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{{Short description|Indian freedom movement (1921-22)}}
{{Other uses|Non-cooperation movement}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Colonial India}}{{Indian people sidebar|history}}

The '''non-cooperation movement''' was a [[political campaign]] launched on 4 September 1920 by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] to have [[Indian people|Indians]] revoke their cooperation from the [[British Raj|British government]], with the aim of persuading them to grant [[swaraj|self-governance]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Culture And Heritage - Freedom Struggle - The Non Cooperation Movement - Know India: National Portal of India|url=https://knowindia.gov.in/culture-and-heritage/freedom-struggle/the-non-cooperation-movement.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207074357/http://knowindia.gov.in/culture-and-heritage/freedom-struggle/the-non-cooperation-movement.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 December 2017|access-date=2021-08-11|website=knowindia.gov.in}}</ref><ref name=":0">"[https://www.britannica.com/event/noncooperation-movement Noncooperation movement]." ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 15 December 2015. Retrieved 2021-08-10.</ref><ref name=":1">Wright, Edmund, ed. 2006. "[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100237329 non-cooperation (in British India)]." ''A Dictionary of World History'' (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192807007.</ref>

This came as result of the [[Indian National Congress]] (INC) withdrawing its support for British reforms following the ''[[Rowlatt Act]]'' of 18 March 1919 – which suspended the rights of [[political prisoner]]s in [[sedition]] trials,<ref name=Tharoor2003p.26-36/> and was seen as a "''political awakening''" by Indians and as a "threat" by the British<ref name="Wagner2019p.59">[https://books.google.com/books?id=bziIDwAAQBAJ&q=rowlatt Wagner, Kim. ''Amritsar 1919'' (2019) p.59]</ref>—which led to the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]] of 13 April 1919.<ref name="Tharoor2003p.26-36">Tharoor, ''Nehru: The Invention of India'' (2003) p.26-36</ref><ref name="Wagner2019p.243">[https://books.google.com/books?id=bziIDwAAQBAJ&q=non-cooperation Wagner, Kim. ''Amritsar 1919'' (2019) p.243]</ref>

The movement was one of Gandhi's first organized acts of large-scale ''[[satyagraha]]''.<ref name="renamed_from_67_on_20250620101050"/> Gandhi's planning of the non-cooperation movement included persuading all Indians to withdraw their labour from any activity that "sustained the British government and also economy in India,"<ref name="Ghosh2017" /> including British industries and educational institutions.<ref name="Ghosh2017">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/gentlemanly-terrorists/reforms-of-1919-montaguchelmsford-the-rowlatt-act-jails-commission-and-the-royal-amnesty/D97CA2DF6D0AEBDD9AD2066DB1504C04/core-reader#|chapter=The Reforms of 1919: Montagu–Chelmsford, the Rowlatt Act, Jails Commission, and the Royal Amnesty|last=Ghosh|first=Durba|title=Gentlemanly Terrorists|date=July 2017|website=Gentlemanly Terrorists: Political Violence and the Colonial State in India, 1919–1947|pages=27–59|doi=10.1017/9781316890806.003|isbn=9781316890806|s2cid=157075881 |language=en|access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref> Through non-violent means, or ''[[ahimsa]]'', protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, and picket liquor shops.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=India and the Contemporary World - II Textbook in History for Class X|publisher=NCERT|isbn=978-81-7450-707-5|pages=38|chapter=Nationalism in India|year=2007|chapter-url=https://ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/jess303.pdf}}</ref> In addition to promoting "self-reliance" by spinning [[khadi]], buying Indian-made goods only, and boycotting British goods, Gandhi's non-cooperation movement also called for stopping planned dismemberment of Turkey ([[Khilafat Movement]]) and the end to [[untouchability]]. This resulted in publicly-held meetings and strikes ([[Hartal|''hartals'']]), which led to the first arrests of both [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and his father, [[Motilal Nehru]], on 6 December 1921.<ref name="Tharoor2003p.41-42">Tharoor, ''Nehru: The Invention of India'' (2003) p.41-42</ref>

