Indian Freedom Struggle

Revolt of 1857 ('First War of Independence'): Began at Meerut (10 May 1857), immediate cause was the greased cartridge (Enfield rifle) controversy. Mangal Pandey (Barrackpore) fired the first shot. Leaders: Bahadur Shah Zafar (Delhi, nominal leader), Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Nana Sahib (Kanpur), Tantia Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow). The revolt failed; in 1858 the Crown took over from the East India Company (Government of India Act 1858). Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 by A.O. Hume; first session in Bombay presided by W.C. Bonnerjee. Memory aid: 1857 = Sepoy Mutiny; 1885 = Congress born.

When Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stepped off the SS Arabia at the Apollo Bunder, Bombay on 9 January 1915, the Indian freedom struggle changed character forever. Within seven years he would transform a polite petition-writing Congress into a mass movement that pulled in farmers, mill-workers, women and students. For RPF Sub-Inspector aspirants, the Gandhian Movements timeline is one of the highest-yield General Awareness chapters — almost every paper carries one direct date or place question from this block.

Definition: A Satyagraha (literally "insistence on truth") is Gandhi's method of non-violent resistance against an unjust law or authority, combining mass civil disobedience with personal moral courage.

Definition: Purna Swaraj means "complete self-rule" — total independence from British rule, declared by the Congress at its Lahore Session in December 1929.

Champaran Satyagraha, 1917 — the first laboratory

The Champaran district of Bihar grew indigo for European planters under the brutal Tinkathia system, which forced peasants to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their land at fixed low prices. The agrarian distress brought Raj Kumar Shukla all the way to Lucknow to plead with Gandhi. In April 1917 Gandhi arrived in Champaran, defied an order to leave the district, and led India's first Satyagraha on Indian soil. The Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918 abolished Tinkathia. This movement also gave Gandhi his first major lieutenants — Rajendra Prasad, Brajkishore Prasad, J.B. Kripalani.

Jallianwala Bagh, 13 April 1919 — the turning point

On Baisakhi day, a peaceful crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar to protest the Rowlatt Act (which allowed detention without trial). Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer sealed the only exit and ordered his troops to fire — over 1000 unarmed Indians were killed by official Congress estimates. The massacre shattered Indian faith in British justice and pushed Gandhi from constitutional methods to outright non-cooperation. Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood in protest; Udham Singh would later assassinate Sir Michael O'Dwyer (the Lt. Governor of Punjab who endorsed Dyer) in London in 1940.

Non-Cooperation Movement, 1920–22

Launched at the Calcutta Session (Sept 1920) and ratified at the Nagpur Session (Dec 1920), the Non-Cooperation Movement asked Indians to:

• Surrender titles and honours.
• Boycott British schools, colleges, courts and councils.
• Boycott foreign cloth and promote khadi.
• Refuse to pay taxes (eventually).

It merged with the Khilafat Movement and became India's first nationwide mass struggle. The movement was abruptly withdrawn by Gandhi on 12 February 1922 after the Chauri Chaura incident (5 February 1922, Gorakhpur, UP) where an angry crowd burnt a police station killing 22 policemen. Gandhi judged that the country was not yet ready for non-violent mass struggle. Many young leaders (Subhas Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru) disagreed bitterly with the withdrawal.

Lahore Session and Purna Swaraj, 1929

Under Jawaharlal Nehru's presidency, the Congress adopted the Purna Swaraj resolution on 19 December 1929. 26 January 1930 was celebrated for the first time as Independence Day — and that exact date would be chosen, two decades later, as the day the Indian Constitution came into force, making India a Republic.

Civil Disobedience Movement and the Dandi March, 1930

On 12 March 1930, Gandhi began his 24-day, 240-mile Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram with 78 hand-picked satyagrahis. On 6 April 1930 at Dandi (Gujarat coast), he broke the Salt Law by picking up a handful of natural salt — a small act loaded with political symbolism. Salt was a daily necessity that the British taxed; defying that tax pulled even the poorest into the freedom movement.

The wider Civil Disobedience Movement then spread across India — Sarojini Naidu led the raid on Dharasana salt works, the Khudai Khidmatgars under Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ("Frontier Gandhi") mobilised the North-West Frontier, and the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) finally suspended the movement so Gandhi could attend the Second Round Table Conference in London.

Quit India Movement, 1942 — the final push

After the failure of the Cripps Mission (March 1942), the Congress passed the Quit India Resolution at the Bombay (Gowalia Tank) Session on 8 August 1942. Gandhi gave the famous battle-cry "Do or Die" (Karenge ya Marenge). Within hours almost the entire Congress leadership was arrested; the movement became leaderless yet spread fiercely, especially in Ballia, Satara, Tamluk and Talcher, where parallel governments were set up. Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank on 9 August 1942 and became the "Heroine of 1942." Quit India was the last great mass movement before independence on 15 August 1947.

