Introduction
The political and economic centralisationof India achieved by the British for the better exploitation and control of India inevitably led to the growth of national consciousness and the birth of the national movement. The history of nationalism in India begins with the campaigns and struggles for social reforms in the nineteenth century followed by the Western- educated Indians’ prayers and petitions for political liberties. With the return of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi from South Africa in 1915,and his leadership of the Indian nationalist
movement in 1919 Indian nationalism entered a mass phase.
Prior to Gandhi, prominent leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale,
Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and others took the early
initiative to educate the Indians about their national identity and colonial exploitation.In this chapter, while tracing the origin and growth of Indian Nationalism, we focus on the contribution of these leaders who are known as
the early nationalists.
Socio-economic Background
(a) Implications of the New Land Tenures
The British destroyed the traditionalbasis of Indian land system. In the pre-
British days, the land revenue was realised bysharing the actual crop with the cultivators.The British fixed the land revenue in cash without any regard to various contingencies,such as failure of crops, fall in prices and droughts or floods. Moreover, the practice of sale in settlement of debt encouraged money
lenders to advance money to landholders and resorting to every kind of trickery to rob them of their property.
There were also two other major implications of the new land settlements introduced by the East India Company. They institutionalised the commodification of land and commercialisation of agriculture in India.
As mentioned earlier, there was no private property in land in pre-British era. Now, land became a commodity that could be transferred either by way of buying and selling or by way of the administration taking over land from holders, in lieu of default on payment of tax/rent. Land taken over in such cases was auctioned off to another bidder. This created a new class of absentee landlords who lived
in the cities and extracted revenue from the lands without actually living on the lands. In the traditional agricultural set-up, the villagers produced largely for their consumption among themselves. After the new land settlements,
agricultural produce was predominantly for the market.
The commodification of land and commercialisation of agriculture did not
improve the lives and conditions of the peasants.Instead, this created discontent among the peasantry and made them restive. These peasants later on turned against the imperialists and their collaborators.
(b) Laissez Faire Policy and De-industrialization: Impact
on Indian Artisans
The policy of the Company in the wake ofIndustrial Revolution in England resulted in the de-industrialization of India. This continued until the beginning of the World War I. TheBritish Government pursued a policy of free trade or laissez faire. Raw materials like cotton,jute and silks from India were taken to Britain.
The finished products made from those raw materials were then transported back to the Indian markets. Mass production with the help of technological advancement enabled them to flood the Indian market with their goods.It was available at a comparatively cheaper price than the Indian handloom cloth. Prior to the arrival of the British, India was known for its handloom products and handicrafts. It
commanded a good world market. However, as a result of the colonial policy, gradually Indian handloom products and handicrafts lost there market, domestic as well as international.Import of English articles into India threw the weavers, the cotton dressers, the carpenters,the blacksmiths and the shoemakers out of
employment. India became a procurement area for the raw material and the farmers were forced to produce industrial crops like indigo and other cash crops like cotton for use in British factories. Due to this shift, subsistence agriculture, which was the mainstay for several hundred years, suffered leading to food
scarcity.
(c) Famines and Emigration of Indians to Overseas British Colonies
Famines
As India became increasingly de-industrialised and weavers and artisans engaged in handicrafts were thrown out of employment,there were recurrent famines due to the neglect of irrigation and oppressive taxation on land.Before the arrival of the British, Indian rulers had ameliorated the difficulties of the populace in times of famines by providing tax relief,regulating the grain prices and banning food exports from famine-hit areas. But the British extended their policy of non-intervention (laissez faire) even to famines. As a result,millions of people died of starvation during the Raj. It has been estimated that between 1770 and 1900, twenty five million Indians died in famines. William Digby, the editor of Madras
Times, pointed out that during 1793-1900 alone an estimated five million people had died in all the wars around the world, whereas in just ten years (1891-1900), nineteen million had died in India infamines alone.Sadly when people were
dying of starvation millions of tonnes of wheat was exported to Britain. During the 1866 Orissa Famine, for instance, while a million and a half people starved to death, the British exported 200 million pounds of rice to Britain. The Orissa
Famine prompted nationalist Dadabhai Naoroji to begin his lifelong investigations into Indian poverty. The failure of two successive monsoons caused a severe famine in the Madras Presidency during 1876-78. The viceroy Lytton adopted a
hands-off approach similar to that followed in Orissa. An estimated 3.5 million people died inthe Madras presidency.