The non-cooperation movement was among the broader [[Indian independence movement|movement for Indian independence]] from British rule<ref name="CulturalIndia">{{Cite web |url=https://learn.culturalindia.net/non-cooperation-movement-history-causes-result-importance.html |title=Essay on Non-Cooperation Movement : Data Points |access-date=1 December 2018 |archive-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202024622/https://learn.culturalindia.net/non-cooperation-movement-history-causes-result-importance.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ended, as Nehru described in [[An Autobiography (Nehru)|his autobiography]], "suddenly" on 4 February 1922 after the [[Chauri Chaura incident]].<ref name=Nehru1936p.81>[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98834/page/n99 Nehru. ''An Autobiography'' (1936). p.81]</ref> Subsequent independence movements were the [[Civil Disobedience Movement]] and the [[Quit India Movement]].<ref name=CulturalIndia/>

Though intended to be non-violent, the movement was eventually called off by Gandhi in February 1922 following the [[Chauri Chaura incident]]. After police opened fire on a crowd of protesters, killing and injuring several, the protesters followed the police back to their station and burned it down, killing the shooters and several other police inside.<ref name=":1" /> Nonetheless, the movement marked the transition of [[Indian nationalism]] from a middle-class basis to the masses.<ref name=":0" />

== Factors leading to the non-cooperation movement ==
The non-land movement was a reaction towards the oppressive policies of the [[British Raj|British Indian government]] such as the ''[[Rowlatt Act]]'' of 18 March 1919, as well as the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Jallianwala Bagh Massacre]] of 13 April 1919.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

Although the ''Rowlatt Act'' of 1919, which suspended the rights of [[political prisoner]]s in [[sedition]] trials,<ref name="Tharoor2003p.26-36" /> was never invoked and declared void just a few years later,<ref name="Wagner2019p.243" /> it motivated Gandhi to conceive the idea of ''[[satyagraha]]'' (truth), which he saw as synonymous with independence.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

Motivation for Gandhi's movement was further solidified following the events of [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|13 April 1919]], when a large crowd had gathered at [[Jallianwala Bagh]] near the [[Harmandir Sahib|Golden Temple]] in [[Amritsar]] to protest against the arrest of [[Saifuddin Kitchlew]] and Dr. [[Satyapal]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Distribution of the number of articles on the Punjab disturbances published by the Indian Mirror in pamphlet form to members of Parliament and in America |url=http://indianculture.gov.in/archives/distribution-number-articles-punjab-disturbances-published-indian-mirror-pamphlet-form |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=INDIAN CULTURE |language=en}}</ref> while others had come to attend the annual [[Vaisakhi|Baisakhi festival]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=India and contemporary world II|publisher=NCERT|year=2007|location=India}}</ref> The civilians were fired upon by soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General [[Reginald Dyer]], resulting in killing and injuring thousands of protesters. The outcry generated by the massacre led to thousands of unrests and more deaths by the hands of the police. The bagh became the most infamous event of British rule in India.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

Gandhi, who was a preacher of [[nonviolence]], was horrified. He lost all faith in the goodness of the British government and declared that it would be a "sin" to cooperate with the "satanic" government. Likewise, the idea of ''satyagraha'' was subsequently authorised by [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], for who the massacre also endorsed "the conviction that nothing short of independence was acceptable."<ref name="Tharoor2003p.26-36" />

Gandhi derived his ideologies and inspiration from ongoing non-cooperation movements, particularly that by [[Ram Singh Kuka|Satguru Ram Singh]], who is credited as being the first [[Indian people|Indian]] to use [[Civil disobedience|non-cooperation]] and boycott of British merchandise and services as a political weapon.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ram Singh {{!}} Indian philosopher|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ram-Singh|access-date=14 June 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>Press Information Bureau, Government of India issued on 16 December 2016</ref>

In response to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and other violence in [[Punjab]], the movement sought to secure ''[[Swaraj]]'', independence for India. Gandhi promised Swaraj within one year if his non-cooperation programme was fully implemented. The other reason to start the non-cooperation movement was that Gandhi lost faith in constitutional methods and turned from cooperator of British rule to non-cooperator campaigning for Indian independence from colonialism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bipan Chandra |title=India's struggle for independence: 1857-1947 |last2=Mukherjee |first2=Mridula |last3=Mukherjee |first3=Aditya |last4=Panikkar |first4=Kandiyur Narayana |last5=Mahajan |first5=Sucheta |date=2016 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-010781-4 |edition=Nachdruck |location=Gurgaon}}</ref>

