188 One Word & One Liner Questions: Nationalism in India
Rapid-revision question bank with concise answers covering the national movement, major events, leaders, social groups, cultural nationalism, dates, places, terms and official CBSE map work.
How to Use This Question Bank
These 188 questions are designed for fast recall after studying the chapter. They deliberately cover different factual angles instead of repeating the same fact in multiple forms.
Revision tip: Use these questions after studying the chapter to test rapid recall of dates, names, movements, places, terms and map-work facts.
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Chapter Basics & Nationalism
Which chapter of India and the Contemporary World – II deals with the Indian national movement?
Answer: Nationalism in India
Which broad historical process is closely linked to the growth of nationalism in colonial India?
Answer: Anti-colonial movement
What was the central political demand associated with the Indian national movement?
Answer: Swaraj
What does the term Swaraj mean?
Answer: Self-rule
What does Purna Swaraj mean?
Answer: Complete independence
Which two major mass movements form the core of this chapter?
Answer: Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience
Which principle became closely associated with Gandhi's mass politics?
Answer: Non-violence
What method of resistance was based on truth and non-violence?
Answer: Satyagraha
Who popularised the method of Satyagraha in Indian mass politics?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi
Which chapter in the textbook precedes Nationalism in India?
Answer: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe
What is the main historical setting of Nationalism in India?
Answer: Colonial India
Which foreign power ruled India during the period discussed in the chapter?
Answer: Britain
What kind of movement did Indian nationalism become in response to colonial rule?
Answer: Anti-colonial movement
What did nationalists seek to create among diverse communities?
Answer: Collective belonging
What helped connect political nationalism with cultural identity?
Answer: Symbols and cultural processes
First World War, Satyagraha & Rowlatt Act
In which year did the First World War begin?
Answer: 1914
In which year did the First World War end?
Answer: 1918
What major global event created economic and political hardship in India before the mass movements?
Answer: First World War
What happened to defence expenditure during the First World War?
Answer: It increased
What happened to taxes during the war years?
Answer: They increased
What happened to prices during the war years?
Answer: They rose sharply
What happened to forced recruitment during the war period?
Answer: It increased
Which epidemic intensified the suffering of Indians after the war?
Answer: Influenza epidemic
What agricultural problem added to wartime hardship?
Answer: Crop failures
What method did Gandhi use in local struggles before launching nationwide movements?
Answer: Satyagraha
Where did Gandhi organise a Satyagraha for indigo cultivators?
Answer: Champaran
In which year was the Champaran Satyagraha launched?
Answer: 1917
Where did Gandhi support peasants affected by revenue demands in 1918?
Answer: Kheda
In which year was the Kheda Satyagraha organised?
Answer: 1918
Which group did Gandhi support in the Ahmedabad struggle of 1918?
Answer: Mill workers
What did Satyagraha emphasise?
Answer: Power of truth
According to Satyagraha, what should a satyagrahi appeal to?
Answer: The conscience of the oppressor
Did Satyagraha rely on physical force?
Answer: No
In which year was the Rowlatt Act passed?
Answer: 1919
What did the Rowlatt Act empower the colonial government to do?
Answer: Detain political prisoners without trial
Why was the Rowlatt Act widely opposed?
Answer: It curtailed civil liberties
What nationwide action did Gandhi call against the Rowlatt Act?
Answer: Hartal
What forms of protest accompanied the anti-Rowlatt agitation?
Answer: Hartals and demonstrations
Which city witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
Answer: Amritsar
On what date did the Jallianwala Bagh massacre occur?
Answer: 13 April 1919
Which occasion brought many people to Amritsar on the day of the massacre?
Answer: Baisakhi
Who ordered the troops to fire on the crowd at Jallianwala Bagh?
Answer: General Dyer
What was the name of the enclosed ground where the massacre occurred?
Answer: Jallianwala Bagh
What was the immediate effect of the massacre on Indian public opinion?
