Growth of Nationalism | ICSE Class 10 History & Civics Notes

This note covers nationalism, economic exploitation, repressive colonial policies, social and religious reform, the role of the press, the contributions of Raja Rammohan Roy, Jyotiba Phule, Swami Dayananda Saraswathi and Swami Vivekananda, and the foundation, immediate objectives and first two sessions of the Indian National Congress.

What was nationalism, and what was its colonial background?

Nationalism is a sense of belonging to a common nation, linked with the belief that its people share interests and should decide their collective affairs. In India, its growth was intimately connected with opposition to colonialism, the control of a country and its resources by a foreign power.

British rule affected economic life, government and social relations. People gradually questioned whom India belonged to and whose interests its resources should serve. The emerging answer identified India with all its people, irrespective of class, colour, caste, creed, language or gender. Caste refers to inherited social groupings.

How did discontent become a national idea?

Discontent means dissatisfaction with existing conditions. It became politically significant when people connected particular hardships with British control. A grievance about poverty or discrimination could become part of a wider argument about the way India was governed.

Political associations formed after 1850 gave increasingly clear expression to this awareness, especially in the 1870s and 1880s. Most were led by English-educated professionals such as lawyers. Though many worked within particular regions, their stated goals concerned the people of India as a whole.

The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, Indian Association, Madras Mahajan Sabha and Bombay Presidency Association were among these organisations. Sarvajanik means of or for all the people. The name expressed an ambition to represent public interests rather than the concerns of one narrow group.

Definition: A sovereign people can act independently and take decisions about their affairs without outside interference. Nationalist associations argued that Indians should possess this capacity.

A common experience of oppression provided a bond, but different groups experienced colonialism differently. Their notions of freedom were not always the same. National unity therefore involved bringing varied experiences together; it did not mean that social differences or disagreements had disappeared.

Why did economic exploitation encourage nationalism?

Economic exploitation means using people's labour, resources or wealth for the benefit of those exercising power over them. Early nationalists connected poverty in India with British policies. This connection turned economic suffering into a criticism of colonial government.

What grievances did nationalists identify?

Land revenue was the payment collected by government from land. The Indian National Congress, an organisation expressing Indian public concerns, argued that increased land revenue impoverished peasants and zamindars, landholders who received rents from cultivators. Its demand for lower revenue connected political criticism with rural hardship.

Congress also argued that exports of grain to Europe caused food shortages. Grain leaving the country and the suffering of people within it were considered together. Nationalists questioned whether economic policy served Indian needs when poverty and famine, a severe shortage of food, persisted.

The drain of wealth referred to the transfer of India's wealth to Britain without an equivalent economic return to India. One identified channel was the money British officers sent home from their large salaries. This connected employment policy with the wider economic criticism of foreign rule.

Indianisation meant increasing the employment of Indians in the administration. Nationalists hoped this would reduce the drain, as well as challenge racial exclusion from important posts. The expected economic benefit was an argument for Indianisation, not a guarantee that every transfer of wealth would stop.

How did economic criticism build public opinion?

Public opinion means views expressed among people about matters of common concern. Nationalist speeches, articles and newspapers explained how government policies were connected with economic hardship. Separate grievances could thus be discussed as parts of a common political problem.

Dadabhai Naoroji's Poverty and Un-British Rule in India criticised the economic effects of British rule. The early Congress also raised questions about the salt tax, Indian labourers abroad and forest dwellers. Its economic concerns extended beyond the professional groups prominent in its leadership.

How did repressive policies and racial discrimination deepen opposition?

Repressive policies are measures used to restrict criticism, rights or political activity. Racial discrimination means unequal treatment based on supposed racial differences. Both made Indians question a government that denied them equal treatment while exercising authority over their lives.

What happened in 1878?

The Arms Act of 1878 required Indians to obtain licences to possess arms, while Europeans enjoyed exemption. A licence is official permission. The unequal treatment made the restriction a political grievance as well as a rule about weapons.

The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 targeted publications in Indian languages. Vernacular means the language used by ordinary people in a particular region. The government acquired extensive powers to control reports and editorials, the articles expressing a newspaper's opinions.

Reports judged seditious could lead to warnings. Seditious, in this setting, describes material treated by the authorities as encouraging resistance to their rule. If a warning was ignored, a press could be seized and its machinery confiscated, meaning taken away by official authority.