Other causes include economic hardships to the common Indian citizen, which the [[Indian nationalism|nationalists]] attributed to the economic exploitation of India under colonial rule, the hardships faced Indian artisans due to British factory-made goods replacing handmade goods, and [[conscription]] being employed by the [[British Indian Army]] to gather enough recruits during the [[World War I|First World War]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bipan Chandra |title=India's struggle for independence: 1857-1947 |last2=Mukherjee |first2=Mridula |last3=Mukherjee |first3=Aditya |last4=Panikkar |first4=Kandiyur Narayana |last5=Mahajan |first5=Sucheta |date=2016 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-010781-4 |edition=Nachdruck |location=Gurgaon}}</ref>

== Movement ==
The non-cooperation movement aimed to challenge the colonial economic and power structure, and British authorities would be forced to take notice of the demands of the independence movement.

Gandhi's call was for a nationwide protest against the ''Rowlatt Act''. In promoting "self-reliance," his planning of the non-cooperation movement included persuading all Indians to withdraw their labour from any activity that "sustained the British government and also economy in India,"<ref name="Ghosh2017" /> including British industries and educational institutions.<ref name="Ghosh2017" />

Through non-violent means, or ''[[ahimsa]]'', protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts (by spinning [[khadi]], etc.), and picket liquor shops.<ref name=":2" /> Moreover:<ref>[https://aeon.co/essays/the-shame-of-sir-british-honours-and-decolonisation Titles, Medals and Ribbons]</ref>

* all offices and factories would be closed;
* Indians would be encouraged to withdraw from Raj-sponsored schools, police services, the military, and the civil service, and lawyers were asked to leave the Raj's courts;
* public transportation and English-manufactured goods, especially clothing, was boycotted; and
* Indians returned honours and titles given by the government and resigned from various posts like teachers, lawyers, civil and military services.

Gandhi's non-cooperation movement also called for the end to [[untouchability]].

For Gandhi, the use of charkha to spin khadi and abandoning foreign clothes was important for the movement. According to Shashi Tharoor in the Inglorious Empire, the British Empire enriched itself by exploiting India’s cotton: raw cotton was bought cheaply, shipped to Manchester for processing, and sold back in India through the railways, while heavy duties of 70–80% crippled Indian textiles—so much so that historian H. H. Wilson admitted Manchester could not have competed otherwise. India’s share in global textile trade collapsed by 25%, master weavers were reduced to beggars, and British exports of cotton goods skyrocketed from 60 million yards in 1830 to nearly a billion by 1870. Gandhi’s call for the charkha and khadi became both an economic and symbolic weapon against colonialism, embodying simplicity and self-reliance. In India’s Struggle for Independence, historian Bipan Chandra recounted an episode from 1921, when students in Madurai complained khadi was costly, Gandhi shed his [[kurta]] and [[dhoti]], donning only a langot(loincloth) as he felt that the problem could be solved by wearing less clothes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-27 |title=Gandhi’s khadi to Modi’s ‘no matter the colour of investment’: A new shade of Swadeshi |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/gandhis-khadi-to-modis-no-matter-the-colour-of-investment-a-new-shade-of-swadeshi-10214836/ |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

Publicly-held meetings and strikes ([[Hartal|''hartals'']]) during the movement ultimately led to the first arrests of both [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and his father, [[Motilal Nehru]], on 6 December 1921.<ref name="Tharoor2003p.41-42" /> The calls of early political leaders like [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]] (Congress Extremists) were called major public meetings. They resulted in disorder or obstruction of government services. The British took them very seriously and imprisoned him in [[Mandalay]] in [[Burma]] and [[V. O. Chidambaram Pillai|V. O.Chidambaram Pillai]] received 40 years of imprisonment.

