How did the sense of collective belonging develop in India?

 no its too small

 Sense of national belonging developed due to certain factors:

1)Common History

2)Symbols Bharat Matha

3)Folklore

4)Flag

Nation Depicted in Images

The identity of the nation is most often symbolised in a figure or image. This helps create an image with which people can identify the nation. It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata. The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote Vande Mataram as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints, and was painted by different artists. Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of ones nationalism.

Folklores

Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore. In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces. It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover ones national identity and restore a sense of pride in ones past. In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature; it was the most trustworthy manifestation of peoples real thoughts and characteristics.

National Flag

As the national movement developed, nationalist leaders became more and more aware of such icons and symbols in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism. During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

Reinterpretation of History

Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through reinterpretation of history. By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently. The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover Indias great achievements. They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised. These nationalist histories urged the readers to take pride in Indias great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

• Ideas of nationalism evolved through movements to revive Indian folklore.
• The folk tales and songs that were projected gave a true picture of the Britishers, how cruel and corrupted they were.
• When it comes to Bengal literature, Rabindranath Tagore himself came out with ballads, songs and nursery rhymes.
• Natesa Sastri, in South India, published a collection of short stories, in four volumes.

•  A tricolour flag was made during the Swadeshi Movement.
• This flag consisted of eight lotuses(Eight provinces) and a crescent mooon(Hindu-Muslim unity).
• This flag was again released with a few changes by Mahatma Gandhi, in 1921.
• The only addition in his flag was a spinning wheel in the centre, representing a Gandhian ideal of self-help.

As the national movement developed, nationalist leaders used more and more symbols and icons in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism.
(i) During the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses which represented eight provinces of British India. The crescent moon in the flag represented Hindus and Muslims.
(ii) By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag, was also tricolour (red, green and white) and had spinning wheel in the centre, which represented the Gandhian values, i.e. self help.
(iii) Carrying the Swaraj flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.