetuity and would perpetuate the stigma. He argued that what was needed was the destruction of “Untouchability,” and when that was done, the bar-sinister, which had been imposed by an insolent “superior” class upon an “inferior” class, would be destroyed. In response to Mahatma Gandhi’s opposition, Ambedkar wrote that here was a class undoubtedly not in a position to sustain itself in the struggle for existence. The religion to which they were tied branded them as lepers, not fit for ordinary intercourse. Economically, it was a class entirely dependent upon the high-caste Hindus for earning its daily bread with no independent way of living open to it. There was a definite attempt all through Hindu Society to bolt every possible door so as not to allow the Depressed Classes any opportunity to rise in the scale of life. In these circumstances, it would be granted by all fair-minded persons that as the only path for a community so handicapped to succeed in the struggle for life against organized tyranny, some share of political power in order that it may protect itself was a paramount necessity.
8. In what way did Mahatma Gandhi transform the nature of the national movement?
Answer : Mahatma Gandhi transformed Indian nationalism by redeeming the promise he made in his BHU speech of February 1916. It was no longer a movement of professionals and intellectuals; now, hundreds of thousands of peasants, workers, and artisans also participated in it. Many of them venerated Gandhiji, referring to him as their “Mahatma”. They appreciated the fact that he dressed like them, lived like them, and spoke their language. Unlike other leaders, he did not stand apart from the common folk but empathised and even identified with them. This identification was strikingly reflected in his dress: while other nationalist leaders dressed formally, wearing a Western suit or an Indian bandgala, Gandhiji went among the people in a simple dhoti or loincloth. Meanwhile, he spent part of each day working on the charkha (spinning wheel) and encouraged other nationalists to do likewise. The act of spinning allowed Gandhiji to break the boundaries that prevailed within the traditional caste system, between mental labour and manual labour.
By 1922, Gandhiji had transformed Indian nationalism, thereby redeeming the promise he made in his BHU speech of February 1916. It was no longer a movement of professionals and intellectuals; now, hundreds of thousands of peasants, workers, and artisans also participated in it. Many of them venerated Gandhiji, referring to him as their “Mahatma”. They appreciated the fact that he dressed like them, lived like them, and spoke their language. Unlike other leaders, he did not stand apart from the common folk but empathised and even identified with them.
9. What do private letters and autobiographies tell us about an individual? How are these sources different from official accounts?
Answer : Private letters give us a glimpse of an individual’s private thoughts, allowing us to see people expressing their anger, pain, dismay, anxiety, hopes, and frustrations in ways they may not express in public statements. Autobiographies similarly give us an account of the past that is often rich in human detail. However, we have to be careful of the way we read and interpret autobiographies as they are retrospective accounts written very often from memory. They tell us what the author could recollect, what he or she saw as important, or was keen on recounting, or how a person wanted his or her life to be viewed by others. Writing an autobiography is a way of framing a picture of yourself. So in reading these accounts, we have to try and see what the author does not tell us; we need to understand the reasons for that silence – those wilful or unwitting acts of forgetting. These sources differ from official accounts which are often shaped by political opinions and world views of the people who published them. Every statement made in official accounts cannot be accepted literally as representing what was happening on the ground. They often reflect the fears and anxieties of officials who were unable to control a movement and were anxious about its spread.
Extras
Additional questions and answers
1. Who was regarded as the ‘Father’ of the Indian nation?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi has been regarded as the ‘Father’ of the Indian nation.
30. Discuss the reactions and criticisms faced by Gandhi at the Second Round Table Conference.
Answer: At the second Round Table Conference held in London in the latter part of 1931, Gandhiji represented the Congress. However, his claims that his party represented all of India came under challenge from three parties: from the Muslim League, which claimed to stand for the interests of the Muslim minority; from the Princes, who claimed that the Congress had no stake in their territories; and from the brilliant lawyer and thinker B.R. Ambedkar, who argued that Gandhiji and the Congress did not really represent the lowest castes.
Mahatma Gandhi opposed the demand for separate electorates for “lower castes” or the Depressed Classes. He believed that separate electorates would ensure them bondage in perpetuity, perpetuate the stigma of “Untouchability”, and prevent their integration into mainstream society, permanently segregating them from other caste Hindus.
Ambedkar, in response, argued that the Depressed Classes were in a handicapped position, dependent on high-caste Hindus and facing social prejudices that bolted doors to opportunity. He contended that for such a community to succeed against organised tyranny, some share of political power, obtained through measures like separate electorates, was a paramount necessity for self-protection. The Conference was inconclusive.
Additional MCQs
1. When did Gandhi return to India?
A. January 1915
B. February 1915
C. January 1916
D. December 1915
Answer: A. January 1915
47. Which traditional craft did Gandhi promote to encourage self-reliance?
A. Khadi
B. Carpentry
C. Weaving
D. Pottery
Answer: A. Khadi
Ron’e Dutta is a journalist, teacher, aspiring novelist, and blogger who manages Online Free Notes. An avid reader of Victorian literature, his favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. He dreams of travelling the world. You can connect with him on social media. He does personal writing on ronism.
Get notes of other boards, classes, and subjects
| Notify change in syllabus/books | Share PDFs of books, get benefits |
| Request notes not available now | Share PDFs of question papers |