About This Section
This is a collection of important questions with complete model answers covering the whole of Chapter 2 — Nationalism in India. They are grouped by marks — 1-mark, 3-mark and 5-mark — for thorough Board preparation.
1-Mark Questions
Q1. When did Mahatma Gandhi return to India? Ans. In January 1915.
Q2. On which date did the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre take place? Ans. 13 April 1919.
Q3. Which incident led Gandhi to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement? Ans. The Chauri Chaura incident (February 1922).
Q4. From where to where did the Salt March take place? Ans. From Sabarmati to Dandi.
1-Mark Questions (continued)
Q5. Who wrote 'Vande Mataram'? Ans. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Q6. Who painted the famous image of Bharat Mata in 1905? Ans. Abanindranath Tagore.
Q7. Who led the tribal rebellion in the Gudem Hills? Ans. Alluri Sitaram Raju.
Q8. When was the Poona Pact signed? Ans. September 1932.
3-Mark Questions
Q9. What is meant by the idea of satyagraha? Ans. Satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the search for truth. It held that if the cause was true and against injustice, physical force was unnecessary; a satyagrahi could win through non-violence by appealing to the conscience of the oppressor, so that truth would ultimately triumph.
3-Mark Questions (continued)
Q10. Why did different social groups join the Civil Disobedience Movement? Ans. Rich peasants joined to fight high revenue; poor peasants wanted rent remission; business classes wanted protection against imports; and women joined out of a sense of service to the nation. Each group understood swaraj in terms of its own aspirations.
3-Mark Questions (continued)
Q11. How did the plantation workers of Assam understand the idea of swaraj? Ans. For them, swaraj meant the right to move freely in and out of the tea gardens — denied by the Inland Emigration Act of 1859 — and to retain a link with their home villages. Believing 'Gandhi Raj' was coming, thousands left the plantations, though they were caught and beaten.
5-Mark Questions
Q12. Describe the events leading to the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre and its aftermath. Ans. Gandhi launched a satyagraha against the repressive Rowlatt Act (1919) with a hartal on 6 April. The British clamped down: leaders were arrested in Amritsar and Gandhi barred from Delhi. On 13 April 1919, at Jallianwalla Bagh, General Dyer blocked the exits and opened fire on a crowd gathered for the Baisakhi fair, killing hundreds, to 'produce a moral effect'. The news sparked strikes and clashes across north India, met by brutal repression, and Gandhi eventually called off the movement.
5-Mark Questions (continued)
Q13. Explain how a sense of collective belonging was created among Indians. Ans. It came partly through united struggles and partly through cultural processes. The image of Bharat Mata (Bankim Chandra's 'Vande Mataram'; Abanindranath Tagore's 1905 painting), the revival of folklore (Rabindranath Tagore, Natesa Sastri), the national flags (the Swadeshi tricolour; Gandhi's 1921 Swaraj flag with the spinning wheel), and the reinterpretation of history to glorify India's past all helped people imagine themselves as one nation.
Q14. How did the business classes participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement? Ans. Having profited during the First World War, businessmen wanted protection against imports. Organised in bodies like FICCI (1927) under Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla, they supported the movement with funds and refused to trade in imported goods. But after the Round Table Conference failed, they became apprehensive of disruption and socialism and withdrew their wholehearted support.