ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS :
I. Answer the following questions in one sentence each :
1. What do you mean by “Sarvajanik” ?
Ans: The literal meaning of “Sarvajanik” is of or for all the people (Sarva=all +janik= of the people.
2. Who played a part in bringing Indians from the various regions together ?
Ans: Naoroji, a businessman and publicist settled in London, and for a time member of the British Parliament, guided the younger nationalists. A retired British official, A.O.Hume , also played a part in bringing Indians from the various regions together .
3. What slogan was raised by Tilak ?
Ans: Tilak raised the slogan, “freedom is my birth right and I shall have it” .
4. What did Swadeshi movement sought to oppose ?
Ans: The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage swadeshi, the idea of self –help, Swadeshi enterprise, national education, and use of Indian languages .
5. What did the reunited group do in December 1915 ?
Ans: The Congress and Muslim league signed the historic Lucknow Pact and decided to work together for representative government in the country .
6. Why did Gandhiji call for Non-Cooperation movement ?
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi called for the non-cooperation movement when in February 1922 a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in chauri chaura . Twenty two policemen were killed on that day. The peasants were provoked because the police had fired on their peaceful demonstration .
7. Who did Gandhiji go on a march to Dandi in 1930 ?
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi along with other nationalists went on a march because he felt that it was sinful to tax salt since it is an essential item of our food .
8. What suggestions were made by “The Cabinet Mission” in 1946 ?
Ans: The mission suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose confederation with some autonomy for Muslim majority areas.
9. What were the goals of all the associations ?
Ans: The goals of all the associations were stated as the goals of all the people of India, not those of any one region and community .
10. What is the struggle against the partition of Bengal in 1905 known as ?
Ans: The struggle against the partition of Bengal in 1905 known as the swadeshi movement .
11. What slogan did Gandhiji give to the people in 1942 ?
Ans: “Do or Die” was the slogan given by Gandhiji to the people .
12. Where did Gandhiji break the salt law ?
Ans: Gandhiji broke the salt law at the coastal town of Dandi .
13. When did British pass the Rowlatt Act ?
Ans: The British passed the Rowlatt Act in 1919 .
14. Name the two leaders who argued that the party should fight elections to the councils and enter them .
Ans: The two leaders were Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru .
15. Who inspired the Indian nationalists in 1917 ?
Ans: The Russian revolution in 1917, brought news about peasants and workers struggles and ideas of socialism this inspired the Indian nationalists .
II. Answer the following questions in about three sentences :
1. What lead to the awareness that India was for the people of India ?
Ans: Although all the people irrespective of class colour,caste,creed,language or gender are united.And the country,its resources and systems, were meant for all of them. With this answer came the awareness that the British were exercising control over the resources of India and the lives of its people .
2. How did the consciousness began among political associations from 1850’s to 1880’s against Bruisers ?
Ans: Most of these consciousness were led by English- educated professionals such as lawyers. The more important ones were the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Indian Association, the Madras Mahajan Sabha, the Bombay Presidency Association, and the Indian National Congress .
3. What did the dissatisfaction with the British rule intensify in between 1870 and 1880 ?
Ans:
i) The Arms Act was passed in 1878, disallowing Indians from possessing arms .
ii) The vernacular Press Act was also enacted in an effort to silence those who were critical of the government. The Act allowed the government to confiscate the assets of newspapers including their printing presses if the newspapers published anything that was found “objectionable” .
iii) In 1883, there were a fight over the attempt by the government to introduce the Ilbert Bill . The Bill provided for the trial of British or European persons by Indians, and sought equality between British and Indian judges in the country .
4. Who all formed the Indian National Congress ?
Ans: i) The need for an all India organisation of education . Indians had been felt since 1880, but the Ilbert Bill controversy depend this desire. The Indian National congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay in December 1885 .
ii) The early leadership of Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerji, S. Subramania Iyer,etc was largely from Bombay and Calcutta .
5. What were the demands of the Indian Congress in the government and in administration ?
Ans: i) It wanted the legislative councils to be made more representative, given more power, and introduced in provinces where none existed.
ii) It demanded that Indians be placed in high positions in the government. For this purpose it called for civil service examinations to be held in India as well, not just in London.
iii) The demand for Indian administration was part of a movement against racisim , since most important jobs at the time were given to white officials .
6. How did moderate leaders develop public awareness about unjust nature of British rule ?
Ans: The moderate leaders wanted to develop public awareness about the unjust nature of British rule. They published newspapers, wrote articles, and showed how British rule was leading to the economic ruin of the country. They criticised British rule in their speeches and sent representatives to different parts of the country to mobilise public opinion what was necessary was expressed in demands, and make the government aware of the feelings of Indians .
