Gandhian Era I (1917–1922)

The arrival of Gandhi marked the beginning of the mass phase of the freedom struggle, drawing peasants, workers and ordinary people into the movement.

• Gandhi returned from South Africa to India on 9 January 1915 and joined the national movement.
• In India he met Gopal Krishna Gokhale, whose thought influenced him deeply — Gandhi accepted Gokhale as his political guru.
• Initially Gandhi worked with the British government, but he was soon disappointed with its policies.
• His chief weapon was Satyagraha — non-violent insistence on truth.

Before leading any national agitation, Gandhi tested Satyagraha on local issues — first for peasants, then for workers.

Champaran was where Gandhi first tried the efficacy of Satyagraha in India, fighting for the exploited indigo cultivators of Bihar.

• Champaran was a district of the Tirhut division of Bihar province.
• The tenants were bound by contract to plant indigo on a fixed part of their land for their European landlords — a system known as the Tinkathia system.
• Under Tinkathia, peasants had to grow indigo on 3/20th (the "teen-kathia") of their land.
• By the end of the 19th century, synthetic dyes were invented in Germany, making indigo unprofitable; to compensate their losses, the European planters imposed higher taxes on the farmers.
• Rajkumar Shukla requested Gandhi to look into the problems of the indigo planters.
• The government appointed an inquiry commission and Gandhi was nominated a member.
• Gandhi was successful in abolishing the Tinkathia system; about 25% of the money was refunded to the peasants as wages.

Soon after Ahmedabad, Gandhi's attention turned to the distressed peasants of Kheda district in Gujarat, demanding relief from land revenue.

• The peasants of Kheda were in extreme distress due to failure of crops, plague, high prices and drought, yet the government ignored their appeals.
• Due to Gandhi's effort, the government agreed to a compromise between the peasants and the authorities.
• Indulal Yagnik and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel took leading roles in the movement with Gandhi.
• Kheda was a key step towards justice for peasants.

Between Champaran and Kheda, Gandhi intervened in a dispute between mill-owners and workers in Ahmedabad — his first use of the hunger strike.

• The dispute was between the textile mill-owners and the workers over the withdrawal of a plague bonus and a demand for higher wages.
• Gandhi advised the workers to go on a peaceful strike and undertook a fast unto death to keep up their resolve.
• The strike ended with the workers being granted a 35% wage increase through arbitration.

The repressive Rowlatt Act outraged Indians and gave Gandhi the spark for his first nationwide agitation.

• The Act came out of the recommendations of a sedition committee headed by Justice Rowlatt, which sought to make war-time restrictions on civil rights permanent.
• It gave the government a system of special courts, detention without trial for up to 2 years, and greater police power.
• It led to the foundation of Gandhi's first country-wide agitation — the basis of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• During March and April 1919, the country witnessed a remarkable political awakening.
• It was criticised as the 'Black Act' and called 'Bina Apeel, Bina Daleel, Bina Vakil' (no appeal, no argument, no advocate).

The protest against the Rowlatt Act ended in one of the darkest tragedies of British rule — a turning point in the freedom struggle.

• A meeting had been called to oppose the detention of Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew.
• It was the Baisakhi festival; people had gathered peacefully, and the crowd was completely unarmed.
• Troops of the 45th British Regiment were marched in, and Dyer ordered firing "till the ammunition was exhausted" — for about one hour.
• About 380 persons were killed and over 2,000 wounded.
• The Lt. Governor of Punjab applauded Dyer's action and the British business community in India hailed him; Dyer was even presented a purse of £26,000 and a 'Sword of Honour'.

• Rabindranath Tagore renounced his Knighthood in protest against the brutality of the massacre.
• Sir Shankaran Nair resigned from the Executive Council of the Viceroy.
• The government set up an enquiry commission under the chairmanship of Lord Hunter — the Hunter Commission.
• On 13 March 1940, Udham Singh killed Michael O'Dwyer (the former Lt. Governor of Punjab) at Caxton Hall, London, avenging the massacre.

The Khilafat agitation by Indian Muslims gave Gandhi the chance to forge Hindu–Muslim unity for a joint mass struggle.

• In the First World War, Turkey sided with the Axis powers and was defeated by the Allies; the victorious Allies dismembered the Ottoman empire and the Sultan/Khalifa was deposed.
• On 14 May 1920, the terms of the Treaty (of Sèvres) to be imposed on the Sultan were published, angering Indian Muslims.
• A deputation of leaders led by Dr M. A. Ansari met Lord Chelmsford and demanded that the Sultan's empire and the holy places of Islam be left undisturbed ('Caliph' must be preserved).
• These demands were also supported by the Indian National Congress (INC).
• An All India Khilafat Committee was set up; on 17 October 1919, 'Khilafat Day' was observed.
• The movement was led by the Ali Brothers (Maulana Mohammad Ali & Shaukat Ali).
• Gandhi suggested that the Khilafat Committee start a Non-Cooperation Movement.

The Non-Cooperation Movement was the first mass-based political movement under Gandhi, merging the Khilafat and national causes.

• It was based on three demands:
• The Khilafat issue.
• Justice for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
• Swaraj (Self-Rule).
• The Nagpur Congress session (1920) adopted the Gandhian programme and approved the scheme of Non-Cooperation.
• The Tilak Swaraj Fund was started to finance the movement ("every coin for Swaraj").
• In July 1921, the Ali Brothers gave a call to Muslims to resign from the Army.

The movement had a "reject and replace" plan — boycott British institutions and build Indian alternatives.

• Leaders like C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru gave up their legal practices; Subhash Chandra Bose resigned from the Civil Services.
• The visit of the Prince of Wales to India was met with black flags, strikes and demonstrations.
• People surrendered titles and honours in large numbers.

A single violent incident at Chauri Chaura made Gandhi call off the entire movement at its peak.

• The Allahabad Congress session (December 1921) had decided to launch a Civil Disobedience Movement, and Gandhi was appointed its leader.
• Shocked by the violence, Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement on 12 February 1922.
• After the suspension, to isolate Gandhi from the masses, the British arrested him on 13 March 1922.
• Gandhi took the responsibility for the incident upon himself; the judge sentenced him to six years' imprisonment.

• Gandhi believed the movement had turned violent and people were not ready for non-violent (ahimsa) mass struggle.
• He chose peace over anger and suspended the movement.

The early Gandhian phase moved in a single chain — repression bred protest, protest bred mass movement, and one violent flashpoint ended it.

A quick date-line of this phase — among the most frequently asked one-liners in the exam.