Why this chapter matters for UPSC: Nationalism appears in GS1 (the freedom struggle, Tagore and Gandhi, regionalism and secessionism), GS2 (minority rights, federal accommodation of identity) and GS4 (patriotism as a value). NCERT's chapter offers a careful definition: a nation is an "imagined" community held together by beliefs, not by any common language, religion or descent, and a democracy should base it on shared political values. It then weighs the right to national self-determination and argues for pluralism within existing states. The chapter is unchanged in the Reprint 2026-27. This page follows NCERT and adds, from their own texts, three thinkers UPSC answers often cite (Renan, Savarkar and Ambedkar), and corrects a Tagore "quotation" that circulates in a spliced form.

🧠 First Principles — Read This First

There is no common checklist for a nation. People assume nations share descent, language, religion or ethnicity, but no such set is present in all nations: Canada has English and French speakers, India many languages and religions. A nation is to a great extent an "imagined" community, held together by the collective beliefs, aspirations and imaginations of its members.

Nations seek self-government. Unlike other groups, nations claim the right to govern themselves: national self-determination. History shows the cost of trying to give every culture its own state (mass migration, stranded minorities, violence), so the right has been reinterpreted as democratic rights for nationalities within a state.

Democracies should imagine the nation politically. A shared cultural identity (one religion or language) excludes some citizens and can become oppressive. NCERT's conclusion: democracies should expect loyalty to the values in the Constitution, not to a particular religion, race or language, and let each person hold many identities.

PART 1 — Quick Reference

The Chapter at a Glance

NCERT section	Core idea
7.1 Introducing nationalism	A powerful force with many phases: unification, break-up of empires, decolonisation, separatism
7.2 Nations and nationalism	No common set of features; an imagined community resting on five assumptions
7.3 National self-determination	One culture, one state after Versailles; colonial liberation; the paradox of new states and their minorities
7.4 Nationalism and pluralism	Group rights and an inclusive national identity; self-determination as democratic rights within a state; Tagore's critique

The Five Assumptions Behind a Nation (NCERT 7.2)

Assumption	What it means	NCERT's example
Shared beliefs	A nation exists when its members believe they belong together, like a team	"A nation exists when its members believe that they belong together"
History	A sense of continuing identity, stretching into the past and the future	Indian nationalists invoked an ancient civilisation; Nehru's The Discovery of India on the "impress of oneness"
Territory	A homeland: motherland, fatherland or holy land	The Jewish claim to Palestine as the "promised land"; India's rivers, mountains and regions
Shared political ideals	A shared vision of the future state and its values (democracy, secularism, liberalism)	Recognising obligations to fellow citizens is "the strongest test of loyalty"
Common political identity	Some seek a shared cultural identity (language, descent), which is risky in a democracy	Religions are internally diverse; most societies are culturally diverse

Phases of Nationalism (NCERT 7.1)

Phase	Examples NCERT gives
Unification (nineteenth-century Europe)	Present-day Germany and Italy; new states in Latin America
Break-up of empires (early twentieth century)	Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires
Decolonisation	British, French, Dutch and Portuguese empires in Asia and Africa; India's freedom struggle
Separatism (since 1960)	Quebecois in Canada, Basques in northern Spain, Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, Tamils in Sri Lanka
Pan-national movements	Arab nationalism hoping for a pan-Arab union

Source: NCERT Class XI, Political Theory, ch. 7 (Reprint 2026-27).

PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative

Introducing Nationalism

Ask people what nationalism means and they will mention patriotism, the flag and sacrifice for the country; the Republic Day parade in Delhi is a striking symbol of Indian nationalism's power, strength and diversity. Yet nationalism is hard to define precisely, and it must be studied because it shapes world affairs. Over the last two centuries it has inspired intense loyalties and deep hatreds, united and divided people, liberated them from oppressive rule and caused conflict and war, broken up empires and redrawn borders.