Answer: It intensified anger against colonial rule
What did Rabindranath Tagore renounce in protest after Jallianwala Bagh?
Answer: Knighthood
Khilafat & Non-Cooperation
Which issue brought many Indian Muslims into a major political mobilisation after the First World War?
Answer: Khilafat issue
Who were prominent leaders of the Khilafat movement?
Answer: Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali
What was the Khilafat movement concerned with?
Answer: The position of the Ottoman Caliph
Which major movement was combined with the Khilafat campaign?
Answer: Non-Cooperation Movement
When did the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement begin?
Answer: January 1921
What was the basic strategy of Non-Cooperation?
Answer: Refusal to cooperate with colonial institutions
Which educational institutions were boycotted during Non-Cooperation?
Answer: Government schools and colleges
Which professionals were encouraged to give up their practices?
Answer: Lawyers
What happened to foreign cloth during the movement?
Answer: It was boycotted and burnt
What happened to liquor shops during the movement?
Answer: They were picketed
What happened to many government titles?
Answer: They were surrendered
Which party in Madras Presidency did not follow the general council boycott?
Answer: Justice Party
Why did the Justice Party enter councils?
Answer: To gain political power
Which social class strongly participated in the movement in towns?
Answer: Middle class
What was one economic effect of boycotting foreign cloth?
Answer: Demand for Indian cloth increased
What happened to the import of foreign cloth during the boycott?
Answer: It declined
Why did the Non-Cooperation Movement appeal to different groups?
Answer: It offered a common call for Swaraj
Did Swaraj mean exactly the same thing to all participants?
Answer: No
Which incident led Gandhi to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement?
Answer: Chauri Chaura
In which year did the Chauri Chaura incident occur?
Answer: 1922
Where did the Chauri Chaura incident take place?
Answer: Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh
What happened at Chauri Chaura?
Answer: A police station was set on fire
Why did Gandhi withdraw Non-Cooperation after Chauri Chaura?
Answer: Because the movement turned violent
What principle did Gandhi insist upon in mass struggle?
Answer: Non-violence
Differing Strands: Towns, Countryside & Plantations
Which broad section of society led the early urban phase of Non-Cooperation?
Answer: Middle class
What did many students do during Non-Cooperation?
Answer: Left government schools and colleges
What did many teachers and headmasters do?
Answer: Resigned
What did many lawyers do?
Answer: Gave up legal practices
What happened to foreign goods in many towns?
Answer: They were boycotted
What happened to foreign cloth in public demonstrations?
Answer: It was burnt in bonfires
Which region became important for the peasant movement led by Baba Ramchandra?
Answer: Awadh
Who was Baba Ramchandra?
Answer: A leader of peasants in Awadh
What was a major peasant grievance in Awadh?
Answer: High rents and revenue demands
What was the term used for unpaid labour demanded by landlords?
Answer: Begar
What organisation was associated with the peasant movement in Awadh?
Answer: Oudh Kisan Sabha
Who was one prominent leader associated with the Oudh Kisan Sabha?
Answer: Baba Ramchandra
Which state is associated with the tribal movement led by Alluri Sitaram Raju?
Answer: Andhra Pradesh
Who led the tribal movement in the Gudem Hills?
Answer: Alluri Sitaram Raju
What colonial policy angered many tribal communities in the forest regions?
Answer: Forest restrictions
What did many tribal people want to retain?
Answer: Traditional forest rights
Which plantation region is discussed in connection with the idea of Swaraj?
Answer: Assam
What did plantation workers in Assam associate with freedom?
Answer: Freedom to leave the plantations
What restricted the movement of plantation workers?
Answer: Inland Emigration Act
What did many plantation workers do when they heard of Swaraj?
Answer: Left plantations
What happened to many returning plantation workers?
Answer: They were stopped and beaten back
What did the different rural movements show about Swaraj?
Answer: Its meaning varied among groups
Simon Commission, Lahore & Purna Swaraj
Why was the Simon Commission appointed?