Why did the Ilbert Bill controversy matter?

The Ilbert Bill of 1883 proposed allowing Indian judges to try British or European defendants. A bill is a proposal for a law; a defendant is a person against whom a case is brought. The proposal challenged racial inequality in judicial authority.

European opposition forced the government to weaken the original proposal. This opposition exposed resistance to accepting Indian judges on equal terms. The controversy deepened the desire for an organisation through which educated Indians could express their interests together.

Note: The Ilbert Bill's original aim was to reduce judicial inequality. The racial opposition to that aim, and the weakening of the proposal, made the controversy a cause of nationalist resentment.

These examples reveal different sources of opposition: discriminatory restrictions, censorship, or official control over publication, and resistance to legal equality. Together, they helped people see grievances as connected with the structure of colonial rule, rather than as unrelated disputes with particular officials.

How did the press spread ideas and connect regions?

The press refers here to newspapers and other printed publications that circulated information and opinion. Printing widened discussion by making material cheaper and more accessible than handwritten manuscripts. People could encounter arguments about government, religion, society and economic life in their own languages.

How did print support public debate?

Rammohan Roy published Sambad Kaumudi from 1821. Reformers used print to discuss harmful customs, while opponents also published their views. The conservative Samachar Chandrika opposed Roy's opinions. Print supplied a space for disagreement as well as a means of spreading reform.

Newspapers carried news between places, helping readers connect local events with developments elsewhere in India. This supported identities extending across regions. Pan-Indian means encompassing India as a whole: news circulation helped people imagine a public larger than their immediate locality.

In 1870, Native Opinion compared the work of newspapers and political associations with that of an opposition scrutinising government. It stressed examining policies, gathering information and suggesting improvements. Political discussion could therefore involve reasoned criticism and proposals, as well as expressions of anger.

How did criticism survive restrictions?

After 1857, British attitudes towards the Indian-language press became more restrictive. The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 strengthened censorship, official control over what could be published. Authorities watched newspapers and could act against material they considered objectionable.

Despite repressive measures, nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in all parts of India. They reported colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activity. Attempts to suppress nationalist criticism provoked militant protest, which led to a renewed cycle of persecution and protests.

1. Newspapers reported a policy, grievance or public controversy.
2. Articles explained its wider significance and circulated criticism.
3. News travelled beyond the place where the event occurred.
4. Readers encountered shared concerns that helped build public opinion.

This sequence explains the press's contribution; it does not imply that every publication followed the same political position. Newspapers also disagreed about reform and religion. Their significance lay both in circulating particular ideas and in creating a wider arena in which those ideas could be debated.

How did Raja Rammohan Roy contribute to social reform?

Social reform means efforts to change customs or institutions considered unjust or harmful. Raja Rammohan Roy, also spelt Rammohun Roy, used argument, writing and organised discussion to challenge such practices. He founded the Brahmo Sabha in Calcutta, later known as the Brahmo Samaj.

What were two major contributions?

First, Roy campaigned against sati, the practice of burning a widow on her husband's funeral pyre. He studied religious texts and argued in his writings that widow burning lacked sanction in ancient texts. His campaign challenged the claim that the practice was a necessary religious duty.

Sati was banned in 1829. Roy's contribution was his sustained campaign and the reasoning supporting it. The legal prohibition was a government measure; it should not be confused with a law personally enacted by the reformer.

Second, Roy promoted Western education, meaning learning associated with the contemporary West, and greater freedom and equality for women. He criticised the restrictions that confined women to household work and denied them opportunities to become educated.

How were argument and publication connected?

Roy used pamphlets, including dialogues between defenders and critics of existing customs, to make arguments accessible. His newspaper Sambad Kaumudi, published from 1821, also belonged to the expanding world of public debate. Reform involved persuading people, not merely announcing a different opinion.

His work illustrates how social criticism could question inherited authority. Education, discussion and women's dignity became matters of public concern. These contributions formed part of the wider intellectual setting in which Indians debated the character of their society and its future.

How did Jyotiba Phule connect education with equality?

Jyotiba Phule, also known as Jyotirao Phule, challenged caste inequality and exclusion from education. Caste discrimination means unequal treatment based on inherited caste identity. His work made the rights and dignity of subordinated groups central to discussions of social progress.