It has passed through phases. In nineteenth-century Europe it unified small kingdoms into larger nation-states (Germany and Italy) and founded new states in Latin America, consolidating local dialects and loyalties into common languages and state loyalties; India has seen a similar consolidation over the last century. It also broke up the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires in the early twentieth century and the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese empires in Asia and Africa; India's freedom struggle was a nationalist struggle for an independent nation-state. Since 1960 even stable states have faced nationalist demands, including for separate statehood: the Quebecois in Canada, the Basques in northern Spain, the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Some groups in India use the language of nationalism too. Arab nationalism hopes to unite states; Basque and Kurdish nationalism to divide them.

NCERT's cartoon answers the claim that globalisation makes nations irrelevant: watch India play cricket, or Indians abroad watching Bollywood films. Nationalism is still relevant.

Nations and Nationalism

A nation is not a casual collection of people, and it differs from other groups. A family rests on face-to-face relationships; tribes and clans on ties of marriage and descent that can be traced. As members of a nation we will never meet most of our fellow nationals and need not share their descent, yet nations exist and are valued. No common set of characteristics (descent, language, religion, ethnicity) is present in all nations. A nation is therefore "to a great extent an 'imagined' community", resting on five assumptions:

Shared beliefs. Nations are not like mountains or rivers that exist independently of what people think. To call a people a nation is to refer to their collective identity and their aspiration to an independent political existence. Like a team, which ceases to be one if its members stop thinking of themselves as a collective, "a nation exists when its members believe that they belong together." NCERT's cartoon makes a related point: a person who votes, pays taxes, obeys the law and is proud of the country is a nationalist whether or not he cheers for the team.
History. Nations see themselves stretching into the past and future, drawing on collective memories, legends and records. Indian nationalists invoked an ancient civilisation and its continuity. Nehru wrote in The Discovery of India: "Though outwardly there was diversity and infinite variety among the people, everywhere there was that tremendous impress of oneness, which held all of us together in ages past, whatever political fate or misfortune had befallen us."
Territory. Living together on a territory over a long time gives a sense of collective identity, so nations speak of a homeland: motherland, fatherland or holy land. The Jewish people, though dispersed, always claimed Palestine as their original homeland, the "promised land"; the Indian nation identifies with the rivers, mountains and regions of the subcontinent. Because more than one people may claim the same land, the aspiration for a homeland has been a major cause of conflict.
Shared political ideals. What distinguishes a nation from other groups is a shared vision of the future and the aspiration to independent political existence. Members agree on values such as democracy, secularism and liberalism: the terms on which they live together. In a democracy, shared commitment to political values is the most desirable basis of a nation-state. Members are bound by obligations arising from recognising each other's rights as citizens, and "recognition of this framework of obligations is the strongest test of loyalty to the nation."
Common political identity. Many think political ideals are not enough and seek a shared cultural identity: one language, common descent, one religion, the same festivals and symbols. These can bring people together but threaten democratic values, for two reasons. First, every major religion is internally diverse, with sects that interpret texts and norms differently; forging an identity on a single religion ignores this and creates "a highly authoritative and oppressive society". Second, most societies are culturally diverse; imposing one religious or linguistic identity excludes some groups, restricts their religious liberty or disadvantages those who do not speak the national language, limiting equal treatment and liberty for all.

Hence NCERT's conclusion: "it is desirable to imagine the nation in political rather than cultural terms. That is, democracies need to emphasise and expect loyalty to a set of values that may be enshrined in the Constitution of the country rather than adherence to a particular religion, race or language."

Explainer

Three definitions UPSC answers often cite (not in NCERT; read from the authors' own texts).

Ernest Renan, "Qu'est-ce qu'une nation?", a lecture at the Sorbonne on 11 March 1882, defined a nation by consent: a shared past, and in the present "le consentement, le désir clairement exprimé de continuer la vie commune" (the clearly expressed desire to continue a common life). "L'existence d'une nation est (pardonnez-moi cette métaphore) un plébiscite de tous les jours": a nation's existence is a daily plebiscite. This is close to NCERT's "shared beliefs".
V.D. Savarkar, Hindutva (first edition 1923; the fifth edition of 1969 is titled Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?), defined a Hindu as a person who regards "this land of BHARATVARSHA, from the Indus to the Seas as his Father-Land as well as his Holy-Land" (pitribhu and punyabhu), and named three "essentials of Hindutva": "a common nation (Rashtra) a common race (Jati) and a common civilization (Sanskriti)". This is a cultural definition of the kind NCERT's fifth assumption discusses.
B.R. Ambedkar, closing the Constituent Assembly's work on 25 November 1949, tied the nation to fraternity: "Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty equality could not become a natural course of things. It would require a constable to enforce them." This is a political definition of the kind NCERT recommends.

