The Gandhian Era Begins (1917–1919)
Gandhi's early satyagrahas — Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad — the Rowlatt Act, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that transformed the national movement.
Key Takeaways
- Gandhi returned to India in 1915; his first satyagraha in India was at Champaran (1917).
- The Rowlatt Act (1919) provoked Gandhi's first all-India mass movement.
- The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919) was a turning point that alienated moderate Indians.
Core concept
After two decades in South Africa, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returned to India in 1915. On the advice of his political guru Gopal Krishna Gokhale, he spent a year travelling before entering politics. His weapon was Satyagraha — non-violent insistence on truth — which he tested in three local struggles before launching it nationally.
Static foundation — the three early satyagrahas
- Champaran (1917): against the tinkathia system forcing indigo cultivation on Bihar's peasants — Gandhi's first civil disobedience in India.
- Kheda (1918): supported Gujarat's peasants seeking revenue remission after crop failure; Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel rose here.
- Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918): for textile workers' wages — Gandhi's first hunger strike, winning a 35% raise.
From Satyagraha to Massacre
- 1915
Gandhi returns
Comes back from South Africa; Gokhale advises a year of observation.
- 1917
Champaran
First satyagraha in India; indigo planters forced to reform.
- 1918
Kheda & Ahmedabad
Peasant revenue struggle and the mill workers' strike.
- 1919
Rowlatt Satyagraha
Gandhi's first ALL-INDIA agitation against detention without trial.
- 13 Apr 1919
Jallianwala Bagh
General Dyer orders firing on an unarmed Baisakhi crowd in Amritsar.
Jallianwala Bagh — the turning point
On Baisakhi (13 April 1919), General Dyer blocked the only exit and ordered troops to fire on a peaceful gathering in the walled Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar — killing hundreds. The Hunter Commission censured Dyer; Tagore renounced his knighthood. Years later, Udham Singh assassinated Michael O'Dwyer (1940) in London. The massacre destroyed Indian faith in British justice.
Relevance & legacy
These campaigns established the grammar of Gandhian mass politics — non-violence, moral pressure, and the mobilisation of peasants and workers — that would define the freedom struggle. (Add any recent centenary commemoration if relevant.)
Prelims trap zones
- Champaran (1917) was the FIRST satyagraha in India; the Ahmedabad strike (1918) saw the first hunger strike.
- Sardar Patel rose in Kheda, not Champaran.
- Jallianwala Bagh was on Baisakhi, 13 April 1919 — General Dyer ordered the firing (Michael O'Dwyer was the Lt-Governor of Punjab).
Knowledge Check
2 questions · check your understanding
1. Gandhi's first satyagraha in India was launched at:
2. Who renounced his knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
Prelims Pointers
- Champaran (1917) — indigo cultivators under the oppressive tinkathia system.
- Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918) saw Gandhi's first use of the hunger strike.
- The Rowlatt Act allowed detention without trial — 'no vakil, no dalil, no appeal'.
- Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest against Jallianwala Bagh.
Mains Angle
- 'Gandhi's early satyagrahas were laboratories of a new political technique.' Discuss.
- Assess the impact of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on the national movement.
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