Edexcel IGCSE History: Colonial Rule and the Nationalist Challenge in India, 1919–47 (4HI1)

“Colonial rule and the nationalist challenge in India, 1919–47” is Depth Study 4 on Paper 1 of Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History (4HI1). It explains how British rule was challenged by the Indian National Congress under Gandhi and Nehru and by the Muslim League under Jinnah, and why independence in August 1947 came with partition into India and Pakistan. Questions test the causes and effects of key events and your judgement on the relative importance of individuals, British policy and the Second World War.

Related: Revision notes | Practice questions | Paper 1 Depth Studies overview

Syllabus coverage

The 4HI1 specification (Issue 5, February 2026) sets five key topics:

1. The Rowlatt Acts, Amritsar and the Government of India Act, 1919 — the First World War’s impact and the growth of nationalism, the Rowlatt Acts, dyarchy, and the Amritsar Massacre.
2. Gandhi and Congress, 1919–27 — the rise of nationalism, Gandhi’s aims and methods, swaraj, civil disobedience and satyagraha, Congress’s attitude to the British, Muslims and untouchables, and the role of Jinnah.
3. Key developments, 1927–39 — the Simon Commission, the Salt March, the Round Table Conferences, the Government of India Act 1935 and the 1937 elections; Gandhi, Jinnah and the Muslim League.
4. The impact of the Second World War — Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah; the war’s political and economic impact; the Lahore Resolution (1940); Quit India; the Cripps Mission; Wavell; Subhas Chandra Bose.
5. Communal violence, independence and partition, 1945–47 — the Simla Conference, the Labour government, the Cabinet Mission, Direct Action, the demand for Pakistan, Mountbatten, partition and its consequences, and the Princely States.

How did 1919 change Indian nationalism?

Over a million Indian soldiers served in the First World War, and India paid heavily in taxes and prices. Congress and the Muslim League cooperated in the Lucknow Pact (1916), and in 1917 the British promised the “progressive realisation of responsible government”. Expectations were high.

Instead, the Rowlatt Acts (March 1919) extended wartime powers to imprison political suspects without trial and try cases without juries. Gandhi called a national hartal (a strike and day of protest). The Government of India Act 1919 introduced dyarchy in the provinces: Indian ministers controlled “transferred” subjects such as education and health, while British governors kept “reserved” subjects such as finance and law and order. Its weaknesses were a small electorate, a Viceroy who kept final power at the centre, and separate electorates that reinforced religious division.

On 13 April 1919, at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, General Dyer ordered troops to fire on an unarmed crowd without warning. The official Hunter Committee recorded 379 deaths; Indian estimates were far higher. Dyer was censured and removed from command but praised by many in Britain. The massacre turned moderates, including Gandhi, against British rule.

What were Gandhi’s aims and methods?

Gandhi aimed at swaraj (self-rule) achieved through satyagraha (“truth-force”) and ahimsa (non-violence). His methods included non-cooperation, boycotts of British cloth and institutions, swadeshi (Indian-made goods, symbolised by the spinning wheel) and civil disobedience. He turned Congress into a mass movement, reaching peasants as well as the educated elite.

The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22) was linked with the Muslim Khilafat campaign, a rare moment of Hindu–Muslim unity. Gandhi called it off after the killing of policemen at Chauri Chaura (February 1922), and he was imprisoned from 1922 to 1924. Gandhi campaigned against the treatment of untouchables, whom he later called Harijans. Jinnah, at this stage a Congress member who believed in constitutional methods, left Congress in 1920 because he opposed mass non-cooperation; Hindu–Muslim cooperation broke down in the mid-1920s.

What happened between 1927 and 1939?

The Simon Commission (appointed 1927) had no Indian members and was boycotted with the slogan “Simon go back”. In 1929 Congress, now led by younger figures including Jawaharlal Nehru, demanded purna swaraj (complete independence). In the Salt March (March–April 1930) Gandhi walked about 240 miles to Dandi to make salt in defiance of the British salt tax; tens of thousands were arrested in the civil disobedience campaign that followed.

The Round Table Conferences in London (1930–32) were weakened by disagreements. Congress boycotted the first; after the Gandhi–Irwin Pact (1931) Gandhi attended the second but it failed over minority representation; Congress was absent from the third. The Government of India Act 1935 gave elected Indian governments control of the provinces and proposed an all-India federation (never achieved). In the 1937 elections Congress formed governments in most provinces, while the Muslim League did poorly. Congress’s refusal to share power with the League in provinces such as the United Provinces convinced Jinnah that Muslims needed their own protection.

How did the Second World War affect India?

In September 1939 the Viceroy declared war on India’s behalf without consulting Indian leaders; Congress ministries resigned. The Muslim League’s Lahore Resolution (March 1940) demanded independent states in Muslim-majority areas — the basis of the demand for Pakistan. Japan’s advance in 1942 led Churchill’s government to send the Cripps Mission, offering dominion status after the war with the right of provinces to opt out; Congress rejected it. Congress then launched Quit India (August 1942); its leaders were arrested and the protests were crushed, while the League cooperated with the British and grew stronger. The Bengal famine of 1943 killed an estimated two to three million people. Wavell became Viceroy in 1943. Subhas Chandra Bose led the Indian National Army alongside Japan; the trials of its officers in 1945–46 caused nationwide protest.

Why did independence bring partition in 1947?

Wavell’s Simla Conference (1945) failed over Jinnah’s claim that the League alone should nominate Muslim members of a new council. The Labour government under Attlee (elected July 1945) was committed to leaving India; Britain was also exhausted by war. In the 1945–46 elections the League won the great majority of Muslim seats. The Cabinet Mission (1946) proposed a united India with groups of provinces; it broke down when Nehru suggested Congress would not be bound by the grouping plan. Jinnah called for Direct Action Day (16 August 1946), and the Great Calcutta Killings were followed by violence in Noakhali and Bihar.

In February 1947 Attlee announced that Britain would leave by June 1948. Mountbatten, Viceroy from March 1947, concluded that partition was the only solution and brought the date forward. India and Pakistan became independent on 14–15 August 1947. The boundary lines were drawn in haste, and partition violence killed hundreds of thousands — estimates range up to a million or more — and displaced over ten million people. More than 500 Princely States had to choose; most acceded to India, but Kashmir became a lasting dispute.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Gandhi call off non-cooperation in 1922? Because the violence at Chauri Chaura breached his principle of non-violence.

Was partition inevitable? It is a common essay debate. Evidence for: separate electorates, the 1937 Congress ministries, the Lahore Resolution and the League’s wartime growth. Evidence against: the Cabinet Mission’s near-acceptance in 1946.

Who mattered most? Gandhi (mass movement), Jinnah (Pakistan), Nehru, Attlee and Mountbatten can all be weighed; good answers link individuals to circumstances.

Official syllabus

Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History (4HI1) specification, Issue 5, February 2026, Paper 1, Depth Study 4 — qualifications.pearson.com.