History
The Gandhian Era and Independence (1919–1947)
Swarajists to Civil Disobedience (1922–1934)
Swaraj Party, Simon Commission, Nehru Report, Purna Swaraj, Dandi March, Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Round Table Conferences and the Poona Pact for CGPSC.
Prerequisites
- Gandhi’s Rise and the Non-Cooperation Movement — the movement whose withdrawal opens this page
- Constitutional Development (1773–1950) — the 1919 Act whose review produced the Simon Commission, and the 1935 Act that followed
The Hook: Breaking a Law Where There Is No Sea
Connect
On 6 April 1930 Gandhi picked up a lump of natural salt on the beach at Dandi. Chhattisgarh is hundreds of kilometres from any coast, so its villagers could not make salt. Instead, that summer and autumn, they walked into reserved forests at Gatta-Silli, Rudri-Navagaon and Tamora and cut grass and wood in open defiance of the forest laws.
Why did a pinch of salt become the symbol of a nation’s defiance, and how did one movement adapt itself to every region, from the Gujarat coast to the forests of Dhamtari?
Why it matters: This is the densest period for Prelims dates and pairs (Simon 1927–28, Lahore 1929, Dandi 1930, Gandhi-Irwin 1931, Karachi 1931, Poona Pact 1932). Mains asks for comparisons of NCM and CDM and the significance of the Salt Satyagraha.
The Interlude (1922–1928)
Swarajists and No-changers
After the withdrawal of Non-Cooperation, the Congress split at the Gaya session (December 1922) over whether to enter the legislative councils created by the 1919 Act.
| Swarajists (pro-changers) | No-changers |
|---|---|
| C.R. Das (president), Motilal Nehru (secretary) | Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari, M.A. Ansari |
| Formed the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party (January 1923) | Stuck to Gandhi’s constructive programme |
| Enter councils and obstruct them from within | Khadi, national schools, Hindu-Muslim unity, anti-untouchability |
- The Swarajists did well in the 1923 elections, especially in the Central Provinces, where they made dyarchy unworkable.
- Vithalbhai Patel became President of the Central Legislative Assembly (1925).
- The party weakened after C.R. Das died (June 1925).
Why both sides mattered
The Swarajists kept political interest alive and exposed the hollowness of the 1919 reforms. The No-changers built a cadre in the villages through constructive work. When the next mass movement came in 1930, the Congress needed both.
Simon Commission (साइमन कमीशन)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Appointed | November 1927, two years before the review the 1919 Act required |
| Members | Seven British MPs under Sir John Simon (Clement Attlee among them); no Indian member |
| Arrived | February 1928; met by hartals and black flags: “Simon, Go Back” |
| Lahore | Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten in a lathi-charge (October 1928) and died in November 1928. Bhagat Singh and comrades shot police officer J.P. Saunders in December 1928 to avenge him |
| Report | 1930: abolish dyarchy, responsible government in the provinces, a federation; retain separate electorates |
Indian responses
- Nehru Report (August 1928): drafted by a committee under Motilal Nehru in answer to Secretary of State Birkenhead’s challenge that Indians could not agree on a constitution. It asked for dominion status, a list of fundamental rights, joint electorates with reserved seats for minorities, and linguistic provinces.
- Jinnah’s Fourteen Points (March 1929): the Muslim League’s response after the Nehru Report rejected separate electorates.
- Younger leaders (Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose) wanted complete independence, not dominion status. The Calcutta session (December 1928) gave the government one year to accept dominion status.
- Bardoli satyagraha (1928): a no-revenue campaign by Gujarat peasants against a revenue increase, led by Vallabhbhai Patel, whose success earned him the title “Sardar”.
- Irwin’s Declaration (October 1929): dominion status was the “natural issue” of India’s constitutional progress, and a Round Table Conference would be held. It promised no date, and the Congress moved ahead.
Lahore Session and Purna Swaraj (December 1929)
- President: Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Resolved that the goal of the Congress was Purna Swaraj (पूर्ण स्वराज), complete independence.
- Authorised the Working Committee to launch civil disobedience, including non-payment of taxes, and to boycott the Round Table Conference.
- Nehru hoisted the tricolour on the banks of the Ravi at midnight on 31 December 1929.
- 26 January 1930 was celebrated as Independence Day. That is why the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.
Civil Disobedience Movement (सविनय अवज्ञा आंदोलन), 1930–1934
Gandhi’s Eleven Demands
On 31 January 1930 Gandhi sent Viceroy Irwin eleven demands, an ultimatum to be met by 11 March. They included abolition of the salt tax, a 50% cut in land revenue, a lower rupee-sterling exchange ratio, protective tariffs on foreign cloth, release of political prisoners, cuts in military spending and civil salaries, prohibition, abolition of the CID, and licences for firearms for self-defence. Irwin did not respond.
