Factors in the Growth of Modern Nationalism

At a Glance

• What it is The causes of the rise of Indian nationalism
• Basic view Partly a result of colonial policy, partly a reaction to it
• Eight factors Contradictions, unification, education, press, past, middle class, world events, racial arrogance
• Trigger events Lytton’s policies of 1876-78 and the Ilbert Bill controversy
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Beginning of Modern Nationalism and the Moderate Phase

Where Does It Fit?

This is the first topic of the category on the beginning of modern nationalism and the Moderate phase. The previous categories told how British rule was established, resisted and challenged by reform. This category begins the national movement. The next topic covers the political associations before the Congress. Previous topic: Significance of the Reform Movements: Positive and Negative Aspects.

How Did Indian Nationalism Arise?

The rise and growth of Indian nationalism has traditionally been explained as an Indian response to the stimulus of the British Raj through the creation of new institutions, opportunities and resources. In other words, nationalism grew partly as a result of colonial policies and partly as a reaction to them. It is more correct to see it as the product of a mix of factors: (i) the worldwide upsurge of the concept of nationalism and the right of self-determination, initiated by the French Revolution; (ii) the Indian Renaissance; (iii) an offshoot of the modernisation begun by the British; and (iv) a strong reaction to British imperialist policies.

Which Contradictions Did Indians Realise?

People came to realise that colonial rule was the major cause of India’s economic backwardness, and that the interests of Indians involved the interests of all sections and classes: peasants, artisans, handicraftsmen, workers, intellectuals, the educated and the capitalists. The nationalist movement arose to take up the challenge of the contradictions inherent in the character and policies of colonial rule. The economic policies behind this are described in Causes of the Revolt of 1857: Economic, Political and Administrative.

How Did Unification Help?

British rule extended from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin and from Assam to the Khyber Pass. Though large areas had been brought under a single rule before, under the Mauryas and the Mughals, the British created a larger state than either. Provinces were under direct and princely states under indirect British rule. The British sword imposed political unity. A professional civil service, a unified judiciary and codified civil and criminal laws throughout the country added a new dimension of political unity to the cultural unity that had existed for centuries.

Administrative convenience, military defence and the urge for economic penetration and exploitation, all in British interests, drove the planned development of railways, roads, electricity and the telegraph. From the nationalists’ point of view the unification had a twofold effect: the economic fate of people of different regions got linked, for instance a crop failure in one region affecting prices and supply in another; and modern transport and communication brought leaders from different regions together, important for exchanging political ideas and mobilising public opinion.

What Was the Role of Education, the Press and the Past?

The reform movements are told in Significance of the Reform Movements: Positive and Negative Aspects.

Who Was the New Middle Class?

British administrative and economic innovations gave rise to a new urban middle class. According to Percival Spear, it was a well-integrated all-India class of varied backgrounds but a common foreground of knowledge, ideas and values, a minority but a dynamic one, with a sense of unity of purpose and of hope. Prominent because of its education, new position and close ties with the rulers, it came to the forefront, and it provided the leadership of the Indian National Congress in all its stages of growth. The English-educated class formed the nucleus of political unrest and led the political associations in Political Associations Before the Indian National Congress.

How Did World Events and British Arrogance Help?

The rise of several nations on the ruins of the Spanish and Portuguese empires in South America, and the national liberation movements of Greece and Italy and above all Ireland, deeply influenced nationalist ranks.

The British also perpetuated myths of white superiority through a deliberate policy of discrimination and segregation, which deeply hurt Indians. Lytton’s reactionary policies provoked a storm of opposition: the reduction of the maximum age limit for the I.C.S. examination from 21 to 19 (1876), the grand Delhi Durbar of 1877 while the country was in the grip of famine, the Vernacular Press Act (1878) and the Arms Act (1878). Then came the Ilbert Bill controversy: Ripon’s government sought to abolish judicial disqualification based on race and give Indian members of the covenanted civil service the same powers as their European colleagues. Ripon had to modify the bill, almost defeating its purpose, because of stiff opposition from the European community.

It became clear to nationalists that justice and fair play could not be expected where the interests of the European community were involved. Yet the organised European agitation against the Ilbert Bill also taught nationalists how to agitate for rights and demands.

As an analytical point, the factors fall into two groups: those that created the capacity for a national movement, such as unification, education, the press and a middle class, and those that supplied the motive, such as economic exploitation and racial insult. Both are needed to explain why the movement began when it did. The next step, the formation of political bodies, is in Political Associations Before the Indian National Congress.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Core Mains question Factors in the rise of nationalism are asked in nearly every cycle
• Classification Capacity versus motive is a useful frame
• Link to the Congress It leads to the associations and the foundation of the Congress

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the political associations before the Indian National Congress. Next topic: Political Associations Before the Indian National Congress.

Key People and Terms

• Self-determination The right of a people to decide its own government
• Intelligentsia The educated class that led the political associations
• Vernacular Press Act The 1878 law restricting the Indian-language press
• Arms Act The 1878 law restricting Indians from carrying arms
• Ilbert Bill A bill to remove racial judicial disqualification, diluted after European opposition
• Covenanted civil service The senior civil service of the British administration

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for the factors in the rise of nationalism. These points add depth.

• Unintended consequences Modern education and railways served British ends but helped nationalists
• Racial insult Lytton and Ilbert showed the limits of British justice
• Leadership The new middle class led the movement