Indian history · Freedom struggle · Gandhian movements

Gandhi's Early Struggles and the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–1922): Champaran, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Rowlatt Satyagraha, Khilafat, the Programme and Chauri Chaura — Exam Notes

The Non-Cooperation Movement was Mahatma Gandhi's first all-India mass movement and turned the Congress into a people's organisation. It united Hindus and Muslims through the Khilafat cause, drew in peasants, workers and students, and ended abruptly after the violence at Chauri Chaura. This guide covers Gandhi's earlier experiments and the movement step by step.

By PunjabExams Editorial Team · Updated 29 October 2026 · 7 min read · How we prepare guides

Gandhi before the national stage

• Born 2 October 1869, Porbandar (Gujarat); studied law in London.
• Went to South Africa in 1893; after being thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg, he organised Indians against discrimination.
• Founded the Natal Indian Congress (1894), the newspaper Indian Opinion (1903), Phoenix Settlement (1904) and Tolstoy Farm (1910).
• Developed satyagraha — non-violent resistance based on truth.
• Wrote Hind Swaraj (1909).
• Returned to India on 9 January 1915 (now Pravasi Bharatiya Divas). His political guru was Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He set up the Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad) in 1917 (first at Kochrab, 1915).

Three early local struggles

The Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919)

The Rowlatt Act (Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, March 1919) allowed detention without trial for up to two years. Gandhi formed the Satyagraha Sabha and called a nationwide hartal on 6 April 1919 — his first all-India protest.

The protest was strongest in Punjab, where it led to the arrests of Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919. Gandhi called off the satyagraha, calling his decision to launch it before the people were trained in non-violence a "Himalayan miscalculation".

The Khilafat movement

After the First World War, the Treaty of Sevres (1920) dismembered the Ottoman Empire, threatening the position of the Sultan of Turkey as Khalifa, the spiritual head of Sunni Muslims.

• Leaders: the Ali brothers (Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasrat Mohani.
• An All India Khilafat Committee was formed (1919), and Khilafat Day was observed on 17 October 1919.
• Gandhi saw the cause as a chance to build Hindu–Muslim unity and became president of the All India Khilafat Conference (Delhi, November 1919).

Launching Non-Cooperation

Gandhi promised "Swaraj within a year".

The programme

Boycott (negative)

• Surrender of titles and honours — Gandhi returned the Kaisar-i-Hind medal.
• Boycott of government schools and colleges, law courts, legislative councils (elections of November 1920) and foreign cloth.
• Possible later stages: resignation from government service and non-payment of taxes.

Constructive work (positive)

• National schools and colleges: Jamia Millia Islamia (Aligarh, 1920, later Delhi), Kashi Vidyapith, Gujarat Vidyapith, Bihar Vidyapith, the National College, Lahore.
• Panchayats for settling disputes.
• Khadi and the charkha; the Tilak Swaraj Fund collected over ₹1 crore.
• Removal of untouchability, Hindu–Muslim unity and prohibition.

Spread of the movement

• Students left colleges in tens of thousands; lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhbhai Patel and C. Rajagopalachari gave up practice.
• Foreign cloth imports fell sharply; bonfires of cloth were held.
• The visit of the Prince of Wales in November 1921 was greeted with a hartal and empty streets.
• Local movements merged into it: the Akali movement in Punjab, forest satyagrahas in Andhra, peasant movements in Awadh (Baba Ramchandra), the Eka movement, and workers' strikes in Assam's tea gardens.
• In Malabar, the Moplah (Mappila) rebellion of August 1921 began as an agrarian and Khilafat protest but turned violent and partly communal; it was crushed by the army.

Chauri Chaura and withdrawal

On 5 February 1922, at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district (UP), police fired on a procession of volunteers. The angry crowd set fire to the police station, killing 22 policemen.

Gandhi, convinced that the people were not yet ready for non-violent struggle, called off the movement through the Bardoli resolution of the Congress Working Committee on 12 February 1922. Many leaders — Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, Subhas Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru — were dismayed. Gandhi was arrested in March 1922 and sentenced to six years (released in 1924).

The Khilafat question lost its meaning when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk abolished the caliphate in 1924.

Results

1. The Congress became a mass party with a nationwide organisation.
2. People across classes and regions lost their fear of the British.
3. Khadi and the charkha became national symbols.
4. Brought Hindu–Muslim unity for a time, though it did not last.
5. Disappointment led to the Swaraj Party (1923, C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru), which entered the councils, and to the revival of revolutionary activity (HRA, 1924).

Key points to remember

• Gandhi returned 9 January 1915; Champaran 1917 (indigo, tinkathia), Ahmedabad and Kheda 1918.
• Rowlatt Act 1919; hartal 6 April 1919; "Himalayan miscalculation".
• Khilafat: Ali brothers; Khilafat Day 17 October 1919.
• NCM launched 1 August 1920; approved Calcutta (Sept 1920); confirmed Nagpur (Dec 1920).
• Chauri Chaura 5 February 1922; Bardoli resolution 12 February 1922.

Practice questions

1. Q1. Gandhi's first satyagraha in India was at:

   • (a) Kheda
   • (b) Ahmedabad
   • (c) Champaran
   • (d) Bardoli
   Show answer

   Answer: (c) Champaran — Champaran (1917), on the indigo issue, was his first satyagraha in India.

2. Q2. The 'tinkathia' system in Champaran related to the compulsory cultivation of:

   • (a) Opium
   • (b) Indigo
   • (c) Cotton
   • (d) Jute
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Indigo — Peasants had to grow indigo on 3/20 of their land.

3. Q3. The Non-Cooperation Movement was formally launched on:

   • (a) 6 April 1919
   • (b) 1 August 1920
   • (c) 5 February 1922
   • (d) 12 March 1930
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) 1 August 1920 — It was launched on 1 August 1920, the day Tilak died.

4. Q4. The Non-Cooperation programme was first approved at the special Congress session at Calcutta in 1920, presided over by:

   • (a) C. Vijayaraghavachariar
   • (b) Lala Lajpat Rai
   • (c) Motilal Nehru
   • (d) C. R. Das
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Lala Lajpat Rai — Lala Lajpat Rai presided over the special session in September 1920.

5. Q5. The Chauri Chaura incident took place in:

   • (a) Bihar
   • (b) Bengal
   • (c) United Provinces
   • (d) Punjab
   Show answer

   Answer: (c) United Provinces — Chauri Chaura is in Gorakhpur district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.

6. Q6. Which institution was founded during the Non-Cooperation Movement?

   • (a) Banaras Hindu University
   • (b) Jamia Millia Islamia
   • (c) Aligarh Muslim University
   • (d) Fergusson College
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Jamia Millia Islamia — Jamia Millia Islamia was founded in 1920 as a national institution.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Gandhi withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement?

Because of the violence at Chauri Chaura on 5 February 1922, which he felt showed the movement was losing its non-violent character.

What was the Khilafat movement?

A movement by Indian Muslims to protect the Ottoman Sultan's position as Khalifa after the First World War; Gandhi supported it to build Hindu–Muslim unity.

What was the Tilak Swaraj Fund?

A fund launched to finance the Non-Cooperation Movement; it collected over one crore rupees.

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