# The Gandhian Mass Era Begins: Champaran, Jallianwala Bagh & the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation Movement (1917-1922) Source: https://tracknation.in/story/the-gandhian-mass-era-begins-champaran-jallianwala-bagh-the-khilafat-non-cooperation-movement-1917-1922 (TrackNation β€” free UPSC notes with PYQs) > Gandhi's first satyagrahas (Champaran 1917, Ahmedabad & Kheda 1918), the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919), the Khilafat question, and the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) β€” its programme, its peak of Hindu-Mus ## Gandhi & Satyagraha: The South Africa Years (1893-1915) 🎯 **Exam priority: High-yield.** *Tier 1 β€” UPSC's bread-and-butter here; study this deepest and revise it most.* **Why this topic matters for UPSC.** The Gandhian phase is the second-biggest Prelims block (~8 of 65) and a Mains perennial β€” Gandhi himself is the single most-asked personality. - The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22) and Chauri Chaura both appeared in Prelims 2025. - The Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad satyagrahas and the Khilafat linkage are tested often. - Mains: how Gandhi converted the Congress into a genuine mass movement after 1919. Before the mass movements, the man and his method were forged abroad β€” in two decades of struggle in South Africa. ## Gandhi & Satyagraha: The South Africa Years (1893-1915) - **Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi** was born on **2 October 1869 at Porbandar, Gujarat**, and trained in law in Britain. Going to **South Africa in 1893** to practise law, he was revolted by the racial injustice Indians faced there β€” denial of the vote, a **poll-tax and compulsory registration**, segregation into insanitary "locations", and bans on using footpaths or being out after 9 p.m. - Leading the Indian community's resistance for nearly **two decades (1893-1914)**, Gandhi evolved his unique technique of **satyagraha** β€” "the force of truth". The **satyagrahi** was to be **truthful and perfectly peaceful, yet refuse to submit to wrong**, willingly accepting suffering while bearing no hatred for the wrong-doer, and above all **utterly fearless**. For Gandhi, non-violence was **not the weapon of the weak** β€” "only the strong and the brave could practise it", and even violence was preferable to cowardice (*Young India*, 1920). - He returned to India in **1915 at the age of 46**. On the advice of his political mentor **Gopal Krishna Gokhale**, he spent a year touring and studying Indian conditions before acting, and in **1916 founded the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad** as the home of his ideals of truth and non-violence. ## Gandhi's First Satyagrahas (1917-1918) Gandhi tested his method in three local struggles that turned him from a newcomer into the leader of the masses. ## Gandhi's First Satyagrahas (1917-1918) - **Champaran (Bihar, 1917)** was his first great experiment. Indigo peasants there were forced under the **tinkathia system** to grow indigo on **3/20ths of their land** and sell it at the planters' price. Invited by the peasants, Gandhi β€” with **Rajendra Prasad, Mazhar-ul-Huq, J.B. Kripalani and Mahadev Desai** β€” began an inquiry; ordered to leave, he **defied the order and offered to face jail**, forcing the government to set up a committee (on which he served). The peasants' burdens were reduced β€” his "first battle of civil disobedience in India", and his first glimpse of the naked poverty of the Indian peasant. - In **Ahmedabad (1918)** he settled a mill dispute by a **fast unto death**, winning the workers a **35% wage rise**; in **Kheda (Gujarat, 1918)** he backed peasants refusing land revenue after a crop failure β€” and **Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel left his lucrative legal practice** to join him. Three causes were now dear to Gandhi: **Hindu-Muslim unity, the fight against untouchability, and the raising of women's status**. ## Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act Then, in 1919, the government's own actions handed Gandhi the issue that would make him a national leader. ## Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act - The **Rowlatt Act (1919)** let the government **imprison without trial** β€” "no appeal, no argument, no lawyer". In February 1919 Gandhi founded the **Satyagraha Sabha**, whose members pledged to disobey the Act and court arrest. This **raised the movement to a new level**: instead of mere petitions and speeches, nationalists could now *act*, and the Congress became "an organisation for political action". - Gandhi turned the face of nationalism towards the **common man** β€” "go to the villages, that is where India lives" β€” and made **khadi (hand-spun, hand-woven cloth)** its symbol, spinning daily to teach the dignity of labour and self-reliance. **March-April 1919** saw a remarkable awakening β€” hartals, strikes and demonstrations, with the slogans of **Hindu-Muslim unity** in the air. ## The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919) In Punjab the protest met with one of the worst atrocities of British rule. ## The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919) - The arrest of the popular Amritsar leaders **Dr Saifuddin Kitchlu and Dr Satyapal** sparked protest. On **13 April 1919 (Baisakhi)**, a large unarmed crowd gathered at the enclosed **Jallianwala Bagh**; **General