Why salt?
Salt was taxed by the government, consumed by every Indian, rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, and could be made by anyone on the coast. Breaking the salt law was simple, non-violent, legal-looking and impossible to justify suppressing. Many leaders were sceptical at first; the march proved its power.
The Dandi March (दांडी मार्च)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 12 March 1930, Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad |
| Marchers | Gandhi and 78 chosen followers |
| Distance | About 240 miles (about 385–390 km) in 24 days |
| Salt law broken | 6 April 1930, at Dandi (Navsari coast, Gujarat) |
| Gandhi arrested | Night of 4–5 May 1930, before his planned raid on the Dharasana salt works |
Spread across India
| Region | Event | Leader(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu | Salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam | C. Rajagopalachari |
| Kerala | Salt march to Payyanur | K. Kelappan |
| Gujarat | Raid on Dharasana salt works; non-violent marchers beaten, reported worldwide by American journalist Webb Miller | Sarojini Naidu, Imam Sahib, Manilal Gandhi |
| NWFP | Khudai Khidmatgars (“Red Shirts”); at Peshawar (Qissa Khwani Bazaar, April 1930) soldiers of the Garhwal Rifles refused to fire on the crowd | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (“Frontier Gandhi”); Chandra Singh Garhwali |
| Maharashtra | Sholapur textile workers took control of the city for some days | — |
| Manipur and Nagaland | Rising against the British | Rani Gaidinliu |
| Bihar, Bengal | No-chaukidari-tax campaigns | — |
| Central Provinces, Karnataka, Maharashtra | Forest satyagrahas in place of salt | Local leaders; in Chhattisgarh, jungle satyagrahas at Gatta-Silli, Rudri-Navagaon and Tamora |
New features compared with Non-Cooperation:
- Breaking laws, not merely refusing to cooperate.
- Massive participation of women: picketing liquor and cloth shops, making salt.
- Peasants through no-revenue and no-tax campaigns.
- Muslims participated less than in 1920–22 (no Khilafat issue; communal tension in the late 1920s), except in the NWFP.
- Workers and the industrial bourgeoisie both supported it at various stages.
Round Table Conferences and the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
| Conference | Dates | Congress | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First RTC | November 1930 – January 1931 | Boycotted | Princes, Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha, liberals and depressed-class leaders attended; princes agreed in principle to a federation |
| Second RTC | September – December 1931 | Gandhi as sole Congress representative | Deadlocked over the minorities question; Gandhi returned empty-handed |
| Third RTC | November – December 1932 | Boycotted | Small attendance; led to the 1933 White Paper and the 1935 Act |
B.R. Ambedkar attended all three conferences.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact (गांधी-इरविन समझौता), 5 March 1931
| Government agreed to | Congress agreed to |
|---|---|
| Release political prisoners not convicted of violence | Suspend civil disobedience |
| Return confiscated land not yet sold to third parties | Attend the Second RTC |
| Allow coastal villagers to make salt for their own use | |
| Allow peaceful picketing | |
| Withdraw emergency ordinances; lenient treatment of officials who had resigned |
Not granted: a public inquiry into police excesses, and commutation of the death sentences of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, who were executed on 23 March 1931. Young radicals criticised the pact sharply.
Karachi session (March 1931)
- President: Vallabhbhai Patel.
- Endorsed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact; reaffirmed Purna Swaraj.
- Passed the resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme, the first statement of what swaraj would mean for ordinary people: civil liberties, equality, universal adult franchise, free primary education, minimum wages, reduced rent and revenue, and state ownership of key industries. It later echoed in the Constitution’s Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles.
Second Phase and End (1932–1934)
- Lord Willingdon replaced Irwin (April 1931) and followed a harder line. After the failed Second RTC, civil disobedience resumed and Gandhi was arrested on 4 January 1932. The Congress was banned and ordinances were used to crush the movement.
- Communal Award (16 August 1932): British PM Ramsay MacDonald extended separate electorates to the depressed classes.
- Gandhi began a fast unto death in Yerawada jail (September 1932). The Poona Pact (24 September 1932) between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar replaced separate electorates with joint electorates and reserved seats: 148 seats in the provincial legislatures, nearly double the 71 the Award had offered.
- Gandhi turned to anti-untouchability work: the Harijan Sevak Sangh (1932), the weekly Harijan (1933) and a nationwide Harijan tour (from November 1933), which brought him to Chhattisgarh (22–28 November 1933).
- Mass civil disobedience was scaled down to individual satyagraha in 1933 and withdrawn in April 1934; the AICC at Patna (May 1934) endorsed a return to the legislatures.
Aftermath: 1935 and 1937
The Government of India Act, 1935 gave provincial autonomy. In the 1937 elections the Congress formed ministries in most provinces (eventually eight), including the Central Provinces and Berar, which included the Chhattisgarh districts. These ministries resigned in October–November 1939 when India was declared a party to the Second World War without consultation. See Quit India Movement and the War Years.
