1. Who was the judge in the Great Trial of Mahatma Gandhi?
Answer: Mr. Justice C. N. Broomfield, District and Sessions Judge at the Government Circuit House, Ahmedabad, on 18 March 1922.
2. What sentence was given to Gandhiji in the Great Trial?
Answer: Gandhiji was sentenced to six years of imprisonment. However, the judge stated that if the government saw fit to reduce the term, no one would be better pleased than him.
3. Where did Gandhiji receive his political training?
Answer: Gandhiji received his political training in South Africa, where he spent twenty years leading struggles against racial discrimination and developing his concept of Satyagraha.
4. What is Satyagraha?
Answer: Satyagraha is a form of struggle based on non-violence developed by Gandhiji during his time in South Africa. It became the foundation of India's freedom movement.
5. Name the three local movements Gandhiji participated in after returning to India.
Answer:
- Champaran Movement (1917) - Bihar
- Ahmedabad Mill Workers' Strike (1918) - Gujarat
- Kheda Peasant Movement (1918) - Gujarat
6. What was the Champaran Movement about?
Answer: The Champaran Movement (1917) was against the exploitation of indigo cultivators by European planters in Bihar. Gandhiji's intervention led to the appointment of a commission that resolved the peasants' grievances.
7. What was the main demand of the Kheda peasant movement?
Answer: The peasants of Kheda demanded tax remission because they were unable to pay taxes due to natural calamities and crop losses.
8. What was the Rowlatt Act of 1919?
Answer: The Rowlatt Act was a repressive law that allowed:
- Arrest without warrant
- Imprisonment without trial
9. When was the national hartal called against the Rowlatt Act?
Answer: Gandhiji called for a national hartal on April 6, 1919, to protest the Rowlatt Act. It witnessed massive popular participation.
10. What was the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre?
Answer: On April 13, 1919, British General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to open fire on an unarmed gathering at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. According to official records, 379 people were killed, though actual casualties were much higher.
11. What was the Khilafat Movement?
Answer: The Khilafat Movement aimed to restore the powers of the Caliph (Khalifa) of Turkey, which were curtailed by the Treaty of Sevres after World War I. It was led by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
12. What is 'Hind Swaraj'?
Answer: 'Hind Swaraj' is a book written by Gandhiji in 1909. In it, he explained that British rule existed with Indian cooperation, and if Indians withdrew cooperation, Swaraj (self-rule) could be achieved.
13. List any four methods of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Answer:
- Returning titles and honors granted by the British
- Boycotting British courts, schools, and legislative assemblies
- Boycotting foreign goods
- Resigning from government jobs
14. What was the Chauri Chaura incident?
Answer: On February 5, 1922, an enraged mob at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh set a police station on fire, killing 22 policemen. This incident led Gandhiji to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
15. Why did Gandhiji withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement?
Answer: Gandhiji withdrew the movement because the Chauri Chaura incident violated the principle of non-violence, which was the foundation of his struggle.
16. What was the Swaraj Party?
Answer: The Swaraj Party was formed in 1923 by C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru. They aimed to use legislative assemblies as forums to voice political dissent and expose anti-public policies.
17. Who led the Rampa Rebellion?
Answer: Alluri Sitarama Raju led the Rampa Rebellion (tribal movement) in Andhra Pradesh against British forest laws and exploitation by moneylenders.
18. What was the Simon Commission?
Answer: The Simon Commission was appointed by the British government to recommend constitutional reforms for India. It was boycotted because all seven members were British, with no Indian representation.
19. What was the slogan raised against the Simon Commission?
Answer: The entire country raised the slogan "Simon Go Back" when the commission arrived in India on February 3, 1928.
20. Who prepared the Nehru Committee Report?
Answer: A committee under the leadership of Motilal Nehru prepared the Nehru Committee Report on constitutional reforms, which later influenced India's Constitution.
21. What was the Bardoli Peasant Movement?
Answer: The Bardoli Movement (1928) in Gujarat was a peasant protest against increased taxation, led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The government eventually revoked the tax increase.
22. What significant decisions were taken at the Lahore Congress (1929)?
Answer:
- The Congress demanded complete independence (Purna Swaraj) for the first time
- Gandhiji was entrusted with launching a mass movement
- The tricolour flag was formally adopted
23. When was Independence Day celebrated before actual independence?
Answer: January 26, 1930, was celebrated as Independence Day as per the decision of the Lahore Congress. It was celebrated annually until independence, which is why January 26 was chosen as Republic Day.
24. Why did Gandhiji choose to break the salt law?
Answer: Gandhiji chose salt because:
- Salt making was a government monopoly
- It was an essential commodity for people and livestock
- The monopoly was an 'iniquitous' (unjust) tax that affected everyone
25. What was the Dandi March?
Answer: Gandhiji, along with 78 volunteers, marched to Dandi Beach in Gujarat for 24 days. On April 6, 1930, he broke the salt law by making salt, initiating the Civil Disobedience Movement.
