Rise of Nationalism in India

• The rise of nationalism in India is a complex and fascinating story, spanning over a century and encompassing diverse factors, ideologies, and personalities.

Causes for Rise of Nationalism

Political Unity

• For the first time, most of the regions in India were united politically and administratively under a single power (the British rule).
• It introduced a uniform system of law and government throughout the country. 

 Development of Communication and Transport

• The introduction of railways, telegraphs and postal services and the construction of roads and canals facilitated communication among the people.
• All these brought Indians nearer to each other and provided the facility to organise the national movement on an all India basis.

English Language and Western Education

• The English educated Indians, who led the national movement, developed Indian nationalism and organised it.
• Western education facilitated the spread of the concepts of liberty, equality, freedom and nationalism and sowed the seeds of nationalism.

The Role of the Press

• Raja Rammohan Roy’s Sambad Kaumudi (1821) in Bengali and Mirat-Ul-Akbar (1822) in Persian played a progressive role in educating the people on issues of public importance.
• G. Subramaniam, M. Veeraraghavachari and four other friends together started a newspaper The Hindu in 1878.
• It soon became the vehicle of nationalist propaganda.
• G.Subramaniam also started a Tamil nationalist periodical Swadesamitran in 1891 which became a daily in 1899.
• Among them Amrit Bazaar Patrika, The Bombay Chronicle, The Tribune, The Indian Mirror, The Hindu, Swadesamitran, Indian Patriot, South Indian Mail, Madras Standard, Desabhimani, Vijaya, Suryodayam and India were prominent.

Social and Religious Movements of the Nineteenth Century

• The leaders of various organisations like the Brahmo Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Arya Samaj, and Theosophical Society generated a feeling of regard for and pride in the motherland.

Economic Exploitation by the British

• A good deal of anti-British feeling was created by the economic policy pursued by the British government in India.
• The English systematically ruined the Indian trade and native industries. Therefore, economic exploitation by the British was one of the most important causes for the rise of Indian nationalism.

Racial Discrimination

• The systematic exclusion of the Indians from higher official positions came to be looked upon as an anti- Indian policy measure and the resultant discontent of the Indian upper classes led the Indians to revolt against the British rule.
• When civil service examinations were introduced the age limit was fixed at twenty one.
• When Indians were making it, with a view to debarring the Indians from entering the civil services, the age limit was reduced to nineteen.
• Despite requests from Indian educated middle class to hold the civil service examinations simultaneously in India, the Imperial government refused to concede the request.

Memories of 1857

• Indian national movement dates its birth from the 1857 uprising. The outrages committed by the British army after putting down the revolt remained “un-avenged“.

Administration of Lytton

• Lord Lytton arranged the Delhi Durbar at a time when the larger part of India was in the grip of famine.
• He passed the Vernacular Press Act which curbed the liberty of the Indian Press. His Arms Act was a means to prevent the Indians from keeping arms.
• All these measures created widespread discontent among the Indians.

The Ilbert Bill controversy (1883)

• The Ilbert Bill was presented in the Central Legislature during the period of Viceroy Lord Ripon.
• The Bill tried to remove racial inequality between Indian and European judges in courts.
• This Bill was opposed by the British residents in India. Ultimately the Bill was modified.
• Thus various factors contributed to the rise of nationalism and the formation of the Indian National Congress.