Personalities Associated With Specific Movements
Modern History › Quick Reference for Revision · Topic 33.3
This revision table matches leaders and workers to the four great movements of the nationalist period: the Swadeshi Movement of 1905-08, the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22, the Civil Disobedience Movement from 1930 and the Quit India Movement of 1942. Each row gives a person and the specific thing they did, such as Chidambaram Pillai's steam navigation company or Usha Mehta's Congress Radio.
8 min read · UPSC Prelims · History · Quick Reference for Revision
At a Glance
- Swadeshi 1905-08; Tilak, Lajpat Rai, Bipin Pal, Aurobindo, Chidambaram Pillai
- Non-Cooperation 1920-22; Gandhi, C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, Ali brothers
- Civil Disobedience 1930 onwards; Gandhi, Rajagopalachari, Sarojini Naidu
- Quit India 1942; JP, Aruna Asaf Ali, Lohia, Usha Mehta
- Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Quick Reference for Revision
Where Does It Fit?
This is the third topic of the category on quick reference for revision. The previous topic listed Congress sessions. This topic lists personalities by movement. The next topic lists Bahadur Shah Zafar, 1858 Tilak Trials of 1897, 1908 and 1916 Gandhi Sedition trial of 1922; six years,…">famous trials of the nationalist period. Previous topic: Purna Swaraj Lahore, 1929; Jawaharlal Nehru Free India…">Annual Sessions of the Indian National Congress.
Who Were the Main Figures of the Swadeshi Movement?
| Person | Role in the movement |
|---|---|
| Bal Gangadhar Tilak | Spread swadeshi to Poona and Bombay through the Ganapati and Shivaji festivals; held that swadeshi, boycott and national education aimed at swaraj; opened cooperative stores and headed the Swadeshi Wastu Pracharini Sabha |
| Lala Lajpat Rai | Took the movement to Punjab and northern India, helped by Ajit Singh; wrote for Kayastha Samachar on technical education and industrial self-sufficiency |
| Syed Haider Raza | Popularised the movement in Delhi |
| Chidambaram Pillai | Spread it to Madras, organised the Tuticorin Coral Mill strike and founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company at Tuticorin |
| Bipin Chandra Pal | Extremist leader and editor of New India who popularised the movement in the towns |
| Liaquat Hossain | Of Patna, suggested boycott and organised the East Indian Railway strike of 1906 |
| Rabindranath Tagore | Wrote songs, revived Bengali folk music, set up swadeshi stores and called for Rakhi Bandhan |
| Aurobindo Ghosh | Wanted the movement extended to India; principal of the Bengal National College (1906); editor of Bande Mataram |
| Surendranath Banerjea | Moderate who led press campaigns through The Bengalee and mass meetings |
| Ashwini Kumar Dutt | Set up the Swadesh Bandhab Samiti and led the Muslim peasants of Barisal |
| Promotha Mitter, Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Jatindranath Bannerji | Founded the Anushilan Samiti |
| Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Dadabhai Naoroji | Gokhale presided at Benaras in 1905 in support; Naoroji declared swaraj the goal in 1906 |
| Acharya P.C. Ray | Set up the Bengal Chemicals Factory |
| Ashwini Coomar Banerjee | Led jute mill workers to form the Indian Millhands’ Union at Budge-Budge in August 1906 |
| Brahmabandhab Upadhyay | Popularised swaraj through Sandhya |
| Lala Harkishan Lal | Promoted swadeshi in Punjab and founded the Punjab National Bank |
| Subramania Bharati | Tamil poet who stirred nationalism |
| Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki | Revolutionaries who attacked a British magistrate’s carriage on 30 April 1908 |
| Madan Mohan Malaviya and Motilal Nehru | Favoured cooperation with provincial governments and a non-political swadeshi |
The movement is in Swadeshi and Boycott Movement Under Extremist Leadership and Anti-Partition Campaign Under the Moderates.
Who Were the Main Figures of the Non-Cooperation Movement?
