'Indian nationalism was a form of protest against and dissent to the British colonialism'. Substantiate.

Indian nationalism gained prominence after the first war of independence i.e. 1857. Earlier to that, the whole Indian was a disintegrated country comprised of many small empires but the sepoy mutiny of 1857 awakened a sense of nationalism among the Indians. It integrated them into one country. The British were successful in suppressing the war but they could not suppress the ever-increasing nationalism among the Indian minds against the atrocities of colonialism.

All the people were discontented with the colonial rule and they had their own reasons to participate and fight in the fight against the British yet the core motive of all was same i.e., to earn freedom from foreign rule. The British colonialism exploited Indians and the resources to the maximum level. They exploited the people in order to gain profits which they could transfer their homeland and they did so, but in this process they completely drained India economically and financially. On the other hand, they were exploiting the peasants to grow commercial crops which resulted in a shortage of food crops for the natives but the British had the sole aim of looting India by hook or by crook so they practiced every brutal act they could to fulfil their aim. Nonetheless, they took the Indian manpower for granted. They thought that Indians are not capable and civilized enough to raise their voice against all this. So, the late 19^th and early 20^th century witnessed the Indian people stepping up against the British rule and they participated actively in the Indian nationalist activities in order to gain freedom. The middle class educated people also helped at their own level by introducing various reforms in the country. They used newspapers and journals in order to communicate with the masses and it proved helpful in further spreading the message of nationalism.