SF Prep
18 Indian History — Common Notes 🕒 Updated 2026-10-17
Common Notes SSC CGL · CHSL · Police · Bank · Railway Chapter 18

🕊️ Gandhian Era (1915–1934)

Gandhi's arrival, Champaran-Kheda-Ahmedabad, Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh, Khilafat-Non-Cooperation, Swaraj Party, Simon Commission, Civil Disobedience, Round Table Conferences and Poona Pact.

📌 1. Early Satyagrahas

  • Gandhi returned from South Africa on 9 January 1915 (now Pravasi Bharatiya Divas); political guru G.K. Gokhale; in South Africa — Phoenix Farm, Tolstoy Farm.
MovementYearIssue
Champaran (Bihar)1917Tinkathia system on indigo farmers; first satyagraha in India; invited by Rajkumar Shukla
Ahmedabad Mill Strike1918Wages of mill workers; Gandhi's first hunger strike
Kheda (Gujarat)1918Revenue remission after crop failure; Sardar Patel joined

📌 2. From the Rowlatt Act to Non-Cooperation

  • Rowlatt Act (March 1919) — "no vakil, no dalil, no appeal"; Gandhi's first all-India satyagraha.
  • Jallianwala Bagh massacre — 13 April 1919 (Baisakhi), Amritsar; General Dyer; meeting against arrest of Dr Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew; inquiry — Hunter Commission; Tagore returned his knighthood; Udham Singh killed Michael O'Dwyer in 1940.
  • Khilafat Movement — Ali brothers (Mohammad Ali, Shaukat Ali), Abul Kalam Azad.
  • Non-Cooperation Movement — from 1 August 1920; resolution at Calcutta special session (Sept 1920), ratified at Nagpur (Dec 1920); surrender of titles, boycott of foreign cloth, schools, courts; Gandhi returned "Kaiser-i-Hind".
  • Chauri Chaura (Gorakhpur) — 5 February 1922, police station burnt; Gandhi withdrew the movement (Bardoli resolution, 12 February 1922).
  • Swaraj Party (1923) — C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru; council entry.

📌 3. Simon Commission to Poona Pact

  • Simon Commission — appointed 1927, arrived 1928; all 7 members British → "Simon Go Back"; Lala Lajpat Rai injured in a lathi charge at Lahore, died (Nov 1928).
  • Nehru Report (1928, Motilal Nehru) — dominion status; Jinnah's Fourteen Points (1929).
  • Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) — Vallabhbhai Patel got the title "Sardar".
  • Lahore session (Dec 1929, president Jawaharlal Nehru) — Purna Swaraj; tricolour hoisted on the Ravi on 31 Dec; 26 January 1930 celebrated as Independence Day.
  • Dandi March — 12 March 1930, from Sabarmati with 78 followers; broke the salt law at Dandi on 6 April 1930 → Civil Disobedience Movement. Dharasana satyagraha — Sarojini Naidu; in the NW Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ("Frontier Gandhi", Khudai Khidmatgar).
Round Table Conference (London)YearKey point
First1930Congress boycotted
Second1931After the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) Gandhi went as sole Congress representative; failed
Third1932Congress absent
  • Communal Award (Aug 1932, Ramsay MacDonald) — separate electorates for depressed classes → Gandhi's fast in Yerawada jail → Poona Pact (24 Sept 1932) Gandhi-Ambedkar: reserved seats instead of separate electorates.
⚠️ Exam Traps:
  • Gandhi's first satyagraha in India: Champaran (1917); first hunger strike: Ahmedabad (1918); first all-India: Rowlatt (1919).
  • The Dandi March began on 12 March; the salt law was broken on 6 April.

