HN06 — Indian National Movement (1885–1947)

This is the single most important chapter in NDA History — it consistently accounts for the highest number of questions. The Indian freedom struggle spans 62 years (1885–1947) and involves three distinct phases, dozens of pivotal events, and a cast of extraordinary leaders. For self-study, approach this chapter as a story with turning points: each major event happens because of the one before it. Understanding the logic of the sequence — why Non-Cooperation led to Civil Disobedience, why Quit India erupted when it did — will help you answer even unfamiliar questions by reasoning from what you know.

1. Formation of Indian National Congress & the Moderate Phase

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 — not as a revolutionary organisation but as a pressure group seeking reforms within the British system. The founders believed that if Indians presented well-reasoned petitions to the British Parliament, justice would prevail. This faith in the British system characterises the "Moderate" phase. They were not wrong to try — but over time, it became clear that petitions alone would not deliver freedom.

2. Partition of Bengal (1905) — The Turning Point

Lord Curzon's decision to partition Bengal in 1905 was meant to weaken the nationalist movement by dividing Hindus and Muslims geographically. Instead, it unified them in outrage and gave birth to the Swadeshi movement — the first mass movement in Indian nationalist history. This was the moment when the freedom struggle shifted from petition to action.

3. Mahatma Gandhi — New Methods, Mass Movements

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915 and transformed the freedom struggle fundamentally. His contribution was not just political — he made the freedom movement a mass movement by linking it to the everyday concerns of ordinary Indians (peasants, workers, women) rather than keeping it confined to the educated urban elite. His method — Satyagraha (truth-force/soul-force) — was a completely new political tool.

4. Rowlatt Act & Jallianwala Bagh (1919)

5. Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–1922)

The Non-Cooperation Movement was the first nationwide mass movement — the first time millions of ordinary Indians actively participated. Gandhi linked it to the Khilafat movement (Muslims protesting the British treatment of the Ottoman Caliph after WWI), creating the first Hindu-Muslim united front in the freedom movement.

6. Civil Disobedience Movement & the Dandi March (1930)

After a decade of failed negotiations (Simon Commission 1927, Nehru Report 1928, Round Table Conferences), Gandhi chose a masterstroke — the Salt Satyagraha. Salt was something every Indian used daily; the British salt tax was both economically extractive and symbolically oppressive. By marching to make salt from the sea, Gandhi simultaneously broke an unjust law, demonstrated ordinary people's power to resist, and chose an issue that was immediately understandable to every Indian from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin.

7. Quit India Movement (1942)

By 1942, the Second World War had brought Japanese forces to India's doorstep (they had captured Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore). The British needed Indian cooperation but were unwilling to commit to post-war independence. The Cripps Mission (1942) offered a vague promise of Dominion Status after the war — which Gandhi dismissed as "a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank." The result was the most intense and violent phase of the freedom struggle.

8. Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army

While Gandhi waged non-violent mass movements, Subhas Chandra Bose pursued a different strategy — armed liberation with foreign help. Both approaches, though different, contributed to making British rule untenable. The INA trials after WWII, in particular, had a profound impact — they revealed the depth of Indian soldiers' nationalist feeling and shook the foundation of British military confidence.

9. Road to Independence and Partition