Veterans such as [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], [[Bipin Chandra Pal]], [[Mohammad Ali Jinnah]], and [[Annie Besant]] opposed the idea outright. The [[All India Muslim League]] also criticized the idea. However, the younger generation of Indian nationalists was thrilled and backed Gandhi, whose plans were adopted by the [[Congress Party (India)|Congress Party]] in September 1920 and launched that December.<ref name=":0" />

Gandhi strengthened the movement by supporting the contemporaneous [[Khilafat Movement]], the Muslim campaign to restore the status of the [[Khalifa]] and protest the dismemberment of the [[Ottoman Empire]] after [[World War I]]. As such, Gandhi received extensive support from [[Indian Muslims|Indian-Muslim]] leaders like [[Maulana Azad]], [[Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari]], [[Hakim Ajmal Khan]], [[Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi]],<ref name="Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav">{{cite web|last1=Ministry of Culture|first1=Government of India|title=Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi|url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/unsung-heroes-detail.htm?138|website=amritmahotsav.nic.in}}</ref> [[Abbas Tyabji]], [[Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar]] and [[Maulana Shaukat Ali]].<ref name=":0" />

The eminent [[Hindi]] writer, poet, playwright, journalist, and nationalist [[Rambriksh Benipuri]], who spent more than eight years in prison campaigning for India's independence, wrote:

{{Blockquote|When I recall Non-Cooperation era of 1921, the image of a storm confronts my eyes. From the time I became aware, I have witnessed numerous movements, however, I can assert that no other movement upturned the foundations of Indian society to the extent that the Non-Cooperation movement did. From the most humble huts to the high places, from villages to cities, everywhere there was a ferment, a loud echo.<ref>{{cite book
| editor-first = Lata Singh
| editor-last = Biswamoy Pati
| title = Colonial and Contemporary Bihar and Jharkhand (Chapter 7. Lata Singh, ''Nationalism in Bihar, 1921-22: Mapping Resistances'' quoting Suresh Sharma (ed.) ''Benipuri Granthavali'', vol. IV, 1998, p.38)
| publisher =[[Primus Books]]
| year = 2014
| isbn = 978-93-80607-92-4
| page = 264 (at p. 127)
}}</ref>}}

== Impact and suspension ==
The impact of the revolt was a total shock to British authorities and a massive support to millions of Indian nationalists. Unity in the country was strengthened and many Indian schools and colleges were created. Indian goods were encouraged.<ref name="CulturalIndia"/>
On 4 February 1922 a massacre took place at [[Chauri Chaura incident|Chauri Chaura]], a small town in the district of [[Gorakhpur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]. A police officer had attacked some volunteers picketing a liquor shop. A whole crowd of peasants that had gathered there went to the police ''chowki'' (station). The mob set fire to the police ''chowki'' with some 22 policemen inside it. Around 30 mobs were there for this incident. This cruelty made Gandhi think to end the movement.

Mahatma Gandhi felt that the revolt was veering off-course, and was disappointed with the rise of violent nature of the movement. Before the non-cooperation movement there had been some instances of violence due to Rowlatt Satyagraha, one of which made the pretext for Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. During the non-cooperation movement, various incidents of violence emerged, including some major ones. In 1921, there had been [[Prince of Wales riots]] where Parsis, Jews and Anglo-Indians were attacked by a Hindu-Muslim mob which caused large scale destruction. [[Malabar rebellion|Moplah Rebellion]] of 1921 had veered away from non-violent methods. Chauri Chaura incident was the final shock to him. Gandhi thought that Indian masses hadn't still internalised the importance of non-violence in his movements. Mahatma Gandhi did not want the movement to degenerate into a contest of violence, with police and angry mobs attacking each other back and forth, victimizing civilians in between. Gandhi appealed to the Indian public for all resistance to end, went on a fast and on 12 February 1922 called off the non-cooperation movement.

=== End of non-cooperation movement ===
The non-cooperation movement was withdrawn after the Chauri Chaura incident.
Although he had stopped the national revolt single-handedly, on 12 February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi was arrested. On 18 March 1922, he was imprisoned for six years for publishing seditious materials. This led to the suppression of the movement and was followed by the arrest of other leaders.

