National Movement: 1885 to 1919

Chapter Overview

Between the founding of the Indian National Congress (भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस) in December 1885 and the arrival of Gandhian mass politics in 1919, Indian nationalism changed form three times. It began as the polite petitioning of the Moderates (नरमपंथी). After the Partition of Bengal (बंग-भंग, 1905) it became the boycott and self-reliance of the Swadeshi movement (स्वदेशी आंदोलन) led by the Extremists (गरमपंथी). Alongside both ran a revolutionary (क्रांतिकारी) stream of secret societies, bombs and overseas networks. The period ends with the Home Rule Leagues (होम रूल लीग, 1916), the Lucknow Pact (1916) and the August Declaration (1917), which set the stage for Gandhi.

This chapter is a reliable source of Prelims questions (sessions and presidents, who founded what and when, matching leaders with newspapers) and of Mains questions on the Moderate–Extremist debate and the significance of Swadeshi.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Name the pre-Congress associations and explain why an all-India body emerged in 1885
• Recall the first session (Bombay, 1885, W.C. Bonnerjee, 72 delegates) and the landmark sessions up to 1919
• Evaluate the safety-valve theory and its alternatives
• Compare the methods, demands and achievements of Moderates and Extremists, and explain the Surat split (1907) and the Morley–Minto reforms (1909)
• Narrate the Partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi and Boycott movement with its four programmes
• Trace the revolutionary movement at home and abroad, from the Chapekar brothers (1897) to the Ghadar Party and the Kabul Provisional Government (1915)
• Compare Tilak’s and Besant’s Home Rule Leagues and explain the Lucknow Pact and the August Declaration
• Bring in the Chhattisgarh angle: the Central Provinces setting, the Nagpur session (1891), and Madhavrao Sapre’s nationalist journalism

Prerequisites

• Socio-Religious Reform Movements — the reform movements that created the educated middle class behind early nationalism
• The Revolt of 1857 — the last large armed rising before the organised national movement
• Constitutional Development — the Indian Councils Acts of 1892 and 1909 and the Government of India Act 1919 that this chapter keeps referring to

Learning Path

Follow the topics in this order:

graph TD
    A["1. Founding of the Congress
pre-1885 associations, 1885 session,
safety-valve debate"] --> B["2. Moderates and Extremists
methods, drain theory, Lal-Bal-Pal,
Surat split, Morley-Minto"]
    B --> C["3. Partition of Bengal and Swadeshi
1905 partition, boycott,
national education, 1911 annulment"]
    C --> D["4. Revolutionary Movements
Chapekar to Ghadar,
Alipore, India House, Kabul"]
    D --> E["5. Home Rule League and Lucknow Pact
Tilak and Besant 1916,
August Declaration 1917"]
    E --> F["Quick Revision"]
    F --> G["Next chapter:
The Gandhian Era"]

Topics in This Chapter

Where It Is Asked

Quick Reference: 1885–1919 at a Glance

Related chapters: The Gandhian Era · Freedom Movement in Chhattisgarh · British Rule, Princely States and Zamindaris · Constitutional Development

Start Learning

Begin with the first topic:

→ Founding of the Indian National Congress