NCM vs CDM (Mains favourite)
| Point | Non-Cooperation (1920–22) | Civil Disobedience (1930–34) |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Swaraj (undefined); Khilafat; Punjab wrongs | Purna Swaraj |
| Method | Refuse to cooperate: boycott of courts, schools, councils, titles | Break specific laws: salt, forest, revenue, chaukidari tax |
| Hindu-Muslim unity | High (Khilafat alliance) | Weaker Muslim participation, except NWFP |
| Women | Limited | Large-scale participation |
| Intelligentsia | Lawyers, students left courts and colleges | Less boycott of institutions; more mass law-breaking |
| End | Abruptly, after Chauri Chaura | By a pact (1931), then gradual withdrawal (1933–34) |
| Government response | Repression, then arrest of Gandhi | Heavier repression, but also negotiation (RTCs) |
Memory Tricks
Timeline chant: S-N-L-D-G-K-P
Simon (1927–28) → Nehru Report (1928) → Lahore (1929) → Dandi (1930) → Gandhi-Irwin (March 1931) → Karachi (March 1931) → Poona Pact (1932).
“She Never Left Delhi; Gandhi Kept Patience.”
Session presidents
Lahore 1929 = Nehru (Jawaharlal), Karachi 1931 = Patel. “The young man declared independence; the Sardar defined rights.”
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Nehru Report (1928): Motilal Nehru, dominion status | vs | Lahore (1929): Jawaharlal Nehru presides, Purna Swaraj |
| Communal Award (Aug 1932): separate electorate for depressed classes | vs | Poona Pact (Sept 1932): joint electorate, 148 reserved seats |
| Dandi (Gujarat): Gandhi | vs | Vedaranyam (Tamil Nadu): Rajagopalachari |
| Dharasana: Sarojini Naidu, raid on salt works | vs | Dandi: Gandhi breaks salt law |
| Bardoli 1928: Patel’s peasant satyagraha | vs | Bardoli 1922: resolution withdrawing NCM |
Common Mistakes
Trap 1: Gandhi attended only the Second RTC
The Congress boycotted the First and Third Round Table Conferences. Ambedkar attended all three. Options that put Gandhi at the first RTC are wrong.
Trap 2: Purna Swaraj was Lahore, not Karachi or Calcutta
Calcutta 1928 set a one-year ultimatum for dominion status. Lahore 1929 declared Purna Swaraj. Karachi 1931 passed the Fundamental Rights resolution.
Trap 3: The Gandhi-Irwin Pact did not save Bhagat Singh
Commutation of the death sentences was not part of the pact. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed on 23 March 1931, days before the Karachi session.
Practice
These are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- The Congress session that declared Purna Swaraj as its goal was held at ______ under ______.
- The Dandi March began from ______ on 12 March 1930.
- The Poona Pact of 1932 was signed between Gandhi and ______.
Answers
- Lahore (December 1929), under Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad.
- B.R. Ambedkar.
Level 2: Prelims MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements about the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931):
- The government agreed to release political prisoners not convicted of violence.
- The government agreed to commute the death sentence of Bhagat Singh.
- The Congress agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 3 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
(b) 1 and 3 only. Commutation of Bhagat Singh’s sentence was demanded but not conceded; he was executed on 23 March 1931. The pact released non-violent prisoners, allowed coastal salt-making for personal use and peaceful picketing, and brought Gandhi to the Second RTC.
Q2. Match List-I (Salt satyagraha / CDM event) with List-II (Leader):
| List-I | List-II |
|---|---|
| A. Vedaranyam | 1. K. Kelappan |
| B. Payyanur | 2. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan |
| C. Dharasana | 3. C. Rajagopalachari |
| D. Khudai Khidmatgar | 4. Sarojini Naidu |
- (a) A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2
- (b) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
- (c) A-1, B-3, C-4, D-2
- (d) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
Answer and explanation
(b) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2. Rajagopalachari marched to Vedaranyam (Tamil Nadu); Kelappan to Payyanur (Kerala); Sarojini Naidu led the Dharasana raid after Gandhi’s arrest; Ghaffar Khan led the Khudai Khidmatgars in the NWFP.
Q3. The resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme was adopted by the Congress at:
- (a) Lahore, 1929
- (b) Karachi, 1931
- (c) Lucknow, 1936
- (d) Haripura, 1938
Answer and explanation
(b) Karachi, 1931, presided over by Vallabhbhai Patel. It was the first statement of what swaraj would mean economically and socially for the masses. Lahore 1929 is the Purna Swaraj session.
