This GSEB Class 8 Social Science Notes Chapter 3 Nationalism in India covers all the important topics and concepts as mentioned in the chapter.
Nationalism in India Class 8 GSEB Notes
→ Nationalism is a feeling of pride and belonging towards one’s nation. It is also the feeling of willingness to sacrifice everything one has for the nation if the need arises.
→ Factors responsible for the rise of nationalism in India developed notably only after the revolt of 1857 C.E.
→ The modem conceopt of nationalism originated in Europe. Factors like Renaissance, Reformation, American and French Revolutions, Unification of Italy and Germany, etc. played an important role in spreading nationalism in Europe.
→ The British rule in India helped Indians to know about things happening around the world. This changed their political, social, religious and economic views. The educated and the intellectuals realised the need of self-rule (Swaraj). This thought gradually spread all over the country and was followed by the feeling of national unity.
→ Various Factors that led to the rise of nationalism in India are as under:
1. Political Reasons: Before the British came to India, the nation was divided into small and big princely states. However, the British defeated many kings and set up their rule all over the country. Though they implemented a uniform administrative system, the British rule was not conducive and Indians started protesting against the it. Gradually these protests became more prominent and widespread.
2. Economic Reasons: The economic policies of the British ruined India financially. The British would take raw mateirals at cheap rates from India to their country. The finished good manufactured in their country were sold in India. Import duty on such products was negligible but Indian products were taxed heavily. Thus Indian goods became very expensive making them inaffordable. In this cut throat competition Indian cottage industries could not survive. Artisans became unemployed. This made Indians realise that British policies would never allow them to prosper. The British only wanted England to prosper at the cost Indian economy. This made the Indians protest against the British and feelings of nationalism were fostered in the people of India.
3. Transport and Telecommunication: The British developed rail, water and land routes as well as the post and telegraph system for their own military, economic and political reasons. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Indians as people came closer due to these facilities. Mobility of intellectuals, artists and business class people increased. Thoughts and opinions were easily exchanged. This lessened discrimination between caste, community and region. National leaders could communicate with a large number of people through newspapers. Thus leadership was built at a national level and this contributed significantly in the achievement of Swaraj.
4. Literature and Education : Western ideas and nationalism spread with English education. Learning English made Indians familiar with latest trends of the world. Thus they were inspired by the ideas of Democracy – from the American War of Independence and of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ – from the French revolution. People began dreaming about a bright future of independent India. Various novels, acts, stories, poems, songs, etc. written in regional languages spread the message of national unity and devotion.
5. Newspapers : Newspapers made an important contribution in spreading awareness about nationalism. Dailies published from Bengal, Mumbai and Chennai awakened the feelings of nationalism in people’s hearts.
6. Magnificent and Rich Heritage of India:
- Ancient archeologist Alexander Cunningham and his assistants excavated many ancient sites and discovered remains depicting the rich heritage of India.
- Indian archeologists like Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, Madho Swarup Vats and Rakhal Das Bannerjee continued the excavations and unearthed remains of majestic civilizations
- Ancient Indian books on medical science, astrophysics, spirituality, etc. were translated into English so that Indians and the world came to know them.
All these things fostered the feelings of pride and nationalism.
→ All these factors and other regional organisations contributed to the Indian National Congress being established.
→ Sir A. O. Hume, a retired British officer, realized that the British Empire was not as secure as it appeared to be and due to dissatisfaction among people there were chances of a revolt like the one in 1857. To keep general dissatisfaction at bay he thought of organising a political organisation.
→ Viceroy Lord Dufferin agreed with Hume’s idea. It was due to the efforts of Sir Allan Octavian Hume (A. O. Hume) that the Indian National Congress was established in December, 1885.
→ The first session of the Indian National Congress was held on 28th December, 1885, at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit School in Mumbai. Vyomeshchandra Bannerjee was its first president and 72 representatives from various regions were present.
→ Leaders like Dadabhai Navroji, Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Firoz Shah Mehta, Badruddin Taiyabji, K. T. Telang, Dinshaw Vachcha, etc. were present at the first session of the Indian National Congress where many problems related to the nation were discussed.
