India - Unit 2B

Question 1

The salt tax brought in very little revenue for the Raj, so why oppose it?

Answer 1

Salt was something every Indian needed from every caste, and a natural resource that was plentiful in India, but it’s production was controlled by the Raj. This made the salt tax an emotive issue.

Question 2

Salt Satyagraha

Answer 2

1930
240 mile walk to a costal location called Dandi
Gandhi initially was to set off with 78 untouchables
Thousands also joined before and during the march
Reporters followed and reported Ganhi’s message of non-violence
When he arrived he picked up salt from the ocean, and urged other Indians to do the same and to take tax free salt

Question 3

British reaction to the salt satyagraha

Answer 3

Hundreds of peasants arrested

Congress members arrested, including Jawaharal Nehru and Gandhi

Question 4

Further civil disobedience after the salt satyagraha

Answer 4

• Many moderates began to sympathise with Gandhi more
• Congress authorised provincial committees to organise their own satyagraha’s, but recommended priority salt, boycotting goods and not cooperating with the authorities

Question 5

Why was the second civil disobedience campaign more successful than the first?

Answer 5

• Larger autonomy for provincial committees meant people felt local needs were being more listened to
• Because there was no central organised it was more difficult for the Raj to stop
• Women were more involved, with around 360 women jailed by the end of 1930 for protest related reasons

Question 6

In what ways did the second civil disobedience movement have a negative impact?

Answer 6

• Some areas of Bombay fell into the hands of mobs
• In Bengal some violent clashes with police had occurred
• Many people used civil disobedience as an excuse to act out because of minor grievances, such as opposing forest laws that protected the interests of landowners by encouraging peasants to chop down trees wherever they wanted to

Question 7

The Khalifat Movement

Answer 7

Set up by Muslims in 1919 to support the Caliph
United diverse Muslim communities
Legitimised Muslim participation in the nationalist movement
Muslim leaders backed Gandhi’s 1920-1922 civil disobedience campaigns and Gandhi endorsed the Khalifat movement

Question 8

Jinnah’s attitudes towards Gandhi’s support of the Khalifat movement

Answer 8

• Believed Gandhi’s support of the movement was opportunistic
• Believed Gandhi’s support created division among Muslims
• Jinnah had spoken out openly against non-cooperation due to the Muslim-Hindu violence that had accompanied civil disobedience

Question 9

Why did the Khalifat movement collapse?

Answer 9

• Turkey rejected the caliphate
• The religious mass-appeal aspects alienated some members, such as Jinnah, who resigned from Congress
• Many Muslims became uncomfortable with Gandhi’s leadership

Question 10

Why did Hindu and Muslim relations begin to break down by 1923?

Answer 10

Once the non-violence campaigns ended and the Khalifat Movement dissolved the relations between Congress and Muslims began to break down

Many Hindus in the INC began to regret the separate electorates agreed on in the Lucknow Pact

Muslims began to lose faith that Congress would set up a government that would properly represent them if independence was achieved

Question 11

What two Muslim movements came to the forefront in the 1920’s?

Answer 11

Tanzeem

Tabligh

Question 12

What did the Muslim movements in the 1920’s do?

Answer 12

Promoted better Muslim religious education and regular observance of religious duties and preaching.

They also highlighted the economic plight of many Muslims due to Hindu dominated commercial communities, and anti-Hindu sentiment grew.

Question 13

What three things emphasised the concept of separateness?

Answer 13

Worship and festivals

Organisations

The Raj

Question 14

How did worship and festivals emphasise separateness?

Answer 14

Hindu’s use loud music for religious festivals while Muslims worship in silence.

Muslims slaughter cows for some festivals, and cows are sacred to Hindus.

Question 15

How did organisations emphasise separateness?

Answer 15

The Hindu organisation Arya Samj aimed to convert Muslims to Hinduism. Many wealthy Hindus whom lower class Muslims depended on economically funded them, which fuelled tensions further.

Hindu’s formed a Cow Protection Society.