Dyer** blocked the only exit and ordered his troops to **fire without warning until the ammunition was exhausted**, killing and wounding many hundreds. - Martial law in Punjab became a "reign of terror" β€” Indians were **made to crawl on their bellies** down the street where a missionary had been assaulted, and Hindus and Muslims were handcuffed together. The official **Hunter Commission** censured Dyer only mildly; the brutality, and British opinion's support for Dyer, **convinced Gandhi that cooperation with such a government was sinful**. **Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood** in protest. ## The Khilafat Question The repression and the post-war treatment of Turkey now drew Hindus and Muslims into a single national front. ## The Khilafat Question - Indian Muslims were angered that Britain and its allies had **dismembered the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire** and undermined the **Sultan of Turkey, regarded by many as the Caliph (Khalifa)**, breaking Lloyd George's wartime pledge. A **Khilafat Committee** was formed under the **Ali brothers (Mohammad and Shaukat Ali), Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani**; the **All-India Khilafat Conference (Delhi, November 1919)** threatened to withdraw all cooperation if their demands were refused. - Gandhi and the Congress saw a once-in-a-century chance for **Hindu-Muslim unity** β€” Gandhi called it "an opportunity of uniting Hindus and Mohammedans as would not arise in a hundred years" β€” and joined the Khilafat cause to the national demand. ## The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922) Out of the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs and the failure of reform, Gandhi forged India's first nationwide non-cooperation. ## The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922) - The **Khilafat Committee launched non-cooperation on 31 August 1920** β€” Gandhi the first to join, returning his **Kaiser-i-Hind** medal. The Congress endorsed it at a **special session at Calcutta (September 1920)** β€” only weeks after the death of **Lokamanya Tilak (1 August 1920)** β€” and confirmed it at **Nagpur (December 1920)**, the goal being **swaraj within one year** and redress of the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs. - The programme was to **withdraw all cooperation**: boycott of **government schools and colleges, law courts, legislatures, titles and foreign cloth**; in their place, **national schools (Jamia Millia, Kashi Vidyapith), panchayat courts, khadi and the charkha**. Lawyers like **C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru** gave up their practice. The **Nagpur session reorganised the Congress** β€” Provincial Committees on a **linguistic basis** and a 15-member **Working Committee** β€” turning it into a true **mass organisation**; peasants, workers, students and women joined in their lakhs. - Through **1921** the movement surged: thousands of students left government schools for **national institutions**, **bonfires of foreign cloth** blazed and imports halved, and a **volunteer (Congress) corps** spread the message β€” by year's end some **30,000 people were in jail**. A complete **hartal greeted the Prince of Wales at Bombay (17 November 1921)**. The mood also turned the peasant unrest of the **Awadh Kisan Sabha**, the Akali movement in Punjab, and the **Moplah (Mappila) rebellion in Malabar (1921)** β€” though the last took a communal, violent turn. In December 1921 the Congress gave Gandhi **"sole executive authority"**, and a mass civil-disobedience phase seemed about to begin. ## Chauri Chaura & the Withdrawal (1922) The movement surged through 1921 β€” and then, almost alone, Gandhi stopped it. ## Chauri Chaura & the Withdrawal (1922) - On **4 February 1922**, at **Chauri Chaura** (Gorakhpur, UP), an angry mob burnt a police station, killing about **22 policemen**. For Gandhi, **non-violence was non-negotiable**; on **12 February 1922** the Congress, at his insistence, passed the **Bardoli resolution withdrawing the movement**. Gandhi was soon arrested and sentenced to **six years**. - The sudden withdrawal disappointed many and split the Congress β€” the **Swaraj Party of C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru (1923)**. Yet the movement transformed Indian politics: it made the Congress a **mass organisation** under Gandhi's leadership and, at its peak of **Hindu-Muslim unity**, showed that British rule rested on an Indian cooperation that could be withdrawn. ## Why This Matters for UPSC - **Prelims:** Champaran/Ahmedabad/Kheda (1917-18); the **Rowlatt Act** & **Jallianwala Bagh (13 April 1919, Kitchlu & Satyapal, Dyer, Hunter Commission)**; the **Khilafat Committee (Ali brothers, Azad, Ajmal Khan, Hasrat Mohani)**; the **NCM (launched 31 Aug 1920; Calcutta Sept & Nagpur Dec 1920; "swaraj in a year"; linguistic PCCs)**; **Chauri Chaura (4 Feb 1922)** & the Bardoli resolution. - **Mains:** how Gandhi transformed the national movement into a mass struggle; and whether withdrawing Non-Cooperation after Chauri Chaura was justified. ## Further Reading - Standard NCERT-level texts and reference books on modern Indian history (any UPSC reading list). ## Test Yourself: Practice Questions & PYQs Test how well you can explain Gandhi's first satyagrahas, the events of 1919, the Khilafat question and the Non-Cooperation Movement. Decide your answer, then open Show answer. ## Practice Questions **Q1.