→ In the initial stages (1885- 1905) the activities of the Indian National Congress were moderate. Demands for more political rights, including more Indians in government services, debt relief to farmers, revival of cottage industries, etc. were made. The British government turned these demands down and this fact laid a strong foundation for the freedom struggle.
→ Due to granting of more freedom to the press and more personal liberty as well as freedome of speech granted to Indians, many educated youths were inspired to join the Indian National Congress which gave many capable and potential leaders to the organisation.
→ The growing unity and integrity among Indians became a concern for the British. The British withdrew their support and to further weaken Indian unity Viceroy Lord Curzon adopted the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy and partitioned Bengal in 1905.
→ Bengal was the largest province of British India and so its administration was difficult. So Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal, but the main intention was that he wanted to promote communal differences among the Hindus and Muslims thus weakening the momentum of political awakening among Indians. However, Indian leaders and common people understood this and opposed it intensively.
→ The song ‘Vande Mataram’ from the book ‘Anand Math’ written by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyaya became the popular slogan during the protest against Bengal partition.
→ The day of Bengal partition was observed as Mourning Day’ (Day of National Mourning). On the suggestion of Rabindranath Tagore the day was also celebrated as ‘Day of Unity’.
→ The Bang-Bhang movement was led with three main objectives:
- To trade and use Indian (Swadeshi) goods only
- To boycott imported (British) goods and
- To acquire national education and boycott English education.
→ Under the leadership of renowned members like Surendranath Bannerjee, Bipinchandra Pal, Arvind Ghosh, etc. of the Indian National Congress, a committee was formed to spread the protest against the partition of Bengal by urging Indians to boycott foreign goods. This message was spread through newspapers, processions and meetings. Factories producing swadeshi goods were set up. Thus there was a sharp decline in the use of foreign goods.
→ Since many students participated in the protest against the Bang Bhang movement, punitive actions such as expelling them from schools and colleges were levied by the British government. So, 25 national secondary schools and 300 national primary schools were started in Bengal in 1907 C.E. Rabindranath Tagore had started the ‘Vishwabharti School’ at Shanti Niketan.
→ People like Dadabhai Navroji, Surendranath Bannerjee, Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Firozshah Mehta, etc. who adopted a moderate attitute believed in acquiring political rights through constitutional measures. These leaders of this movement and were known as the ‘Moderates’. They sowed seeds of self-rule, equality, democracy and freedom in the minds of Indians. The outcome of their work was Indian youth who were enthusiastic, awakened and confident.
→ In contrast to this, the triplet leaders, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipinchandra Pal fondly known as ‘Lai, Bal and Pal’ were prominent leaders who believed in aggressive and active revolt against the British for attaining freedom. They wanted self-rule as their right not as a favour. They were called the ‘Extremists’.
→ Bal Gangadhar Tilak popularly known as Lokmanya Tilak was a prominent leader of the Extremist movement. He gave the slogan: “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it.” He started community celebrations of ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ and ‘Shivaji Jayanti’ to unite Marathas. He also started two newspapers, namely, ‘Kesari’ in Marathi and ‘Maratha’ in English. He played an important role in the ‘Home Rule Movement’ in 1916 C.E.
→ Lala Lajpat Rai (1856-1928) became popularly known as ‘Punjab Kesari’ or ‘Sher-e-Punjab’. He was badly beaten up during the ‘lathi charge’ while protesting against the Simon Commission. This became the cause of his death. Lala Lajpat Rai said, “Every blow aimed at me is a nail in the coffin of British imperialism.” (the sentence in the textbook is grammatically as well as verbally wrong.)
→ Bipinchandra Pal (1858- 1932) was part of the trio known as Lal-Bal-Pal. He started the weekly ‘New India Weekly’ and a newspaper named ‘Vande Mataram’. He was accused of provoking youngsters to violent activities.
