Important Revolts and Movements

During the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928), the British increased land revenue. Vallabhbhai Patel successfully organised the peasants to refuse payment, remain united and maintain non-violent discipline. The government ultimately withdrew the increase, and Patel earned the title ‘Sardar’. The INA trials were a later event. Exam tip: remember Bardoli—1928—Gujarat—Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The direct answer is D: detention without trial was a direct attack on civil liberty. A fair legal system normally gives a person the opportunity to know the charge, defend themselves and receive a trial before punishment. The Rowlatt Act allowed the colonial government to arrest and detain people suspected of political activity without the normal safeguards of a public trial. Step by step: no proper trial meant no chance to answer the accusation; no chance to answer meant arbitrary state power; arbitrary detention threatened personal freedom and political rights. Therefore it became a symbol of colonial repression and led to the Rowlatt Satyagraha in 1919. A is wrong because Bhoodan was a later land-gift movement. B is wrong because environmental protection was not the issue. C is wrong because indigo cultivation was connected with other agrarian struggles, not detention under the Rowlatt Act. D correctly identifies the constitutional and human-rights concern. Exam cue: Rowlatt Act means arrest without trial and protest against repression.

On 13 April 1919, General Dyer ordered firing on an unarmed gathering at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. The massacre exposed the repressive nature of British rule and created deep anger and distrust among Indians. Option B is the opposite of the historical reaction: support for British rule declined rather than increased. Exam tip: remember Jallianwala Bagh with Amritsar, 1919, and General Dyer.

The Non-Cooperation Movement aimed to weaken colonial rule by refusing to support its institutions and activities. Under this strategy, people were encouraged to withdraw from government schools, colleges, courts, councils, and foreign goods, while promoting national institutions and swadeshi practices. The basic idea was that colonial authority depended partly on the cooperation of the people it ruled.

Therefore, option B is correct: boycotting government institutions was a method of withdrawing cooperation from colonial rule. It was not primarily a military revolt, a river-rehabilitation programme, or the integration of princely states. The word “boycott” is the important clue. It shows deliberate refusal to participate in or strengthen institutions controlled by the colonial government.

The Chauri Chaura incident showed Gandhi that a mass movement could turn violent when participants lost control. In February 1922, violence at Chauri Chaura led to the deaths of policemen. Gandhi believed that the Non-Cooperation Movement could not continue if its participants were not prepared to follow non-violence. He therefore withdrew the movement, even though the decision disappointed many supporters.

This action demonstrates that non-violence was not merely a slogan or a convenient tactic for Gandhi; he treated it as an essential condition of the movement. The alternatives about military struggle, princely separation, or tree felling do not explain the withdrawal. Thus option C correctly identifies the principle shown by the decision.

Direct answer: Option D, because the Swaraj Party wanted to obstruct colonial institutions from within. After the Non-Cooperation Movement was withdrawn in 1922, leaders such as C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru debated the best next step. The Swarajists entered legislative councils rather than simply staying outside them. Their plan was to use debate, questions, motions and obstruction to expose the weaknesses of colonial rule and prevent the councils from functioning smoothly as instruments of government. Council entry did not mean accepting British rule as legitimate; it was a political method of struggle. Option D is correct because it states this internal obstruction strategy. Option A is wrong because the Narmada dam is unrelated to the Swaraj Party. Option B is wrong because Chipko was a later forest-protection movement. Option C is wrong because Bhoodan was a later land-gift movement associated with Vinoba Bhave. The key distinction is between entering an institution to support colonial rule and entering it to challenge and block colonial policies. Memory cue: Swarajists entered councils to wreck them from within.

The correct answer is B, the killing of Saunders. Lala Lajpat Rai led a protest against the Simon Commission in Lahore in 1928. During the demonstration, police used force and lathi-charged the protesters. Rai was seriously injured and later died. The revolutionaries, especially Bhagat Singh and his associates, believed that the police officer responsible should be punished. Their intended target was James A. Scott, but John P. Saunders was mistakenly identified and shot instead. Thus, the event linked with the revolutionary reaction was Saunders’s killing, not the Dandi March or a later social movement.

