CDS History · Modern India
Gandhi and Non-Cooperation
Gandhi's road from South Africa to the Rowlatt satyagraha, the programme of the Non-Cooperation Movement, and how it played out among the peasants, workers and students of each province.
Why this matters
Fourteen CDS questions from 2018 to 2026, six of them HARD. The five on the provinces are all HARD and all from 2018 and 2019: they test detail such as the Eka movement and the Oudh Kisan Sabha. The rest ask the order of Gandhi's early campaigns and what Non-Cooperation did and did not include.
Concept 1 of 3: Gandhi from South Africa to 1919
Gandhi learnt satyagraha in South Africa. Back in India in 1915, he spent a year watching and listening, then took up local struggles one by one: indigo farmers, mill workers, peasants. By 1919 he was ready to lead all of India against the Rowlatt Bills.
Definition
The steps in order:
- Phoenix Settlement (1904), near Durban: a self-supporting farm Gandhi founded in South Africa.
- He returned to India in January 1915. In May 1915 he called Gopal Krishna Gokhale his political guru.
- His first major public appearance was his speech at the opening of Banaras Hindu University (February 1916), where he criticised the princes.
- Champaran (1917), Bihar: for the peasants forced to grow indigo.
- Ahmedabad mill strike (1918), then Kheda (1918).
- Satyagraha Sabha (February 1919) against the Rowlatt Bills, then the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919).
- Gandhi wrote that a sound body is one that bends itself to the spirit and is always a ready instrument at its service.
| Event | Date | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Settlement | 1904 | Founded by Gandhi near DurbanQ |
| Gokhale named his political guru | May 1915 | Not Tilak, not NaorojiQ |
| Speech at the opening of BHU | February 1916 | First major public appearance in IndiaQ |
| Champaran satyagraha | 1917 | Indigo peasants of Bihar |
| Ahmedabad mill strike | Early 1918 | Mill workers' wages |
| Kheda satyagraha | 1918 | Peasants seeking remission of revenue |
| Satyagraha Sabha | February 1919 | Against the Rowlatt Bills |
| Jallianwala Bagh massacre | 13 April 1919 | Amritsar |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2022 · CDS (I) 2022 — General Knowledge · Q69Moderate
Example 1 · Modern India · Gandhi and Non-Cooperation
Arrange the following events chronologically starting from the earliest :
1. Ahmedabad Mill Strike
2. Champaran Satyagraha
3. Foundation of the Satyagraha Sabha
4. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
BHU before Champaran
Gandhi's first major public appearance was the BHU opening speech (1916). Champaran (1917), Kheda (1918) and the Rowlatt satyagraha (1919) all came after it.
Gokhale, not Tilak
Gandhi called Gokhale his political guru. Tilak led the Extremists, whose methods Gandhi did not follow.
Concept 2 of 3: The Non-Cooperation programme
Non-Cooperation did not break laws. It simply withdrew: give back your titles, leave government schools and courts, burn foreign cloth, spin your own. If Indians stopped cooperating, Gandhi argued, British rule could not run.
Definition
The movement:
- Adopted by the Congress in 1920 (Calcutta special session, then Nagpur). It meant the renunciation of all voluntary association with the government.
- Programme: surrender of titles and honours; boycott of government schools and colleges, courts, councils and foreign cloth; the Congress organised down to the village and mohalla.
- Seizing the state's law and order machinery was never part of it.
- The AICC at Bezwada (1921) set targets: a crore of members, a crore of rupees for the Tilak Swaraj Fund, and 20 lakh charkhas.
- In September 1921, on his tour of South India, Gandhi took up the loincloth at Madurai.
- After the violence at Chauri Chaura (February 1922) Gandhi called the movement off.
| Step | When | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Programme adopted | 1920 | Titles surrendered; schools, courts, councils and foreign cloth boycottedQ |
| AICC at Bezwada | 1921 | Targets: a crore members, a crore rupees, 20 lakh charkhasQ |
| Gandhi adopts the loincloth | September 1921 | Madurai, on his South India tourQ |
| Chauri Chaura | February 1922 | Movement called off |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2021 · CDS (II) 2021 — General Knowledge · Q62Moderate
Example 2 · Modern India · Gandhi and Non-Cooperation
The call for 'renunciation of (all) voluntary associations with the (British) Government' was given during
Withdrawal, not takeover
Taking control of the law and order machinery was not part of Non-Cooperation. Its programme was to withdraw cooperation, not to run the state.
It stopped after Chauri Chaura
Gandhi suspended the movement after Chauri Chaura. 'He continued it on a much smaller scale' is false.
Concept 3 of 3: Non-Cooperation in the provinces
Non-Cooperation looked different in every province. Peasants in Awadh had their own grievances, Punjab had its Sikh gurdwara struggle, workers struck in Assam and Madras. Sometimes local leaders took the movement further than the Congress wanted.
