RISE OF INDIAN NATIONALISM

British rule led to administrative unification, the introduction of Western Education and indirectly to cultural awakening. These factors created the conditions for the rise of nationalism in India. The activities of the press, and reactions against British economic exploitation, repressive policies and racial discrimination also contributed to the rise of nationalism.

The British curbed the freedom of the press through the Vernacular Press Act of 1878. The Europeans’ agitation against the Ilbert Bil (1883) exposed their racial arrogance.

Many political associations were formed after 1850 to express the grievances of the people. Surendranath Banerjea established the Indian Association in 1876. He started a countrywide campaign against the lowering of the age limit for competing in the ICS examination and against Lord Lytton’s repressive policies.

Allan Octavian Hume started the Indian National Congress in 1885. Its First session, in Bombay was presided over by W C Bonnerjea and was attended by 72 delegates.

The first phase (1885-1905) of the Congress-led National Movement is called the moderate phase because the leaders of this period had great faith in the British and believed in petitions rather than confrontation to achieve their objectives.

The extremists in the Congress did not believe in petitions, and were disappointed with the moderates. They were inspired by international events that demonstrated the courage of oppressed peoples. Their leaders included Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh. Their goal was swaraj or self-rule.

Lord Curzon’s unpopular policies and his act of partitioning Bengal in 1905 intensified the agitation of the extremists. They introduced three new methods of protest – boycott, swadeshi and national education.

The Swadeshi Movement spread from Bengal to Maharashtra and Punjab, school and college students, and even women, joined the movement. The British used severe repression to suppress the movement.

The Moderates reluctantly accepted swadeshi and boycott as methods as protest, but not on a regular basis. Although Dadabhai Naoroji accepted swaraj as the goal of Congress in 1906, the moderates and the extremists parted ways at the Surat Session in 1907.

The British appeased the moderates through the Indian Councils Act of 1909, or the Morely-Minto Reforms. This act granted the Muslims separate electorates.

In the 1890’s the trend of revolutionary emerged. It aimed at overthrowing the British through the violent means. It was led by Aurobindo Ghosh, V D Savarkar and Ajit Singh. The Ghadar Party and the Anushilan  Samiti tried to organize armed uprisings in India with foreign help. Their activities alarmed the British, but they  ultimately failed as the did not have mass support.

In 1906, the All India Muslim League was formed to advance the political interests of Muslims in India. Nationalist Muslims condemned this separatist trend.

In 1911, the partition of Bengal was annulled. During the First World War (1914-1918), the Congress cooperated with the British in hope of being granted self-government after the war.

In 1916, Tilak and Annie Besant simultaneously established Home Rule Leagues to demand self-government for India. The movement became popular, and the British retaliated with repression.

The Congress session at Lucknow in 1916 saw the union of the moderates and the extremists as well as a pact between the Congress and the Muslim League. The pact demanded political reforms leading to self-government, but also accepted the idea that Hindus and Muslims were two different communities with separate interests.