Answer: To review constitutional arrangements in India
In which year did the Simon Commission arrive in India?
Answer: 1928
What slogan greeted the Simon Commission?
Answer: Go Back Simon
Which major political groups joined protests against the Simon Commission?
Answer: Congress and Muslim League
Who was injured during a protest against the Simon Commission in Lahore?
Answer: Lala Lajpat Rai
What happened to Lala Lajpat Rai after the police lathi-charge?
Answer: He later died from his injuries
Which Congress session adopted the goal of Purna Swaraj?
Answer: Lahore Session
In which year was the Lahore Congress held?
Answer: 1929
Who presided over the Lahore Congress session?
Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru
What goal was adopted at the Lahore Congress?
Answer: Purna Swaraj
When was Independence Day first observed by the Congress under the Purna Swaraj programme?
Answer: 26 January 1930
What did Purna Swaraj mean?
Answer: Complete independence
Which colonial official made an offer of dominion status in 1929?
Answer: Lord Irwin
What did the Irwin Declaration promise?
Answer: A future Round Table Conference and dominion status as a possible goal
Salt March & Civil Disobedience
What everyday commodity did Gandhi choose as the symbol for Civil Disobedience?
Answer: Salt
Why was salt an effective symbol of resistance?
Answer: It affected rich and poor alike
From where did Gandhi begin the Salt March?
Answer: Sabarmati Ashram
Where did Gandhi end the Salt March?
Answer: Dandi
In which year did the Salt March take place?
Answer: 1930
What law did the Salt March challenge?
Answer: Salt law
What movement began with the Salt March?
Answer: Civil Disobedience Movement
What did Civil Disobedience involve?
Answer: Breaking selected colonial laws
What happened to the salt law at Dandi?
Answer: Gandhi broke it by making salt
What did people do during Civil Disobedience apart from breaking laws?
Answer: Boycotted foreign goods and refused cooperation
Which pact was signed between Gandhi and the Viceroy in 1931?
Answer: Gandhi-Irwin Pact
What did the Gandhi-Irwin Pact enable Gandhi to do?
Answer: Attend the Second Round Table Conference
Which Round Table Conference did Gandhi attend?
Answer: Second Round Table Conference
Where was the Round Table Conference held?
Answer: London
What happened to Civil Disobedience after the Second Round Table Conference?
Answer: It was relaunched
What was one major reason for the limits of Civil Disobedience?
Answer: Different groups had different expectations
Which social group often demanded protection against colonial policies and supported the movement?
Answer: Business groups
Which group participated in large numbers in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Answer: Women
What did many women do during Civil Disobedience?
Answer: Participated in protests and picketing
Did all women receive equal political status immediately after participation?
Answer: No
Social Groups & Different Experiences
Which peasant group participated strongly in Civil Disobedience in parts of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh?
Answer: Rich peasants
Why did rich peasants support Civil Disobedience?
Answer: They wanted reduction of revenue demands
What happened when the movement was called off?
Answer: Peasant expectations were not fully met
Which industrial group supported the national movement in the early phase?
Answer: Indian business groups
Why did business groups support the national movement?
Answer: They wanted protection from foreign imports and a favourable economic policy
Which association represented Indian industrial and commercial interests?
Answer: Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
What did business groups often seek from colonial policy?
Answer: Protection from foreign competition
Which community's political concerns became increasingly distinct during the later phase?
Answer: Muslims
What issue caused sharp political disagreement among leaders?
Answer: Separate electorates
Who demanded safeguards for the Depressed Classes through separate electorates?
Answer: B. R. Ambedkar
Who opposed separate electorates for the Depressed Classes?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi
Which agreement followed the negotiations between Gandhi and Ambedkar in 1932?
Answer: Poona Pact
In which year was the Poona Pact signed?
Answer: 1932
What did the Poona Pact provide for the Depressed Classes?
Answer: Reserved seats in legislatures through joint electorates
What did many industrial workers do during the national movements?
Answer: Participated in strikes and protests
Did all industrial workers participate in exactly the same way?