Definition
Province by province:
- Awadh: the Oudh Kisan Sabha (October 1920) brought more than 300 village sabhas under it within a month. It asked peasants not to till bedakhli land (land from which tenants had been evicted) and not to give hari and begar (unpaid labour).
- Awadh, end of 1921: the Eka (unity) movement began under Congress and Khilafat leaders, but its leadership passed to Madari Pasi, who did not accept non-violence.
- Punjab: Non-Cooperation began with a student movement inspired by Lala Lajpat Rai in January 1921. The Akali movement for control of the gurdwaras stirred the Sikh countryside alongside it.
- United Provinces: became one of the strongest bases of the Congress. In Bengal, the literary output was thin compared with the Swadeshi days.
- Karnataka: notable peasant participation.
- Labour unrest was widespread: the exodus from the Assam tea gardens, the Assam-Bengal Railway strike, mill strikes in Madras.
- The non-Brahmin movements of Madras and Maharashtra stayed largely outside the movement.
| Region | What happened | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Awadh, 1920 | Oudh Kisan Sabha: no tilling of bedakhli land, no hari or begar | Peasants led by Baba Ramchandra |
| Awadh, 1921 to 1922 | Eka movement | Peasants led by Madari PasiQ |
| Punjab, January 1921 | Student movement; Akali upsurge alongside | Students inspired by Lala Lajpat RaiQ |
| United Provinces | One of the strongest Congress bases | Kisan sabhas and Congress volunteersQ |
| Karnataka | Significant participation | PeasantsQ |
| Assam | Exodus from the plantations; railway strike | Tea-garden and railway workers |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2019 · CDS (II) 2019 — General Knowledge · Q109Hard
Example 3 · Modern India · Gandhi and Non-Cooperation
Statement I :
The Oudh Kisan Sabha established in 1920 failed to bring under its wing any Kisan Sabhas.
Statement II :
The Oudh Kisan Sabha asked the Kisans to refuse to till bedakhli land, not to offer hari and begar.
Examine these two statements carefully and
select the correct answer using the code given below :
There was plenty of labour unrest
'Non-Cooperation was marked by the lack of labour unrest in Assam, Bengal and Madras' is false. Those were exactly the places where workers struck.
True, but not the reason
In Punjab the student movement and the Akali upsurge were both real, but one did not cause the other. Judge whether II explains I separately from whether each is true.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Gandhi from South Africa to 19198 rows
| Event | Date | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Settlement | 1904 | Founded by Gandhi near DurbanQ |
| Gokhale named his political guru | May 1915 | Not Tilak, not NaorojiQ |
| Speech at the opening of BHU | February 1916 | First major public appearance in IndiaQ |
| Champaran satyagraha | 1917 | Indigo peasants of Bihar |
| Ahmedabad mill strike | Early 1918 | Mill workers' wages |
| Kheda satyagraha | 1918 | Peasants seeking remission of revenue |
| Satyagraha Sabha | February 1919 | Against the Rowlatt Bills |
| Jallianwala Bagh massacre | 13 April 1919 | Amritsar |
The Non-Cooperation programme4 rows
| Step | When | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Programme adopted | 1920 | Titles surrendered; schools, courts, councils and foreign cloth boycottedQ |
| AICC at Bezwada | 1921 | Targets: a crore members, a crore rupees, 20 lakh charkhasQ |
| Gandhi adopts the loincloth | September 1921 | Madurai, on his South India tourQ |
| Chauri Chaura | February 1922 | Movement called off |
Non-Cooperation in the provinces6 rows
| Region | What happened | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Awadh, 1920 | Oudh Kisan Sabha: no tilling of bedakhli land, no hari or begar | Peasants led by Baba Ramchandra |
| Awadh, 1921 to 1922 | Eka movement | Peasants led by Madari PasiQ |
| Punjab, January 1921 | Student movement; Akali upsurge alongside | Students inspired by Lala Lajpat RaiQ |
| United Provinces | One of the strongest Congress bases | Kisan sabhas and Congress volunteersQ |
| Karnataka | Significant participation | PeasantsQ |
| Assam | Exodus from the plantations; railway strike | Tea-garden and railway workers |
Watch out for (6)
- BHU before Champaran→ Gandhi from South Africa to 1919
- Gokhale, not Tilak→ Gandhi from South Africa to 1919
- Withdrawal, not takeover→ The Non-Cooperation programme
- It stopped after Chauri Chaura→ The Non-Cooperation programme
- There was plenty of labour unrest→ Non-Cooperation in the provinces
- True, but not the reason→ Non-Cooperation in the provinces
Test yourself on Modern India
20 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 20 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.