| Person | Role in the movement |
|---|---|
| M.K. Gandhi | Issued the manifesto of March 1920, toured the country in 1921 and suspended the movement after Chauri Chaura in February 1922 |
| C.R. Das | Moved the main resolution at Nagpur in 1920, gave up a legal practice and boycotted courts |
| Birendranath Samsal, J.M. Sengupta, Subhash Bose | Das’s colleagues who united Hindus and Muslims; Samsal led the anti-union board agitation and no-tax campaign at Midnapore; Sengupta supported tea garden workers in Assam; Bose resigned from the civil service |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | Spread the movement and encouraged kisan sabhas; opposed its withdrawal |
| Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali | Foremost Khilafat leaders who toured with Gandhi and were arrested |
| Motilal Nehru and other lawyers | Gave up practice, among them M.R. Jayakar, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Vallabhbhai Patel, C. Rajagopalachari, T. Prakasam and Asaf Ali |
| Lala Lajpat Rai | At first against the boycott of schools, later in support, and protested against the withdrawal |
| Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel | Spread the movement in Bihar and in Gujarat |
| Motilal Tejawat and Alluri Sitaram Raju | Led the Bhils and the tribals of Andhra, linking their demands with the movement |
| Hasrat Mohani | Khilafat leader who demanded complete independence |
| Baba Ramchandra | Organised the peasants’ revolt in Awadh and merged it with the movement |
| Kishan Singh and Mota Singh | Led the Babbar Akali group in Jullundur and Hoshiarpur |
| S.A. Dange and Singaravelu Chettiar | Dange wrote Gandhi versus Lenin in April 1921; Singaravelu was the first communist in south India and linked labour with the freedom movement |
| Muzaffar Ahmad | Formed the pioneer communist group in Calcutta |
| Premchand | Resigned a school post in Gorakhpur in February 1921 and wrote for Aaj |
| M.N. Roy | Editor of Vanguard who condemned the death sentences on 172 of 225 accused in the Chauri Chaura case; 19 were finally hanged |
| Opponents | Industrialists such as Purushottamdas Thakurdas, Jamnadas Dwarkadas, Cowasji Jehangir and Phiroze Sethna launched an Anti-Non-Cooperation Association in 1920 |
The movement is in Khilafat Committee Congress approval Special session at Calcutta, September 1920 Nagpur session…">Programme of the Non-Cooperation Khilafat Movement, and the withdrawal of 1922 is in Swarajists and No-Changers.
Who Were the Main Figures of the Civil Disobedience Movement?
| Person | Role in the movement |
|---|---|
| M.K. Gandhi | Broke the salt law at Dandi on 6 April 1930 after the Dandi March |
| C. Rajagopalachari | Led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam and was arrested on 30 April 1930 |
| K. Kelappan | Led a march from Calicut to Payyannur to break the salt law |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | Arrested on 17 April 1930; formulated a radical agrarian programme and urged a Constituent Assembly |
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | Formed the Khudai Khidmatgars, the Red Shirts |
| Sarojini Naidu | Led the march on the Dharasana Salt Works |
| Surya Sen | Led the Chittagong armoury raid and declared a provisional government under the Indian Republican Army |
| Abbas Tyabji | Took Gandhi’s place after his arrest and was himself arrested |
| Industrialists | G.D. Birla, Jamnalal Bajaj, Walchand Hirachand and others backed the first phase, but support fell sharply from September 1930 |
| Chandraprabha Saikiani | Led Kachari villagers in Assam to break forest laws |
| Subhash Bose and J.M. Sengupta | Led a rival group in the Bengal Congress; Bose criticised Gandhi’s suspension in 1933 |
| Santi and Suniti Chaudhari | Killed the District Magistrate of Comilla, a first for women revolutionaries |
| Sheikh Abdullah | Led a movement in Kashmir; the Srinagar jail attack of 13 July 1931 killed 21 people in police firing |
| Jayaprakash Narayan, Ashok Mehta, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan | Wanted the Congress to move to the left, leading to the Congress Socialist Party of 1934 |
| Gopabandhu Chaudhuri | Led the salt satyagraha in Balasore, Cuttack and Puri |
| A.K. Gopalan | Activist at Guruvayur who became a communist peasant leader |
| B.R. Ambedkar | Attended the Round Table Conference of 1930 as leader of the untouchable Mahars |
| Madan Mohan Malaviya | Drifted away over the Harijan campaign and formed the Congress Nationalist Party |
The movement is in Dandi March and the Spread of Salt Law Disobedience and Extent of Mass Participation and Impact of the Agitation.