→ Nationalism was growing at a quick pace in India. So, it was necessary for the British to break the national unity. They adopted the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy. They successfully convinced a group of Muslim leaders to form the ‘Muslim League.’ The league was established in 1906 C.E. in Dhaka. The religious leader of the Muslims Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dhaka Salimullah Khan, Viceroy Minto and his private minister Dunlop Smith, etc. played an important role in the establishment of the Muslim League.
→ Between 1916 and 1918 when the First World War had just ended, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Madam Annie Besant along with prominent Indians like Joseph Baptista, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, G.S. Kharpade, Sir S. Subramania Iyer organised a national alliance of leagues in India to demand Home Rule within the British Empire for all in India.
→ Tilak was conferred the title of ‘Lokmanya’ for propagating the ‘Home Rule’ through his newspapers ‘Kesari’ and ‘Maratha.’ Madam Annie Besant wrote various articles in the weekly ‘The Common Will’ and the daily ‘New India’. She appealed to the British to share administrative powers and grant the ‘Home Rule’ to India at the earliest. Annie Besant was kept under house arrest at Ooty. Due to protests and demonstrations at various places, the British had to finally set her free.
→ The ‘Home Rule Movement’ was supported by the Indian National Congress as well as the Mustlim League.
→ The ‘Lucknow Pact’ (1916) refers to an agreement between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League at a joint session of both parites held in Lucknow. Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was a member of both the parties made them reach an agreement to pressurise the British to adopt a more liberal approaceh towards India and give Indians more authority to run their country. This pact succeeded in establishing cordial relations between the ‘Moderates’ and the ‘Extremists’- the two prominent groups of the Indian National Congress.
→ Subhash Chandra Bose was born on 23rd January, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa (Odisha) to Prabhavati and Janakinath Bose. He was very intelligent. He stood 4th in the ICS exam in London in 1920. He returned to India and joined the Indian National Congress. He was arrested 11 times. He became President of the Haripura session of Congress in 1938 and again of the Tripura seesion in 1939, However, he was forced to resign from the Congress due to difference of opinion.
→ Subhash Chandra Bose formed a new political party named Forward Bloc (Block in textbook is wrong; it should be BLOC only) in May 1939. When World War II broke out the Forward Bloc launched an anti¬war propaganda. He was arrested and imprisoned. However, when he went on a hunger strike, the British government had to set him free. But they kept him under house arrest.
On January 17, 1941 at the stroke of midnight, Subhash Chandra Bose escaped from house arrest. After disguising himself as a pathan and travelling via
Peshawar, Kabul and Moscow he finally reached Berlin (Germany) and then on to Japan via Sumatra.
→ In 1942 C.E, Captain Mohan Singh an Indian soldier in the British army fromed the the ‘Azad Hind Fauj’ with the help of other Indian soldiers who had surrendered to Japan as war prisoners.
→ However, when Mohan Singh had to resign his post, Rasbihari Bose appoined Subhash Chandra Bose as the chief of the ‘Azad Hind Fauj’ on 4th July, 1943. He was given the honorary title of ‘Netaji.’
→ Netaji gave the slogans ‘Chalo Delhi’ and ‘Jai Hind’ to the Azad Hind Fauj and the nation respectively. He toured countries of South-East Asia and appealed to Indians there to sacrifice all for India’s freedom with the words ‘You give me blood and I will give you freedom.’ (‘Turn mujhe khoon do, main tumhe azadi doonga.’)
→ Subhash Chandra Bose established the Aarzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (Acting Government to free India) in Singapore in October 1943. This government declared war against England and America.
→ Subhash Chandra Bose reorganised the Azad Hind Fauj. He became the Chief of Army and of the Aarzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind. The soldiers were properly trained and divided into various battalions.
→ The Fauj was victorious at many fronts on the Eastern Border of India, but had to retreat dur to shortage of food supply and heavy rain.
→ Subhash Chandra Bose had taken a vow that he would never enter subjugated India. Netaji left Rangoon and Bangkok.
→ As per the reports published by Japanese government, Subhash Chandra Bose’s plane that took off from Taipei in Formosa on 18th August, 1945 crashed and Netaji being seriously burned finally succumbed to death.