What were two major contributions?

First, Phule established schools for girls in Maharashtra. Education challenged the belief that girls should remain excluded from learning. His educational work belongs to the wider movement that sought to improve women's position by widening access to knowledge.

Second, he founded the Satyashodhak Samaj, an association that propagated caste equality. He urged Shudras, or labouring castes, and Ati Shudras, groups treated as untouchable, to unite against caste discrimination. These labels describe a discriminatory social order, not differences in human worth.

In 1873, Phule wrote Gulamgiri, meaning slavery. He dedicated it to Americans who had fought to free slaves. The dedication connected caste oppression in India with the struggle against slavery elsewhere and extended his criticism beyond one local practice.

Why must his position be stated carefully?

Phule was also critical of anti-colonial nationalism preached by upper-caste leaders. He questioned appeals for unity that might preserve their privileges while leaving subordinated groups unequal. His support for equality should therefore not be presented as uncritical support for every nationalist leader.

His concerns included the humiliation of oppressed castes, women's condition and labourers' suffering. His work raises an essential question about national progress: whether the people being asked to unite would also share dignity and opportunity within that unity.

How did Swami Dayananda Saraswathi promote reform?

Swami Dayananda Saraswathi, also spelt Dayanand Saraswati, founded the Arya Samaj in 1875. It was an organisation that attempted to reform Hinduism. His work illustrates the role of religious reform associations in debates over social customs.

What were two major contributions?

First, founding the Arya Samaj provided an organised setting for reform. An association could bring people together around shared aims and help sustain activity beyond an individual's speeches or writings. Its significance lay in making reform a continuing collective effort.

Second, Dayananda supported widow remarriage, marriage again after a woman's husband had died. This challenged restrictions that prevented widows from rebuilding family life. His support belonged to a wider movement that spread through different parts of India.

The Arya Samaj also established schools for girls in Punjab in the latter part of the nineteenth century. This educational activity linked social change with access to learning. Distinguish the founder's personal support for reform from the organisation's wider educational work.

What limited the immediate results?

The number of widows who actually remarried remained low. Those who did remarry were not easily accepted in society, and conservative groups continued to oppose the new law permitting remarriage. Advocacy and legal permission did not immediately remove social resistance.

Dayananda's contribution should therefore be understood as support for a process of change. Organised reform challenged established practices and encouraged education, while opposition continued. Social transformation involved argument and sustained work rather than instant acceptance by the whole population.

How did Swami Vivekananda link service with national regeneration?

National regeneration means renewal of a nation's social life, confidence and capacity for progress. Swami Vivekananda connected this renewal with spiritual ideas and service to people. His teacher, or guru, was Ramakrishna Paramhansa, after whom the Ramakrishna Mission was named.

What were two major contributions?

First, Vivekananda spread Ramakrishna's teachings internationally and addressed the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893. His work brought Indian spiritual thought before an international audience and encouraged confidence in India's spiritual heritage.

Second, he called on Indians to rise above narrow religious concerns and unite in service of the nation. Deeply affected by poverty and misery, he firmly believed that successful reform required improving the condition of the masses, meaning the broad body of ordinary people.

The Ramakrishna Mission stressed salvation through social service and selfless action. Salvation here means spiritual liberation. Service was thus connected with religious life, giving practical concern for suffering people a place within spiritual endeavour.

What kind of nationalism did he encourage?

Vivekananda urged young people to unite on the basis of a shared spiritual heritage. His call to serve the nation contributed to emerging Indian nationalism. It linked pride in inherited ideas with responsibility for the condition of living people.

His nationalism was not narrow in its conception. He believed that nations should cooperate on an equal footing to address humanity's problems. National self-respect and concern for other peoples were therefore compatible within his outlook, rather than opposing responsibilities.

How was the Congress founded, and what were its immediate objectives?

The Indian National Congress, or INC, was established in December 1885, when 72 delegates met in Bombay. A delegate is a person attending a meeting as a representative. Allan Octavian Hume, usually called A.O. Hume, was the founder and a retired British official.

Hume helped bring Indians from different regions together. The early leadership included Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, W.C. Bonnerji and Surendranath Banerji, among others. It was largely from Bombay and Calcutta, even though the organisation sought to speak for India as a whole.

What were the immediate organisational aims?