The sequence is important: opposition to the Simon Commission came first, followed by the lathi charge, Lajpat Rai’s death, and the revolutionary attack on Saunders. The incident reflected the anger of revolutionary nationalists and their belief in retaliatory action. Option B therefore follows directly from the historical connection. The other choices belong to different periods or movements and do not describe the response to Rai’s death.

The Kakori incident was linked with HRA's revolutionary plan. Exam tip: remember 1925 and Ram Prasad Bismil.

Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt spread ideas by courting arrest. Exam tip: understand revolutionary propaganda strategy.

The Chittagong raid challenged colonial military control. Exam tip: remember Surya Sen and 1930.

The Khudai Khidmatgar movement, led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, organised many Pashtuns in the North-West Frontier region through a disciplined programme of service, courage, and non-violent resistance. Its members were often known as the Red Shirts, but this did not make the movement a violent military organisation. They worked against colonial rule through peaceful mobilisation, public action, and willingness to face punishment without responding with violence. This was significant because it challenged the stereotype that Pashtun resistance had to be armed.

Option B is correct because discipline, service, and non-violence were central features of the movement. Option A describes an armed action and therefore does not explain its special historical importance. Indigo cultivation and the Radcliffe Line belong to entirely different historical contexts. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan is also remembered as the Frontier Gandhi because of his commitment to non-violent resistance and his close association with the wider freedom movement led by Gandhi.

The direct answer is C: salt was a daily need of every class. Salt is used by almost everyone, regardless of wealth, occupation, religion, region or social position. The colonial salt tax and government control therefore affected ordinary families directly. Gandhi’s Salt March to Dandi made a simple household substance into a powerful symbol of unjust rule. The reasoning is: everyone needs salt; the government taxed and controlled it; breaking the salt law allowed common people to participate; participation made the movement socially broad. A is wrong because salt was not restricted to soldiers. B is wrong because salt did have a tax and was controlled by the colonial government. C is correct because its universal everyday use connected the movement with rich and poor alike. D is wrong because salt was not available only in princely states; it was used throughout India. The Dandi action was symbolically effective because a small, understandable act represented opposition to a much larger system of colonial exploitation. Memory cue: salt means a common need and common participation.

The direct answer is D: communication and leadership became difficult after the arrest of top leaders. The Quit India Movement began in 1942, and the colonial government quickly arrested many important Congress leaders. Once visible leaders were imprisoned, public meetings, official instructions and open coordination became dangerous or impossible. Activists therefore created underground networks to pass messages, print or distribute information, arrange local actions and keep resistance alive. The chain is: leaders arrested; open organisation weakened; censorship and repression increased; secret communication became necessary. A is wrong because Quit India was not a Bhoodan campaign. B is wrong because Chipko was a later forest-protection movement. C is wrong because indigo cultivation was related to a different agrarian issue. D is correct because it explains the practical need for underground work. Usha Mehta’s underground Congress Radio is a useful historical example of such communication. Exam cue: 1942 plus arrests means underground networks and local leadership.

Direct answer: Option A, an attempt at local parallel government. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, British repression weakened normal administration in some areas. In Satara, Maharashtra, activists created the Prati Sarkar, meaning a parallel or alternative government. It attempted to perform some local functions and challenge colonial authority rather than merely hold a protest. This shows that the movement sometimes developed from demonstrations and strikes into local efforts to create alternative authority. Option A is correct because Satara’s Prati Sarkar is a classic example of parallel government during Quit India. Option B is wrong because selling foreign cloth is associated with other nationalist and swadeshi campaigns, not the defining meaning of Prati Sarkar. Option C is wrong because Narmada dam construction belongs to a much later development issue and is unrelated to 1942. Option D is wrong because indigo expansion describes a colonial agricultural practice and is not the Satara trend. Other examples commonly remembered with local parallel authority include Ballia and Tamluk, though their exact local forms differed. Memory cue: Satara—Prati Sarkar—parallel authority.