National Self-Determination

Nations, unlike other groups, seek the right to govern themselves and determine their own future, and recognition by the international community as a distinct political entity or state. Such claims usually come from people long settled on a land with a common identity, sometimes with the wish for a state that protects, if not privileges, their culture.

One culture, one state. Such claims were common in nineteenth-century Europe, and the idea of "one culture - one state" was used to reorder boundaries after the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles (signed 28 June 1919) created a number of small new states, but it proved virtually impossible to satisfy every demand, and redrawing borders to match cultures led to mass migration: millions were displaced and expelled from homes held for generations, and many fell victim to communal violence. Even then the new states were not ethnically homogeneous; most contained small, often disadvantaged minorities, so the problem of accommodating minorities as equal citizens remained. The only positive aspect was political recognition for groups that saw themselves as nations.

Explainer

The Basque case (NCERT box). The Basque country is a hilly, prosperous region recognised by Spain as an "autonomous" region within its federation. Leaders of the Basque nationalist movement want a separate country and have used constitutional means and, "till recently, violent means". They say their culture differs from Spanish culture, their language resembles Spanish not at all (only a third of the region's people understand it today), the hilly terrain sets the region apart, and since Roman times it kept its own systems of justice, administration and finance. The modern movement began when Spanish rulers tried to abolish these arrangements around the end of the nineteenth century; the dictator Franco cut autonomy further and banned the Basque language in public places and even homes. Those measures have been withdrawn, but nationalist leaders remain suspicious of Madrid and fearful of "outsiders"; opponents say separatists are exploiting a resolved issue. NCERT asks: is the Basque country a nation, and are its nationalists justified?

Colonial liberation and the paradox. National liberation movements in Asia and Africa asserted self-determination against colonial rule, seeking dignity, recognition and protection of their people's interests, and justice and prosperity for the nation. But not every cultural group claiming nationhood could get a state, so migration, border wars and violence continued. Hence the paradox: "nation-states which themselves had achieved independence through struggle now acting against minorities within their own territories who claim the right to national self-determination."

Almost every state faces this dilemma. NCERT's answer: "the solution does not lie in creating new states but in making existing states more democratic and equal", so that people of different cultural and ethnic identities live as partners and equal citizens. A nation-state that does not respect the rights and cultural identity of its minorities will find it hard to win their loyalty.

Source: NCERT Class XI, Political Theory, ch. 7 (Reprint 2026-27). Treaty date: Treaty of Versailles, closing formula (Avalon Project, Yale Law School).

Nationalism and Pluralism

Once the idea of one culture, one state is abandoned, the question becomes how different cultures can survive and flourish within one country. Many democracies now recognise and protect minority identities. The Indian Constitution has "an elaborate set of provisions for the protection of religious, linguistic and cultural minorities": for example, Article 29 protects any section of citizens with a distinct language, script or culture in conserving it, Article 30 gives religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions, and Article 350A asks States to provide primary education in the mother tongue for linguistic minority children.

Group rights granted in different countries include constitutional protection for minority languages, cultures and religions, and in some cases group representation in legislatures and state institutions. They are justified as giving members equal treatment and protection of the law and protecting the group's identity. National identity must be defined inclusively, recognising every community's contribution. Some groups may still demand separate statehood, even in a globalising world, and democracies need "considerable generosity and skill" to deal with such demands.

NCERT's summary: the right to national self-determination was often taken to include independent statehood for nationalities, but granting statehood to every group that sees itself as a nation would be impossible and probably undesirable, producing states too small to be viable and multiplying minority problems. "The right has now been reinterpreted to mean granting certain democratic rights for a nationality within a state." Each person has many identities (gender, caste, religion, language, region) and may be proud of all; so long as each can be freely expressed, people need not make claims on the state for one identity. "In a democracy the political identity of citizen should encompass the different identities which people may have. It would be dangerous if intolerant and homogenising forms of identity and nationalism are allowed to develop."

