Key Events of Early Gandhian Satyagraha and 1919 Revolts: Causes, Participants, and Outcomes

In March 1918, the city of Ahmedabad witnessed its first major labor unrest when the cotton mill workers went on strike. The immediate cause was the mill owners’ decision to discontinue the plague bonus, while the workers, facing wartime inflation caused by World War I, demanded a 50% wage hike. The mill owners were willing to grant only a 20% increase. As tensions escalated, the workers sought the help of Anusuya Sarabhai, a social worker and sister of Ambalal Sarabhai, one of the mill owners. Anusuya approached Mahatma Gandhi, who, despite being friends with Ambalal, took up the cause of the workers. Gandhi advised the workers to strike non-violently and settle for a 35% wage hike. When negotiations stalled, Gandhi undertook his first fast unto death to strengthen the resolve of the workers and pressure the mill owners. Finally, a tribunal intervened, awarding the workers the demanded 35% increase. This strike marked Gandhi’s emergence among the masses and gave him crucial experience in the art of Satyagraha, earning him respect and the commitment of many youth and workers.

Soon after, in 1918, a severe drought hit the Kheda district of Gujarat, causing crop failure. According to the Revenue Code, farmers were entitled to remission if yields fell below one-fourth of the normal produce. However, the government insisted on collecting taxes and threatened to seize property. Gandhi asked the farmers not to pay taxes, serving as the spiritual leader of the revolt, while Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, along with Narahari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya, and Ravi Shankar Vyas, organized the peasants and coordinated their actions. The revolt was remarkable for its discipline and unity, even when authorities seized property. Support came from other Gujaratis who sheltered the affected families. Eventually, the government agreed to suspend the 1919 taxes, reduce future rates, and return confiscated property, awakening the peasantry to the power of collective action and non-violent resistance.

While Indians hoped for rewards for their contribution in World War I, the British government introduced the Rowlatt Act in March 1919, allowing imprisonment without trial, secret trials, and suspension of civil liberties. Gandhi termed it the “Black Act” and called for mass protests across India. A nationwide hartal, fasting, prayer, and civil disobedience were planned, marking the first mass Satyagraha, which gave the people direction and showed the effectiveness of collective political action.

The situation escalated in Punjab when nationalist leaders Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal were arrested. On April 13, 1919, during the Baisakhi festival, a large crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar to protest. Despite the meeting being peaceful, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer surrounded the crowd, blocked the exits, and opened fire without warning. Official sources reported 379 dead and over 1,100 wounded, though estimates varied. The massacre shocked the nation, leading Rabindranath Tagore to renounce his knighthood and Gandhi to give up the title Kaiser-i-Hind. The tragedy marked a turning point, convincing Gandhi and the masses that cooperation with the British “satanic regime” was impossible, and sowing seeds of revolutionary thought.

In response, the British government set up the Hunter Committee in October 1919, chaired by Lord William Hunter, to investigate the disturbances. Indian members, including Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, participated. The committee revealed the extreme measures taken by the British, but the horror of the events inspired revolutionaries like Udham Singh, who later assassinated Michael O’Dwyer in 1940 as retribution for the brutal suppression.

Through these events—from the Ahmedabad Mill Strike, Kheda Satyagraha, the Rowlatt Act protests, to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre—India witnessed the emergence of mass political awakening. Gandhi refined his methods of Satyagraha, peasants and workers realized their collective strength, and the nation’s struggle for independence gained both moral and political urgency.