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The assumptions are:

(i)Shared beliefs

(ii)History

(iii)Territory

(iv)Shared political ideals

(v)Common Political Identity

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Rabindranath Tagore was against colonial rule and asserted India's right to independence. He realised that in the British administration of the colonies, there was no place for ‘upholding of dignity of human relationship,’ an idea which was otherwise cherished in the British civilization.

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Rabindranath Tagore made a distinction between opposing western imperialism and rejecting western civilization while Indians should be rooted in their own culture and heritage they should not resist learning freely and profitably from abroad.

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A nation is to a great extent an ‘imagined community’, held together by the collective beliefs, aspirations and imaginations of its members. It is based on certain assumptions which people make about the collective whole with which they identify.

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If we were to take a quick poll of what people commonly understand by the term nationalism we are likely to get responses which talk about patriotism, national flags, sacrificing for the country, and the like. The Republic Day parade in Delhi is a striking symbol of Indian nationalism and it brings out the sense of power, strength, as well as diversity which many associate with the Indian nation.
But if we try to go deeper we will find that it is difficult to arrive at a precise and widely accepted definition of the term nationalism.