Class 10 History Chapter 2, Nationalism in India, studies the Indian national movement from the First World War, Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Satyagraha, the Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) through the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement (1921–22) and the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–34), and explores how different social groups and cultural symbols shaped collective belonging.
What Class 10 Social Science (History) Chapter 2 Covers
1. The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation explains the economic hardship caused by WWI (war loans, customs duties, income tax, forced recruitment, 1918–21 crop failures and influenza epidemic), Mahatma Gandhi’s early Satyagraha movements in Champaran (1917), Kheda (1917) and Ahmedabad (1918), the Rowlatt Act (1919) and Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919) under General Dyer, the Khilafat Committee (Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali), and Gandhiji’s book Hind Swaraj (1909).
2. Differing Strands within the Movement (Non-Cooperation, 1921–22) traces how townspeople boycotted foreign cloth and government schools/courts, how Baba Ramchandra and the Oudh Kisan Sabha led Awadh peasants against talukdars and begar, how Alluri Sitarama Raju led the militant guerrilla movement in the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, how Assam plantation workers defied the Inland Emigration Act of 1859 in the name of Gandhi Raj, and why Gandhiji called off the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 after Chauri Chaura.
3. Towards Civil Disobedience & 4. The Sense of Collective Belonging covers the Simon Commission (1928), Lord Irwin’s vague offer of ‘dominion status’, the Lahore Congress (Dec 1929) under Jawaharlal Nehru demanding Purna Swaraj, the Salt March to Dandi (240 miles from Sabarmati Ashram with 78 volunteers from 12 March to 6 April 1930), the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931), the Poona Pact (September 1932) between Gandhiji and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and how the image of Bharat Mata (Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Vande Mataram and Abanindranath Tagore’s 1905 painting), Indian folklore, the Swadeshi/Swaraj tricolour flags and reinterpretation of history forged national unity.
Exercises in Chapter 2
- Write in Brief & Discuss (8 Questions) explain why growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement, how the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India, why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act, why Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement, what is meant by the idea of Satyagraha, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Simon Commission, why the Salt March was an effective symbol of resistance against colonialism, and why political leaders differed sharply over the question of separate electorates.
Read Class 10 Social Science (History) Chapter 2 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 1: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe
- Next: Chapter 3: The Making of a Global World
- Hindi medium: Class 10 History Chapter 2 PDF in Hindi (Bharat aur Samakalin Vishwa II)
- All Social Science (History) chapters and the other Class 10 books: Class 10 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
Why did Mahatma Gandhi see salt as a powerful symbol that could unite the nation?
Salt was something consumed equally by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production revealed the most oppressive face of British rule, allowing Gandhiji’s 240-mile Salt March from Sabarmati to Dandi (1930) to connect an everyday necessity with the abstract demand for Purna Swaraj.
What was the Poona Pact of September 1932?
Dr B.R. Ambedkar had organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930 and demanded separate electorates for dalits at the Second Round Table Conference. When the British government conceded his demand, Gandhiji began a fast unto death, believing separate electorates would slow down their integration into society. Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position and signed the Poona Pact of September 1932, which gave the Depressed Classes (Scheduled Castes) reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils, but to be voted in by the general electorate.