Who Were the Main Figures of the Quit India Movement?
| Person | Role in the movement |
|---|---|
| M.K. Gandhi | Gave the call Do or Die at Gowalia Tank on 8 August 1942, was arrested on 9 August and fasted for 21 days in February 1943 |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | Moved the Quit India resolution on 8 August 1942 |
| Jayaprakash Narayan | Congress Socialist leader prominent in the movement |
| Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali, Sucheta Kripalani, Achyut Patwardhan, Biju Patnaik | Leaders of the underground movement |
| Usha Mehta | Member of the small group that ran the Congress Radio |
| Chittu Pande | Formed a parallel government at Ballia and captured the police stations |
| Satish Samanta and Matangini Hazra | Samanta headed the Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar in Midnapore; Hazra, a 73-year-old widow, was shot on 29 September 1942 holding the flag |
| Lakshman Naik | Led tribals of Koraput against the Jeypore zamindari and was hanged on 16 November 1942 |
| Nana Patil | Led a rebellion in Satara |
| Sumati Morarjee | Helped the underground work |
| C. Rajagopalachari and Bhulabhai Desai | Favoured recognising the right of secession of Muslim-majority provinces; resigned from the AICC in July 1942 |
| Rash Behari Bose and Mohan Singh | Bose headed the Indian Independence League in 1942 and Mohan Singh commanded the first Indian National Army |
| Subhash Chandra Bose | Joined the INA in 1943 and gave the cry Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe azadi doonga |
The movement is in Why Quit India: The Resolution and Gandhi’s Instructions and Spread of the Quit India Movement and Government Repression, and the army in Indian National Army and Subhash Bose. As an analytical point, the four tables show the change in the social base from the educated classes in 1905 to peasants, workers, women, tribals and the underground by 1942.
Why Is This Topic Important?
- Matching questions Person-to-movement pairs are a frequent Prelims type
- Social base Shows who joined each phase
- Regional spread Links leaders to provinces
What Came Next?
The next topic lists the famous trials of the nationalist period. Next topic: Famous Trials of the Nationalist Period.
Key People and Terms
- Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company Chidambaram Pillai’s Tuticorin venture
- Khudai Khidmatgars Red Shirts of Abdul Ghaffar Khan
- Congress Radio Underground radio of 1942
- Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar Rebel government in Midnapore
- Babbar Akali Militant Sikh group of 1921
- Anushilan Samiti Bengal revolutionary society
Exam Corner
Points to Remember
- Chidambaram Pillai: Tuticorin, steam navigation; Tilak: festivals.
- C.R. Das moved the Nagpur 1920 resolution.
- Rajagopalachari: Vedaranyam salt march.
- Surya Sen: Chittagong.
- Usha Mehta: Congress Radio.
Do Not Confuse With
- Dandi and Vedaranyam Gandhi’s march versus Rajagopalachari’s march
- Lajpat Rai and Lajpat Rai in 1920 Swadeshi supporter versus initial sceptic of school boycott
- Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar and Ballia government Midnapore versus east Uttar Pradesh
Memory Hook
Festivals in 1905, lawyers in 1920, salt in 1930, radio in 1942.
Mains Angle
Questions ask about leaders and social groups in each movement. These points add depth.
- Swadeshi Educated classes and revolutionaries
- Non-Cooperation Lawyers, Khilafat leaders, peasants
- Quit India Underground and parallel governments
A Question You May Face
An original practice question, not a past paper question.
“Identify the leaders and social groups associated with the four main phases of the national movement.”
How to Answer
- Swadeshi Leaders and regions.
- 1920 Lawyers and Khilafat.
- 1930 Salt and women.
- Conclude 1942 and the underground.
GS Relevance
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company?
Chidambaram Pillai founded it at Tuticorin on the Madras coast during the Swadeshi Movement, after spreading the movement in Madras and organising the strike of the Tuticorin Coral Mill, and he was later arrested for his activities.
Who moved the resolution on non-cooperation at Nagpur?
C.R. Das, a successful lawyer who gave up his practice and boycotted the law courts, moved the main resolution on non-cooperation at the Nagpur session of 1920 and played a large role in promoting the movement.
Who led the Red Shirts in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan formed the Khudai Khidmatgars, known as the Red Shirts, a body of non-violent revolutionaries in the North-West Frontier Province, who took an active part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and in the years that followed.
Who ran the Congress Radio during Quit India?
Usha Mehta was an important member of the small group that ran the underground Congress Radio during the Quit India Movement, while Aruna Asaf Ali, Lohia, Sucheta Kripalani and Achyut Patwardhan led the underground activities.
Which leader launched a parallel government at Ballia in 1942?
Chittu Pande, who called himself a Gandhian, formed a parallel government at Ballia in east Uttar Pradesh in August 1942 and captured all ten police stations of the district during the Quit India Movement, as a rebel authority.
PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis
1 Chidambaram Pillai founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company.
It was at Tuticorin.
2 C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam in 1930.
He was arrested on 30 April.
3 Surya Sen led the Chittagong armoury raid.
He declared a provisional government.
4 Matangini Hazra was killed in the Chauri Chaura incident.
She was shot in Tamluk in September 1942.
5 Gandhi gave the Do or Die call at Gowalia Tank in August 1942.
He was arrested the next day.
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