The Tanzeem and Tabligh movements were seen as provocative by Hindus.

Question 16

How did the Raj emphasise separateness?

Answer 16

The Raj continually defended protectorate electorates, which defended the rights of the Muslim minority but also reaffirmed the concept of separateness.

Question 17

Jinnah’s 1927 Proposal

Answer 17

1927 ML meeting in Delhi
Offered to end separate electorates if Muslims could be guaranteed 1/3 of all seats in the Central Legislative Assembly and if Sind could be separated from Bombay to form it’s own Muslim dominated province
Congress Rejected this

Question 18

Jinnah’s 1929 Proposal

Answer 18

The propsal outlined that:

• Any future constitution should be federal
• Full religious liberty was to be granted to all communities
• In the central legislation Muslim representation should be no less than 1/3
• Any constitution should protect and promote Muslim language, religious practice and institutions
• Any territorial redistribution should not effect Muslim majority provinces such as the Punjab and Bengal

It was once again rejected by Congress, and the idea of a separate Muslim state began to come to the minds of some

Question 19

Jinnah’s beliefs and aims

Answer 19

Determined to protect election quotas for Muslims
Disapproved of mass non-cooperation campaigns, preferred to deal with educated Indians
Began to wear traditional Muslim clothes after the rejections of his 1927 and 1929 proposals and began to support separatist demands more

Question 20

1929 General Election - Britain

Answer 20

The 1919 Government of India act was due for review in 1929, after the elections

The conservative government were worried that if labour won then the policies in India would veer towards the left

India’s secretary of state therefore brought the review forward, this review was the Simon Commission

Question 21

The Simon Commission - What and when was it?

Answer 21

1927
Parliamentary delegation headed by Sir John Simon
To review the GOI 1919 Act, to see if it was working and if changes needed making

Question 22

Why was the Simon Commission received badly, and what was this reception like?

Answer 22

The commission consisted of 7 delegates, none of which were Indian
This gave the message that India’s future would be decided by Westminster politicians, not the Indian people
Were met with mass protest and jeering (Shouting ‘Simon, go home!)
Members of Congress, a large section of the Muslim League and many others boycotted the Commission by refusing to give evidence
The Simon Report draft provided little more than an affirmation of the status quo, and was scrapped before publication

Question 23

Who won the 1929 elections, and who became Viceroy?

Answer 23

The labour government

Lord Irwin

Question 24

What and when was the Irwin Declaration?

Answer 24

October 1929
Reiterated the 1917 Montagu Declaration and promised India dominion status as an official goal
Invited Indian Representatives to London to a Round Table Conference where the details of a new Indian constitution would be discussed

Question 25

Reaction of Congress to the Irwin Declaration

Answer 25

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) asked the British government to prove it’s good faith by granting amnesty to all political prisoners

Irwin refused this, which caused terrorist attacks such as the bombing of the Viceroy’s train

Question 26

Why did the Round Table Conferences cause a dilemma for Gandhi?

Answer 26

Gandhi and the rest of Congress leadership knew attending would likely result in the British forcing their agenda, and that it would be political suicide

All representatives of Indian opinion were invited, including the princes, who Gandhi viewed as pawns of the British

However, if going meant that the chances of Congress getting what they wanted were severely compromised, not going obliterated those chances, so they had very little choice

Question 27

Background to the Gandhi-Irwin pact

Answer 27

1930 - Gandhi was in prison after the salt satyagraha
Congress was desperate to find a way to revitalise the civil disobedience movement, and Lord Irwin was worried this would be done with violence
Irwin needed a way to get Gandhi out of jail and attending the conferences

Question 28

What was agreed in the Gandhi-Irwin pact and when was it agreed?

Answer 28

1931 - Irwin met with Gandhi and they came to this agreement

Outcomes of the pact:

• Congress was to suspend its civil disobedience campaign
• Gandhi was to attend the second round table conference (the first one had occurred in 1930)
• 19,000 Congress supporters were to be released from jail
• Confiscated property was to be returned to its owners

This agreement brought everyone a bit of calm