Key Term

Tagore's critique of nationalism (NCERT box). NCERT quotes Rabindranath Tagore: "Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live." Tagore opposed colonial rule and asserted India's right to independence; he felt British colonial administration had no place for the "upholding of dignity of human relationships" that British civilisation otherwise cherished. He distinguished opposing western imperialism from rejecting western civilisation: Indians should be rooted in their culture yet learn freely from abroad. He criticised narrow nationalism in parts of the independence movement, fearing that rejecting the West for apparent Indian tradition could turn into hostility to Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Islam, all long present in India.

In his book Nationalism (1917), Tagore wrote: "The Nation, with all its paraphernalia of power and prosperity, its flags and pious hymns, its blasphemous prayers in the churches, and the literary mock thunders of its patriotic bragging, cannot hide the fact that the Nation is the greatest evil for the Nation". He meant the nation as "this organization of politics and commerce, whose other name is the Nation", which brings "an evil day for humanity" when it "becomes all-powerful at the cost of the harmony of the higher social life". (A widely repeated version of the first sentence, ending "is the exact opposite of the ideal of humanity", is not Tagore's wording.)

Renan: Wikisource French text; Tagore: Nationalism (Gutenberg) and NCERT's box; Savarkar: Hindutva, fifth edition (1969); Nehru: as quoted in NCERT Class XI, Political Theory, ch. 7 (Reprint 2026-27); Ambedkar: Constituent Assembly Debates, 25 November 1949.

PART 3 — UPSC Integration

UPSC Connect

Cross-paper relevance

GS1: Tagore's and Gandhi's ideas; the freedom struggle as nationalism; regionalism, secessionism and diversity.
GS2: minority rights (Arts. 29, 30, 350A); federal accommodation of identities; the political definition of the nation in the Constitution.
GS4: patriotism versus humanity; loyalty as recognising obligations to fellow citizens.
Essay: "Patriotism is not enough", "Unity in diversity", "Nationalism: a uniting or dividing force?"

Applying the Chapter

Question theme	What to use
Gandhi and Tagore on nationalism	Tagore's box: imperialism versus western civilisation; humanity over patriotism; Nationalism (1917)
What does patriotism imply?	NCERT's cartoon (the voter and taxpayer); loyalty as accepting obligations to fellow citizens
Secessionist demands	NCERT 7.3: one culture, one state and its costs; the paradox; democratic rights within the state
Cultural versus civic nationalism	NCERT's two reasons against a single cultural identity; Savarkar's cultural definition versus Ambedkar's fraternity
Minority protection and unity	NCERT 7.4: group rights and an inclusive national identity; multiple identities

Exam Strategy

For Prelims: know NCERT's five assumptions; that no common feature (language, religion, descent) is found in all nations (Canada's two languages); the phases and examples in 7.1; the Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919) and "one culture - one state"; the reinterpretation of self-determination; the Basque box; Tagore's distinction and his quotation. Expect attribution traps: Renan's "daily plebiscite" (1882), Savarkar's Rashtra, Jati, Sanskriti (1923), Ambedkar's fraternity (25 November 1949).

For Mains: NCERT's seven exercises ask how a nation differs from other collectives, what self-determination means and how it formed and challenged nation-states, how nationalism unites and divides, why no single factor is common to all nationalisms, what produces nationalist feeling, why democracy handles conflicting nationalisms better than authoritarian rule, and nationalism's limitations. Use the team analogy, the Versailles migrations, the Basque case, the post-colonial paradox and Tagore's warning.

Avoid: defining a nation by language or religion (NCERT shows none is universal); calling Renan's or Savarkar's schemes "NCERT's criteria"; quoting the spliced Tagore line.

Practice Questions

Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers). Mains items 1 to 4 are NCERT's own exercises.