1. Build personal contact: encourage friendship and cooperation among people working for India's public good in different parts of the country.
2. Strengthen national unity: develop common national feeling by reducing racial, religious and provincial prejudices. Provincial prejudice means distrust or narrow loyalties based on one's region.
3. Formulate public opinion: discuss important social and political questions and record the considered views of educated Indians.
4. Coordinate future action: decide the lines of work and methods through which Indian political workers could advance public interests.

Where were the first two sessions held?

A session is a formal meeting of an organisation. The first two Congress sessions established an important pattern of bringing representatives together under a presiding leader, or president.

Keep the founder distinct from the first president: Hume helped establish the organisation, while Bonnerji presided over its first session. Naoroji's presidency belongs to the second session. These are different roles within the organisation's early history.

The immediate aims concerned contact, unity, discussion and coordinated action. Demands such as reducing revenue or increasing Indian participation in government explain the concerns voiced through that platform. The platform's organisational purposes and its particular policy demands are related, but they answer different questions.

How did different social groups participate, and what was the significance?

The growth of nationalism brought different interests into public debate. Shared opposition to colonial rule did not create identical experiences. Participation, leadership and being spoken for must be distinguished when assessing how widely an organisation represented the country.

Educated professionals

Educated professionals, including lawyers, led most early political associations. Their work included meetings, writing and presenting public demands. They helped connect particular complaints with questions about rights, representation and government responsibility.

Peasants and landholders

Peasants, people cultivating the land, and zamindars were affected by revenue demands. The early Congress raised their economic grievances. This does not establish that every cultivator attended Congress meetings; it shows that rural problems entered its political programme.

Women and oppressed castes

Women and oppressed castes were central to struggles over education, dignity and social equality. Reformers challenged exclusions, but their arguments met resistance. Phule's criticism also shows that appeals to national unity could be questioned when social inequalities remained intact.

How did social reform and political organisation compare?

Their significance lay in widening debate about who should have a voice. Political claims to represent all Indians did not automatically remove inequalities within Indian society. Nationalism developed through these overlapping efforts and disagreements, making unity an ongoing task rather than an accomplished starting point.

What can historical sources reveal about nationalism's growth?

Historical sources are writings, records or other evidence used to investigate the past. Newspapers and reform writings reveal how people presented their arguments. Their value includes showing differences of opinion, not merely supplying names and dates.

Which dated writings illuminate public debate?

Sambad Kaumudi, from 1821: Roy's newspaper belongs to the debate over religious and social reform. The opposing Samachar Chandrika demonstrates that access to print served defenders of existing customs as well as their critics.

Native Opinion, 1870: its discussion of newspapers and associations stresses scrutiny of government and informed proposals. It reveals a view of public criticism as constructive political work, linking the gathering of information with the improvement of policy.

Gulamgiri, 1873: Phule's book and its dedication connect caste oppression with slavery. His criticism broadens the questions asked about freedom: political unity could not settle every question concerning social power and equality.

The Indian Mirror, January 1886: the newspaper welcomed the first Congress at Bombay as the beginning of a possible future representative institution. This expressed hope about the organisation's future, rather than describing an existing Indian parliament.

Each source should be read for its purpose and viewpoint. An editorial expresses an argument, while a law records an official measure. Neither by itself proves that everyone agreed with the argument or that the measure achieved its intended result.

What timeline connects reform, repression and national organisation?

A timeline places developments in chronological order, meaning order by time. The growth of nationalism involved overlapping changes: reform arguments, printed debate, resistance to discriminatory policies and the establishment of political organisations. These did not form a single campaign directed by one leader.

The order prevents a common confusion: social reform and newspaper debate were developing well before Congress was founded. The work of reform and the strengthening of national consciousness also continued afterwards. Congress's establishment provided a political platform within a broader process of change.