Although most Congress leaders remained firmly behind Gandhi, the determined leaders broke away, including the Ali brothers ([[Shaukat Ali (politician)|Shaukat Ali]] and [[Mohammad Ali Jouhar]]). [[Motilal Nehru]] and [[Chittaranjan Das]] formed the [[Swaraj Party]], rejecting Gandhi's leadership. Many nationalists had felt that the non-cooperation movement should not have been stopped due to isolated incidents of violence, and most nationalists while retaining confidence in Gandhi, were discouraged.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Traboulay |first=David M.|year=1997 |title=Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha and NonViolent Resistance |url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1092&context=si_pubs |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=CUNY Academic works |publisher=[[City University of New York]] |page=184}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
Gandhi's commitment to nonviolence was redeemed when, between 1930 and 1934, tens of millions again revolted in the [[Salt Satyagraha]] which made India's cause famous worldwide for its unerring adherence to non-violence. The Satyagraha ended in success. The demands of Indians were met and the Congress was recognized as a representative of the Indian people. The ''[[Government of India Act 1935]]'' also gave India its first taste in democratic self-governance. The success of the Salt Satyagraha demonstrated Gandhi’s deliberate use of strategic retreat during the non-cooperation movement, reflecting his broader non-violent strategy of ‘Struggle–Truce–Struggle’ (S-T-S).<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-21 |title=Marching to his own beat |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/Marching-to-his-own-beat/article12861059.ece |access-date=2025-12-10 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

Gandhi had promoted Swadeshi campaign during this movement, which made good results. 62% of cloth sold in India was being made locally by 1936, rising to 76% by 1945. His promotion of the charkha enabled people to produce their own yarn, striking at the heart of British economic dominance while rallying anti-colonial sentiment, and this Gandhian influence on self-reliance has manifested in different forms in post-independence India as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-27 |title=Gandhi’s khadi to Modi’s ‘no matter the colour of investment’: A new shade of Swadeshi |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/gandhis-khadi-to-modis-no-matter-the-colour-of-investment-a-new-shade-of-swadeshi-10214836/ |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Champaran Satyagraha]] (1917)
* [[Rowlatt Satyagraha]]
* [[Civil disobedience movement|Civil-disobedience Movement]] (1930)
* [[Quit India Movement]] (1942)
* [[Bhoodan movement]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Biography==
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98834 ''Jawaharlal Nehru An Autobiography'']. [[Oxford University Press]] (1936)
*Tharoor, Shashi. [https://archive.org/details/nehruinventionof00thar ''Nehru: The Invention of India'']. Arcade Publishing (2003). New York. First edition. {{isbn|9781559706971}}
*Jawaharlal Nehru and [[Nayantara Sahgal]]. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/85772500 Before freedom, 1909–1947 : Nehru's letters to his sister]. [[Roli Books]] (2004). {{isbn|8174363475}} {{oclc|85772500}}
*Wagner, Kim, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bziIDwAAQBAJ&q=non-cooperation ''Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear and the Making of a Massacre'']. [[Yale University Press]] (2019). {{ISBN|9780300200355}}
*Anand, Anita, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Mk7ptwEACAAJ&q=satypal ''The Patient Assassin: a true tale of massacre, revenge, and India's quest for independence''], Simon & Schuster (2019), {{ISBN|978-1-5011-9570-9}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author-link=Charles Freer Andrews |first=C. F |last=Andrews |url=http://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/fundamental_workdetail/NS0xMDQ= |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131130110336/http://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/fundamental_workdetail/NS0xMDQ= |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 November 2013 |title=Non-Co-Operation |location=Madras |publisher=Ganesh & Co. |year=1920 |access-date=10 March 2015 }}
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2051326?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents "The Government of India and the First Non-Cooperation Movement--1920-1922"]. D. A. Low (1966)

{{Gandhi| state=expanded}}
{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Non-Cooperation Movement}}
[[Category:1920 in India]]
[[Category:Civil disobedience]]
[[Category:Economic history of India]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Nonviolent resistance movements]]
[[Category:Protests in British India]]
[[Category:Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]
[[Category:Civil disobedience in India]]
[[Category:History of Siwan district]]

Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922) - Revision history

Collegevidya: adding some entry needs work