Prelims:

NCERT describes a nation as "to a great extent" a/an:
(a) ethnic community (b) imagined community (c) linguistic community (d) religious community
Which of the following is NOT one of the five assumptions about a nation discussed by NCERT?
(a) Shared beliefs (b) Territory (c) Common descent as a necessary feature (d) Shared political ideals
The idea of "one culture - one state" was employed in redrawing state boundaries after:
(a) the Congress of Vienna (b) the First World War (c) the Second World War (d) the end of the Cold War
In NCERT's account, the right to national self-determination has now been reinterpreted to mean:
(a) independent statehood for every nationality
(b) granting certain democratic rights for a nationality within a state
(c) the dissolution of multinational states
(d) the creation of supranational unions
"A common nation (Rashtra) a common race (Jati) and a common civilization (Sanskriti)" are named as the essentials of Hindutva by:
(a) B.G. Tilak (b) V.D. Savarkar (c) Swami Vivekananda (d) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
The description of a nation as "a daily plebiscite" comes from:
(a) Rabindranath Tagore (b) Ernest Renan (c) Benedict Anderson (d) Giuseppe Mazzini

Answers: 1 (b); 2 (c); 3 (b); 4 (b); 5 (b); 6 (b).

Mains:

How is a nation different from other forms of collective belonging? (NCERT)
What do you understand by the right to national self-determination? How has this idea resulted in both the formation of, and challenges to, nation-states? (NCERT)
Neither descent, nor language, nor religion or ethnicity can claim to be a common factor in nationalisms all over the world. Comment. (NCERT)
How is a democracy more effective than authoritarian governments in dealing with conflicting nationalist aspirations? (NCERT)
"I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity." Examine Tagore's critique of nationalism and its relevance today. (150 words)
Why does NCERT argue that democracies should imagine the nation in political rather than cultural terms? Illustrate from the Indian Constitution. (250 words)

📦 Revision Capsule

Revision Capsule

Hard Facts

Nation = an "imagined" community; no common feature in all nations (Canada: English and French)
Five assumptions: shared beliefs, history, territory, shared political ideals, common political identity
Phases: unification (Germany, Italy), break-up of empires (Austro-Hungarian, Russian), decolonisation, separatism since 1960 (Quebecois, Basques, Kurds, Tamils)
Treaty of Versailles 28-6-1919; "one culture - one state"
Self-determination reinterpreted as democratic rights for a nationality within a state
Nehru, The Discovery of India: "impress of oneness"; Tagore, Nationalism (1917)
Renan 11-3-1882 ("plébiscite de tous les jours"); Savarkar 1923 (Rashtra, Jati, Sanskriti); Ambedkar 25-11-1949 (fraternity)

Core Concepts

A nation exists when its members believe they belong together
Recognising obligations to fellow citizens is the strongest test of loyalty
A single cultural identity risks oppression and exclusion
Paradox: liberated nation-states acting against their own minorities
Many identities can coexist within one political identity of citizen

Confused Pairs

Nation (imagined community) vs state (political organisation)
Political (constitutional values) vs cultural (religion, language, descent) basis of nationhood
Opposing imperialism vs rejecting western civilisation (Tagore)
Self-determination as statehood vs as democratic rights within a state

PYQ Pattern

Mains GS1 has asked how Gandhi and Tagore differed on education and nationalism, and GS4 what patriotism implies in everyday life: Tagore's box and NCERT's point that loyalty means accepting obligations to fellow citizens are the core.

Sources

NCERT, Political Theory (Class XI), ch. 7 "Nationalism", Reprint 2026-27: ncert.nic.in PDF; pre-2022 text in the book archive, Wayback copy of October 2021.
Rabindranath Tagore, Nationalism (1917): Project Gutenberg ebook 40766.
Ernest Renan, "Qu'est-ce qu'une nation ?", lecture at the Sorbonne, 11 March 1882: Wikisource (French text).
V.D. Savarkar, Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? (first edition 1923; fifth edition, Veer Savarkar Prakashan, Bombay, 1969): archive.org scan.
Constituent Assembly Debates, 25 November 1949 (Ambedkar): constitutionofindia.net.
Treaty of Versailles, 28 June 1919 (closing formula): Avalon Project, Yale Law School.
The Constitution of India, as on 11 November 2025 (Arts. 29, 30, 350A): Legislative Department PDF.

Nationalism