NCERT 8th Class (CBSE) Social Science: The National Movement: First Phase

Question: What were the demands of the Congress in its early years?

Answer: In its early years the Congress was moderate in its objectives and methods. It made several demands; which are given below:

1. The Congress demanded a greater voice for Indians in the government and in administration.
2. It demanded that Indians be placed in high positions in the government. For this purpose it called for Civil Service examinations to be held in India as well, not just in London.
3. The Congress demanded for the separation of the judiciary from the executive.
4. The repeal of the Arms Act and the freedom of speech and expression was also a major demand of the Congress.
5. It also demanded reduction of revenue, cut in military expenditure and more funds for irrigation.

Question: What caused the partition of Bengal in 1905?
Or
Under what pretext, did the British divide Bengal?

Answer: At the time of partition Bengal was the biggest province of British India which comprised Bihar and parts of Orissa. The British argued for dividing Bengal for reasons of administrative convenience. But it was a totally false argument. In fact, the partition of Bengal was closely tied to the interests of British officials and businessmen. The British also wanted to curtail the influence of Bengali politicians and split the Bengali people. It was therefore, instead of removing the non-Bengali areas from the province, they separated East Bengal and merged it with Assam.

Question: What were the consequences of the partition of Bengal?

Answer: The consequences of the partition of Bengal:

1. The partition of Bengal enraged people all over the country. Both the Moderates and the Radicals in the Congress opposed this action of the British.
2. Public meetings and demonstrations began to be organised. Novel methods of mass protest were also developed. They struggled against the partition of Bengal came to be known as Swadeshi Movement. In Bengal this movement was the strongest. In other regions .such as in deltaic Andhra the movement was called the Vandemataram Movements.

Question: What was the Khilafat agitation?

Answer: In the year 1920 the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan, known as Khalifa. It enraged people. Indian Muslims wanted that the Khalifa be allowed to retain control over Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman empire. The leaders of the Khilafat agitation Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, now wished to start a full-fledged Non-Cooperation Movement. They got support from Mahatma Gandhi who urged the Congress to campaign against “Punjab wrongs”, the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj.

Question: How did people participate in the Non-Cooperation Movement during 1921-22?

Answer: The people participated in the movement by the following way:

1. During these years, thousands of students left government controlled schools and colleges.
2. Many lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari and Asaf Ali gave up their practices.
3. British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted. .
4. People lit public bonfires of foreign cloth.

Question: Why was the Simon Commission sent to India? Why did Indians boycott it?

Answer: The British government in England sent a Commission headed by Lord Simon in the year 1927 to decide India’s political future. As the Commission had no Indian representative, it was boycotted by all political groups. When the Commission arrived it met with demonstrations with banners saying ‘Simon Go Back’.