UPSC Prelims 2016 Q49: Modern History – Early Nationalism & Indian National Congress (1885 - 1915)

UPSC Prelims 2016, General Studies Paper I · Modern History

The 'Swadeshi' and 'Boycott' were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the

Answer: (a) agitation against the Partition of Bengal

Explanation

Swadeshi and Boycott

Both were first used as methods of struggle in the agitation against the Partition of Bengal.

Date	Event
July 1905	Lord Curzon announced the Partition of Bengal
7 August 1905	Boycott resolution passed at the Calcutta Town Hall; start of the Swadeshi Movement
16 October 1905	Partition took effect; observed as a day of mourning
1911	Partition annulled

The other options:

Option	Year	Why not first
(b) Home Rule Movement	1916	Demanded self-government; came later
(c) Non-Cooperation Movement	1920	Used boycott again, on a wider scale
(d) Visit of the Simon Commission	1928	Met with 'Simon Go Back' protests

Answer: (a) agitation against the Partition of Bengal.

(a) CORRECT. Swadeshi and Boycott were first adopted in the agitation against the Partition of Bengal.
(b) Incorrect. The Home Rule Movement (1916) came a decade later.
(c) Incorrect. The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920) reused these methods; it was not the first.
(d) Incorrect. The Simon Commission visited in 1928, long after 1905.

Swadeshi and Boycott: first used in the anti-Partition agitation of Bengal (1905); boycott resolution at Calcutta Town Hall, 7 August 1905.

Swadeshi and Boycott began in 1905, Bengal.

Linking boycott first to Gandhi and the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Confusing the announcement of partition (July 1905) with its effect (16 October 1905).
Forgetting that the partition was annulled in 1911.

'For the first time' in the freedom struggle often points to 1905.

Bipan Chandra — India's Struggle for Independence, Ch 10 (The Swadeshi Movement, 1903-08)
NCERT Class VIII — Our Pasts III (The Making of the National Movement)