Western Educationand its Impact
(a) Education in Pre-British India
Education in pre-colonial India was characterised by segmentation along religious
and caste lines. Among the Hindus, Brahmins had the exclusive privilege to acquire higher religious and philosophical knowledge. They monopolised the education system and occupied positions in the society, primarily as
priests and teachers. They studied in special seminaries such as Vidyalayas and Chatuspathis.The medium of instruction was Sanskrit,which was considered as the sacred language.Technical knowledge – especially in relationto architecture, metallurgy, etc. – was passed hereditarily. This came in the way of innovation.
Another shortcoming of this system was that itbarred women, lower castes and other under-privileged people from accessing education.The emphasis on rote learning was anotherimpediment to innovation.
(b) Contribution of Colonial State: Macaulay System of Education
The colonial government aided the spreadof modern education in India for a different reason than educating and empowering the Indians. To administer a large colony like India, the British needed a large number of personnel to work for them. It was impossible for the British to import the educated lot,needed in such large numbers, from Britain. With this aim, the English Education Act was
passed by the Council of India in 1835. T.B. Macaulay drafted this system of education introduced in India. Consequently, the colonial administration started schools, colleges and universities, imparting English and modern education, in India. Universities were established in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta in
1857. The colonial government expected thissection of educated Indians to be loyal to the British and act as the pillars of the British Raj.
(c) Role of Educated Middle Class
The economic and administrative transformation on the one side and the
growth of Western education on the other gave the space for the growth of new social classes. From within these social classes, a modern Indian intelligentsia emerged. The“neo-social classes” created by the British Raj, which included the Indian trading and business communities, landlords, money
lenders, English-educated Indians employed in imperial subordinate services, lawyers and doctors, initially adopted a positive approach towards the colonial administration. However,soon they realised that their interests would
be better served only in independent India.People of the said social classes began to play a prominent role in promoting patriotism amongst the people. The consciousness of these classes found articulation in a numberof associations prior to the founding of theIndian National Congress at the national
level. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghose, Gopala Krishna Gokhale, Dadabhai Naoroji, Feroz Shah Mehta, Surendra Nath Banerjea and others who belonged to modern Indian intelligentsia led the social, religious and political movements in India. Educated Indians had exposure to ideas of nationalism,democracy, socialism, etc. articulated by John
Locke, James Stuart Mill, Mazzini, Garibaldi,Rousseau, Thomas Paine, Marx and other western intellectuals. The right of a free press, the right of free speech and the right of association were the three inherent rights, which their European counterparts held dear to their heart, and the educated Indians too desired to cling to. Various forums came into existence, where people could meet and discuss the issues affecting their interests. This became possible now at the national level, due
to the rapid expansion of transport network and establishment of postal, telegraph and wireless services all over India.
Social and Religious Reforms
The English educated intelligentsia felt theneed for reforming the society before involvingthe people in any political programmes. The reform movements of nineteenth century are categorised as 1. Reformist movements such
as the Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the Prarthana Samaj, founded by Dr Atmaram Pandurang and the Aligarh Movement, represented by Syed Ahmad Khan; 2. Revivalist movements such as the Arya Samaj,
the Ramakrishna Mission and the Deoband Movement. 3. There were social movements led by Jyotiba Phule in Pune, Narayana Guru and Ayyankali in Kerala and Ramalinga Adigal, Vaikunda Swamigal and later Iyothee Thassar in Tamilnadu. All these reformers and their contributions have been dealt with comprehensively in the XI Std. text book.The reformers of nineteenth century responded to the challenge posed by Western Enlightenment knowledge based on reason.
