Gandhian Era & Satyagrahas
National Movement · गांधीवादी युग और सत्याग्रह · 18 facts
Champaran Satyagraha (1917) was Gandhi's first Satyagraha in India — he came to Bihar to help indigo farmers who were forced to grow indigo under the tinkathia system.
Kheda Satyagraha (1918) — Gandhi supported the farmers of Kheda (Gujarat) who demanded suspension of land revenue due to crop failure. This was his first satyagraha in Gujarat.
Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918) — Gandhi led a strike of textile mill workers in Ahmedabad demanding a 35% wage increase. He undertook his first hunger strike to support them.
Rowlatt Act 1919 ('Black Bills') — authorized the government to detain any person without trial for up to 2 years. Gandhi called for nationwide hartal (strike) against it.
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919) — General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire on unarmed civilians at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. Official death toll: 379 (actual much higher).
Jallianwala Bagh was a turning point — Rabindranath Tagore returned his Knighthood in protest; Udham Singh vowed revenge (fulfilled in 1940 by killing O'Dwyer in London).
Hunter Commission (1919) investigated Jallianwala Bagh — British members whitewashed Dyer's action; Indian members (including Chimanlal Setalvad) condemned it.
Khilafat Movement (1919-1924) — started by Indian Muslims to protest against the break-up of the Ottoman Caliphate. Gandhi joined it to forge Hindu-Muslim unity.
Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) achieved: boycott of foreign goods and promotion of swadeshi, 90% students left schools, many lawyers gave up practice.
Khilafat Movement ended by 1924 when Turkey abolished the Caliphate under Kemal Ataturk — this weakened Hindu-Muslim unity forged during NCM.
Satyagraha is a philosophy of non-violent resistance — coined by Gandhi, it means 'insistence on truth' (Satya = truth, Agraha = insistence/force).
Gandhi first used Satyagraha in South Africa (1906-1914) against discriminatory laws — the success there inspired him to use it in India.
Individual Satyagraha (1940) was a symbolic protest against India's forced participation in WWII — Vinoba Bhave was chosen as the first satyagrahi by Gandhi.
Dandi March inspired similar protests globally — Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela both cited Gandhi's non-violent resistance as inspiration for their own movements.
Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) — farmers of Bardoli (Gujarat) under Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel refused to pay enhanced land revenue. Success made Patel the 'Sardar'.
Vaikom Satyagraha (1924-25) in Kerala — protested against the prohibition of untouchables from using roads near the Vaikom temple. Gandhi visited and supported the movement.
Nagpur Flag Satyagraha (1923) — Congress volunteers defied the order against flying the Congress flag; hundreds were arrested. It demonstrated organized civil disobedience.
Gandhi's tools of Satyagraha included: fasting unto death, civil disobedience, hartals, non-payment of taxes, boycott of government institutions and foreign goods.