Grassroots Nationalism And Gandhian Tours In Andhra (1920–1942): An Empirical Historical Study

Abstract

The study investigates how Gandhiji's tours during the period between 1920 and 1942 in Andhra Pradesh changed and developed grassroots level nationalism. The paper goes beyond simply looking at existing historical accounts of these tours but looks at original source materials, including archival documents, meeting minutes of the Congress party, district-level reports, and current newspaper articles, to evaluate how his visits impacted: political activism, increased membership in the Congress party (including those who had not previously been a member), khadi production, and the participation of previously marginalized communities in political and economic activity. The results indicate a statistical correlation between Gandhiji’s tours and growth in levels of political participation at the district level, leading to increased numbers of individuals exercising their democratic rights. The study concludes that Gandhi's tours had an important strategic function as decentralized mass mobilization tools that institutionalized nationalism in rural Andhra Pradesh.