7. Why did many Indians criticized the moderates for their “Politics of prayers” ?
Ans: By 1890’s many Indians began to raise questions about the political style of the Congress. In Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders such as Bepin Pal Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai were beginning to explore objectives and methods. They criticised the moderates for their “Politics of prayers” and emphasised the importance of self-reliance and constructive work . They argued that people must rely on their own strength, not on the “good “intentions of the government
8. How did Gandhiji spend his life in India after his return from South Africa ?
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi spent his first year in India travelling throughout the country , understanding people, their needs and the overall situation. His earliest interventions were in local movements where he came into contact with Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel .
III. Answer the following questions in about four sentences :
1. Why did Viceroy Curzon partition Bengal ?
Ans: i) In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal, at that time Bengal was the biggest province of British India and included Bihar and parts of Orissa .
ii) The British argued that they had divided Bengal for administrative convenience .
iii) The government separated East Bengal and merged it with Assam .
2. What was the result of the partition of Bengal ?
Ans: i) The partition of Bengal infuriated people all over India .
ii) All the sections of the Congress, the moderates and the Radicals opposed it .
iii) Large public meetings and demonstrations were organised and novel methods of mass protest developed .
3. How did Indian industries expand during First World War ?
Ans: i) The First World War altered the economic and political situation in India .
ii) It led to huge rise in the defence expenditure of the government of India. The government increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits .
iii) Increased military expenditure and demand for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices .
iv) Business groups reaped fabulous profits from the war .
4. Why did Gandhiji and others criticise the Rowlatt Act ?
Ans: i) The Rowlatt Act curbed the fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers .
ii) Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and others felt that the government had no right to restrict people’s basic freedoms
5. What were the effects of the Rowlatt Act ?
Ans: i) The Rowlatt Satyagraha turned out to be the first all India struggle against the British government although it was largely restricted to cities .
ii) There were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them .
iii) The Jallianwalla Bagh atrocities, inflicted by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day were a part of this repression .
iv) On learning about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Rabindranath Tagore expressed the pain and anger of the country by renouncing his knighthood .
6. What was the Khilafat Issue ?
Ans: i) In 1920, the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa. People were furious about this as they had been about the Jallianwala massacre .
ii) Indian Muslims were keen that the Khalifa be allowed to retain control over Muslim sacred places .
iii) The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali wished to start a full-fledged non-cooperation movement.
iv) Gandhiji supported their call sand urged the Congress to campaign against “Punjab wrongs” .
7. The non-cooperation movement gained momentum through 1921-22 . Explain ?
Ans: i) Thousands of students left government controlled schools and colleges .
ii) British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted .
iii) People lit public bonfires of foreign cloth .
iv) The imports of foreign cloth fell drastically between 1920 and 1922 .
8. How the people did link their movements to local grievances ?
Ans: i) In Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and poor peasants staged a number of “forest satyagrahas” sometimes seeking their cattle into forests without paying grazing fees .
ii) In Sind (now in Pakistan), Muslim traders and peasants were very enthusiastic about the Khilafat call .
iii) In Bengal, the Khilafat non-cooperation alliance gives enormous communal unity and strength to the national movement .
iv) In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikhs sought to remove corrupt mahants supported by the British from their gurdwaras .
v) In Assam tea garden labourers, were shouting for their wages .
9. Why was Gandhiji called “the people Mahatma” ?
Ans: Sometimes people thought of Gandhiji as a kind of messiah, as someone who could help them to overcome their misery. Gandhiji wished to build class unity, not class conflict, peasants imagined that he would help to fight against Zamindars , the agricultural labourers believed that he would provide them land. At the end of a powerful movement, peasants of Pratapgarh in the united provinces managed to stop illegal eviction of tenants but they felt it was Gandhiji who had won this demand for them .
10. Why did the Congress ministers resign in 1939 ?
Ans: i) The government of India Act 1935 prescribed Provincial autonomy .
ii) The government announced elections to the Provincial legislatures in 1937. The congress formed governments in 7 out of 11 provinces .
iii) The Congress leaders were ready to support the British was effort but in return they wanted that India be granted independence after the war .
iv) The British refused, so the Congress ministers resigned in protest .
11. Why did the Cabinet mission fail ?
Ans: i) The Cabinet mission suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose confederation with some autonomy for Muslim majority areas .
ii) But it could not get the Congress and the Muslim league to agree to specific details of the proposal .