Gandhi's First Nationwide Satyagraha: Rowlatt Act

Mahatma Gandhi launched his first major nationwide Satyagraha movement in response to the Rowlatt Act passed by the British government in 1919.

Understanding the Rowlatt Act Satyagraha

• The Rowlatt Act (Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919) allowed British authorities to imprison individuals suspected of sedition without trial.
• Gandhi strongly opposed this act, viewing it as a violation of fundamental rights and justice.
• He organized a nationwide Satyagraha, a form of non-violent resistance, calling for strikes, protests, and fasting across India on April 6, 1919.
• This marked the beginning of Gandhi's large-scale, unified protests against British rule in India.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect

• Partition of Bengal (1905): This event predates Gandhi's major nationwide Satyagraha movements and the Swadeshi movement was prominent then.
• Tax on Khadi products: While promoting Khadi was part of later movements like Non-Cooperation, it wasn't the trigger for the first nationwide Satyagraha.
• Salt tax: The protest against the salt tax, known as the Salt Satyagraha or Dandi March, occurred in 1930, much later than the Rowlatt Act Satyagraha.

Therefore, the first major nationwide Satyagraha initiated by Mahatma Gandhi was against the Rowlatt Act.