Why it matters: Roughly one or two RPF GS questions every year ask either the year, place, or slogan of these four movements, or the trigger event (Rowlatt → Jallianwala → Non-Cooperation; Chauri Chaura → withdrawal; Cripps failure → Quit India). Get the chain right and you get the answers right.

Real-world example: The salt cellar on every Indian dining table carries an invisible political weight. Until 1930 the British charged a salt tax of about 14 annas per maund — roughly 8.4% of an Indian labourer's daily wage on a single household necessity. When Gandhi picked up that pinch of salt at Dandi, he was not breaking a chemistry rule; he was breaking the legal monopoly that funded the colonial state.

Common misconception: "Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience are the same movement." They are not. Non-Cooperation (1920-22) was about refusing to cooperate — surrendering titles, boycotting institutions, but stopping short of breaking the law. Civil Disobedience (1930-34) went further — Indians actively broke specific unjust laws, starting with the Salt Law. The escalation in tactics matches the escalation in goals (Swaraj within the empire → Purna Swaraj).

Revolutionary nationalists and slogans to remember: Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev — hanged 23 March 1931 (Lahore Conspiracy / Saunders murder); Bhagat Singh threw a bomb in the Central Assembly (1929) with B.K. Dutt. Subhas Chandra Bose — formed Azad Hind Fauj (INA); slogans 'Give me blood, I will give you freedom' and 'Jai Hind'. Slogans: 'Swaraj is my birthright' (Bal Gangadhar Tilak); 'Inquilab Zindabad' (popularized by Bhagat Singh); 'Do or Die' (Gandhi, Quit India 1942); 'Vande Mataram' (Bankim Chandra Chatterjee). Memory aid: Tilak = birthright; Bose = blood; Gandhi = Do or Die.

Cover the answer, recall, then check. 12 high-frequency durable facts on India's freedom struggle for RPF SI GA.

Q1. When and where did the Revolt of 1857 begin?
A1. On 10 May 1857 at Meerut. It is called the First War of Independence; Mangal Pandey was an early figure at Barrackpore.

Q2. When and by whom was the Indian National Congress founded? Who was its first president?
A2. Founded in 1885 by A.O. Hume; first president was W.C. Bonnerjee.

Q3. Who ordered the Partition of Bengal in 1905?
A3. Lord Curzon; it was annulled in 1911.

Q4. What happened at Jallianwala Bagh, and when?
A4. On 13 April 1919 at Amritsar, General Dyer ordered firing on an unarmed crowd, killing hundreds.

Q5. Why did Gandhi call off the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922?
A5. Because of the Chauri Chaura incident (Feb 1922), where a mob burned a police station.

Q6. Which 1930 march launched the Civil Disobedience Movement?
A6. The Dandi (Salt) March, begun 12 March 1930 from Sabarmati to Dandi to break the salt law.

Q7. What was the slogan and year of the Quit India Movement?
A7. "Do or Die" (Karo ya Maro), 1942, launched by Gandhi.

Q8. Who gave the slogan "Give me blood and I will give you freedom"?
A8. Subhas Chandra Bose, who led the Indian National Army (INA / Azad Hind Fauj).

Q9. Match the slogan: "Inquilab Zindabad".
A9. Popularised by Bhagat Singh (originally coined by Hasrat Mohani).

Q10. Who founded the Muslim League, and when was Pakistan demanded?
A10. The All-India Muslim League (1906); the Pakistan (Lahore) Resolution was passed in 1940.

Q11. On what date did India become independent, and who was the first PM?
A11. 15 August 1947; Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister.

Q12. Who is called the "Iron Man of India" for integrating the princely states?
A12. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy PM and Home Minister.

Worked Example

Problem: The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920) was suddenly withdrawn by Mahatma Gandhi in February 1922. Which incident led to this decision, and what does it reveal about Gandhi’s principles?

Solution:
Step 1 — Recall the movement. The Non-Cooperation Movement, launched in 1920, called on Indians to boycott British schools, courts, titles and goods through non-violent means.
Step 2 — Identify the incident. In February 1922, at Chauri Chaura (in present-day Uttar Pradesh), an angry mob set fire to a police station, killing several policemen.
Step 3 — Gandhi’s response. Because the movement had turned violent, Gandhi — a firm believer in ahimsa (non-violence) — called off the entire Non-Cooperation Movement.
Step 4 — What it reveals. It shows that for Gandhi, non-violence was a non-negotiable principle, more important even than the momentum of the movement.

Answer: The Chauri Chaura incident (Feb 1922) led Gandhi to withdraw the movement; it reveals his uncompromising commitment to non-violence (ahimsa).