Q4. Arrange in chronological order:
- Communal Award
- Arrival of the Simon Commission
- Gandhi-Irwin Pact
- Lahore session of the Congress
- (a) 2, 4, 3, 1
- (b) 4, 2, 3, 1
- (c) 2, 4, 1, 3
- (d) 2, 3, 4, 1
Answer and explanation
(a) 2, 4, 3, 1. Simon Commission arrives (February 1928) → Lahore session (December 1929) → Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) → Communal Award (August 1932).
Q5. In Chhattisgarh, the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930 mainly took the form of:
- (a) Breaking the salt law on the Mahanadi banks
- (b) Defiance of forest laws (jungle satyagraha)
- (c) Boycott of the Round Table Conference
- (d) Refusal to pay canal water tax at Kandel
Answer and explanation
(b). Being far from the sea, the Central Provinces turned to forest-law defiance in 1930: Gatta-Silli, Rudri-Navagaon, Tamora and other jungle satyagrahas. Kandel (option d) was the 1920 canal-water satyagraha, a decade earlier.
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. (150–200 words) Compare the Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements in terms of aims, methods and social base.
Model answer outline
- Intro: Both were Gandhian mass movements, a decade apart, each ending in a truce.
- Body:
- Aim: NCM’s undefined Swaraj plus Khilafat and Punjab wrongs; CDM’s Purna Swaraj (Lahore 1929).
- Method: NCM = withdrawal of cooperation (boycott); CDM = deliberate law-breaking (salt, forest, revenue).
- Social base: NCM strong in Hindu-Muslim unity, students and lawyers; CDM saw mass participation of women and peasants, weaker Muslim participation (except NWFP).
- End: NCM abruptly after Chauri Chaura; CDM via the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, then withdrawn in 1934.
- Outcome: NCM built the Congress organisation; CDM forced Britain to the conference table (RTCs) and shaped the 1935 Act.
- Chhattisgarh angle: Kandel and Sihawa (NCM era) versus the 1930 jungle satyagrahas at Rudri-Navagaon and Tamora (CDM), showing how each movement adapted to local grievances.
- Conclusion: CDM was broader and more radical in method; both were stages in a Struggle-Truce-Struggle strategy.
Q2. (60 words) Why did Gandhi choose salt as the issue for civil disobedience in 1930?
Model answer outline
Salt was taxed yet used by every Indian regardless of class, region or religion, so the grievance united all. Breaking the law was simple, non-violent and could be done by anyone on the coast. Repressing people for making salt exposed the injustice of colonial rule before the world, as the Dandi March (1930) showed.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Gaya session | December 1922: council-entry split |
| Swaraj Party | January 1923: C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru |
| Simon Commission | Appointed November 1927, arrived February 1928; all-white, seven members |
| Lajpat Rai | Lathi-charged at Lahore (October 1928), died November 1928 |
| Nehru Report | August 1928: dominion status, joint electorates |
| Bardoli satyagraha | 1928: Vallabhbhai becomes “Sardar” |
| Lahore session | December 1929: Jawaharlal Nehru; Purna Swaraj |
| First Independence Day | 26 January 1930 |
| Eleven demands | 31 January 1930 to Irwin |
| Dandi March | 12 March – 6 April 1930; 78 marchers; about 240 miles |
| First RTC | Nov 1930 – Jan 1931 (Congress absent) |
| Gandhi-Irwin Pact | 5 March 1931 |
| Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru executed | 23 March 1931 |
| Karachi session | March 1931: Patel; Fundamental Rights resolution |
| Second RTC | Sept – Dec 1931 (Gandhi attends) |
| Communal Award | 16 August 1932, Ramsay MacDonald |
| Poona Pact | 24 September 1932: Gandhi–Ambedkar; 148 reserved seats |
| Third RTC | Nov – Dec 1932 (Congress absent) |
| CDM withdrawn | April 1934 |
| Chhattisgarh | 1930 jungle satyagrahas; Gandhi’s Harijan tour 22–28 Nov 1933 |
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- The 1922–28 interlude (Swarajists and No-changers) kept the movement alive in councils and villages.
- The all-white Simon Commission reunited Indian politics; the Lahore session (1929) made Purna Swaraj the goal.
- The Dandi March turned a universal grievance (salt) into mass law-breaking, with forest satyagrahas in inland regions such as Chhattisgarh.
- The Gandhi-Irwin Pact and Round Table Conferences showed Britain negotiating with the Congress as an equal party.
- The Communal Award → Poona Pact sequence is the key link between the national movement and the rights of the depressed classes.
What’s Next
- Quit India Movement and the War Years (1939–1945) — the final mass movement
- Jungle Satyagraha in Chhattisgarh — how CDM took shape in the state’s forests
- Crown Rule: 1919 to 1947 — Simon Commission, Communal Award and the 1935 Act from the constitutional side
- The Gandhian Era — Quick Revision
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