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Indian National Movement

By Prof. Santhosh Abraham   |   IIT Madras
Learners enrolled: 40
ABOUT THE COURSE:

This course examines the historical events that aimed to free the Indian subcontinent from British colonial control, particularly from the mid-nineteenth century to 1947. This course will start with a discussion on the emergence of the British Raj in India and the early Indian responses in the form of civil, peasant and tribal resistances and uprisings against colonialism. The major strength of the course is the examination of economic criticisms of British rule, the birth of Indian nationalism, and the active phase of the Indian national movement till independence.
After the course, the students will get familiarised with modern India's socio-economic and political history. Students will be exposed to various colonial ideologies and reforms introduced during the British colonial period and the Indian responses. More importantly, the students will also appreciate the significance of resistance and national struggle for freedom.

INTENDED AUDIENCE:
  1. Undergraduates and Graduates from Humanities and Social Science Departments
  2. Elective for Undergraduates and Graduates from BTech and MSc courses

Summary
Course Status : Upcoming
Course Type : Elective
Language for course content : English
Duration : 12 weeks
Category :
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points : 3
Level : Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date : 21 Jul 2025
End Date : 10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends : 28 Jul 2025
Exam Registration Ends : 15 Aug 2025
Exam Date : 25 Oct 2025 IST
NCrF Level   : 4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

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Course layout

Week 1:  British Raj in India
  • Early Colonial Ideologies of Governance 
  • Revenue Reforms and Anglicisation Tendencies 
  • Socio-Legal and Religious Reforms

Week 2: Early Indian Responses and Uprisings 
  • Civil Rebellions and Tribal Uprisings 
  • Peasant Movements and uprisings 
  • First Major Challenge - 1857 Revolt and its Interpretations

Week 3: Economic Criticisms against Colonialism
  • Naoroji and the Drain Theory 
  • Nationalist Realisation of Issues of Indian Economy- Traditional Handicrafts
  • Commercialisation of Agriculture, De-industrialisation

Week 4: Early Phase of Indian Nationalism 
  • Early Political Associations and Agitations (Salt Tax, Vernacular Press Act, Illbert Bill) 
  • Birth of First National Organisation – Indian National Congress 
  • Moderate Politics and the Rise of Extremism - Swadeshi Movement

Week 5: Early Separatist Trends and Constitutional Reforms (1905- 1919) 
  • Partition of Bengal and the Emergence of Muslim Politics 
  • Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909 
  • Establishment of Hindu Mahasabha 
  • Constitutional Reforms - 1919 Act (Montford Reforms)

Week 6: Beginning of Gandhian Era
  • Gandhi Before Mahatma (South African Gandhi) 
  • Early Satyagrahas of Gandhi (Champaran -Ahmedabad and Kheda) 
  • Home Rule League, Rowlatt Act and Jalianwala Bagh Massacre

Week 7: 1920s – Gandian Mass Nationalism 
  • Non-Cooperation Movement - Khilafat Movement – Chauri-Chaura) 
  • Post Non-cooperation period (Constructive Work and Gandhian reconstruction) 
  • Gandhian Satyagrahas – Guru Ka Bagh-Borsad-Vaikkam

Week 8: Post Non-cooperation Political Developments 
  • Swarajist Politics – Socialist Ideas and Trade Unionism 
  • Revolutionary Terrorism 
  • Simon Commission – Nehru Report – Jinnah’s Points

Week 9: 1930s – Civil Disobedience Movement
  • Salt Satyagraha and Phases of Civil Disobedience Movement 
  • Round Table conferences and Gandhi -Irwin pact 
  • Caste Question – Ambedkar – Communal Award

Week 10: Towards Self-Rule – Many Pathways of Nation 
  • 1935 Act – Centre, States and Princes 
  • 1937-39 – Elections and Congress ministries - Congress and the Muslim League 
  • Gandhi’s Harijan Campaigns

Week 11: 1940s – Towards independence
  • World War II and Cripps Mission – The Call to ‘Quit India’ 
  • Subash Chandra Bose and INA 
  • Wavell Plan – Shimla Conference - Elections and Cabinet Mission

Week 12: 1946-47 – Partitioned Freedom 
  • Interim Government - Communal holocaust 
  • Mountbatten Plan of Partition Indian Independence Act 
  • Transfer of Power and Problems of Integration

Books and references

Main Books (Different Chapters of the following books will be used)
  • Banerjee-Dube, Ishita. 2014. A History of Modern India. Delhi: Cambridge University Press.
  • Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar. 2004. From Plassey to Partition. Hyderabad: Orient Longman.
  • Chandra, Bipan, Mridula Mukherjee, Aditya Mukherjee, K. N. Panikkar and Sucheta Mahajan. [1988] 2000. India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857–1947. Calcutta: Penguin Books. 
  • Chandra, Bipan. 1979. Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India. Delhi: Orient Longman. 
  • Sarkar, Sumit. [1983] 1995. Modern India, 1885–1947. Madras: McMillan India Ltd.
Additional Reference Books and Articles:
  • Alavi, Seema, ed. 2002. Introduction to The Eighteenth Century in India, 1–56. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
  • Amin, Shahid. 1984. ‘Gandhi as Mahatma: Gorakhpur District, Eastern UP, 1921–2’. In Subaltern Studies III: Writings on South Asian History and Society, edited by R. Guha, 1–61. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 
  • Bose, Sugata and Ayesha Jalal. 1998. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy. London: Routledge. 
  • Cohn, Bernard S. 1996. Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 
  • Dirks, Nicholas B. 2001. Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 
  • Galanter, Marc. [1989] 1992. Law and Society in Modern India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 
  • Guha, Ranajit .1983a. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 
  • Guha, Ranajit. 1997. Dominance without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 
  • Mahajan, Sucheta. 2000. Independence and Partition: The Erosion of Colonial Power in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 
  • Mani, Lata. 1989. ‘Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India’. In Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History, edited by Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid, 88–126. New Delhi: Kali for Women. 
  • Metcalf, Thomas R. 1995. Ideologies of the Raj. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press. 
  • Mukherjee, Rudrangshu.2014. The Year of Blood: Essays on the Revolt of 1857. Delhi: Social Science Press. 
  • Sarkar, Sumit. 1973. The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903–1908. New Delhi: People’s Publishing House. 
  • Sethi, Devika. 2023. Banned and Censored: What the British Raj Didn’t Want us to Read. New Delhi: Roli Books. 
  • Stein, Burton. 2010. A History of India. Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell (Second revised edition). 
  • Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. 1990. The Political Economy of Commerce: Southern India, 1500 - 1650. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
  • Washbrook, David A. 1981. ‘Law, State, and Agrarian Society in Colonial India’. Modern Asian Studies 15 (3): 649–721.

Instructor bio

Prof. Santhosh Abraham

IIT Madras
Prof. Santhosh Abraham is an Associate Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Science, Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He works in the domain of Colonial Histories, more specifically on the questions of colonial law and society, colonial labour, psychiatric and medical institutional histories and animal histories of the colonial Indian Ocean.

Abraham obtained his Ph.D from the University of Hyderabad in 2010. Since 2012, Abraham has been part of IIT Madras, teaching courses like History of the Modern World, Indian National Movement and Ancient Civilizations.

Abraham has published articles in journals like Labour History, Asian Review of World Histories, Journal of World History, Indian Historical Review and South Asia Research.

He is also a member of the Editorial Board of South Asia Research – a peer-reviewed International, multi-disciplinary journal covering the topic in history, politics, law and sociology of South Asian countries, published by Sage Journals International.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams : October 25, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team


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