Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History · specification 4HI1 · Paper 1 · Free · no account needed
India 1 — The Rowlatt Acts, Amritsar and the Government of India Act, 1919 (4HI1 specification)
The year Indian nationalism stopped being a petition: a promise of self-government, then detention without trial, then a massacre, then approval of the man who ordered it.
Learn it on Incandio
The 4 Incandio pages that teach this — each explained in full, then proved in marked questions, taught back to an AI pupil and defended in a debate. Completely free.
- The impact of the First World War on India — What had Britain promised India by 1918, and what made the promise impossible to withdraw quietly?
- The Rowlatt Acts and reactions to them — What did it demonstrate that every elected Indian member voted against the Acts and they passed anyway?
- The Government of India Act (1919) and the weakness of dyarchy — What happens when you hand people the departments with no money and then blame them for the results?
- Amritsar: causes, events and significance — Was the lasting damage done by the firing, or by what Britain did afterwards?
The teaching route this belongs to: The Rowlatt Acts, Amritsar and the Government of India Act, 1919 — Colonial rule and the nationalist challenge in India — the lessons in order, with every gate.
Specification coverage
Paper 1 — Colonial rule and the nationalist challenge in India, 1919–47, key topic 1
Assessment objectives: AO1, AO2, AO4. Suggested learning time: 100 minutes.
Required knowledge
- Impact of First World War on India, including the growth of nationalism
- The key terms of and reactions to the Rowlatt Acts and the nature of and weaknesses of the Government of India Act/Dyarchy (1919)
- Causes, events and significance of the Amritsar Massacre
Required skills
- Explain and analyse using second-order concepts: causation, consequence, change, continuity, similarity, difference and significance
- Analyse and evaluate a written interpretation of this period (AO4)
- Reach a supported judgement rather than describing events
How it is examined
- (a) 6 marks — “What impression does the author give about…?” (AO4)
- (b) 8 marks — “Explain two effects of…” (AO1 4, AO2 4)
- (c) 16 marks — a statement, “How far do you agree?”, choice of two (AO1 7, AO2 9)
Common mistakes
- Treating Amritsar as the cause of the nationalist movement. The movement existed; Amritsar is what moved the moderates into it, and the strongest answers say which moderates and when.
- Describing the Government of India Act 1919 as simply a concession. Dyarchy handed over agriculture and education and kept finance, police and justice — the reserved subjects are the point.
- Giving one casualty figure for Amritsar as though it were settled. The official Hunter Committee count was 379 and Indian estimates were far higher, so the honest answer names the count and says whose it is.
This page maps the specification. The pages above teach it, and the History lessons hold the whole course — completely free.