** Gandhi's first satyagraha in India (Champaran, 1917) concerned indigo peasants oppressed by the: - (a) ryotwari system - (b) zamindari system - (c) permanent settlement - (d) tinkathia system (compulsory indigo on 3/20th of land) **Answer: (d)** β€” Under the tinkathia system the ryots had to grow indigo on 3/20ths of their land at the planters' price; Gandhi's satyagraha won them relief. **Q2.** At Ahmedabad (1918), Gandhi secured the mill workers a wage rise of about 35% by means of a: - (a) strike only - (b) boycott - (c) lawsuit - (d) fast unto death **Answer: (d)** β€” Gandhi used a personal fast unto death; the millowners relented on the fourth day. Vallabhbhai Patel joined him during the Kheda struggle. **Q3.** Against the Rowlatt Act, Gandhi founded (February 1919) the: - (a) Satyagraha Sabha - (b) Swaraj Party - (c) Khilafat Committee - (d) Servants of India Society **Answer: (a)** β€” Members of the Satyagraha Sabha pledged to disobey the Act and court arrest β€” raising the movement from agitation to action. **Q4.** The arrest of which two leaders triggered the protest that ended in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre? - (a) Tilak and Gokhale - (b) Dr Saifuddin Kitchlu and Dr Satyapal - (c) C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru - (d) the Ali brothers **Answer: (b)** β€” The arrest of the Amritsar leaders Dr Kitchlu and Dr Satyapal sparked the gathering at Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919. **Q5.** The Khilafat movement protested against the British treatment of: - (a) the Nizam of Hyderabad - (b) the princely states - (c) the Ottoman (Turkish) Sultan-Caliph after the First World War - (d) the Mughal emperor **Answer: (c)** β€” Indian Muslims resented the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the undermining of the Sultan of Turkey, regarded as the Caliph. **Q6.** The Khilafat Committee's leaders included the Ali brothers, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and: - (a) Badruddin Tyabji - (b) M.A. Jinnah - (c) Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan - (d) Hasrat Mohani **Answer: (d)** β€” Hasrat Mohani (who first gave the call for complete independence) was among the Khilafat leaders. **Q7.** The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched on 31 August 1920 and confirmed by the Congress at: - (a) Surat (1907) - (b) Lahore (1929) - (c) Nagpur (December 1920) - (d) Lucknow (1916) **Answer: (c)** β€” After the Calcutta special session (Sept 1920), the movement was confirmed at Nagpur (Dec 1920), which also reorganised the Congress on linguistic lines. **Q8.** The Nagpur session (1920) reorganised the Congress by setting up Provincial Committees on the basis of: - (a) linguistic areas - (b) religion - (c) caste - (d) income **Answer: (a)** β€” Provincial Congress Committees were reorganised on a linguistic basis, with a 15-member Working Committee β€” making the Congress a mass organisation. **Q9.** Gandhi withdrew Non-Cooperation in February 1922 because of the violence at: - (a) Jallianwala Bagh - (b) Champaran - (c) Chauri Chaura - (d) Dandi **Answer: (c)** β€” After a mob killed about 22 policemen at Chauri Chaura (4 Feb 1922), Gandhi insisted on the Bardoli resolution withdrawing the movement (12 Feb 1922). ### UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs) *The Gandhian phase is the single most-tested area of modern history (the questions below are real UPSC PYQs, CSE 2018 and 2025); Champaran, the Rowlatt Act, the Khilafat-NCM and Chauri Chaura recur in Prelims and Mains.* **Q1.** Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran Satyagraha? (UPSC CSE 2018) - (a) Active all-India participation of lawyers, students and women in the National Movement - (b) Drastic decrease in the cultivation of plantation crops and commercial crops - (c) Joining of peasant unrest to India's National Movement - (d) Active involvement of Dalit and Tribal communities of India in the National Movement **Answer: (c)** β€” Champaran (1917) is remembered as the first time peasant unrest was yoked to the national movement. So option (c) is correct. **Q2.** Consider the following subjects with regard to the Non-Cooperation Programme: 1. Boycott of law-courts and foreign cloth. 2. Observance of strict non-violence. 3. Retention of titles and honours without using them in public. 4. Establishment of panchayats for settling disputes. How many of the above were parts of the Non-Cooperation Programme? (UPSC CSE 2025) - (a) All four - (b) Only two - (c) Only three - (d) Only one **Answer: (c)** β€” Boycott of courts and foreign cloth (1), strict non-violence (2) and panchayats to replace the boycotted courts (4) were all part of the programme; but it called for the SURRENDER of titles, not their retention β€” so 3 is wrong. Only three are correct: option (c). ### Mains Practice Questions Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly β€” they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover. - How did Gandhi's early satyagrahas (Champaran, Ahmedabad, Kheda) establish his method and leadership? - β€œThe Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre were turning points.” Discuss. - Examine the significance of linking the Khilafat issue with Non-Cooperation. - Was Gandhi right to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement after Chauri Chaura? Critically examine.