📌 4. Practice MCQs

📝 Practice MCQs (prepared by SF Prep — not PYQs)
Q1. Which was Gandhi's first satyagraha in India? Practice
(A) Kheda (1918)
(B) Ahmedabad (1918)
(C) Champaran (1917)
(D) Rowlatt (1919)
Correct answer: (C)
In 1917 at Champaran, Bihar, for indigo farmers.
Q2. When did the Jallianwala Bagh massacre take place? Practice
(A) 5 February 1922
(B) 6 April 1930
(C) 9 August 1942
(D) 13 April 1919
Correct answer: (D)
On Baisakhi, 13 April 1919, General Dyer ordered firing at Amritsar.
Q3. Which movement was withdrawn after the Chauri Chaura incident? Practice
(A) Civil Disobedience Movement
(B) Quit India Movement
(C) Non-Cooperation Movement
(D) Khilafat Movement (alone)
Correct answer: (C)
After the violence of Feb 1922 Gandhi called off Non-Cooperation.
Q4. When was the salt law broken at Dandi? Practice
(A) 6 April 1930
(B) 12 March 1930
(C) 26 January 1930
(D) 5 March 1931
Correct answer: (A)
Starting from Sabarmati on 12 March, Gandhi made salt at Dandi on 6 April 1930.
Q5. Who founded the Swaraj Party? Practice
(A) Gandhi and Nehru
(B) Tilak and Besant
(C) Patel and Rajendra Prasad
(D) C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru
Correct answer: (D)
In 1923 C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed it for council entry.
Q6. At which session was the Purna Swaraj resolution passed? Practice
(A) Karachi 1931
(B) Lahore 1929
(C) Calcutta 1928
(D) Nagpur 1920
Correct answer: (B)
At the Lahore session (1929) under Jawaharlal Nehru.
Q7. Why was the Simon Commission opposed? Practice
(A) It abolished separate electorates
(B) It partitioned Bengal
(C) It raised the salt tax
(D) It had no Indian member
Correct answer: (D)
All seven members were British, hence 'Simon Go Back'.
Q8. The Poona Pact (1932) was signed between: Practice
(A) Gandhi and Irwin
(B) Gandhi and Ambedkar
(C) Nehru and Jinnah
(D) Patel and Ambedkar
Correct answer: (B)
After Gandhi's fast against the Communal Award, he and Ambedkar agreed.
Q9. Which Round Table Conference did Gandhi attend? Practice
(A) First (1930)
(B) Third (1932)
(C) Second (1931)
(D) All three
Correct answer: (C)
After the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhi attended only the second.
Q10. Which committee inquired into the Jallianwala Bagh massacre? Practice
(A) Hunter Commission
(B) Simon Commission
(C) Sadler Commission
(D) Rowlatt Committee
Correct answer: (A)
The British government appointed the Hunter Commission.
Q11. Who returned his knighthood in protest against Jallianwala Bagh? Practice
(A) Mahatma Gandhi
(B) Rabindranath Tagore
(C) Jawaharlal Nehru
(D) C.F. Andrews
Correct answer: (B)
Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest.
Q12. After which satyagraha was Vallabhbhai Patel called 'Sardar'? Practice
(A) Kheda (1918)
(B) Nagpur Flag Satyagraha
(C) Dharasana
(D) Bardoli (1928)
Correct answer: (D)
The women of Bardoli called him 'Sardar' after the 1928 satyagraha.
Q13. Who is called the 'Frontier Gandhi'? Practice
(A) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
(B) Abul Kalam Azad
(C) M.A. Ansari
(D) Hakim Ajmal Khan
Correct answer: (A)
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, leader of the Khudai Khidmatgars.
Q14. Who invited Gandhi to Champaran? Practice
(A) Rajendra Prasad
(B) Brajkishore Prasad
(C) Rajkumar Shukla
(D) J.B. Kripalani
Correct answer: (C)
Indigo farmer Rajkumar Shukla persuaded Gandhi to come.
Q15. Which slogan described the Rowlatt Act? Practice
(A) No vakil, no dalil, no appeal
(B) Do or die
(C) Simon Go Back
(D) Inquilab Zindabad
Correct answer: (A)
The Rowlatt Act allowed detention without trial.
Q16. Which leader died after a lathi charge during the anti-Simon protest? Practice
(A) Govind Ballabh Pant
(B) Lala Lajpat Rai
(C) Motilal Nehru
(D) C.R. Das
Correct answer: (B)
Lala Lajpat Rai died after being injured at Lahore in 1928.
Q17. When was the Gandhi-Irwin Pact signed? Practice
(A) March 1930
(B) September 1932
(C) March 1931
(D) August 1942
Correct answer: (C)
Signed on 5 March 1931, suspending Civil Disobedience.
Q18. Who announced the Communal Award (1932)? Practice
(A) Lord Irwin
(B) Lord Willingdon
(C) Stafford Cripps
(D) Ramsay MacDonald
Correct answer: (D)
British PM Ramsay MacDonald announced it in August 1932.
Q19. The Nehru Report (1928) demanded: Practice
(A) Complete independence
(B) Dyarchy
(C) Dominion status
(D) Federal monarchy
Correct answer: (C)
Motilal Nehru's report asked for dominion status.
Q20. When did Gandhi return to India from South Africa? Practice
(A) 9 January 1915
(B) 2 October 1915
(C) 13 April 1919
(D) 1 August 1920
Correct answer: (A)
He returned on 9 January 1915, now Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

📝 Practice questions

Indian History — Practice MCQs (Bilingual) Ch 18: Gandhian Era
📝 Test this chapter Practice questions

Practice MCQs SF Prep द्वारा तैयार (PYQ नहीं)। तथ्य NCERT व मानक पाठ्य-सामग्री से जाँचे गए।