Indian national consciousness emerged as a result of the rethinking triggered by these reforms. The Brahmo Samaj was foundedby Ram Mohan Roy in 1828. Other socio-cultural organisations like the Prarthana Samaj(1867), the Arya Samaj (1875) were founded subsequently. Roy’s initiative was followed up by reformers like Keshav Chandra Sen and IswarChandra Vidyasagar. Abolition of sati and child
marriage and widow remarriage became the main concerns for these reformers. The Aligarh movement played a similar role among the Muslims. Slowly, organisations and associations of political nature came up in different parts of
British India to vent the grievances of the people.
Other Decisive Factors for the Rise of Nationalism
(a) Memories of 1857
Indian national movement dates its birth from the 1857 uprising. The outrages committed by the British army after putting down the revolt remained “un-avenged”. Even the court-martial law and formalities were not observed. Officers
who sat on the court martial swore that they would hang their prisoners, guilty or innocent and, if any dared to raise his voice against such indiscriminate vengeance, he was silenced by his angry colleagues. Persons condemned to
death after the mockery of a trial were often tortured by soldiers before their execution,while the officers looked on approvingly. It is worth recalling what Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay Presidency, wrote to Sir John Lawrence,
future Viceroy of India (1864) about the British siege of Delhi during June-September, 1857:‘...A wholesale vengeance is being taken without distinction of friend or foe. As regards the looting, we have indeed surpassed Nadirshah.’
(b) Madras Mahajana Sabha (MMS)
After the Madras Native Association became defunct there was no such public
organisation in the Madras Presidency. As many educated Indians viewed this situation with dismay, the necessity for a political organisation was felt and in May 1884 the Madras Mahajana Sabha was organised. In the inaugural meeting held on 16 May1884 the prominent participants were: G.Subramaniam, Viraraghavachari, Ananda Charlu, Rangiah, Balaji Rao and Salem Ramaswamy. With the launch of the Indian National Congress, after the completion of the second provincial conference of Madras Mahajana Sabha, the leaders after attending the first session of the Indian NationalCongress (INC) in Bombay amalgamated theMMS with the INC.
(c) Indian National Congress (INC)
The idea of forming a political organisation that would raise issues and grievances against the colonial rule did not emerge in a vacuum.Between 1875 and
1885 there were many agitations against British policies in India. The Indian textile industry was campaigning for imposition of cotton import duties in 1875. In 1877, demands for the Indianisation of Government services were made vociferously. There were protests againstthe Vernacular Press Act of 1878. In 1883, there
was an agitation in favour of the Ilbert Bill.But these agitations and protests were
sporadic and not coordinated. There was a strong realisation that these protests would not impact on the policy makers unless anational political organisation was formed.From this realisation was born the Indian National Congress. The concept of Indiaas a nation was reflected in the name of the organisation. It also introduced the concept of nationalism.
In December 1884,Allan Octavian Hume, aretired English ICS officer,presided over a meeting of the Theosophical Society in Madras. The formation of a political organisation that would work on an all India basis was discussed
and the idea of forming the Indian National Congress emerged in this meeting. The Indian National Congress was formed on 28 December 1885 in Bombay. Apart
from A.O Hume, another important founding member was W C. Bonnerjee, who was elected the first president.Though the activities of the INC then revolved around petitions and memoranda, from the very beginning the founders of
the INC worked to bring every section of the society into its ambit. One of the main
missions of the INC was to weld the Indians into a nation. They were convinced that the struggle against the colonial rule will be successful only if Indians saw themselves as the members of a nation. To achieve this, the INC acted as a common political platform for all the movements that were being organised in different parts of the country. The INC provided the space where the political workers
from different parts of the country could gather and conduct their political activities under its banner. Even though the organization was small with less than a hundred members, it had an all-India character with representation from
all regions of India. It was the beginning of the mobilisation of people on an all-India basis. The major objectives and demands of INC were Constitutional
Opportunity for participation in the government was one of the major demands
of the Indian National Congress. It demanded Indian representation in the
government.
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