The Red Fort INA trials are associated with Prem Kumar Sehgal, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan. As they represented Hindu, Sikh and Muslim backgrounds respectively, their remembrance together symbolised national unity and shared nationalism above religious identity. Tenancy reform and Bhoodan were separate socio-economic issues and movements. Exam tip: link INA trials at the Red Fort with national unity.

The naval revolt of 1946 was an important event before independence. Exam tip: remember Bombay centre.

The direct answer is D: the right to equal access to public spaces. Vaikom Satyagraha in Travancore challenged caste-based restrictions that prevented oppressed-caste people from using roads near the Vaikom temple. The issue was not simply a road convenience; it asked whether public roads could be denied to people because of caste. Step by step: caste rules excluded certain communities; exclusion blocked their movement through public areas; protest demanded equal use of public roads; the larger principle was social equality and dignity. A is wrong because naval recruitment had no connection with the road struggle. B is wrong because land donation belongs to the Bhoodan movement. C is wrong because the right to make salt was central to the Salt Satyagraha, not Vaikom. D is correct because the movement opposed untouchability and unequal access. It helped make public access a social-rights question. Memory cue: Vaikom means roads, caste barriers and equal public access.

The direct answer is A: it was against exploitation by landlords and jotedars. Tebhaga means three shares. In Bengal, sharecroppers, called bargadars, usually gave a large part of the harvest to the jotedar or landholder. They demanded that two-thirds of the crop should remain with the cultivator and one-third should go to the jotedar. Step by step: the sharecropper did the cultivation; the crop was divided after harvest; the existing arrangement was seen as exploitative; Tebhaga demanded a fairer division and stronger cultivator rights. Option A is correct because landlords and jotedars represented the local forces from which sharecroppers sought protection. Option B is wrong because naval officers were unrelated to this crop-share struggle. Option C is wrong because the Simon Commission was a constitutional-political issue of the 1920s. Option D is wrong because Chipko activists belonged to a later forest-conservation movement. Exam cue: Tebhaga = Bengal sharecroppers demanding two-thirds of the crop.

Khejarli and Chipko both show tradition of environmental conservation. Exam tip: connect old and modern examples.

The Bhoodan Movement was linked with voluntary land donation for the landless. Exam tip: remember alternative efforts of land reform.

The direct answer is A: both movements stressed protecting forests and trees. The Appiko Movement in Karnataka drew inspiration from the Chipko Movement, especially its method of community action and tree protection. Step by step: forests support local livelihoods and ecology; cutting trees can damage soil, water, wildlife, and village life; people therefore used collective, largely non-violent action to oppose destructive felling; this shared forest-conservation purpose explains the inspiration. Option A is correct. Option B is wrong because indigo cultivation is associated with the Champaran context, not the defining link between Chipko and Appiko. Option C is wrong because INA trials were a separate political and military episode. Option D is wrong because opposition to the Simon Commission was a constitutional-nationalist campaign, not the basis of these forest movements. Appiko occurred in Karnataka, while Chipko is chiefly associated with the Himalayan region, so remember both their common aim and different regions.

Narmada Bachao Andolan was linked with development, displacement and rehabilitation. Exam tip: remember social issues of modern people's movements.

The Anti-Arrack Movement was linked with anti-lior protest and women's leadership. Exam tip: remember Andhra Pradesh and social reform.

The Silent Valley Movement was linked with forest and biodiversity protection in Kerala. Exam tip: remember the balance between environment and development.

The governing historical fact is that Awadh, also called Oudh, was annexed by the East India Company in 1856 during the tenure of Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. The Company accused the ruler of maladministration, though annexation also reflected its expansionist policy. Therefore option B is correct. The event created deep resentment among soldiers, landlords, nobles and the wider population and became one of the important political causes of the Revolt of 1857. Curzon served much later, Ripon was associated with the late nineteenth century, and Irwin served in the twentieth century, so none of them fits the date.