Answer: No
Collective Belonging & Cultural Nationalism
What does the phrase 'sense of collective belonging' refer to?
Answer: Feeling of being part of one nation
What image came to symbolise the nation as a mother figure?
Answer: Bharat Mata
Who created the famous image of Bharat Mata discussed in the chapter?
Answer: Abanindranath Tagore
Who wrote Vande Mataram?
Answer: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
When was Vande Mataram written?
Answer: 1870s
In which novel was Vande Mataram included?
Answer: Anandamath
What did Vande Mataram celebrate?
Answer: The motherland
What did nationalists collect from villages to preserve cultural traditions?
Answer: Folklore and folk songs
Why did nationalists collect folklore?
Answer: To discover and preserve a sense of national culture
Which Bengali poet is associated with collecting folk traditions?
Answer: Rabindranath Tagore
Who published The Folklore of Southern India?
Answer: Natesa Sastri
What role did popular prints play in nationalism?
Answer: They spread national symbols and ideas
What did nationalists do with Indian history?
Answer: Reinterpreted it to build pride in India's past
Why was the reinterpretation of history important?
Answer: It challenged colonial claims and encouraged pride
What did flags become during the national movement?
Answer: Symbols of defiance and unity
What did songs and legends help create?
Answer: Nationalist sentiment
Which figure represented India in the image of Bharat Mata?
Answer: Mother India
What cultural forms helped nationalism reach ordinary people?
Answer: Songs, folklore, prints, symbols and stories
What kind of identity did these cultural processes encourage?
Answer: National identity
Did cultural nationalism alone eliminate all social differences?
Answer: No
Important Personalities & Organisations
Who led the national movement through Satyagraha and non-violence?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi
Who were the prominent Ali brothers?
Answer: Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali
Who was the Viceroy during the Jallianwala Bagh period?
Answer: Lord Chelmsford
Who commanded the troops at Jallianwala Bagh?
Answer: General Dyer
Who was the Viceroy during the Simon Commission and Civil Disobedience phase?
Answer: Lord Irwin
Who presided over the Lahore Congress of 1929?
Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru
Who was associated with the peasant movement in Awadh?
Answer: Baba Ramchandra
Who painted Bharat Mata?
Answer: Abanindranath Tagore
Who wrote Anandamath?
Answer: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Who collected folk traditions in Bengal?
Answer: Rabindranath Tagore
Who was a major leader of the Depressed Classes in negotiations over representation?
Answer: B. R. Ambedkar
Which organisation did the Justice Party represent in Madras?
Answer: Non-Brahman interests
Map Work & Rapid Recall
Which Congress session is associated with Calcutta in 1920?
Answer: Calcutta Congress Session, 1920
Which Congress session is associated with Nagpur in 1920?
Answer: Nagpur Congress Session, 1920
Which Congress session is associated with Madras in 1927?
Answer: Madras Congress Session, 1927
Which Satyagraha centre is in Bihar?
Answer: Champaran
Which Satyagraha centre is in Gujarat and involved peasants?
Answer: Kheda
Which 1918 Satyagraha involved textile mill workers?
Answer: Ahmedabad
Which massacre site in Amritsar is an official map item?
Answer: Jallianwala Bagh
Which place on the Gujarat coast is associated with Gandhi's Salt March?
Answer: Dandi
Which three places are listed as Congress sessions for map work?
Answer: Calcutta, Nagpur and Madras
Which three places are listed as Satyagraha movements for map work?
Answer: Kheda, Champaran and Ahmedabad
Which official map item is associated with the 1919 massacre?
Answer: Jallianwala Bagh
Which official map item is associated with the 1930 Salt March?
Answer: Dandi
Which map-work item is associated with the Kheda Satyagraha?
Answer: Kheda
Which map-work item is associated with the Champaran Satyagraha?
Answer: Champaran
Which map-work item is associated with the Ahmedabad mill workers' Satyagraha?
Answer: Ahmedabad