26. What happened at Dharasana?
Answer: On May 21, 1930, about 2,000 protesters at Dharasana Salt Works were brutally beaten by police. Despite the violence, protesters kept coming forward in groups. 320 were injured and 2 died.
27. Who was known as the 'Frontier Gandhi'?
Answer: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was known as the 'Frontier Gandhi'. He led the Civil Disobedience Movement in Northwestern India with his volunteer force called Khudai Khidmatgar.
28. Who was Rani Gaidinliu?
Answer: Rani Gaidinliu was a valiant female freedom fighter from Northeast India who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement. She was arrested and spent her youth in jail, being released only after independence.
29. What was the Gandhi-Irwin Pact?
Answer: The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 5, 1931) suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement, and Gandhiji agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.
30. What were the Round Table Conferences?
Answer: The Round Table Conferences were discussions held in London to discuss the transfer of power to Indians. Three conferences were held (1930, 1931, 1932).
31. What was the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA)?
Answer: The HSRA was a revolutionary organization founded by Bhagat Singh and associates in 1928 to achieve freedom through armed struggle rather than non-violent means.
32. Name the three revolutionaries executed on March 23, 1931.
Answer: Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were executed on March 23, 1931, for their revolutionary activities.
33. What was the Kakori incident?
Answer: On August 9, 1925, revolutionaries stopped a train at Kakori near Lucknow and robbed money intended for purchasing arms. Many were arrested and four were sentenced to death.
34. What was the Congress Socialist Party (CSP)?
Answer: The CSP was formed by Congress members inclined towards socialist ideas, with Jayaprakash Narayan as its first Secretary. It aimed to establish a socialist society by countering capitalism and landlordism.
35. What was the All India Kisan Sabha?
Answer: The All India Kisan Sabha was formed in 1936 as a national organization of peasants to fight against excessive taxation, exploitation by landlords, and eviction.
36. What was the Tebhaga Movement?
Answer: The Tebhaga Movement (1946-47) in Bengal was led by the All India Kisan Sabha. Peasants demanded that crops be divided into three parts with two-thirds for them, raising the slogan 'Tebhaga Chai.'
37. What was AITUC?
Answer: The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was the first labor organization in India formed on a national basis to address issues like low wages and excessive working hours.
38. What was the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Mutiny?
Answer: In February 1946, sailors of the Royal Indian Navy revolted against British rule, beginning on the ship Talwar. They hoisted flags of Congress, Communist Party, and Muslim League, but the mutiny was suppressed.
39. What was the slogan of the Quit India Movement?
Answer: The slogan was "Do or Die," given by Gandhiji. It meant Indians would either free India or die in the attempt.
40. When was the Quit India Movement launched?
Answer: The Quit India Movement was launched on August 8, 1942, in Mumbai, after Gandhiji's address to the public.
41. Name three parallel governments established during the Quit India Movement.
Answer:
- Ballia (Uttar Pradesh) - under Chittu Pandey
- Satara (Maharashtra) - under Nana Patil (lasted until 1945)
- Tamluk (Bengal) - lasted for a year
42. What was the Indian National Army (INA)?
Answer: The INA was an armed force formed by Captain Mohan Singh and later led by Subhas Chandra Bose to fight for India's independence. It included a women's unit called the Rani Jhansi Regiment.
43. Who led the Rani Jhansi Regiment?
Answer: Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, a Malayali, led the Rani Jhansi Regiment, the women's unit of the Indian National Army.
44. What was the Forward Bloc?
Answer: The Forward Bloc was a party formed by Subhas Chandra Bose after he resigned from the Congress due to differences with Gandhiji.
45. What was the Cabinet Mission?
Answer: The Cabinet Mission (March 1946) included three British Cabinet members - Stafford Cripps, Pethick Lawrence, and A. V. Alexander. It proposed forming an interim government and a Constituent Assembly.
46. What was the Mountbatten Plan?
Answer: The Mountbatten Plan (June 3, 1947) proposed partitioning India into India and Pakistan and granting them independence.
47. When did India gain independence?
Answer: India gained independence on August 15, 1947, according to the Indian Independence Act passed by the British Parliament.
48. Who was India's first Prime Minister?
Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of Independent India.
49. What values were promoted during India's freedom movement?
Answer: Nonviolence, democracy, national unity, secularism, pluralism, social justice, and economic self-sufficiency.
50. When did Gandhiji meet Sree Narayana Guru?
Answer: Gandhiji met Sree Narayana Guru at Vanajakshi Mandiram near Sivagiri Mutt in Varkala on March 12, 1925.