Glossary

• Nationalism — A sense of belonging to a common nation whose people share interests and should decide their collective affairs.
• Colonialism — Control of a country, its people and its resources by a foreign power.
• Sovereignty — The capacity to act independently and decide one's affairs without outside interference.
• Economic exploitation — Use of people's labour, resources or wealth for the benefit of those exercising power over them.
• Drain of wealth — Transfer of India's wealth to Britain without an equivalent economic return to India.
• Indianisation — Increasing the employment of Indians in administration, including positions previously dominated by British officials.
• Repressive policy — An official measure restricting criticism, rights or activities that challenge those in power.
• Racial discrimination — Unequal treatment of people based on supposed differences of race or racial superiority.
• Vernacular press — Newspapers and publications produced in the ordinary languages spoken in particular regions.
• Censorship — Official control over publication, including restrictions on reports or opinions considered objectionable.
• Social reform — Efforts to change social customs or institutions considered harmful, unequal or unjust.
• Public opinion — Views expressed among people concerning matters of shared public interest or importance.
• Delegate — A person who attends a meeting or gathering as a representative of others.
• Chronology — The arrangement of events in the order in which they occurred over time.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Hume was the first Congress president. Correct: A.O. Hume was the founder; W.C. Bonnerji presided over the first session in Bombay in 1885.
• Misconception: Naoroji presided over the first session. Correct: He presided over the second session, held in Calcutta in 1886.
• Misconception: The Ilbert Bill aimed to prevent Indian judges from trying Europeans. Correct: Its original proposal sought to permit such trials; racial opposition weakened it.
• Misconception: Every newspaper promoted the same reforms. Correct: Print circulated opposing views, including conservative arguments against Roy's opinions.
• Misconception: Phule supported every appeal to national unity without criticism. Correct: He questioned upper-caste nationalism that could preserve caste privilege.
• Misconception: Legal permission made widow remarriage widely accepted immediately. Correct: The number of remarriages remained low, and conservative opposition continued.
• Misconception: Nationalism meant every group had identical interests. Correct: Groups experienced colonialism differently, and their notions of freedom were not always the same.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. A.O. Hume founded the Congress. W.C. Bonnerji presided over its Bombay session in 1885. Distinguish their roles in two points. [2 marks]

1. A.O. Hume's role was that of founder: he helped establish the Congress as an organisation.
2. W.C. Bonnerji's role was that of president of the first session, held in Bombay in 1885.

Q2. The first Congress session was held in Bombay in 1885 under W.C. Bonnerji; the second was held in Calcutta in 1886 under Dadabhai Naoroji. Give the complete details of each session in a separate point. [2 marks]

1. The first Congress session took place in Bombay in 1885, with W.C. Bonnerji serving as its president.
2. The second Congress session took place in Calcutta in 1886, with Dadabhai Naoroji serving as its president.

Q3. Early nationalists criticised high land revenue, grain exports causing food shortages, and British officers sending large salaries home. Explain three economic grievances using this information. [3 marks]

1. High land revenue placed a heavy burden on those dependent on agriculture. Nationalists connected this burden with rural poverty and criticised government revenue demands.
2. Exports of grain were criticised because food was being sent abroad while shortages affected people within India. This raised questions about whose needs economic policy served.
3. British officers sent large salary payments home, transferring wealth abroad. Nationalists treated this outflow as one channel through which India's resources benefited Britain.

Q4. The Arms Act of 1878 required licences for Indians while Europeans were exempt. The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 allowed action against Indian-language newspapers. European opposition weakened the Ilbert Bill of 1883, which proposed allowing Indian judges to try Europeans. Explain one nationalist grievance arising from each example. [3 marks]

1. The Arms Act applied unequal rules to Indians and Europeans. The exemption made restrictions on weapons an example of racial discrimination rather than equal treatment.
2. The Vernacular Press Act restricted criticism through Indian-language publications. Government action against newspapers threatened the ability to express grievances and discuss public affairs.
3. Opposition to the Ilbert Bill resisted equality in judicial authority. Weakening the proposal showed that European resistance could obstruct recognition of Indian judges.

Q5. Roy campaigned against sati and promoted education and women's equality. Phule established girls' schools and founded the Satyashodhak Samaj to promote caste equality. Explain two contributions of each reformer. [4 marks]

1. Roy challenged sati, the burning of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre. His campaign opposed a practice harmful to women's lives.
2. Roy promoted education and women's equality, challenging restrictions that denied women opportunities to learn and develop their abilities.
3. Phule established schools for girls, helping challenge the exclusion of girls from education and widening their access to learning.
4. Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj to promote caste equality, organising opposition to unequal treatment based on inherited caste identity.

