12th Standard History — Rise of Nationalism in India Online Test

About Rise of Nationalism in India

Medium ~60 min study

Rise of Nationalism in India is the first unit of the Tamil Nadu State Board Class 12 (Plus Two) History book. It explains how British economic and political centralisation, meant for better exploitation and control, produced a national consciousness among Indians before Gandhi took the lead in 1919.

The lesson moves from the ruin of peasants and artisans, famines and indentured labour to Western education, the new intelligentsia, the press and the associations that led to the Indian National Congress. It ends with the early nationalists and Dadabhai Naoroji's drain of wealth theory.

This page gathers all thirteen book-back one mark questions with answers checked against the lesson, plus additional questions on years, persons, newspapers, associations and policies, each with a short explanation.

What you'll learn

• Explain how British land and trade policies ruined Indian peasants and artisans.
• Describe famines and the indentured labour system that sent Indians overseas.
• Assess the role of Western education and the educated middle class in national awakening.
• List the repressive and racist measures that provoked Indian protest.
• Trace the formation of the Madras Native Association, Madras Mahajana Sabha and the INC.
• State Naoroji's drain of wealth theory and the items that made up Home Charges.

Before you start

• The East India Company's land revenue settlements studied in Class 11.
• The revolt of 1857 and the transfer of power to the Crown.
• Nineteenth-century social and religious reform movements from the Class 11 book.

Rise of Nationalism in India explained

What this lesson covers

Socio-economic background

The British fixed land revenue in cash, made land a commodity and commercialised agriculture, creating absentee landlords and restive peasants. Free trade (laissez faire) de-industrialised India and threw weavers and artisans out of work. The Indigo revolt of 1859-60 in Bengal, the Orissa famine of 1866 and the Madras famine of 1876-78 show the cost. Famines drove Tamil labourers to Ceylon and indentured labourers to Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and South Africa.

Western education

The English Education Act of 1835 and Macaulay's Minute created an English-educated middle class. Universities opened in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta in 1857. Missionaries also spread modern education.

Reforms and other factors

Reform movements such as the Brahmo Samaj (1828), memories of 1857, racial discrimination in the civil services, Section 124A, the Vernacular Press Act, the Ilbert Bill, the press and the Orientalists' recovery of India's past all fed nationalism.

Associations and the Congress

The Madras Native Association (1852) and the Madras Mahajana Sabha (1884) led to the Indian National Congress, founded in Bombay on 28 December 1885 with W.C. Bonnerjee as first president. Moderates petitioned; extremists like Tilak demanded Swaraj.

Naoroji's drain theory

In Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901), Naoroji showed that Home Charges drained 30 million pounds a year from India.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Dating the English Education Act to 1843. It was 1835; 1843 is the abolition of slavery in British India.
• Naming A.O. Hume as the first Congress president. Hume was a founder; W.C. Bonnerjee was the first president.
• Treating free trade as beneficial to India. It caused de-industrialisation and the decline of handicrafts.
• Mixing up 13 million and 30 million pounds. 13 million was the yearly export of goods; 30 million was the yearly Home Charges loss.
• Placing the Madras Mahajana Sabha before the Madras Native Association. The MNA came in 1852, the MMS in 1884.

Test yourself on these with the practice test, then check the worked reasoning in the solved MCQs.

Frequently asked questions

What is nationalism?

Broadly, nationalism means loyalty and devotion to a nation. It is a consciousness or tendency to exalt one nation above all others, emphasising the promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations.

What were the implications of the new land tenures?

The British fixed land revenue in cash regardless of crop failure or price falls. Land became a commodity that could be sold or auctioned, creating absentee landlords, and agriculture was commercialised for the market. Peasants did not gain; they grew discontented and later turned against the imperialists.

What was the Indigo revolt?

In Bengal, European planters forced tenants to grow indigo under unfair contracts and meagre advances, paying far below market price. When petitions failed, peasants in 1859-60 refused new advances and contracts, and forced the planters to withdraw from northern Bengal.

What did Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education argue?

Written in 1835, the Minute sided with the Anglicists and argued for Western education in English. Macaulay wanted a class of Indians who would be Indian in blood and colour but English in taste, opinion, morals and intellect.

Why was the Ilbert Bill important?

During Ripon's viceroyalty the Ilbert Bill empowered Indian judges to try Europeans. European resistance forced its amendment to suit European interests, and this racial discrimination added to Indian discontent; an agitation in favour of the Bill took place in 1883.

What were the grievances in the Madras Native Association petition?

The December 1852 petition said the ryotwari and zamindari systems had distressed agricultural classes, asked for revival of the village system, complained of a slow and imperfect judiciary and of judges ignorant of local languages, and objected to state funds going to missionary schools.

What items made up the Home Charges?

Naoroji listed profits to Company shareholders in Britain, guaranteed interest to railway investors, pensions to retired officials and generals, and interest on money borrowed from England for wars of conquest in and outside India. Together they caused a loss of 30 million pounds a year.