Q6. Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 and supported widow remarriage. Vivekananda addressed the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and called for national service to improve ordinary people's condition. Explain two contributions of each. [4 marks]

1. Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj in 1875, providing an organisation through which people could pursue the reform of Hindu society.
2. He supported widow remarriage, challenging restrictions that prevented women whose husbands had died from marrying again and rebuilding family life.
3. Vivekananda addressed the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, presenting Indian spiritual thought before an international gathering.
4. He called for service to the nation and improvement of ordinary people's condition, connecting national renewal with practical concern for human suffering.

Q7. The Congress sought friendship among public workers, national unity beyond religious and regional prejudices, discussion and recording of educated opinion, and agreement on future political work. It brought delegates from different regions together. Explain these four objectives and one organisational significance. [5 marks]

1. Friendship among public workers could support cooperation across different places. The aim was to bring people concerned with public welfare into continuing contact with one another.
2. National unity required reducing religious and regional prejudices. This objective encouraged participants to recognise common concerns beyond the divisions separating their communities or provinces.
3. Discussion and the recording of educated opinion gave participants a way to formulate shared views. Individual concerns could be examined as questions of public importance.
4. Agreement on future political work helped coordinate activity. Participants could consider what they wanted to achieve and how they intended to pursue those aims.
5. Bringing delegates from different regions together created a platform for wider political cooperation. It enabled discussion across local boundaries within a common organisation.

Q8. Printed publications were cheaper than manuscripts; newspapers carried news between regions, debated reforms, criticised government, and encouraged nationalist activity despite restrictions. Opponents of reform also used print. Explain the press's role in five points and give one qualification. [6 marks]

1. Cheaper printed publications widened access to ideas compared with expensive handwritten manuscripts. More people could encounter arguments circulating in public discussion.
2. News carried between regions helped connect local events with a wider Indian setting. Readers could recognise concerns extending beyond their immediate neighbourhood.
3. Debates about reform brought social customs into public discussion. Arguments could reach people outside the original circle of a reformer or association.
4. Criticism of government made policies and grievances matters of wider scrutiny. Newspapers helped build public opinion about how authority was exercised.
5. Encouragement of nationalist activity continued despite restrictions. The press therefore remained a means of spreading political ideas under conditions of repression.
6. The qualification is that print did not carry one uniform viewpoint. Opponents of reform also published arguments, making newspapers a space of disagreement.

Key takeaways

• Indian nationalism developed through opposition to colonial control, but different groups did not always understand freedom in the same way.
• Economic criticism linked rural poverty, grain shortages and wealth transferred abroad with the policies and interests of British rule.
• The Arms Act, Vernacular Press Act and Ilbert Bill controversy exposed restrictions, censorship and racial inequality.
• Roy challenged sati and promoted education; Phule connected girls' schooling with a wider struggle against caste inequality.
• Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj and supported widow remarriage; Vivekananda connected spiritual confidence with service to ordinary people.
• The press circulated news and criticism across regions while also providing space for disagreement about religion and reform.
• Hume founded Congress in 1885; Bonnerji presided at Bombay, followed by Naoroji at Calcutta in 1886.
• Congress's immediate objectives concerned personal cooperation, national unity, considered public opinion and coordination of future political work.

Test yourself

What is the difference between nationalism and identical group interests?

Nationalism creates a sense of common belonging; different groups can still experience oppression differently and disagree about freedom.

Why was Indianisation linked with the drain of wealth?

Nationalists hoped that employing more Indians would reduce the salary money British officers sent home to Britain.

What did the original Ilbert Bill proposal seek to change?

It sought to allow Indian judges to try British or European defendants, challenging racial inequality in judicial authority.

How did Phule qualify appeals to national unity?

He questioned upper-caste appeals that could preserve caste privilege and leave subordinated groups unequal despite political unity.

What was Dayananda's contribution to organised reform?

He founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 and supported social changes including widow remarriage.

What linked Vivekananda's spirituality with practical action?

He urged service to the nation and improvement of ordinary people's condition; the Ramakrishna Mission stressed selfless social service.

Who founded Congress, and who presided over its first two sessions?

A.O. Hume founded Congress. W.C. Bonnerji presided at Bombay in 1885, and Dadabhai Naoroji at Calcutta in 1886.

Why is a newspaper editorial not proof that everyone agreed?

An editorial expresses a particular viewpoint. Other newspapers and social groups could argue for different or opposing positions.